Anyone who doubts the clear quid pro quo between US politicians and their corporate money men need look no further than the latest federal effort to ban online gambling.

Last week saw the introduction of S.3376, a placeholder bill filed by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) that seeks to roll back the 2011 Department of Justice opinion that said the 1961 Wire Act applied only to sports betting, which paved the way for states like New Jersey to launch intrastate online gambling markets.

On Wednesday, the Washington Post reported that Cotton’s bill appeared shortly after Las Vegas Sands boss Sheldon Adelson wrote a $20m check to the Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC with ties to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Adelson’s donation represented 71% of the total funds the super PAC raised in the month of August. News of the donation came via a filing with the Federal Election Commission on Sept. 20, just one day before Cotton filed his S.3376.