The U.S. Chamber of Commerce responded emphatically Monday night to a direct challenge from Vice President Joe Biden to reveal how much of their funds donated to candidates comes from foreign sources.
The answer, according to an evening press release? None.
"Zero. As in, 'Not a single cent,'" wrote Tom Collamore, senior vice president of Communications and Strategy from the Chamber of Commerce in an e-mail with "And the Answer Is ..." as its subject line.
"We accept the vice president's challenge here and now, and are happy to provide our answer," Collamore added, in response to Biden's harsh indictments of the Chamber rendered at a fundraiser earlier Monday in his hometown of Scranton, Pa. (Source POLITICO)
The White House has been hitting Republicans and the traditionally GOP-supportive Chamber on their fundraising activities heavily in recent days, accusing the opposition of taking money from foreign interests and funneling it into domestic races.
“I challenge the Chamber of Commerce to tell us how much of the money they’re investing is from foreign sources,” Biden said Monday. “I challenge them. If I’m wrong, I will stand corrected."
White House adviser David Axelrod took heat from Bob Schieffer of CBS News Sunday when he did not provide any specific evidence of what was leading the White House to draw such conclusions about the Chamber's collection of funds overseas, saying only: "Do you have any evidence that it's not, Bob?"
Axelrod's response prompted Schieffer to ask the key confidant of President Barack Obama's: "Is that the best you can do?"
The Chamber of Commerce's release Monday was targeted specifically at the vice president, with a dismissive tone that seemed to issue a challenge right back at Biden.
"We hope this clears it up, and hope the vice president keeps his word and stands corrected," Collamore wrote.
No comments:
Post a Comment