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Committee Members Blindly Supporting Corporatist Barrett Took Millions in Oil and Gas Donations; Received Non-Answers From Trump’s Nominee 

WASHINGTON, D.C. — With the Senate Judiciary Committee majority voting to advance pro-corporate judge Amy Coney Barrett, campaign donations compiled by Accountable.US revealed that committee members supporting the nominee raked in nearly $5.3 million from the oil and gas industry in 2020 alone. Throughout their entire political careers, committee members have cashed in on over $13 million in oil and gas donations. New reporting from the HuffPost exposed nominee Amy Coney Barrett deep ties to the oil and gas industry and her undisclosed ties to the nation’s largest oil and gas lobby association, the American Petroleum Institute.

“The Republican Senate Judiciary members supporting Trump’s nominee Amy Coney Barrett had over $13 million oily reasons to do so. Big Oil and their lobbyists have been lining the pockets of these members for their entire careers in order to pack corporate activist judges onto the bench who have track records of siding with special interests over people, like Barrett. The last thing Americans need is another anti-science, climate-denying justice on the highest court in the nation,” said Jayson O’Neill, Accountable.US spokesperson.

“Hastily pushing through an ill-fit judge that we know far too little about should not be the senate’s priority while millions of families are left struggling and reeling without additional pandemic relief.” 

What little information is available has painted a troubling picture of Barrett’s corporate bent, including a consistent pattern of siding in favor of corporations and against workers, consumers, immigrants, and those alleging harm in relevant cases. This week, Accountable.US released “The Barrett Files” — a searchable database of Barrett’s decisions from her time on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in order to shed light on some essential cases that comprise the nominee’s judicial history.  

When asked why she lists Shell and several Shell Oil affiliates on her recusal form, Barrett said it was because Shell was her father’s former employer but refused to clarify why her father’s other oil affiliations, like the American Petroleum Institute, didn’t make the list. Barrett repeatedly refused to answer a basic question about whether or not climate change even exists. She also declined to answer when asked if people who enjoy natural resources should have standing to file citizen environmental lawsuits among other troubling non-clarifying responses. 

Senate Judiciary Committee members $13 million Big Oil donations: 

  • John Cornyn Has Received $4,342,781 From Oil And Gas Companies During His Political Career. [OpenSecrets, accessed 10/21/20] 
  • Ted Cruz Has Received $3,756,313 From Oil And Gas Companies During His Political Career. [OpenSecrets, accessed 10/21/20] 
  • John Kennedy Has Received $949,772 From Oil And Gas Companies During His Political Career. [OpenSecrets, accessed 10/21/20] 
  • Marsha Blackburn Has Received $795,284 From Oil And Gas Companies During Her Political Career. [OpenSecrets, accessed 10/21/20] 
  • Thom Tillis Has Received $555,875 From Oil And Gas Companies During His Political Career. [OpenSecrets, accessed 10/21/20] 
  • Lindsey Graham Has Received $575,089 From Oil And Gas Companies During His Political Career. [OpenSecrets, accessed 10/21/20] 
  • Josh Hawley Has Received $262,053 From Oil And Gas Companies During His Political Career. [OpenSecrets, accessed 10/21/20] 
  • Mike Lee Has Received $366,306 From Oil And Gas Companies During His Political Career. [OpenSecrets, accessed 10/21/20] 
  • Joni Ernst Has Received $368,769 From Oil And Gas Companies During Her Political Career. [OpenSecrets, accessed 10/21/20] 
  • Mike Crapo Has Received $468,937 From Oil And Gas Companies During His Political Career. [OpenSecrets, accessed 10/21/20] 
  • Chuck Grassley Has Received $420,942 From Oil And Gas Companies Across His Campaigns For Public Office. [OpenSecrets, accessed 10/21/20] 
  • Ben Sasse Has Received $241,885 From Oil And Gas Companies During His Political Career. [OpenSecrets, accessed 10/21/20] 

View the committee members’ donations and ties to the oil and gas industry here. 

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