BP is doling out the cash again to lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
The company at the center of the storm in last year’s Gulf of Mexico spill sent out its first checks for the 2012 election cycle in March totaling $29,000. They went almost entirely to the campaigns of a handful of House Republican leaders.
BP on March 11 gave House Speaker John Boehner the maximum $5,000 contribution that can go toward a candidate’s 2012 primary campaign, according to a Federal Election Commission filing Tuesday, on the eve of the anniversary of the April 20 Deepwater Horizon disaster.
House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton also received a $5,000 check on March 1 — but Upton's office says the money was not accepted and returned. Both House and Senate Republican campaign committees received $5,000 checks that day, as did House GOP Whip Kevin McCarthy.
House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp’s campaign received $1,000 on March 11.
Republicans weren’t the only benefactors of BP’s initial largess.
Rep. Peter Visclosky (D-Ind.) received $3,000 in primary help on March 22.
BP’s North American PAC had $332,408 cash on hand at the end of March, according to the filing. The company’s PAC received close to $18,000 in contributions in March and just more than $55,000 for the year.
