Pete Buttigieg releases names of donor bundlers
2020 Democratic hopeful Pete Buttigieg on Friday night released the names of his donor bundlers, people who have raised at least $25,000 for the campaign. It's the latest in a series of disclosures from his campaign after he's faced increasing pressure from Senator Elizabeth Warren and others to be more transparent.
Bundlers, who are often wealthy and well-connected, collect campaign donations from multiple donors and deliver them to the candidate. The list of Buttigieg's approximately 150 bundlers includes Obama bundler Congressman Don Beyer of Alexandria, Virginia, Austin Mayor Steve Adler, HGTV star Vernon Yip, philanthropist Agnes Gund and environmentalist Laurie David.
Buttigieg released the names of bundlers in April, after the first fundraising quarter. But that was before he became one of the biggest fundraisers among the Democrats running for president. The practice has been decried by Warren and Senator Bernie Sanders, who have both shunned high-dollar fundraisers as well.
The only top-tier candidate to use bundlers is former Vice President Joe Biden, who has not released the names of his bundlers.
Warren and Buttigieg have been trading barbs this week on the campaign trail about transparency in their campaigns. Under pressure from Warren, Buttigieg said earlier this week that he would open his fundraisers to the press, which Biden does. He also released the names of his clients at McKinsey & Co., where he worked as a consultant between 2007 and 2010.
Warren said on Wednesday she is "glad" Buttigieg is "taking these steps."
"The disclosure today about the kinds of conflicts candidates are creating in this race, it's about bundlers, it's about people getting special access to the candidates because they've got a lot of money," Warren told reporters. "It's about PACs. We need a candidate who is clearly willing to take on corruption and is on the side of the people."
Under pressure from Buttigieg, Warren on Sunday released released financial records from more than 30 years of legal work.