Donation of $500,000 to Governor’s charity linked to favorable laws for AT&T

The Los Angeles Times has reported that the $500,000 donation AT&T gave to one of Governor Schwarzenegger’s charities came just six months after the governor signed a law lifting barriers to the company’s bid to sell pay television service in California. The money went to After-School All-Stars, a tax-exempt group founded by Schwarzenegger in the early 1990s to provide tutoring, recreation and other programs to poor children. The organization’s board includes some of Schwarzenegger’s closest friends and aides, including Bonnie Reiss, a former senior aide in his administration, and Paul Wachter, his financial advisor, the Times reported. “It’s all to the good for low-income kids, but it’s also noted on AT&T’s balance sheet in more ways than one,” said Sheila Krumholz, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics in Washington, D.C. “There is a benefit to regardless of his technical affiliation with the charity.”

Last November, AT&T gave $25,000 to the Governor’s campaign, and just four days later Susan Kennedy, now his Chief of Staff voted as Public Utilities Commission member to approve AT&T’s merger with SBC Communications. Less then a month later, Governor Schwarzenegger paid that exact amount to Susan Kennedy leading many to suspect that AT&T had paid this money as a bribe in order to secure this favorable decision by the PUC.