Senators Elizabeth Warren and Michael Bennet have officially requested that Apple CEO Tim Cook and other major technology executives provide answers regarding their substantial donations to the Trump inauguration fund. They get straight to the point:
These contributions raise concerns about corruption and the impact of corporate funds on the Trump administration. Congress and the public have a right to know. We therefore request your responses to the following questions by January 31st, 2025:
For example, Tim Cook donated $1,000,000 to the Trump inauguration fund, contrasting sharply with the $43,200 given to the Biden inauguration fund. What accounts for the $956,800 disparity between the two administrations? The senators express their suspicions:
Apple CEO Tim Cook contributed $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund, while Apple is currently facing a DOJ antitrust lawsuit and more than 20 ongoing NLRB cases concerning unfair labor practices.
They neglected to mention that the Biden administration refrained from vetoing a ruling that favored Masimo, allowing Apple to continue selling Apple Watches with blood oxygen monitoring capabilities in the U.S.
Regardless, Cook joins other prominent figures such as Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Sam Altman, and Uber, all of whom donated $1 million to the Trump inauguration fund.
“It is vital that federal regulators enforce competition, consumer protection, anti-discrimination laws, and any other applicable regulations fairly across the board,” states the letter signed by Warren and Bennet. “However, the industry’s actions suggest that Big Tech is attempting to gain favor and evade regulations. While this may benefit wealthy tech executives, it can harm America: unregulated Big Tech monopolies may undermine consumer rights, exploit workers, and stifle competition and innovation.”
Sam Altman, who also made a personal contribution rather than through his company, shared the inquiries directed at him and the other CEOs on X.
- When and under what conditions did your company decide to make these
contributions to the Trump inaugural fund? - What justifications do you have for these contributions?
- Who within the company made the decision to contribute?
- Was the Board made aware of these plans, and did they give their consent? Were shareholders informed about these donation plans?
- Did anyone from the company communicate regarding these donations with members of the Trump Transition team or any associates of President Trump? If yes, please provide details of all such communications, including the timing, participants, and the nature of the discussions.
While Cook typically avoids publicizing matters like this, Altman expressed his views on X:
Funny, they didn’t ask me about my contributions to Democrats…
This was a personal contribution, as you noted; I’m puzzled by these questions since my company didn’t make that decision.
Next on the agenda: Tim Cook is set to attend the inauguration of President-elect Trump on Monday, which has now moved indoors due to cold weather. Notably, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is one of the few tech CEOs opting out of attending.
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