INSIDERINSIDER
Marathon Petroleum Corporation
Marathon entered into a conciliation agreement with the FEC in February.STR/NurPhoto via Getty Images
  • Marathon was fined $85,000 by the Federal Election Commission.

  • Marathon is barred from making political contributions because it has contracts with the federal government.

  • The oil refinery and transportation company give a lot of money to Republicans.

Marathon was fined $85,000 by the Federal Election Commission for donating $1 million to a pair of political action committees.

In the summer of 2020, the oil refinery and transportation giant contributed $500,000 to the Senate Leadership Fund and the Congressional Leadership Fund, two political action committees that spend money on ads to boost Republicans in Senate and House elections.

Marathon has contracts with the federal government, and federal campaign finance laws prohibit federal contractors from making political contributions while negotiating or performing federal contracts.

The Campaign Legal Center filed a complaint with the commission. The commission was told by the political action committees that they did not know Marathon was a federal contractor.

Marathon argued that it had not historically engaged in federal government contracting and that its lawyers were unaware that it was doing so.

The oil giant asked that the commission just dismiss the complaint, arguing that the contributions had already been refunded and that they were a result of negligent oversight.

The commission's legal counsel disagreed with Marathon's argument that its federal contract work represented a small percentage of its business.

The largest federal contractor contributions to an outside spending group that the Commission has considered in an enforcement matter were made by the company.

Marathon was fined $85,000 and promised not to violate campaign finance laws again after the commission unanimously voted to accept a conciliation agreement with the company.

The fine was paid last week.

The commission fined federal contractors last month for making political contributions.

The commission hit 3M Company with a $4,500 fine after it gave $50,000 to the Congressional Leadership Fund in the year of 2018, and also hit the company with a $4,700 fine after it gave $25,000 to America First Action in the year of 2019.

The original article is on Business Insider.

  • Afghanistan's former finance minister told the Washington Post that the United States probably didn't mean this.

  • The war in Ukraine has made Vladimir Putin one of the most hated figures in the world. The author of The Revenge of Power: How Autocrats Are Reinventing Politics for the 21st Century says that removing him from office could lead to more violence in Russia.

  • AdAzure
    • Why this Ad?
    • Go ad-free*

    Work from anywhere with secure access to resources.

  • McCarthy said at his press conference on Friday that if Republicans win the majority in the elections, they would remove the chairman from the committee.

  • Michigan coach Juwan Howard consoled Tennessee star freshman Kennedy Chandler after the NCAA Tournament win over the Volunteers.

  • The similarities between Americans and the people who escaped bondage with God are discussed in the opinion piece.

  • AdMicrosoft
    • Why this Ad?
    • Go ad-free*

    Put your ideas into action with the cloud products and services from Microsoft.

  • A young rapper was shot and killed just after he was released from jail. The Miami Herald reported that Timothy "Baby Cino" Starks died on Wednesday afternoon after the car he was in was shot at more than 40 times. Starks was picked up by his friend Collins Banks after he was released from the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in Miami. Banks was driving his mother's car.

  • It might be too late for them to change.

  • If it takes a hail of chalkboard erasers to make sure my son's curriculum includes only subjects of which I approve, I will die in a hail of chalkboard erasers.

  • You can battle your way through a visually-stunning mythicalRPG realm with hundreds ofchampions from 14factions.

  • Video shows the two men face-to-face on the debate stage as they trade barbs, with the word "p---y" being said.

  • Windfall is the most talked about movie after it was released on Friday, March 18. This makes sense, since this is a film with stars such as Jesse Plemons and Lily Collins. This is not to say that it was the only film that was released today. The post "You need to watch Netflix's dark new dystopian thriller" appeared first on BGR.

  • AZCentral | The Arizona Republic

    The plane crashed around 1:35 p.m. Triangle Airpark is 45 miles northwest of Kingman.

  • AdSmartAsset
    • Why this Ad?
    • Go ad-free*

    A high-interest account allows you to earn compound interest, while still having full access to your money. These are the top picks.

  • Defense contractors in the U.S. are trying to develop their own hypersonic weapon after Russia claimed to have used one in the invasion of Ukraine. Some U.S. defense contractors are notable for their work.

  • Most of the Alabama basketball players did not show up for the voluntary shootarounds.

  • I have taken underground tubes which are often bumpy and noisy, but the Elizabeth line has a smooth and quiet ride.

  • AdSun350
    • Why this Ad?
    • Go ad-free*

    Flexbeam is completely hands-free and allows you to stay safe and see farther in the dark.

  • The Save Women's Sports Act would prevent trans girls from competing in sports in middle school. One Senator decided to initiate a fight against the bill after 14-year-old Avery Jackson appeared in person to fight back against it.

  • The answers included a train wreck and laughable.

  • The suits the cosmonauts wear are usually packed months in advance, so people online thought they were showing support for Ukraine.

  • This all-natural sleep patch is changing the way we sleep. Every morning, wake up more refreshed.

  • Meyer is back in college football, but not in the way you think.

  • A federal prosecutor said Friday that a former Boeing test pilot lied to regulators about changes to a critical flight-control system to reduce the cost of pilot training and save the company tens of millions of dollars. Forkner was on trial in Fort Worth. When the judge asked for his plea, Forkner spoke only briefly.

  • The Topeka Capital-Journal

    Mass mortalities have resulted from the stocking of thousands of rainbow trout in February.