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Thursday, May 6, 2010

Reid invites Wall St. contribution

On Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid accused Republicans of “making love to Wall Street” during the financial regulatory reform debate.

But just a day earlier, at least one Wall Street firm received a request to contribute $2,500 to Harry Reid’s re-election campaign.

An invitation to the fundraiser, sent to a Wall Street firm, was obtained by POLITICO.

Reid and Republicans have been trading charges about cozying up to Wall Street for weeks, with Reid going after his Republican counterpart Mitch McConnell for meeting with Wall Street execs and McConnell returning fire about a Reid fundraiser in New York.

But Reid’s spokesman Jim Manley said Reid isn’t “taking money from Wall Street PACs right now.” He explained that Reid’s campaign has a very large mailing list, and “just because they receive an invite it doesn’t mean they are being solicited.”

The invitation shows that the event, billed as a “pre-primary breakfast,” is hosted by Assistant Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and 14 other Democratic senators. The 7:45 a.m. session on May 19th will be held at the Liaison Hotel on New Jersey Avenue, just two blocks from the Capitol building.

The invitation requests donations of $2,500 from political action committee (PAC) “co-hosts,” and $1,000 from individual “co-hosts,” who would receive “priority seating.”

General seating is offered for $1,000 per PAC guest or $500 per individual.

The invitation asks that checks be made to “Friends for Harry Reid.”

On the same day as the Reid event, lobbyist Lee Weingart of the LNE Group will be hosting a $1,000 per person evening reception at his lobbying firm for Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown.

An invitation to that event, too, was sent to a Wall Street firm.

Brown is a co-sponsor of a measure that would break up large Wall Street banks — an idea that is extremely unpopular among Wall Street executives.

“Senator Brown’s views are well known,” said Brown’s spokeswoman, Meghan Dubyak. “People who choose to support him know full well where he stands.” Weingart didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. (Source)

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