Popular Information - Microsoft's ugly truth
The recent reporting in this newsletter started a "political reckoning" in corporate America, according to Bloomberg News. In the last two weeks, dozens of major corporations have pledged "to stop donating to politicians whose objections to America’s election results led to a riot at the U.S. Capitol." But it's easy for corporations to issue statements. It will only have a meaningful impact if they follow through. To hold these corporations accountable, Popular Information plans to comprehensively monitor their PAC activity in the months and years ahead. But Popular Information is a two-person newsletter and this is a massive undertaking. It will involve processing tens of thousands of campaign finance records from dozens of federal and state databases. You can help Popular Information expand its capacity so we can do this work with a paid subscription. In order to stay completely independent, Popular Information accepts no advertising. This newsletter only exists because the support of readers like you. On Thursday, Microsoft President Brad Smith spoke to employees and defended the conduct of its corporate PAC. A transcript of Smith's comments was leaked on the social bookmarking site Pinboard, and later released by Microsoft. Microsoft, as Popular Information previously reported, is one of the top donors to the 147 Republicans in Congress who voted to subvert the democratic process. The company has donated over $500,000 to this group in the last three election cycles. In the meeting, Smith emphasized Microsoft's donations to members of Congress who attempted to throw out the election results and install Trump for a second term was only 20% of its total PAC donations over the last four years. That's a positive spin on data that shows that one out of five of the company's political dollars went to candidates willing to throw out millions of votes based on lies and conspiracy theories. At present, Microsoft has not made any commitments to stop donating to the 147 Republicans but has temporarily paused all political giving. The most telling portion of Smith's remarks, however, was when he explained why Microsoft donated to members of Congress through its PAC. Smith says that PAC donations are "important" because the money buys access and "help" from politicians.
On Saturday, after these remarks were leaked, Microsoft released a new statement specifying that the purpose of its donation pause was to decide "whether to suspend further donations to individuals who voted against certification of the Electoral College." It committed to announcing its decision by February 15. "The company believes that opposition to the Electoral College undermined American democracy and should have consequences," Microsoft added. What Microsoft knew and when it knew itThe next round of campaign finance reports is not due until January 31. But the Hawley Victory Committee, a fundraising vehicle for Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO), posted its year-end report early, on January 21. The filing, as Popular Information first reported, showed that Hawley received a $2,500 donation from Microsoft on December 31 — one day after Hawley announced he would object to the certification of the Electoral College on January 6. In response, Microsoft told Popular Information that "The Hawley Leadership PAC contribution was approved 12/10, the check was cut and mailed on 12/17. The Hawley organization reported it on 12/31." (The Hawley Victory Committee is a joint fundraising committee, not a leadership PAC.) The implication in Microsoft's statement is that, had it known that Hawley would attempt to overturn the results of the election, it would not have made the donation. But, if that was the case, Microsoft could request a refund (like Hallmark) or announce that it will not fund Hawley in the future. Thus far, it has done neither. Further, by the time the Microsoft PAC contribution was "approved" on December 10, Hawley had spent weeks contesting the legitimacy of the election and promoting Trump's lies about election fraud. Starting on November 5, during an interview with Fox News' Tucker Carlson, Hawley promoted reports that illegitimate ballots were being dumped into polling places in Michigan and Pennsylvania. "[W]e've seen reports of Detroit about ballots brought in there, new ballots in the middle of the night. And we've seen it in Philadelphia," Hawley said. Hawley acknowledged that he didn't know "if these allegations are well founded or not." But Hawley said the ambiguity was the result of Republican election observers being excluded from polling places — which was another lie. On November 7, after all media outlets projected Biden as the winner, Hawley tweeted that the election was still up in the air because of "allegations of fraud." On November 10, Hawley introduced a bill in the Senate concerning election administration. Election law expert Rich Hansen said Hawley's bill "seems more aimed at bolstering the president's unsubstantiated claims of fraud than to offer principles for sound election administration." Trump falsely claimed that the Democrats were stuffing ballot drop boxes with illegal votes; Hawley's bill would require "round-the-clock video surveillance of absentee ballot drop boxes." Trump falsely claimed that Democrats had dumped thousands of fraudulent votes for Biden in the middle of the night; Hawley's bill would require "election offices take no breaks once the counting begins." "Trump's fraud claims are false and toxic. Hawley must stop endorsing them," the St. Louis Dispatch wrote in an editorial on November 11. On November 20, Hawley told reporters that he didn't have an issue with Trump contacting local election officials in Michigan and urging them not to certify the results. "I don’t have any concerns. I’m obviously not privy to the conversation, but I don’t really have concerns with him talking about the situation with elected officials," Hawley said. After Trump had lost dozens of court cases, Hawley said that Trump could still become president and was in the process of presenting "evidence" of fraud. At a Senate hearing on December 16 — after Microsoft approved the donation to Hawley but before it sent the check — Hawley said that "normal, reasonable people" believed the 2020 election was "rigged." Hawley