Uihlein funded U.S. Capitol protest group
Democratic attorneys general call on GOP counterparts to reject contributions from ‘mega-donor’ Uihleins
The Uihlein family that owns the Uline business includes Liz (second from left) and Richard (second from right). (Uline.com)
By Ted Cox
Democratic attorneys general across the country are calling on their Republican counterparts to reject political donations from a pair of Illinois billionaires after they contributed money to groups behind the protest that led to the assault on the U.S. Capitol last week.
The Democratic Attorneys General Association charged Thursday that “Republican mega-donors Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein contributed millions of dollars to the Tea Party Patriots, a group that participated in the rally that led to the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.”
The association also charged that “the Rule of Law Defense Fund, the policy arm of the Republican Attorneys General Association, paid for robocalls to recruit attendees and sponsored the pre-riot rally.”
But the association focused its attention on the Uihleins, longtime political donors to conservative causes, who’ve thrown their weight behind many Illinois issues and politicians. Dick Uihlein backed Gov. Bruce Rauner in his first run for office in 2014, then turned around and supported Jeanne Ives in her bid to unseat him in the Republican primary in Rauner’s ill-fated reelection campaign in 2018.
A 2018 story published by Inside Philanthropy said the Uihleins were national conservative “mega-donors” second only to the Adelsons, including the recently deceased Sheldon Adelson.
Dick Uihlein has bankrolled the Illinois Policy Institute and Dan Proft’s 2010 gubernatorial campaign, and he later gave money to back shadowy conservative newspapers and other media outlets across the state run by Proft. More recently, he contributed to efforts to defeat the Fair Tax Amendment in Illinois last year.
But it was Dan Mihalopoulos at Chicago public radio station WBEZ 91.5-FM who broke the story earlier this week that Dick Uihlein “has contributed nearly $4.3 million in the past five years to the political action committee of the Tea Party Patriots, including $800,000 in October, according to Federal Election Commission records.”
According to the story, “on the website for the rally, the Tea Party Patriots were among 11 groups listed as ‘participating in the March to Save America’ as part of the ‘#StopTheSteal coalition.’” Mihalopoulos took pains to point out that a Tea Party Patriots leader called on protesters to “keep it peaceful” the day of the rally, but that didn’t stop President Trump from calling on them to “fight” and march up Pennsylvania Avenue to the U.S. Capitol, where they stormed the steps and invaded the building, halting congressional certification of the election and eventually leading to five deaths, including one Capitol Police officer beaten over the head by rioters with a fire extinguisher.
Mihalopoulos reported Friday that the Uihleins were not responding to requests for comment.
Sean Rankin, executive director of the Democratic Attorneys General Association, issued a statement Thursday saying: “As more information comes out about the planning of events that resulted in violence at the U.S. Capitol, more connections to Republican attorneys general become clear, including Republican AGs’ ties to donors like the Uihleins.
“Republican AGs should refuse contributions from donors like the Uihleins,” Rankin added. “This declaration and other corrections to their association are necessary actions on the only path forward for those who claim to believe in the rule of law and protecting our democracy. Republican AGs or candidates who choose to accept Uihlein money moving forward will be turning their backs on our country and ignoring the deadly attack on Congress on Jan. 6.
“We must demand accountability from our elected leaders and future leaders, and we must refuse to let funders of terror and spinners of dangerous conspiracy theories undermine our democracy. We all must agree on this.”
Trump’s involvement in the rally and his encouragement of the march led directly to the U.S. House impeaching him for a second time on charges of incitement of insurrection. A Senate trial on the impeachment charges was expected to begin next week, perhaps after President-elect Biden is inaugurated on Wednesday.