Goldman Sachs has banned high-ranking employees from donating money to the Trump campaign while conveniently leaving a loophole to allow continued donations to Hillary Clinton.

The emailed memo shows that all partners across Goldman Sachs “are prohibited from engaging in political activities and/or making campaign contributions to candidates running for state and local offices, as well as sitting state and local officials running for federal office” effective September 1.

As Mike Pence, Donald Trump’s running mate, is the sitting Governor of Indiana, the new policy prohibits contributions to the Trump campaign.

Conveniently, Hillary Clinton currently does not hold political office, while her running mate, Virginia Senator Tim Kaine, holds neither state nor local political office: as such, their campaign is apparently excluded from Goldman Sachs’ donation restrictions.

The memo marks a dramatic change in Goldman Sachs previous policy, which once excluded partners from its restrictions on political donations.

“The policy change is also meant to minimize potential reputational damage caused by any false perception that the firm is attempting to circumvent pay-to-play rules,” the memo continues.

Goldman Sachs paid $12 million to the Securities and Exchange Commission, and $4 million to the state of Massachusetts, in response to charges that a former banker in its Boston office worked daily for the 2010 gubernatorial campaign of former Massachusetts treasurer Tim Cahill while winning bond underwriting business in the state.

Goldman Sachs’ new policy only perpetuates the argument that Hillary Clinton is the preferred candidate of Wall Street. Clinton earned nearly $675,000 in speaking fees from Goldman Sachs and has refused to publicly release transcripts of those speeches.

The Emergency Election Sale is now live! Get 30% to 60% off our most popular products today!


Related Articles