Staff Reports
Executives from two tech companies recently discovered that if they want to get ahead, a few well-placed donations can work wonders. It seems they’ve quietly slipped nearly $30,000 into the campaign coffers of Senator Jon Tester, a Democrat from Montana, all while securing federal funding for their new tech hub. So much for draining the swamp; it’s more like filling it with cash.
The crew at Reveal Technologies, focused on defense-oriented artificial intelligence, teamed up with Next Frontier Capital, a venture capital firm that’s cheering from the sidelines of the defense technology arena. Their hefty donations, spaced out over two years, occurred simultaneously with a series of meetings where Tester played matchmaker between the tech companies and federal funds. With a cool $41 million approved for the so-called Headwaters Hub—courtesy of the federal CHIPS and Science Act—it’s no wonder some ethics watchdogs are raising an eyebrow.
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Tester has been proudly waving his bipartisan flag, claiming this funding is a golden ticket to tech jobs in Montana. He even held meetings with various stakeholders, including some of his Republican allies. Yet, oddly enough, only Tester found himself on the receiving end of these tech donations. Interestingly, other members of Montana’s congressional squad, like Senator Steve Daines, who also voted for the CHIPS act and advocated for Headwaters, didn’t see a dime—or, in Daines’ case, any sizeable contributions—to his campaign.
Some critics have questioned the ethics of this whole arrangement. With Tester steering the ship as chairman of the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee, the optics are far from rosy. Even Richard Painter, a former chief ethics lawyer under George W. Bush, didn’t hold back, saying this situation is a textbook example of what’s wrong with the campaign finance theater. According to Painter, the system reeks and these meetings shouldn’t be happening at all. Perhaps it’s time to turn down the volume on the “business as usual” trumpet that rings in Washington.
While Tester has been meeting with executives from both companies to cheer them on, it’s noteworthy that Reveal Technologies has had a cozy relationship with Tester’s campaign for some time. Donations started rolling in shortly after Tester had a chat with Reveal’s CEO in March 2022. A donation here and a donation there, before you know it, they have a nice little slush fund to work with alongside those desperately needed federal bucks.
In the end, it remains unclear just how much each entity stands to gain from all this federal funding and whether any of the contributing companies will actually benefit or just have their names thrown around in some corporate public relations effort. Clearly, the song and dance of campaign donations paired with legislative advocacy is well-rehearsed in D.C., and this latest episode is just another reminder that for some, the pathway to success might be paved with greenbacks rather than hard work or innovation.
