Adelson backs GOP congressional candidates more than Trump

By Nicholas Confessore and Maggie Haberman, New York Times News Service

Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016 | 10:35 a.m.

The Las Vegas billionaire Sheldon G. Adelson is shifting tens of millions of dollars into groups backing congressional Republicans despite months of entreaties from allies of Donald Trump, according to several Republicans with knowledge of Adelson’s giving, dealing a major setback to Trump’s efforts to rally deep-pocketed Republican givers.

Adelson had once dangled the possibility of giving as much as $100 million to pro-Trump “super PACs,” an infusion that with a stroke would have given Trump a financially competitive network of outside groups to back his presidential campaign.

But with less than two months remaining in the campaign, the mercurial casino magnate — who entertained but ultimately rebuffed pitches from an array of Republican candidates during the party’s nominating contest this election cycle — appears to be focusing instead on Republicans in the House and Senate.

Republicans briefed on his giving said Adelson had committed $20 million each to two super PACs backing Senate and House Republicans, contributions that would again make Adelson the single largest known donor to political organizations in the country. CNN, which first reported the $40 million in contributions Monday night, also said that Adelson had allocated only $5 million to supporting Trump.

A Republican with knowledge of the decision confirmed that $5 million in Adelson cash would be directed to organizations run by a fellow politically active billionaire, Joe Ricketts, rather than to two newer super PACs controlled by allies of Trump.

But it remains unclear exactly how the $5 million in support of Trump would be spent. During the Republican primary, the Ricketts family spent millions of dollars opposing Trump, who in return, in February, posted on Twitter that the family “better be careful, they have a lot to hide!”

Adelson, whose fortune is currently estimated at almost $32 billion, could easily afford to spend more for Trump in the weeks ahead. But he is rapidly running out of time to make an impact on the race, and even his contributions to Republican congressional efforts are coming late in the game, when the price of advertising is climbing drastically and there are fewer undecided voters to persuade.

The new spending only cements Adelson’s reputation as both the most sought-after and most unpredictable donor in Republican politics. During the 2012 campaign, Adelson put $20 million behind the long-shot campaign of Newt Gingrich, a longtime friend, before backing the consensus establishment candidate, Mitt Romney. He went on to spend almost $100 million in disclosed contributions during that campaign, only to see most of his favored candidates defeated.

This past year, Adelson was frequently reported to be close to backing a favored Republican candidate in the primary fight but ultimately stayed on the sideline. This cycle, Adelson was said to be leaning toward backing Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, while his wife, Miriam, preferred Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas.

Feeling burned by the intense attention to his giving in 2012, Adelson was said to be ready to swear off super PACs, which must publicly disclose their contributions, in favor of political nonprofit groups, which can spend some money on campaign advertising and are permitted to keep their donors secret. But his new donations represent yet another turnaround: The groups in question, which include two super PACs called the Senate Leadership Fund and the Congressional Leadership Fund, do disclose their donors.