Waste Management Chairman Resigns Over Political Donation

Brad Anderson, chairman of Waste Management's board of directors, has resigned “due to personal reasons.” This move comes on the heels of news that Anderson donated $25,000 to Secure America Now, a nonprofit social welfare organization that created anti-Muslim ads that were shown via Facebook and Google campaigns during the 2016 election, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Anderson claims he wasn’t aware of the videos and that he didn’t support them.

MPR News has more:

Minnesota Public Radio board member and former Best Buy CEO Brad Anderson has confirmed he contributed $25,000 in 2016 to a right-wing group. Anderson says he does not stand by inflammatory anti-Muslim videos the group distributed over social media.

The Center for Responsive Politics' OpenSecrets blog was the first to report Anderson and an organization linked to Best Buy founder Richard Schulze each contributed $25,000 in 2016 to Secure America Now, a so-called "dark money" organization that ran highly targeted ads designed to stoke fears of Muslims in the weeks before the 2016 election.

MPR News is still working to verify the authenticity of the tax document the report is based on, but Anderson confirmed his donation in an interview with Minnesota Public Radio News host Tom Crann.

Read the full story here.