FEC Filings: Hyde-Smith Returned Racist's Donation, But Not $50,000 to Corporations

JACKSON — U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith declined to return more than $50,000 to corporate donors who requested refunds from her campaign in November, new FEC filings released Thursday show.

Companies that had donated to the Mississippi Republican's campaign through corporate PACs began making the requests after a video surfaced during the U.S. Senate runoff of the junior senator from Mississippi saying she would "be on the front row" if a constituent invited her to "a public hanging."

Among the companies that requested, but did not receive, refunds are Walmart, Google, AT&T, Union Pacific, Pfizer, Aetna, Walgreens and others. Candidates are not required by law to honor refund requests.

Earlier this month, The New York Times erroneously reported that the campaign had refunded Major League Baseball the $5,000 it had given her. In fact, the filings show that MLB simply canceled the transaction before it could process. One other company, the drugmaker Amgen, was able to cancel a $5,000 donation as well, but still had not received a refund for $4,000 it donated earlier in the year.

Read more: http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/news/2018/dec/28/fec-filings-hyde-smith-returned-racists-donation-n/