Fatcat Obama Bundlers Score Gov't Jobs, Contracts

About 80% of those who gave $500k or more now in administration
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 15, 2011 1:14 PM CDT
Fatcat Obama Bundlers Score Gov't Jobs, Contracts
President Barack Obama is greeted by David Jacobson, the US ambassador to Canada in this file photo. Jacobson arranged meetings with bundlers during the campaign.   (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

President Obama’s White House is packed with his top campaign fundraisers, which probably shouldn’t be too surprising—because mega-bundler Donald Gips was in charge of hiring them, according to a new investigation from iWatch News. Gips, the former head of Level 3 Communications, bundled $500,000 for Obama. He’s currently ambassador to South Africa, and Level 3, which he still owns stock in, got $13.8 million in stimulus money.

Gips’ case isn’t unusual. Nearly 80% of the people who collected $500,000 or more for Obama wound up with what the White House defines as “key administration posts.” They also account for more than 3,000 White House visits, and at least 18 have ties to businesses that stand to profit from Obama’s policies. All of which is fairly commonplace—but stands contrary to Obama’s anti-special influence campaign rhetoric. The White House insists that all its appointees are well-qualified. (More Barack Obama stories.)

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