Adam Smith is a Democrat representing Washington’s 9th District in the House since 1997, and has been a ranking member of the Armed Services Committee since 2011. This position of influence has attracted a great deal of interest from defense contractors, military tech companies, and groups representing war-hungry foreign nations. While Adam Smith has not made a name for himself as an outspoken War Hawk, his voting record is far more colorful than his bland public persona.

Smith is one of the few sitting House representatives who actually voted in favor of the Iraq War resolution, also known as the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) Against Iraq, in October 2002. He later expressed criticism of Bush’s actions, but this pattern of authorizing war and later expressing regret has dogged Smith throughout his career.

In 2016, Smith voted against restricting arms sales from Saudi Arabia to Yemen. He was one of only 16 Democrats who voted not to restrict arms sales. Between 2015 and 2018, Saudi Arabia received $355 million in large U.S. arms, including Boeing helicopters and missiles made by Raytheon and Lockheed Martin. Those weapons fueled a devastating civil war that is largely responsible for the current humanitarian crisis in Yemen.

Non-coincidentally, Adam Smith received enormous donations from these very defense companies in the surrounding election cycles. In 2014, he received over $20,000 from Boeing and another $10,000 each from Lockheed Martin and Raytheon. In 2016, he received $10,000 apiece from Boeing and Lockheed. In 2018, he received over $30,000 from Boeing and $10,000 from the Lockheed Martin lobby. And these are just the recognizable defense companies — there are many more five-figure yearly donations from lesser-known groups such as BAE Systems, General Atomics, Honeywell, and others.

This pattern is still going: just this election cycle, he received $28,100 from Palantir, an infamous AI military tech company that has risen to power through mass surveillance of American citizens. Even more dramatic are the donations Adam Smith has received from AIPAC: a whopping $327,764 just this past election cycle. As Israel defends its war of attrition against the Palestinian people and attempts to stir up wider regional conflict, our Democratic representatives are being paid off to keep quiet.

After a primary challenge by Sarah Smith brought Adam Smith’s enormous support from the defense industry and hawkish record to light in 2018, we have seen greater hesitancy from him to vote for armed conflict. To his credit, he did not vote to go to war with Iran last month, offering reasonable concerns about our troops stationed in the region and the feasibility of entirely destroying Iran’s nuclear program. At the same time, he has been unequivocal in his support for Israel’s war against Iran and has shied away from taking a stance on weapons shipments to Israel, claiming this is the purview of the president.

Finally, Smith’s record on Ukraine is likewise hawkish. When the Congressional Progressive Caucus, of which Smith is a member, released a letter encouraging a diplomatic end to the war in Ukraine, Smith publicly condemned the letter and called for continued support for Ukraine. Admittedly, the war looked more promising for Ukraine at its inception, when this resolution was published. Yet the extensive funding from military companies received by Smith throws his motives into question. He claims to want a two-state solution in Israel and Palestine, yet takes no action and makes no serious advocacy attempts. It’s easy to understand the cause behind Smith’s inaction: the hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions he receives from defense contractors and pro-war lobby groups.

If the Democratic Party means to recover from the public’s complete disgust with our leadership, we must pressure members of Congress to stop funding the war. We urge Adam Smith to stop collecting bribes from the defense industry — it is undemocratic and betrays the American public, who overwhelmingly want an end to endless wars. We want elected officials who are free to speak their mind, and whose values are not dependent on their donors’ wallets.

FEC DATA:

Raytheon - $125,000
Booz-Allen - $15,000
Boeing - $100,000
Lockheed Martin - $100,000
General Dynamics - $87,000
Textron - $55,000
L3Harris Technologies - $73,000
Bechtel - $55,000
Rolls Royce - $64,000
General Electric - $72,000
Honeywell - $92,000
Huntington Ingalls - $63,000
Leidos - $48,000
Space X - $53,000
Northrup Gunman - $118,000
BAE Systems - $77,000
Airbus - $36,000
Motorola - $47,000
General Atomics - $67,000
Kratos - $150,000
Maxar - $22,000
AIPAC/Pro-Israel - $700,000 (rough estimate) 
JStreet PAC - $52,000
Additional Pro-War PACS - $101,000

Additional - Palantir, Anduril, Amentum, Perspecta, Peraton, KBR, Vectrus, TTM Technologies, C3.AI, Allison Transmissions, Torch Technologies