Three private equity firms reportedly made $1.31M in campaign contributions while lobbying to keep the carried interest loophole in the tax bill.
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Blackstone Group, Carlyle Group and KKR & Co. purportedly funneled cash into the funds of Republican leaders in the House and Senate while they were in the midst of voting on the tax bill, Fox Business reports.
According to data obtained by Fox Business from the Federal Election Commission, Blackstone — which has more than $111B of real estate assets under management around the world — provided $212K to Sen. Mitch McConnell’s campaign in 2017. He was one of the key players in the creation of the GOP tax bill. The private equity giant also gave $68K to House Speaker Paul Ryan, while Carlyle Group provided him with $36K.
Though President Donald Trump had called for the elimination of the carried interest deduction, the loophole was retained under the recently unveiled tax bill. Some Wall Street players claiming the money and power associated with private equity firms in Washington allowed them to target key lawmakers with campaign contributions to convince the White House that the tax break was beneficial to the economy, Fox Business reports.
The private equity firms have countered these accusations and pointed out they also invested more than $640B into the overall U.S. economy in 2016, adding that retaining the loophole allows them to create jobs — which ultimately helps the general population.
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