By Caitlin Oprysko
July 13, 2021
(Politico) – With Daniel Lippman and Theodoric Meyer
ACTIVIST GROUP ASKS TOYOTA TO REQUEST REFUNDS FROM ELECTION OBJECTORS: Liberal group End Citizens United is asking Toyota to request refunds of the nearly $60,000 in political contributions it’s made this year to members of Congress who objected to Biden’s electoral college victory in the wake of January’s insurrection. According to data compiled by the left-leaning watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, the automaker was by far one of the top donors to election objectors, despite saying after the insurrection that it would be reassessing its contribution criteria. Last week, after backlash over its contributions and hearing from “troubled stakeholders,” the company said its PAC would no longer give to those lawmakers.
— End Citizens United wants the company to go further, asking in a letter to North America CEO and President Tetsuo Ogawa and head of government affairs Stephen Ciccone to request a refund of its donations and “to make clear this is a permanent, not temporary, pause.” Anything less, the group’s president, Tiffany Muller, asserted, “will expose the latest announcement as just another public relations stunt designed to provide cover and mitigate reputational damage until it is safe to donate again.”