Disgraced former MF Global CEO Jon Corzine was one of 83 New York metro-area donors who helped raise millions of dollars for President Obama’s re-election, according to a list of bundlers released by the campaign yesterday.
Before the financial scandal unfolded at MF Global, Corzine had been one of Obama’s go-to guys to raise cash from Wall Street financiers.
Since then, Obama has returned donations that his campaign received from Corzine — but not the money the former New Jersey US senator and governor collected from other donors.
Corzine stopped being a bundler when the Obama campaign returned his donations last month, a source said.
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Corzine was one of 15 New York regional bundlers who raised more than $500,000 for Obama’s re-election kitty. Other bundlers raised more than $50,000.
Aside from Corzine, New York hot shots raising at least a half-million for Obama include movie honcho Harvey Weinstein, Vogue editor Anna Wintour, Chelsea Piers developer Tom Bernstein, and a host of financiers including Orin Kramer, Brian Mathis, and Deven Parekh.
Lawyer Jack Rosen, head of the American Jewish Congress who recently hosted a fund-raiser with Jewish activists for the president, also was a top fund-raiser.
Susan Susman, a senior vice president at Pfizer, also was listed in the $500,000-plus category.
The list also includes two bundlers linked to Solyndra, the controversial solar company that received a $528 million federal loan and later declared bankruptcy — Steven Spiner and Steve Westley. The White House decision to approve the loan triggered a congressional probe on whether the deal smacked of political favoritism.
The Obama camp stressed that the president has been more transparent than the Republican presidential candidates. Mitt Romney, who just recently released his tax returns, has not disclosed his top bundlers.