Comptroller Sues Company Seeking Records of Political Spending from Company

State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli announced today that he has sued Qualcomm, a telecommunications company that is one of the nation’s largest manufacturers of computer chips for mobile devices, seeking internal records of political expenditures by the company.

The Comptroller is suing on behalf of the Common Retirement Fund, of which he is the sole trustee.

The Comptroller argues that since the Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission, corporate political spending has increased dramatically, but there has been no commensurate increase in disclosure of corporate political spending to shareholders.

This is not the Comptroller’s first foray into pressuring companies to provide more disclosure of their political activities.  In 2011, he claimed success in getting three large companies to be more transparent in how they fund political campaigning and issue advocacy.

In his statement, DiNapoli said:

“Corporate spending for political purposes should be focused solely on creating shareholder value and should be done in a completely transparent manner. Qualcomm’s lack of disclosure of political spending prevents the Fund from determining if shareholder value is being furthered.”

Read the Comptroller’s press release, and the complaint (which was filed in Delaware).

Read news coverage of the issue in the New York Times, which first reported the story.