U.S. Rep. Scott Garrett, a member of the House Financial Services committee who is poised to take the gavel of the financial services subcommittee, received nearly $200,000 in donations from a New York City-based hedge fund, according to a report from the Center for Public Integrity.
The donations to funds benefitting Garrett, according to the report a “staunch defender” of the hedge fund industry, were part of some $10 million in overall contributions from the industry to Republican campaign committees in the last election cycle.
Garrett’s leadership PAC, Supporting Conservatives of Today and Tomorrow, reportedly received $45,000 of the money on Sept. 15 from nine executives of the Elliot Management Co. An additional $150,800 was donated by Elliot executives to the Scott Garrett Victory Committee. Those donations were first reported last summer by The Record.
“This is particularly appalling,” Ellen Miller, executive director of the Sunlight Foundation, told the Center for Public Integrity. “No one in America will believe that Representative Garrett can provide impartial oversight of the hedge fund industry after taking these huge amounts of money from one company.”
A spokesman for Elliot told the Center that the company itself does not make donations, only its individual employees, who donate to and raise money for candidates for both parties.
A spokesman for Garrett did not immediately return a call or email for comment on the report.
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