A top Democrat fundraiser is under fire for sending an email urging wealthy donors to donate to Pete Buttigieg to “get on the campaign’s radar.”
“If you want to get on the campaign’s radar now before he is flooded with donations after winning Iowa and New Hampshire, you can use the link below for donations,” the fundraiser H.K. Park wrote in an email sent to wealthy Democrats. Park works for the global business consultancy The Cohen Group in Washington, DC.
One of the recipients of the letter leaked it to Axios, criticizing the Buttigieg supporters for trying to sell influence.
“It’s very telling and concerning that one of the campaign’s major bundlers would talk like that,” said the donor, who suggested that Buttigieg would engage in “pay-for-play” politics as he continued to raise record sums of money from wealthy Democrats.
“If that’s the way he’s operating it’s in the public interest for people to know what’s being said,” the donor said.
Buttigieg campaign spokesman Sean Savett said that the campaign had nothing to do with the email.
“The campaign did not see or authorize the language in this email,” he said to Axios. “But it is ridiculous to interpret it as anything more than asking potential supporters who may be interested in Pete to join our campaign before caucusing and voting begins.”
The left seized on reports on the email as proof that Buttigieg was selling access to his campaign to wealthy bundlers, representing a corrupt campaign system.
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