Campaign Contributions Suggest Pay-For-Play Behind PA Lawmaker’s Anti-Pipeline Vendetta

A Pennsylvania lawmaker has benefited handsomely from his anti-pipeline vendetta, according to campaign finance data analyzed by the website Natural Gas Now.

The report found that state Sen. Andy Dinniman, a Democrat and leading critic of the Mariner East pipeline project, has accepted nearly $80,000 in campaign contributions from a real estate developer engaged in a lawsuit against the owner of the pipeline. According to Natural Gas Now:

Hankin Group was the second highest contributor to Andy Dinniman’s between 2014 and 2018, donating $29,500 to the ongoing campaign. Just two months before the lawsuit was announced, the Hankin