{"id":256132,"date":"2026-07-31T06:36:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T06:36:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/256132\/"},"modified":"2026-07-31T06:36:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T06:36:16","slug":"rep-ryan-mackenzie-returns-donation-from-pardoned-republican-megadonor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/256132\/","title":{"rendered":"Rep. Ryan Mackenzie Returns Donation From Pardoned Republican Megadonor"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rep. Ryan Mackenzie (R-Pennsylvania) returned a donation to a man convicted of fraud in connection with the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal following reporting<\/a> that President Donald Trump pardoned him just three days after the contribution.<\/p>\n

NOTUS reported Wednesday<\/a> that Adam Kidan donated $2,600 to Mackenzie\u2019s leadership PAC on June 30, according to Federal Election Commission records. Trump had traveled to Mackenzie\u2019s district on June 23 to campaign alongside the congressman. Trump pardoned Kidan on July 3.<\/p>\n

Mackenzie\u2019s returned donation was first reported by The Morning Call<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mackenzie spokesperson Arnaud Armstrong told NOTUS in a statement: \u201cThe suggestion that any contribution was related to a pardon is ridiculous and has absolutely zero basis in any fact. Regardless, as someone who has been a leader on reforming government, Congressman Mackenzie is returning the moderate contribution to avoid even an appearance of impropriety.\u201d<\/p>\n

Armstrong previously told NOTUS that Mackenzie \u201chas never advocated for a pardon from the President on anyone\u2019s behalf.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kidan donated to Mackenzie\u2019s leadership PAC, a fundraising vehicle often used to contribute money to other like-minded candidates and political committees, and it is the most recent donation Kidan has made, according to FEC records.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"AdamKidan\"<\/p>\n

Adam Kidan, a former business partner of lobbyist Jack Abramoff, arrives at the Federal Courthouse in Miami on Dec. 15, 2005. Kidan pleaded guilty to federal charges of conspiracy and mail fraud. (AP Photo\/ Lynne Sladky)
\n Lynne Sladky\/AP\n <\/p>\n

Mackenzie, who represents Pennsylvania\u2019s 7th Congressional District, is facing off against Democrat Bob Brooks in one of the most contested House races in the country, which the Cook Political Report ranks a \u201ctoss up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kidan served more than two years in prison beginning in 2006 after pleading guilty to conspiracy and wire fraud. He is a notable campaign donor in Pennsylvania and throughout the nation, contributing to Republicans locked in other contested Pennsylvania races, such as Reps. Rob Bresnahan, Brian Fitzpatrick and Scott Perry.<\/p>\n

He has donated millions of dollars to Republican causes over the years and gave more than $200,000 to Trump-affiliated committees ahead of the 2024 election cycle, federal records show.<\/p>\n

Kidan and Abramoff were ordered to pay $217 million in restitution as part of their sentencing. It remains unclear whether Kidan paid the full amount, and Trump\u2019s pardon is likely to erase any remaining obligations.<\/p>\n

This article has been updated to include comment from the Rep. Ryan Mackenzie\u2019s campaign.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rep. Ryan Mackenzie (R-Pennsylvania) returned a donation to a man convicted of fraud in connection with the Jack…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":256133,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":["post-256132","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-headlines","tag-pennsylvania-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256132","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=256132"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256132\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/256133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=256132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=256132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=256132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}