Major Obama ‘bundler’ gets Dutch ambassador’s post

By Luke Rosiak
The Washington Times
Friday, April 27, 2012

D.C. lawyer Timothy Broas, who has funneled more money to the political campaigns of President Obama than nearly anyone else, last week was recommended by Mr. Obama as the next U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands.

As a campaign “bundler,” Mr. Broas collected more than a half-million dollars for Mr. Obama’s 2012 campaign, raising money from family members, colleagues and other wealthy associates; four years ago, he assisted Mr. Obama’s successful bid for the presidency by raising between $200,000 and $500,000.

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Mr. Broas becomes the latest of dozens of Obama “bundlers” who are already serving as ambassadors.

The fundraiser’s selection was first reported by the Center for Public Integrity.

This election cycle, 117 people have raised $500,000 or more each for the president’s reelection efforts – totaling at least $59 million. That’s at least 40 percent of the $145 million Mr. Obama has raised.

One hundred and forty-one people have donated between $200,000 and that amount, or $30 million to $70 million. One hundred and twenty people have donated $100,000 to $200,000, a Washington Times analysis showed.

Among new bundlers disclosed this month were figures as eclectic as spiritual healer Deepak Chopra and Robert Pohlad, of the family that once owned the Minneapolis Twins.

Fifteen people. including actor Tyler Perry, raised more than half a million dollars in three months alone, between January and March of this year. Bundlers typically collect $35,000 checks – the maximum allowed to the national party, plus $5,000 to a campaign committee – often from both husband and wife.

The list of Mr. Obama’s 532 2012 bundlers so far is dominated by lawyers, financial professionals and Hollywood figures.

The Center for Public Integrity found that at least 250 bundlers, including Mr. Broas, have been invited to the White House, and at least 68 bundlers or their spouses have received administration appointments ranging from advisory economic boards to humanities posts.

Mr. Broas is a partner at the law firm Winston and Strawn, and also serves as a member of the board of trustees of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, according to a White House statement.

In the past, not all of those who have been appointed to prestigious diplomatic posts after raising campaign funds have proven qualified for those jobs.

A State Department investigation tied 2008 bundler-turned-Bahamas Ambassador Nicole Avant to “dysfunctional leadership and mismanagement, which has caused problems throughout the embassy” since she was appointed by President Obama, Foreign Policy magazine reported.

Mrs. Avant has since rejoined the ranks of Obama bundlers, having raised the better part of a million dollars from her Beverly Hills home this election cycle, after resigning from her Caribbean assignment in November.

In a departure from his own precedent in 2008 as well as standard practice for recent presidential campaigns, Mitt Romney, Mr. Obama’s likely opponent in November, has refused to release the names of his bundlers.