The New York Times posted a pretty remarkable scoop Thursday afternoon, revealing that Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager Robby Mook, along with members of the campaign’s finance steering committee, met with some of the candidates biggest donors in the office of a Wall Street investor to discuss frustrations with Clinton’s odds in the upcoming Nevada caucuses.
Marc Lasry, a billionaire hedge fund manager and CEO of global investment firm Avenue Capital Group (the 13th largest hedge fund in the world), hosted the meeting in his New York office. One of the largest contributors to Clinton’s campaign and charity foundations, Lasry has a long-standing relationship with the candidate and her family. (Chelsea Clinton was an associate at Avenue Capital from 2006 to 2009.)
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Others present at the meeting included former Democratic National Committee finance chairwoman Maureen White (once called “the DNC’s ATM“); venture capitalist and founder of the $41 billion private equity firm Apax Partners Alan Patricof; DNC Deputy Finance Chair Michael Kempner; and HBJ Investments executive Jay Snyder.
According to the Times, the collected donors and fundraisers, no doubt interested in protecting their investment, expressed their concerns with Senator Bernie Sanders’ growing support in Nevada. They especially (and ironically) took issue with the media’s focus on his “criticism of Clinton as the establishment candidate representing big money” interests. Mook reportedly said that despite repeatedly telling reporters about Clinton’s “small donor boom” and grassroots support, “they don’t listen.”
And to anyone who has been paying attention to Clinton’s messaging in the last week, this little tidbit should prove of interest: The donors reportedly told Mook to emphasize in campaign messaging that Sanders’ policy proposals were “entirely implausible promises” and focus on how he reverts back to rants about “millionaires and billionaires” no matter what question is posed to his campaign. They also told Mook to “go after the youth vote.”
But remember, just because Clinton takes money from special interests, doesn’t mean they get to tell her what to do.
This article was first published at Death And Taxes Mag, by Drew Salisbury
