from the this-is-why-we-can't-have-nice-things dept

The Washington Post recently had some interesting additional insight into the various “pay to play” shenanigans related to Trump’s $330 million ballroom. They got a hold of a broader donor list, noting that Nvidia and Apple each committed $25 million, the top contribution amount. As did GOP donor mainstay the Adelson family. Crypto companies are also well represented.

I was more interested in the until-now undisclosed contributions by billionaire Charles Ergen , co-founder and chairman of telecommunications company Dish Network. Ergen committed $25 million to the venture, but didn’t want his help publicized. The donations came as Ergen was being forced by the admin to offload spectrum assets to AT&T and Elon Musk by FCC boss Brendan Carr:

“In December, with the sale still pending, Ergen committed $12.5 million to Trump’s ballroom, according to the donation list. Records indicate Ergen requested that the source of the donation remain anonymous.…