Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff of California, who is running for the Senate in 2024, doled out $10 million through earmarks to defense contractors that donated to his campaigns, according to a report published on Monday by Politico.
Schiff, who is running against fellow Democratic Reps. Katie Porter and Barbara Lee, earmarked over $10 million of taxpayer money to five companies to develop military technologies between 2001 and 2007. These companies were found to have donated tens of thousands of dollars to his campaign, according to a review of earmark records by Politico. We were always concerned about the pay-to-play aspects,” wrote Steve Ellis, who runs the group “Taxpayers of Common Sense,” of Schiff’s earmarks, to Politico. “If you’re getting a campaign contribution and getting your earmark for that same company or for a client of that lobbyist, it has that perception.”
The largest donor earmarks by Schiff, totaling $6 million, went to Smiths Detection, which was developing chemical weapons sensors for the military, while another $3 million went to Phasebridge, Inc., which was developing a Naval radar system. Both of these groups retained a lobbyist, Paul Magliocchetti, who around the same time donated $8,500 to Schiff’s campaign committees. Magliocchetti was later convicted on federal charges of illegal campaign contributions and served 27 months in prison, Politico reported.
