Democrats reject Palantir money

Palantir-linked donations put Democrats in tight spot

Campaign contributions from Palantir are becoming a thorn in the side of Democrats in the midterms, as lawmakers on the left dig into the Trump administration’s immigration efforts and the controversial tech company’s involvement.

Several Democratic candidates have returned or donated funds from top Palantir executives and the company’s political action committee (PAC), distancing themselves from the controversy over the firm’s sizable contracts with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The data analytics and software giant’s PAC and several top executives have donated to candidates in both parties for years, but its contributions are presenting new challenges for Democrats, who are criticizing enforcement tactics and surveillance technology while also running for office and collecting campaign funds.

A campaign spokesperson for Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), who returned a $2,500 donation from the Employees of Palantir PAC earlier this year, told The Hill “we don’t want” Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel’s “money and we don’t want his surveillance in our streets.”

The donation, made to Moulton’s congressional committee before he launched a bid for Sen. Ed Markey’s (D-Mass.) seat, was returned to the PAC in early January, campaign finance filings show.

“As soon as we learned Palantir’s tech was being used against the very community Seth stood beside in Minnesota, we purged their past donations from our books,” the spokesperson told The Hill.

Concerns about ICE and Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) crackdown on immigration reached a boiling point in Minnesota earlier this year, when the White House ramped up the presence of immigration officers in the state.

Two U.S. citizens, Alex Pretti and Renee Good, were shot and killed by federal agents in separate incidents in January, amplifying criticism of President Trump’s immigration policy.

As midterm season gets underway, Democrats are seizing on the falling popularity of Trump’s immigration agenda and the companies enlisted to help.

Palantir is at the center of this debate, with lawmakers and immigration advocates raising concerns over broader surveillance and privacy implications of the technology.

Palantir, a longtime federal contractor, has scored several high-profile contracts in Trump’s second term, including a $30 million deal with ICE to build an “Immigration Lifestyle Operating System” and a $1 billion purchasing agreement with the DHS.

In the face of Palantir’s reputational challenges, several Democratic candidates have pledged not to take future funds tied to the company or donated contributions to advocacy groups.

“A lot of Democrats are relying very heavily on political mobilization based on the outrage with ICE and the administration,” political strategist Basil Smikle told The Hill.

“The questions around why candidates are taking that money and the relationship that they have with these interests is going to become much more important and relevant in these individual campaigns.”

Check out the full report at TheHill.com.

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