Report: Cigna pledged end to political contributions, then renewed them

Last year, after Trumpinspired supporters attacked and trashed the United States Capitol in the invasion of the seat of government, dozens of U.S. corporations pledged to stop or at least delay making political contributions to members of Congress who played a role in the uprising designed to keep Trump in power.

Bloomfield-based insurance giant Cigna was among them, telling employees it would end political contributions for politicians who “hindered the peaceful transition of power” or who “encouraged or supported violence.”

Since then, Cigna has written checks totaling tens of thousands of dollars to lawmakers who voted to reject the results of the Electoral College, a research and advocacy organization has found. Those results seated President Joe Biden.

The advocacy group, Accountable.US, based in Washington D.C., issued a report this week charging that Cigna and 29 other publicly traded companies in the Fortune 500 list of America’s largest corporations, or trade groups that represent them, failed to keep their pledges to halt contributions to elected officials involved in the uprising.

Connecticut’s three giant defense contractors — all with thousands of employees in the state but with headquarters elsewhere — were also on the list.

Among those who reaped renewed contributions from the Cigna Corporation Employee Political Action Committee were U.S. Reps. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., the former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, and Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La.

Nunes got $1,000 from Cigna, while Scalise received $5,000.

Another opponent of the election certification, U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler, R-Mo., also got $5,000. In all, the Cigna PAC has contributed $30,000 to members of Congress who voted against accepting the election results, Accountable.US said.

In the report, based on federal campaign finance filings, the left-leaning group based its findings on contributions to members of Congress who voted against the election certification — with money that flowed within a few months of Jan. 6, 2021.

Cigna’s PAC also gave $15,000 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee, where U.S. Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, who also objected to the election certification, is the chairman.

Cigna did not respond to multiple requests for comment by phone and email this week. The health insurer and health management company is the largest publicly traded corporation with its headquarters in Connecticut, ranked by total revenue.

The key question is whether Cigna and the others violated their promises by giving PAC money to members of Congrss who voted against the Electoral College certification.

Did that, in Cigna’s case, amount to hindering the peaceful transition of power, or in some other way violate the spirit of what Cigna told its employees?

Accountable.US and election reform advocates in Connecticut say yes, it did.

“Major corporations like Cigna were quick to condemn the insurrection and tout their support for democracy — and almost as quickly, many ditched those purported values by cutting big checks to the very politicians that helped instigate the failed coup attempt,” said Kyle Herrig, president of Accountable.US.

The report and the start of the calendar year of Congressional elections, coming on the anniversary of the Capitol siege, touched off a new round of debate about the influence of money in politics and what to do about it.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who led the vote against the Electoral College results, reaped $333,5000 from the corporations, while Scalise’s campaign made $250,5000 by mid-November of last year.

Accountable.US, which calls itself a “nonpartisan watchdog organization that shines a light on corporations and special interests,” reported that other corporations with operations in Connecticut but headquartered elsewhere, including General Dynamics, which owns Electric Boat in Groton; Lockheed Martin, owner of the Sikorsky helicopter division in Stratford; and Raytheon Technologies, which owns Pratt & Whitney, also first condemned the attacks, then renewed political contributions to members of Congress who voted against the certification.

The defense contractors did not return emails seeking comment Friday afternoon. In all three cases, their public comments did not specifically say they would halt donations to members of Congress who opposed the election results.

In all, the report cited more than $3.3 million in contributions to what it calls the “Sedition Caucus” since the Jan. 6 insurrection. Last year it launched a searchable site for the public to track political contributions.

“The increasing volume of corporate donations to lawmakers who tried to overthrow the will of the people makes clear that these companies were never committed to standing up for democracy in the first place,” Herrig said.

“Even as democracy continues to be in the crosshairs of powerful purveyors of the Big Lie, these CEOs would rather amass political influence than stand up for their customers, shareholders and employees.”

A total of 147 Republican members of Congress, 139 in the House and eight in the Senate, voted against certifying Biden’s win, the report shows. Democratic activists and Accountable.US call the lawmakers the “Sedition Caucus.”

Shortly after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, CNBC reported on an internal Cigna email setting their standards.

“Some issues are so foundational to our core fiber that they transcend all other matters of public policy,” John Murabito, the Cigna chief human resources officer, wrote in the memo. “There is never any justification for violence or destruction of the kind we saw at the U.S. Capitol — the building that’s such a powerful symbol of the very democracy that makes our nation strong. Accordingly, CignaPAC will discontinue support of any elected official who encouraged or supported violence, or otherwise hindered the peaceful transition of power.”

Tom Swan, executive director of the consumer advocacy Connecticut Citizen Action Group, said Friday that Cigna’s tactic, including its apparent refusal to comment on the new report, is telltale.

“Their flip-flop on this is further proof that no one should ever believe what Cigna says. It’s further proof that Cigna’s total mission is to make profits and they will lie in order to do it.”

Cigna seems to be caught in a moral miscue, Cheri Quickmire, executive director of the elections watchdog Common Cause in Connecticut, said.

“They weren’t being truthful when they made that pledge,” Quickmire said Thursday. “They had no interest. They wanted to get some press and attention by making the declaration. But clearly if it resumes so quickly it wasn’t sincere.”

Ultimately, the flap should help reduce the flow of money from corporations to members of Congress, some observers say.

“I don’t know that there are more than two or three CEOs that are happy with their voice in Washington,” said Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, a management expert and senior associate dean for leadership studies, at the Yale School of Management, said during an interview on CNBC Thursday.

His view is that removing corporate money from the equation of politics and public policy in Washington would serve the corporations, not just the public.

“They shouldn’t be spending this money” Sonnenfeld said in CNBC’s “Squawk Box” program. “A lot of them have permanently put it on hold. They’re not going back to make congressional commitments for campaigns anymore. IBM has never done it. It hasn’t hurt their voice in Washington.”