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Oracle CEO Larry Ellison donated $250k to poll-bound Lindsey Graham's PAC as TikTok deal got finalized: Report

The long-time senator said in an interview a few months ago that he had personally asked President Trump to find a US firm to buy the app

Veteran Senator Lindsey Graham is facing a tough reelection test this year with an inexperienced Jaime Harrison throwing a solid challenge at him. And now, a fresh revelation could see Graham court more controversies as The Verge has come up with a report saying Oracle CEO Larry Ellison made a big donation to the Security is Strength PAC which pays for ads backing the South Carolina lawmaker in his November 3 reelection bid. It may be mentioned here that Ellison’s leading tech firm has closed in on a deal to become TikTok’s American technology partner.

Federal Election Commission findings showed that Ellison made the $250,000 donation up the PAC on September 14. According to The Verge report, the amount was unusually big for Ellison, who also gave $5,200 to Graham’s Majority Fund in January this year. The timing of the latest donation also turned heads as it came in the wake of Oracle announcing officially that it has been chosen as TikTok’s technology partner for its operations in the US, beating Microsoft in a high-profile bidding race.

In early August, President Donald Trump issued an executive order to ban TikTok, saying that it was a threat to the US’s national security. However, in September end, a federal judge partially granted the Chinese app’s plea for a temporary injunction against the administration’s push.

Oracle’s donation to Graham’s campaign in the wake of it clinching the TikTok deal could add fuel to an already heated political environment. Though Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin applauded the arrangement, China hawks in both the Republican and Democratic parties were not impressed. They saw it as a case of failure in addressing the long-standing concerns related to ties between TikTok’s parent firm ByteDance and Beijing. Graham has reportedly played a key role in making the deal a success, according to The Verge report even though it was not clear if he influenced the specific companies that were involved.

In an interview with Vanity Fair a couple of months ago, the veteran lawmaker said he personally told the president that he find an American company to buy the platform to allay Washington’s concerns over the app’s relationship with China, with which the US is witnessing a sour relationship at the moment over issues like trade, economy and coronavirus pandemic. “Let Microsoft or somebody buy it, put it in American hands and allow the platform to survive and thrive because so many people enjoy it,” Graham said he told Trump. He even told the commander-in-chief that if TikTok was saved, the latter could thank him.

Graham was understandably excited when the deal was inked. On the day the agreement was announced, he tweeted praising Trump: “Great decision by President Trump to approve the sale of TikTok to Oracle and Walmart. Great for American consumers who are being protected from the Chinese Communist Party. Well done, Mr. President.”

The Graham campaign was, however, cautious about the entire episode. TW Arrighi, the campaign’s spokesperson, told The Verge on Saturday: “By law, we have no affiliation with them. They’re a completely separate and independent operation.” Graham is locked in a tight race with Harrison at the moment for the Senate seat. Last week, POLITICO reported that the veteran GOP leader has a 46-40 percent lead over his Democratic challenger among the likely voters even after Harrison raised $57 million in the third quarter, more than double than that raised by Graham ($28 million).