The Republican Party’s Creepy Donor List Keeps on Growing

The Republican Party’s creepy donor list just keeps on growing faster than they can try to fix or hope their base will forget the last story about the charming mega donors of the Republican Party.  We already know about the Koch brothers’ hold on the GOPT.  We also know Republicans accepting a free trip to Israel by The American Family Association, a hate group that believes Jewish conversion to Christianity should be a pre-condition to their immigration to the United States.  Republicans hoped that the AFA’s “firing” of Bryan Fischer would fix the AFA’s image problem and of course, the Republican Party’s image (not to mention policy) problem.  As Hraf Harraldson reported, the PFAW has an ad out on the Republican Party’s relationship with the AFA.

A less publicized story begins in Texas involving Governor Greg Abbott, and a member of his Inauguration committee who just happens to be a mega donor.  Oh and two years ago he was convicted of assaulting a woman, nearly to death. On Saturday, the Dallas Morning News reported that Republican mega donor Marcus Hiles, pleaded guilty to an assault charge in 2013. That charge included the accusation that he choked a woman unconscious.

According to the Lone Star Project,

The reports cite a hotel elevator video showing that when the women tried to make a call, the stwo struggled over her cellphone until Hiles threw the woman to the floor and began stomping the phone.  The video, parts of which were viewed by The News, shows Hiles trying to take the phone away and in the tussle, pushing her to the floor.

The woman reported that once they were in their hotel room, Hiles punched her, dragged her by the hair then choked her into unconsciousness.  She told police she thought she was going to die.

This story gets more revealing when consider the fact that Hiles is an advisor to the Governor and Lt. Governor of Texas.  Then there’s that cruel irony in the fact that one of the various Republican organizations that Hiles donated to was Red State Women.  Oh yeah.  Nothing speaks louder about the enlightened women of the Republican Party than taking donations from someone with a history of violence against women.

Abbott and Patrick said they would donate the $702,600 they received from Hiles to shelters and domestic violence services.  So everything should be all better, right?  After all, the Republican Party that doesn’t believe in equal pay or choice just loves women and takes money from hate groups really isn’t really all that bad.  It draws the line on taking money from rich men who beat, choke and drag women around by the hair when the press finds out about it. Taking that money and giving it to shelters and domestic violence services makes it all better, right?  Can’t you just feel the love, ladies?

Like Abbott and Patrick, the already mentioned Red State Women, Texans for Lawsuit Reform Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Land Commissioner George P. Bush are trying to find ways to distance themselves from Hiles’ money and the optics that goes with it.

Still there are some benefactors who, it appears, won’t let a little violence against a woman stand between them and Hiles’ money.

The Lone Star Project lists “Senator John Cornyn, Congressman Pete Sessions, Rick Perry, Karl Rove’s American Crossroads Super PAC, all three Republican national campaign committees and many other GOP candidates and PACs  that took Hiles’ money and have yet to announce any intention to give it up.”

Another disturbing aspect of this lies in the fact that Abbott and the Lt. Gov. should have know about Hiles’ past because both of them hired him as an advisor.  It looks like they went to the John McCain school of vetting.  Either that or they knew about Hiles’ past and didn’t care – at least until they got caught.

Adalia Woodbury

Former contributor.