The Billionaires Backing Herschel Walker

Welcome to the Checks & Imbalances newsletter. Today we take a deep look at the billionaires trying to influence Georgia’s senate race.

These 6 Billionaires Are Helping Bankroll Herschel Walker’s Run For The Senate

Donald Trump, who once owned a professional football team that counted Herschel Walker as its star player, is far from the only billionaire supporting the former running back’s senate campaign, reports Kyle Mullins:

A half dozen other members of the World’s Billionaires List have donated $100,000 or more apiece to support Walker’s candidacy.

The most generous among them is Bernie Marcus, cofounder of Atlanta-based Home Depot. A longtime GOP donor, Marcus handed $1.75 million to a super PAC called 34N22. That group has concentrated its efforts on supporting Walker, who wore No. 34 when he won the Heisman trophy at the University of Georgia and is now hoping to win a Senate seat in 2022.

Industrialist Dennis Washington donated another $500,000 to 34N22. A representative of Washington named Larry Simkins explained that Walker has long been close with the Washington family and has spent time with them in Montana, but did not elaborate on how they met.

Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker, seen here speaking at a Sept. 2021 rally in Perry, Georgia, has earned the support of several billionaires in his bid to unseat Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.).

SEAN RAYFORD/GETTY IMAGES

Welcome To The Latest Issue Of Checks & Imbalances

This is the web edition of the Checks & Imbalances newsletter, usually sent to inboxes Mondays and Thursdays. It’s free. To make sure you don’t miss an issue, subscribe.

Please support this work, if you can, by subscribing to Forbes. Any tips or suggestions? Email me at zeverson@forbes.com. And you can follow me on Twitter at @z_everson (or Mastodon at @z_everson@mastodon.social). Thanks!

Raphael Warnock’s Billionaire Donors Aren’t Spending Big Like Herschel Walker’s

“After just two years in the Senate, Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) has a tough reelection race on his hands, with Republicans determined to flip his seat in November,” reports Kyle Mullins:

So far, Warnock’s big-dollar donors aren’t building up much of a defense for him, even as billionaires pour money into super PACs supporting his opponent, former professional football player Herschel Walker.

Warnock’s biggest billionaire donors are directing their money to the Warnock Victory Fund, a joint-fundraising committee that caps its donations at $20,800. Media and automotive fortune heir James Chambers and his wife, Nabila Khashoggi, kicked in $20,800 each, So did LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, who has also backed Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.). Hoffman wrote in a statement that he is concerned about Walker’s refusal to acknowledge the results of the 2020 election. “I watched Senator Warnock address the Senate about the importance of American democracy,” he added. “We need to make sure that Warnock remains in the Senate.”

Additionally, agriculture magnates Stewart and Lynda Resnick wrote checks for $10,800 apiece, as did medical equipment fortune heiress Pat Stryker.

Sen. Raphael Warnock, seen here speaking at a Souls to the Polls rally in Austell, Georgia in December 2020, has seen less major donor support than his 2022 Republican opponent.

PHOTO BY PARAS GRIFFIN/GETTY IMAGES

Watch: Trump-Endorsed Candidates Have Funneled At Least $1.4 Million Into His Businesses

Shares Of Trump’s Truth Social SPAC Rise After Musk Backs Out Of Twitter Deal

“Shares of Digital World Acquisition Corp. (DWAC), the special purpose acquisition company with plans to merge with former President Donald Trump’s social media site Truth Social, were up 17% Monday morning after Tesla CEO Elon Musk said he planned to terminate his $44 billion deal to buy Twitter,” reports Madeline Halpert:

The spike comes as Twitter shares fell 6% Monday morning after billionaire Musk on Friday said he had informed Twitter he would back out of his deal to buy the platform. Musk argued the social media company had provided him with “incomplete or unusable information.” It also comes two weeks after DWAC shares plummeted amid news a federal grand jury had subpoenaed the company’s board members.

Elon Musk attends the 2022 Met Gala.

GETTY IMAGES FOR THE MET MUSEUM/VOGUE

Tracking Trump

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) visited Trump at his Bedminster, New Jersey golf club.

INSTAGRAM/REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE

The Florida Prosecuting Attorneys Association held its summer education program at a Miami golf resort owned by a man whose conduct is under scrutiny by prosecutors.

INSTAGRAM/KATHERINE FERNANDEZ RUNDLE

The director of the National Capital Planning Commission approved the Waldorf-Astoria’s new signage plans for D.C.’s Old Post Office, formerly home to the Trump International Hotel. The General Services Administration, which manages the building’s lease, provided the commission with an image of the proposed new entrance.

NATIONAL CAPITAL PLANNING COMMISSION/GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION

“The RNC is promoting Trump and his business, raising fresh concerns about its neutrality” (Politico)
“Going through some old stuff and realized my January 6 livestream got Bannon associate Alexandra Preate going to the Trump Hotel after the Ellipse and saying she was with ‘Caroline Wren and Kimberly.” I assume that’s Kimberly Guilfoyle.” (Twitter/Independent journalist Hunter Walker)
“CLC Sues FEC over Dismissal of Complaint Alleging Violations by Trump Campaign” (Campaign Legal Center)
“Trump Is Selling Signed Copies of His Picture Book for $999” (New York)
“Trump Lashes Out at Elon Musk and ‘Rotten’ Twitter Deal” (Bloomberg)

Editor’s Picks

“I’m a 17-year-old high school student who can’t vote. Here’s why I built a system to track Congress’ troubling stock trades.” (Insider)
“Operation Higher Court’: Inside the religious right’s efforts to wine and dine Supreme Court justices” (Politico)
“Lobbying heats up to protect evidence in potential abortion cases” (Politico)
“Right-Wing Think Tank Family Research Council Is Now a Church in Eyes of the IRS” (ProPublica)
“Uber hired oligarch-linked Russian lobbyist despite bribery fears” (The Guardian)
“Michael Flynn cited for unauthorized foreign payments” (The Washington Post)
“John Fetterman’s fund-raising broke a record as he won the nomination for U.S. Senate” (Philadelphia Inquirer)
“Congressional ethics experts say lack of listed bank accounts raise questions about Mooney” (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
“U.S. Senate continues to pay its non-white staffers thousands less per year” (LegiStorm)
“New Rep. Connie Conway hires two lobbyists” (LegiStorm)
“Youngkin breaks Virginia record, raising more than $1.5 million in quarter” (The Associated Press)
“Tinder and Match end donations to Republican Attorneys General” (Popular Information)
“Herschel Walker partnered in 2012 with arm of energy company accused by multiple states of deceptive practices” (CNN)
“Senegal’s President Sall launches global lobbying push” (The Africa Report)
“Hate political email spam? Federal officials are giving you little time to express your feelings on a potentially pivotal ruling.” (Insider)