Not All the Koch Brothers Have Sworn Off Donald Trump

Bill Koch is hosting a fundraiser for the embattled GOP nominee this weekend.

Evan Vucci/AP

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


Charles and David Koch have declared they will have nothing to do with Donald Trump’s election—a major blow considering the financial and organizational resources their political network can mobilize. But not all of the four Koch brothers have sworn off Trump. David’s fraternal twin, Bill, who famously spent nearly two decades in a scorched-earth legal battle with his brothers, will be hosting a fundraiser for Trump at his Cape Cod mansion this weekend.

According to an invitation obtained by Mother Jones, Bill Koch and his wife, Bridget—who held fundraisers for Mitt Romney during the 2012 campaign—will host the Trump event at their home in Oyster Harbors, Massachusetts, at 6 p.m. on Saturday. Admission to the fundraiser is just $2,700, the maximum donation to the Trump campaign, but pledging to raise more than that will get you special access. Koch and his wife are listed as co-chairs, which the invitation specifies requires a donation or pledge to raise $100,000. Two other couples—former Mitt Romney fundraiser Jerry Jordan and his wife, Darlene, and real estate developer Charles Talanian and his wife, Ann—are listed as co-chairs.

RNC chairman Reince Priebus—who is reportedly furious with Trump for refusing to endorse Paul Ryan in his upcoming primary—was expected to attend fundraisers for Trump in Massachusetts this weekend.

 

WE'LL BE BLUNT:

We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't find elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

payment methods

WE'LL BE BLUNT

We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate