Anti-online gambling advocate Sheldon Adelson cut a $5m check to US President Donald Trump’s inauguration fund, so can a quid pro quo on banning online gambling be far behind?
On Tuesday, a Federal Election Commission filing revealed that the Las Vegas Sands casino owner and anti-online gambling curmudgeon had contributed $5m to Trump’s coming out party in Washington this January. Adelson’s contribution accounted for nearly 5% of the record $107m the inauguration fund collected from wealthy donors.
(For the record, it’s unclear how much of that $107m was actually spent on the inauguration. The New York Times quoted the inaugural committee saying any leftover funds would be donated to charity, although these charities have yet to be identified, which likely means that the much-maligned Donald J. Trump Foundation will soon have more money to pay the lawyers defending the president’s many lawsuits.)
Adelson’s largesse followed the $11.2m that he and his wife Miriam reportedly gave Trump and Trump-affiliated political action committees during the 2016 election cycle, not to mention Adelson’s $20m gift to the Republican Senate Leadership Fund last September.