South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s presidential campaign left out more than 20 high-profile fundraisers from a list of bundlers it released last week.
The campaign released a list last week that included the names of more than 100 people who had raised at least $25,000 for Buttigieg, following pressure from Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s (D-Mass.) campaign that he be transparent over his donors.
However, the list did not include several people the campaign had hyped as top donors in an internal campaign fundraising report obtained by Politico.
Among those left off the list are Boston power broker Jack Connors Jr., Hollywood producer Jordan Horowitz, hedge fund investor John Petry and former Ambassadors Nicole Avant and John Phillips, who served in the Bahamas and Italy, respectively.
The Buttigieg campaign said that the omissions were made in error.
Buttigieg began facing scrutiny over his finances after Warren accused him of not being transparent, saying he should disclose his clients from his time working for consulting firm McKinsey & Co., release a list of his bundlers and allow reporters into his private fundraising events.
Buttigieg has since disclosed his past clients and those who have raised over $25,000 for his campaign and announced he would allow media into his fundraisers. His is the only active campaign to disclose its bundlers.
Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) also recently announced that they would open their fundraising events to the press while former Vice President Joe Biden has utilized a pool system for reporters for his fundraisers since the start of his campaign.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Warren, the two leading progressives in the primary field, have eschewed private fundraising events in the name of transparency.
Buttigieg critics have accused his campaign of still not being forthcoming enough with details of his finances, saying the omissions from the bundlers list is only further evidence of a lack of transparency.
“Producing data four days after they were asked for it with obvious omissions, that is sketchy,” Jeff Hauser, executive director of the Revolving Door Project, which analyzes executive branch appointees, told Politico. “The first time I saw this list, I said, ‘There is no way this is comprehensive.’ It’s just kind of mind-blowing that they would be this dishonest.”
Buttigieg, who entered the 2020 race as a virtual unknown, has rocketed to the top of polls in Iowa and New Hampshire and has hauled in $51 million for his campaign as of Sept. 30, the most recent fundraising deadline. While 47 percent of the contributions came from donors who gave less than $200, his hefty war chest has also been bolstered by a series of high-dollar private fundraisers.
The scrutiny over Buttigieg’s finances came amid a sharp rise in the polls, which angered progressives who have flocked to Sanders and Warren and have demanded complete transparency among the 2020 campaigns, with protesters picketing outside one fundraiser last week chanting “Wall Street Pete.”