You’re aware that after years of defending Biden for almost everything, his horrible debate performance has certainly broken the silence, and it seems as though they are constantly trying to press him to withdraw from the race.
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Imagine my surprise on Saturday night when I read a Politico article that stated that” White House trips are a cash cow for Biden.”
So, I guess it’s available year on Joe Biden’s problem then? photograph. twitter.com/OhcMoRxWva— Matt Margolis ( @mattmargolis ) July 6, 2024
The document goes into incredible detail about how Joe Biden hosted sponsors at the White House and received sizable donations afterwards.
For instance, four billionaire Democratic donors met with Biden discreetly shortly before Christmas next year. Biden answered questions about his battle and policies during this secret session and discussed his second-term plans.
The day after the meeting, tech entrepreneur Mark Pincus donated the maximum allowed amount of$ 929, 600 to Biden’s fundraising committee, the Biden Victory Fund. Within three days, venture capitalist Reid Hoffman contributed$ 923, 000. Two days prior to the meeting, former Twilio CEO Jeff Lawson made a donation of nearly$ 500,000.
This gathering, according to the report, was one of a dozen similar gatherings that involved little groups of Democrat donors from the summer through the spring. President Biden was present at many of these gatherings. Visitors of these conferences often contributed significantly to the Biden Victory Fund. According to Politico’s study, over half of the top 50 gifts to the foundation had been made by people who had attended these White House groups by the end of March.
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I ca n’t recall when this was known as selling access and influence because I’m old enough to remember.
The meetings took place as the Biden reelection battle was gaining steam and it became clear that the president would need to concentrate more heavily on megadonors than the grass fundraising spout that had fueled his 2020 plan. Four to eight sponsors and Trump campaign co-chair Jeffrey Katzenberg, who has been a top fundraiser for Democrats prior to taking a part in Biden’s plan, were frequently included in them. They started last summer and continued through the fall and winter.
According to a White House standard, they were coordinated on behalf of the White House Office of Political Strategy and Outreach, which is led by Emmy Ruiz. Many of the attendees had previously donated to Democrats or were in the software or entertainment sectors.
Katzenberg’s “been advertisements to sponsors that he’s wasting time at White House, he can bring people in for lunch it, Biden stops by, and then those people potential out”, said one Democrat strategist with strong understanding of the meetings, granted privacy to discuss personal events.
The Biden campaign inevitably refutes the notion that these meetings are any kind of trouble, and Politico also noted that it is against the law for Biden to ask donors inside the White House. Previous presidents have also made use of the building’s grandeur and convenience to connect with political supporters and donors.
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Yet, some experts say something more.
Ethics authorities, however, question the process of granting access to those who have the money to write virtually million-dollar checks. They contend that the sessions send a message that contradicts Biden’s pledge to stop big-money objectives.
” Certainly the optics on these items are very poor”, said Brendan Glavin, assistant research director at OpenSecrets, a nonprofit that tracks income in politics. ” We’re talking about people giving the White House access to the White House and spending nearly a million dollars.” That’s the kind of thing that actually feeds and fuels people’s distrust of the system when they hear about such things.
And the timing of the report could n’t be more suspect.