Hillary Clinton is staying off the campaign trail this week, but she’s working hard to fill her campaign coffers and keep up with potential Republican rivals.
The Democratic presidential candidate is in New York City for three fundraisers with a total of about 380 top donors Wednesday, all of whom had to donate the legal maximum of $2,700, or collect checks of that amount from 10 others, according to a campaign aide.
Her first event took her to the home of Maureen White and Steve Rattner, the economist and former Obama auto bailout “czar.” Rattner now heads the private equity group Willett Advisors LLC which, among other things, manages former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s personal and philanthropic assets. Rattner is also a contributor to MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
White, Rattner’s wife, is a former finance chair of the Democratic National Committee.
Next, Clinton headed to the home of Erica and L.A. Reid, the music executive. Reid is the chairman and CEO of Epic Records, and is known for developing major acts for decades, from Paula Abdul to Outkast to Justin Bieber.
For her final event of the swing, Clinton visits the home of Cathy and Marc Lasry, the hedge-fund billionaire and longtime Democratic donor and Clinton ally. Lasry is co-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks and CEO of Avenue Capital Group, where Chelsea Clinton once worked. President Obama reportedly considered Lasry for an ambassadorship.
Clinton’s camp notes that while they are only accepting donations a few thousand dollars at a time, Jeb Bush and other Republicans are running their own super PACs and collecting million dollar checks.
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The fundraisers are closed to reporters. Clinton has taken heat for avoiding the press, with The Washington Post creating a counter showing the number of days it’s been since she took a question. “Hillary Clinton’s ‘media reset’ couldn’t be going any worse as her refusal to take questions from reporters goes into its fourth week,” Republican National Committee spokesperson Michael Short said.
Clinton will visit South Carolina on May 27, and Virginia next month. She is also expected to testify before the House Benghazi Select Committee soon, though the date remains unclear.
Alex Seitz-Wald