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Today we look at Live Nation’s PAC now that everything has changed, investigate Ron DeSantis’ personal finances and look at House Republicans’ plans.
After this week’s glitch handling the ticket sale for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, lawmakers are wondering if they should’ve said no to Ticketmaster’s 2010 merger with Live Nation. If Swift were explaining the situation, she might say that Live Nation may know all too well what to do if it wants to get out of the woods and avoid congress’s vigilante s—t: it launched a PAC in October 2021. So it goes…
Live Nation PAC has received $86,000 in contributions, all from the company’s senior leaders, including CEO Michael Rapino and CFO Joe Berchtold. But the PAC’s expenditures are a blank space, as it hasn’t doled out any money, according to its most-recent filing with the Federal Election Commission, which covers through Oct. 19.
As individuals, Live Nation employees contributed at least $137,000 to other political committees in the 2021-2022 election cycle, with almost all of the change going to Democrats. Despite not being up for re-election, Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) was the lucky one, receiving more than anyone. His campaign and PAC pulled in $45,000. Sen. Alex Padilla’s (D-Calif.) campaign took in $34,000, making the man the second biggest benefactor of Live Nation’s staffers.
The 1 corporate contribution Live Nation made itself was $8,700 to the 2016 host committee for the Democratic National Convention.
Spokespeople for Live Nation did not respond to a request to tell me why.
Full disclosure: Ticketmaster put your correspondent on the pre-sale waitlist.
Taylor Swift attends “In Conversation With… Taylor Swift” during the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival at TIFF Bell Lightbox on September 09, 2022 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
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“Ron DeSantis, the person best positioned to challenge Donald Trump for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, has more in common with Barack Obama than his Republican rival—at least when it comes to personal finances,” reports Dan Alexander:
Ron DeSantis listens to Donald Trump at White House in December 2018. (Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Campaign-finance reports covering the week Sen. Ted Cruz’s book debuted at No. 9 on the New York Times best-seller list before dropping down two spots have not been filed yet, but there is reason to believe Cruz might have used campaign funds to boost his sales. Your correspondent joins Brittany Lewis in Forbes Newsroom to explain—and also to break down Trump’s 2024 announcement.
“House Republicans vowed Thursday to make their investigation of Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings a ‘top priority’ next year, focusing their efforts squarely on linking President Joe Biden to the alleged misconduct, setting up a battle with the White House the day after Republicans won the House majority—but the White House strenuously denied the GOP’s claims,” reports Sara Dorn.
Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, Pool)
“Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a special counsel Friday who will decide whether former President Donald Trump should be indicted for crimes over his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election and his alleged mishandling of classified documents, just days after Trump launched his 2024 presidential campaign,” reports Nicholas Reimann.
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“Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman will not support former President Donald Trump in the 2024 GOP presidential primary, Schwarzman told Axios, making him at least the second Republican megadonor and one-time Trump ally to defect from the former president as he launches his 2024 campaign amid a weakened standing within the GOP,” reports Sara Dorn.

— Taylor Swift, “High Infidelity”

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