Discrepancies in OpenSecrets Bulk Data vs website

[Amol Raswan]

Hi everyone,

First, I want to thank the OpenSecrets team for the incredible work they do in promoting transparency in campaign finance!

I am writing to report discrepancies I have identified in the campaign contributions bulk data (of 2020) provided by OpenSecrets. Through a transaction-level analysis, I observed that some contributions listed on the website (https://www.opensecrets.org/outside-spending/corporate-contributions/2020) are missing from the bulk dataset. To verify these discrepancies, I cross-referenced the missing transactions with FEC data, where I was able to confirm their existence. I would appreciate any clarification or guidance on addressing these discrepancies. It could be that I am missing something here, please let me know if so.

Here are some specific examples of transactions missing from the bulk data (you can go to the URL above and look up the company name to verify that the transaction is listed on the website):

1. Kenneth Griffin

• Missing Transactions:
  • October 14, 2020: $5 million
  • September 23, 2020: $15 million

2. Chevron Corporation

• Missing Transactions:
  • September 23, 2020: $1,400,000
  • September 8, 2020: $325,000

3. Agro-Industrial Management

• Missing Transactions:
  • August 6, 2020: $100,000
  • October 14, 2020: $200,000

4. Amedisys

• Missing Transaction:
  • September 18, 2020: $25,000 (one of two similar transactions)

5. PG&E Corp

• Missing Transaction:
  • October 28, 2020: $45,000

6. Centene Corp

• Missing Transaction:
  • October 7, 2020: $25,000

Thank you,

Amol

PS: I checked this for Devon Energy, Occidental Petroleum, ConocoPhillips, and Valero Energy as well. For them, all transactions listed on the website appear to match the bulk data.