Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg will open his high-dollar fundraisers to reporters and disclose the names of people raising money for his campaign, known as ‘bundlers,’ his campaign announced on Monday.
Buttigieg’s announcement came after reporting by the Washington Examiner highlighted the South Bend, Indiana, mayor’s backtracking on disclosing fundraising event hosts and bundlers.
“In a continued commitment to transparency, we are announcing today that our campaign will open fundraisers to reporters, and will release the names of people raising money for our campaign,” Buttigieg’s campaign manager Mike Schmuhl said in a statement.
“Fundraising events with Pete will be open to press beginning tomorrow, and a list of people raising money for the campaign will be released within the week,” said Schmuhl.
Buttigieg disclosed the names of hosts of his high-value fundraisers through October, but reversed himself and did not disclose the names of hosts for campaign fundraising events in November and onward, according to documents obtained by the Washington Examiner. Buttigieg had also promised early in his presidential campaign that he would release the names of his bundlers but hasn’t done so for months.
He will now disclose the names of bundlers and, since reporters will be allowed to attend fundraisers, fundraiser event hosts will also be made transparent.
In recent weeks, the mayor has come under fire from rivals, such as Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, who have abstained from having high-dollar fundraisers and don’t have traditional bundlers. Warren, in particular, has been pushing Buttigieg to be more transparent regarding his bundlers and fundraising events.
Buttigieg, though, has indicated that he does not similarly see contributions from rich donors as a corrupting influence. When asked during a campaign event in early December whether he thinks getting money out of politics includes ending closed-door fundraisers with billionaires, the mayor responded, “No.” He then walked away to talk with other attendees at the campaign event.
After this story was published, a Buttigieg spokesman contacted the Washington Examiner to note that the campaign does not accept contributions from registered federal lobbyists, corporate PACs, or the fossil fuel industry.
“Pete has made enacting critical campaign finance reforms part of his campaign platform, including strengthening the FEC and pushing to overturn Citizens United and Buckley v Valeo, if necessary, by a constitutional amendment,” the spokesman wrote in an email.
