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WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Accountable.US called on Eaton Corporation to come clean about its role in a shady tax avoidance deal that funneled $1.6 billion to a non-profit group tied to anti-voting rights and judicial activist Leonard Leo – among the largest contributions ever given to a politically focused non-profit organization.

Last year, Eaton signed an open statement in the New York Times and Washington Post that read, “we all should feel a responsibility to defend the right to vote and to oppose any discriminatory legislation or measures that restrict or prevent any eligible voter from having an equal and fair opportunity to cast a ballot.”

According to a report from the Daily Beast, Eaton “helped fund a conservative mega-activist whose group allegedly spread ‘crackpot’ voter fraud theories.” Even still, a spokesperson for Eaton has claimed the company has “no additional information to share regarding the acquisition.”

“

A company that claims to support voting rights shouldn’t be at the center of a shady tax avoidance scheme designed to funnel $1.6 billion to the anti-democracy work of conservative kingmaker Leonard Leo. Eaton has some explaining to do. Do they support American democracy or was it all just talk to get some good PR? Unfortunately, the latter seems likely.”

Kyle Herrig, president of Accountable.US

Read the full Accountable.US research report here.

  • In 2021, conservative mega-donor Barre Seid donated 100% of the shares of his company Tripp Lite to Marble Freedom Trust, which were later sold to Eaton for $1.65 billion.
  • In April 2021, around the same time as its acquisition of Tripp Lite, Eaton signed onto a major statement in the Washington Post decrying anti-democratic legislation.
  • Marble Freedom Trust founder Leonard Leo also founded the Honest Elections Project, which advocates for more restrictive voting laws and stoked fears about voter fraud during the 2020 election.

 

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