SVB, Signature Bank and Credit Suisse donated $1.2M to Dems since 2017 trends now
Embattled banks SVB, Signature Bank and Credit Suisse has shelled out 1.2million to Democratic candidates over the past three election cycles, fundraising data has revealed - while giving less than $750,000 to Republicans over the same period.
The data is laid bare in a publicly available outline of the donations done up by government transparency group OpenSecrets - and shows that all three big banks spent big to ensure their preferred candidates took office.
Beginning in 2016, the banks doled out tens of thousands to various successful Senate campaigns - including those of Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Joe Manchin and Montana's Jon Tester.
Tester was reportedly seen Monday night schmoozing with a partner SVB's law firm at a ritzy Palo Alto fundraiser, days after the bank's collapse - in what has since been confirmed to be the second-biggest bank failure in American history.
Another bigtime beneficiary of the three banks - two of which have collapsed and the third currently on the verge - was Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, who on Sunday asked at house members if they could censor social media to prevent the spread of misinformation about the collapses
Beginning in 2016, the embattled banks doled out tens of thousands to various Senate campaigns - including those of Majority Leader Chuck Schumer - and millions to Democrats in general. The banks also gave almost $200,000 to Joe Biden's own campaign in 2020
In contrast, the firms together gave just under $750,000 to Republicans led by Mitch McConnel, including $17,597 to Donald Trump in 2020, after gifting the former president $5,516 for his first run in 2016
The banks also donated $89,322 to the Democratic National Committee since 2017, and offered five-figure donations to reelection campaigns for Gregory Meeks of New York and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chair Sean Patrick Maloney.
Rep. Brad Sherman of California also received thousands from the banks, as did Seth Moulton from Massachusetts.
Meanwhile, banks also shelled out big to ensure Donald Trump's own reelection campaign in 2020 was an ill-fated one, collectively donating $198,926 to Joe Biden's successful run.
In contrast, the firms together gave just $17,597 to Trump in 2020, after gifting the former president - who has since announced new plans to run for office - $5,516 for his initial run in 2016.
Moreover, big banks also provided small donations for some pseudo Republican committees including the Lincoln Project, offering the anti-Trump organization just under $10,000 since it was founded in 2019.
Run by former Republicans who found themselves alienated by Trump, the organization in 2020 would use those funds to help prevent the re-election of the then-President.
Democratic Rep. Brad Sherman of California received thousands in donation from the banks
Another bigtime beneficiary of the three banks - two of which have collapsed and the third currently on the verge - was Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, who on Sunday asked at house members if they could censor social media to prevent the spread of misinformation about the collapses
The data comes after both SVB and Signature Bank failed within days of each other over the weekend, spurring billions of dollars in losses as well as investigations into the collapses, to be carried out by the Justice Department and SEC.
Both of the federal agencies announced this week that will probe the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, which had been a major bank in the US tech industry.
Two days' after SVB's collapse, as customers flocked to branches to regain deposits beyond what the bank could pay in its cash reserves, New York-based Signature, which stood out as one of the main banks accepting cryptocurrency, would also fall.
The consecutive failures have since shaken the financial landscape as well as Americans' faith in the U.S. banking system, which has already began to have a ripple effect.
One of the first casualties to surface in the banking sphere is the renowned Swiss firm Credit Suisse, whose shares hit a record low on Tuesday.
That development came as the bank reported 'certain material weaknesses in our internal controls over financial reporting' had been detected, leading bank brass to categorize analyses that had been carried out over the past two years as 'not effective'.
Shortly after the disclosure, share prices - as well as