said that "74 million Americans are not going to shut up, and telling them that their views don't matter and that their concerns don't matter and they should just be quiet is not a recipe for success in this country." Long before Microsoft sent its check to Hawley, his posture on the 2020 election was well-established. The suggestion that Microsoft would have been surprised by Hawley's December 30 announcement is revisionist history. Microsoft also donated to other politicians that were amplifying Trump's baseless claims of voter fraud. On November 9, for example, former Senator David Perdue (R-GA) called on Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) to resign. Perdue claimed, without evidence, that Georgia had not conducted an "honest and transparent" election and Raffensperger had "failed the people of Georgia." On November 19, Microsoft donated $5,000, the legal maximum, to Perdue's runoff campaign against Democrat Jon Ossoff. The internal discordThe conduct of Microsoft's PAC has generated significant concern among employees. Several Microsoft employees spoke to Popular Information on the condition of anonymity, because they were not authorized to speak to the media. "Microsoft has done amazing work and contributed to so many worthy causes. But they're literally undoing their own work and undermining their own environmental and social justice initiatives with this pattern of donations," one Microsoft employee told Popular Information. Another Microsoft employee told Popular Information that "employee affinity groups for minorities are not happy" and that "the Black/African-American group" was considering sending a letter to the C-suite expressing their displeasure. The employee said that Microsoft's January 23 statement, criticizing members of Congress who tried to undermine the election, was "not enough." The employee is not disgruntled and says Microsoft, in general, is "a great company culturally" but "the PAC is a major WTF." A third Microsoft employee said they were "appalled" by the conduct of the PAC. This employee said that while "there are genuine cultural improvements that began under [Microsoft CEO] Satya [Nadella], increasingly I think a lot of it is performative, a way to distinguish the company’s brand from Facebook and others as we compete for talent." The employee notes that a "lot of us stopped donating to the PAC when we learned of its donations to the insurgent right." A fourth employee said that they had stopped "PAC contributions on 1/7 pending a refund request to Hawley and a commitment to no future contributions to anyone not condemning the insurrection." This employee was "disappointed in the half-ass response so far." You’re on the free list for Popular Information. For the full experience, become a paying subscriber. |
Older messages
Top D.C. lobbying firm quietly hires controversial Trump advisor
Thursday, January 21, 2021
Forbes Tate is one of the top ten lobbying firms in DC, bringing in over $14 million in publicly reported lobbying fees last year. Each month, the firm collects tens of thousands of dollars from A-list
A new day
Wednesday, January 20, 2021
1461 days ago, Trump became the 45th President of the United States. Today, it finally ends. And I want to take a beat and hear from you. What a…
After riot, major corporations suspend donations to the Republican Attorneys General Association
Friday, January 15, 2021
The violent riot at the United States Capitol last week did not magically appear. First, millions of people had to be whipped into a frenzy over bogus charges of voter fraud. Then, a critical mass of
Where things stand
Friday, January 15, 2021
A week ago, Popular Information began contacting 144 companies and asked if they would continue supporting the Republican members of Congress who objected to the certification of the Electoral College.
The dam breaks
Tuesday, January 12, 2021
Last week, Popular Information contacted 144 corporations and asked if they would continue to support the Republican members of Congress who objected to the certification of the Electoral College vote.
You Might Also Like
Ask the Strategist: Non-Office-Chair Office Chairs
Tuesday, May 7, 2024
Your shopping conundrums, answered. The Strategist Every product is independently selected by editors. If you buy something through our links, New York may earn an affiliate commission. Our editors
Ceasefire and brimstone
Tuesday, May 7, 2024
A Gaza ceasefire failed to materialize as talks continue to avert a potentially devastating assault on the city of Rafah by Israeli forces. ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
Welcome to The Flyover
Monday, May 6, 2024
Thanks for joining The Flyover! ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
Inside the Columbia University Protests Over Israel and Gaza
Monday, May 6, 2024
Columns and commentary on news, politics, business, and technology from the Intelligencer team. Intelligencer the takeover Inside the Columbia University Protests Over Israel and Gaza A report by the
Docusign to acquire Lexion for $165M in exit for Seattle-based AI contract management company
Monday, May 6, 2024
Breaking News from GeekWire GeekWire.com | View in browser BREAKING NEWS Docusign on Monday announced an agreement to acquire Lexion for $165 million. The deal looks to be a successful exit for Lexion,
Drinking glasses we love
Monday, May 6, 2024
Cheers ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
Tuesday Briefing: Israel orders Rafah evacuations
Monday, May 6, 2024
Also, Russia plans for nuclear drills. View in browser|nytimes.com Ad Morning Briefing: Asia Pacific Edition May 7, 2024 Author Headshot By Amelia Nierenberg Good morning. We're covering an Israeli
You Had Me At Jell-O
Monday, May 6, 2024
Propaganda War, Ceasefire Talks ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
Starbucks should ‘reinvent’ mobile ordering, former CEO Howard Schultz says
Monday, May 6, 2024
Gates Foundation toilet exhibit flush with innovation | Playing golf with an e-bike twist ADVERTISEMENT GeekWire SPONSOR MESSAGE: Join the Nordic Innovation Summit, May 13-14: Topics include AI, clean
☕ Oh, baby
Monday, May 6, 2024
Inside baby brand Frida's social media strategy overhaul. May 06, 2024 Marketing Brew PRESENTED BY Attentive It's Monday. We're so back: UMG and TikTok reached an agreement last week to