KC’s Cerner Corp. suspends donations to Josh Hawley and others who ‘incited violence’
Cerner Corp. will suspend political donations to Sen. Josh Hawley and other politicians who it determines helped to incite the violent mob that attacked the U.S. Capitol building last week.
The North Kansas City-based healthcare IT firm is the latest to seek distance from Hawley, a Missouri Republican, and others who have supported baseless allegations of voter fraud in the November presidential election.
In a statement to The Star this week, Cerner spokeswoman Misti Preston said the company’s political action committee continuously evaluates its political contributions to ensure the candidates and elected officials it funds support company values.
“Effective immediately, Cerner PAC will suspend contributions to any candidate or official who took part in or incited violence last week in Washington, D.C.,” the statement said. “Focusing on the health and well-being of the American people transcends partisan politics, and we will continue working with all elected leaders to advance policies that put the patient at the center of their care.”
While the statement did not directly name any members of Congress, it plainly points to local political figures like Hawley and Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall, who have both faced backlash for fueling last week’s deadly attack.
The Cerner Corporation PAC gave $7,500 to Marshall last year.
In September 2020, the organization gave $5,000 to Fighting for Missouri, a leadership PAC sponsored by Hawley. It also gave $5,000 to Hawley’s PAC in June 2019.
Cerner says its chief financial officer has final authority over the PAC’s political spending decisions.
The healthcare IT firm is the Kansas City area’s largest private employer with some 14,000 workers spread across multiple campuses. It’s also a major federal contractor with a $10 billion contract to design a new health care records system for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
On Monday, the political action committee funded by employees and retirees of Hallmark Cards asked Marshall and Hawley to return previous political donations, saying the greeting card company “believes the peaceful transition of power is part of the bedrock of our democratic system, and we abhor violence of any kind.”
Commerce Bank, another Kansas City based company, announced that it would suspend donations to any members of Congress that opposed recognizing the Electoral College victory of President-elect Joe Biden.
Commerce, Hallmark and Cerner join scores of companies across the country pulling political donations following the violence in Washington.
American Express, Dow Chemical and Marriott all said they would stop donating to all 147 members of Congress who voted against certifying Biden’s victory. Other companies, including Facebook and JPMorgan, decided to suspend political donations altogether.
Kansas City’s Polsinelli law firm told The Star on Tuesday that it was suspending all political contributions pending a policy review from the board.
Polsinelli gave Marshall’s campaign $2,500 in 2020 and $3,500 in 2019.
“ Polsinelli joins the call for our government officials to unite us, protect the safety and the values of the United States during the time leading up to President-Elect Joe Biden’s inauguration and to thereafter ensure a peaceful transfer of power,” the company said in a statement.
Marshall’s office did not respond to requests for comment.
Meanwhile, the backlash continues to mount for Hawley, the first senator to announce an objection to the electoral count last week.
Senior Democratic U.S. senators have said Hawley should resign and one-time mega-donor David Humphreys, a Joplin businessman, has said he should be censured.
On Tuesday, Democrats introduced a resolution in the Missouri House demanding that Hawley resign over “his leading role in inciting sedition and violent insurrection” against the United States.
Hawley’s office did not respond to multiple requests for comment. The senator has said little publicly in the week since the insurrection.
On a Monday night interview with Tucker Carlson on Fox News, Hawley did not address the pressure on him to resign, the loss of support from prominent GOP donors or the likely second impeachment of President Donald Trump on Wednesday.
Rather, he only spoke about Simon & Schuster’s decision to cancel the publication of his upcoming book, “The Tyranny of Big Tech.” Hawley is a graduate of Yale Law School, but has sought to construe the publisher’s decision into a First Amendment issue.
The First Amendment prohibits infringement on free speech by the government. Publishers are not required under the First Amendment to publish books.
“Unfortunately, a lot of people on the left now decided that the First Amendment is something they no longer support,” Hawley said Monday. “And I’ll just say this, Tucker, at a time of division we’ve got to rally around the things that unite us as Americans and I think the First Amendment and free speech has got to be at the top of that list.”
The Star’s Allison Kite contributed to this story.
This story was originally published January 13, 2021 at 8:42 AM.
