Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg has stopped disclosing wealthy “bundlers” and big-ticket fundraiser event hosts, despite promising earlier in the year he would make that information public.
The South Bend, Indiana, mayor disclosed the names of hosts of his high-value fundraisers through October, but reversed himself and did not disclose the names of hosts and bundlers for campaign fundraising events in November and onward, according to documents obtained by the Washington Examiner.
Bundlers are top campaign fundraisers, who help candidates raise large amounts of by helping to persuade other wealthy donors to donate to a campaign or buy expensive tickets to campaign fundraising events.
The apparent change in policy comes after some negative press related to a former donor and fundraiser co-host, Steve Patton, who has become a controversial figure because of his efforts to block the release of a video showing Chicago police shooting Laquan McDonald, a black teenager.
His Democratic rival Elizabeth Warren scolded him on Thursday, saying Buttigieg should “be releasing who’s on his finance committee, who are the bundlers who are raising big money for him, who he’s giving titles to and made promises to.”
“Every candidate faces tough situations like this, but disclosure is always better,” said Daniel Weiner, senior counsel for the Brennan Center’s Democracy Program and an expert on campaign finance. “Even if you don’t want to disclose, the information often still gets out.”
“If they’ve stopped disclosing, I do hope they’ll start doing it again,” Weiner said.
According to the Center for Public Integrity, Buttigieg spokeswoman Lis Smith said in April 2019 that “we will be transparent about [bundler information], but I will need to get back to you on the additional details.”
During a conversation on NBC News in November, Buttigieg discussed his fundraising events, saying that “we’ve definitely disclosed our supporters and will continue to do so.”
Bundlers are important because they are often rewarded with an ambassadorship or some other position of power within an administration after a candidate gets elected.
“Disclosure of them helps to hold candidates accountable and less chance of bundlers profiting off their bundling in the future,” said Adav Noti, a senior director at the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center and a former lawyer at the FEC.
“Bundlers are important to disclose because, due to the contribution limits, no one person can bankroll a campaign. To raise the hundreds of millions of dollars to run a campaign, you need other people out there raising that money from their networks,” Noti said.
“They often have access and sway over candidates,” said Weiner. “There’s a significant chance they’re going to have some influence [on the candidate], so the public has a right to know.”
Buttigieg’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment for this story.
