Rep. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat who is running for the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s seat,
earmarked some $10 million to go to defense contractors who have donated to his campaigns, according to a report published Monday by Politico.
Schiff, who is running against fellow Democratic Reps. Katie Porter and Barbara Lee for Feinstein’s seat,
allocated more than $10 million in taxpayer funds to five companies for the development of military technologies from 2001 to 2007, according to a Politico analysis
of earmark records, which also revealed that these companies had contributed tens of thousands of dollars to his campaign.
“We were always concerned about the pay-to-play aspects,” Steve Ellis, who runs the group “Taxpayers of Common Sense,” wrote regarding Schiff’s earmarks in a statement to Politico. “If
you’re getting a campaign contribution and getting your earmark for that same company or for a client of that lobbyist, it has that perception.”
The Daily Caller added:
The largest donor earmarks by Schiff, totaling $6 million, went to Smiths Detection, which was developing chemical weapons sensors for the military, while another $3 million went to Phasebridge, Inc., which was developing a Naval radar system.