Source: Politics<\/p>\n
Former President George W. Bush contributed to Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and Sen. Lisa Murkowski\u2019s (R-Alaska) reelection campaigns at the end of 2021, according to campaign finance reports filed Monday, backing up two of the most prominent Republicans who supported impeaching Donald Trump a year ago.<\/p>\n
Bush donated a maximum individual contribution of $5,800 to Cheney last October. It was a small but notable piece of her total haul of $1.9 million in the last quarter of 2021, which swelled her campaign account to more than $4.7 million cash on hand. Bush had previously donated to Cheney in 2016, according to FEC records.<\/p>\n
The 43rd president also threw in $2,900 \u2014 the maximum allowable primary donation \u2014 for Murkowski\u2019s reelection efforts, adding to her $1.2 million intake in the last quarter of 2021. Murkowski ended 2021 with $4.2 million in the bank. It\u2019s the first time Bush has donated to the Alaska senator, FEC records show.<\/p>\n
Bush has contributed to a number of Republican political campaigns in recent years<\/a>, but these appear to have been the former president\u2019s first donations of 2021 \u2014 and they are significant in their symbolism. Trump has endorsed Republican challengers seeking to unseat Cheney, Murkowski and others as retribution after they voted to remove him from office and said he incited the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot.<\/p>\n Cheney has drawn several Republican challengers for Wyoming\u2019s at-large House seat, chief among them Harriet Hageman, a former Cheney supporter who won Trump\u2019s endorsement to take her on. Trump\u2019s endorsement has come withconnections to his donors<\/a>, though Hageman brought in significantly less than Cheney \u2014 about $443,000 \u2014 in the fourth quarter<\/a>.<\/p>\n In Alaska, Trump endorsed Republican Kelly Tshibaka, a former state commissioner, against Murkowski in the Senate race. Tshibaka is also one of the Republican candidates joining Trump\u2019s call to oust Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell<\/a> (R-Ky.) from his leadership position.<\/p>\n Both Wyoming and Alaska\u2019s primaries are on Aug. 16.<\/p>\n