A company co-owned by the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., received a Paycheck Protection Program loan, according to data released by the Small Business Administration and Treasury Department.
The loans from the program were meant to relieve the financial stress of paying employees during the coronavirus pandemic.
Drew Hammill, a spokesman for Nancy Pelosi, called Paul Pelosi "a minor, passive investor" in the company.
"He was not involved in or even aware of this PPP loan," Hammill said.
The loan went to EDI Associates, a limited partnership with an investment in the El Dorado Hotel in California. Its value is listed between $350,000 and $1 million.
According to mandatory disclosures, Paul Pelosi has between a $250,000 and $500,000 stake in EDI.
The law firm Kasowitz Benson Torres, which was founded by Marc Kasowitz, a long-time attorney for President Donald Trump, received a PPP loan between $5 million and $10 million. The American Center for Law and Justice took in between $1 million to $2 million. The center's chief counsel is Jay Sekulow, another Trump lawyer.
Other members of the House received PPP loans for their businesses.
Companies that are owned by or linked to Reps. Rick Allen, R-Ga., Kevin Hern, R-Okla., Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., and Mike Kelly, R-Pa., all got PPP loans as well.
Kelly owns car dealerships that received between $450,000 and $1.05 million, while Allen's construction firm got between $350,000 and $1 million.
Allen's spokesperson Andrea Porwoll said he "relinquished majority stake of the company and he and his wife no longer hold decision-making authority." She added, "Our office has consulted with the U.S. House of Representatives Office of General Counsel and is confident the company, like businesses around the country impacted by COVID-19, is eligible to receive a loan under the Paycheck Protection Program after doing their due diligence and applying in good faith."
Andrew Eisenberger, a spokesman for Kelly, said the lawmaker "is not involved in the day to day operations of his auto dealerships and was not part of the discussions between the business and the PPP lender."
He continued, "The Paycheck Protection Program was designed to sustain the income of workers who would otherwise have been without pay or employment at no fault of their own during the coronavirus pandemic, and organizations in which members of Congress have an ownership stake were not prohibited from receiving PPP loans to help their employees during this difficult time."
Mullin's plumbing companies took in between $800,000 to $2.05 million, and McDonald's franchises owned by Hern received between $1 million and $2 million.
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