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For years, presidents and political parties have persuaded contributors to shell out major amounts of cash in return for the opportunity to get a sympathetic hearing from top government officials. In 1993, the Democrats invited wealthy supporters to a $15,000-a-couple weekend retreat, which was scheduled to include not only breakfast with President Bill Clinton (later cancelled) but also intimate briefings by senior administration officials. (“I don’t think in any way, shape, or form that we are selling access to this president or this administration at all,” a spokesperson for the Democratic National Committee told The New York Times.) In 2001, GOP fundraisers promised private meetings with Cabinet-level officials in the Bush administration to donors who contributed as little as $1,000 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Unfortunately for the donors, three Cabinet officials — Education Secretary Rod Paige, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, and Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson — canceled scheduled meetings with them after reporters got wind of the plan.
SOURCES: Gwen Ifill, “Democrats Drop Donors’ Session With President,” The New York Times, May 25, 1993; Philip Shenon, “Three Bush Cabinet Members Drop Meetings With GOP Donors,” The New York Times, May 23, 2001.
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