U.S. Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vt., who has decried the influence of money in politics, pledged not to take corporate campaign cash, and once tagged her opponent as a “corporatist Democrat,” is scheduled to spend Thursday’s lunch hour at a “meet and greet” hosted for her campaign by a corporate lobbying firm’s political action committee.
Balint’s campaign manager, Natalie Silver, did not respond to a list of questions sent by VTDigger, except to insist that the event was “not a fundraiser.”
“Congresswoman Balint is happy to meet, talk, and exchange ideas with anyone,” Silver wrote. “She has practiced this her entire career.” VTDigger asked for a list of attendees and whether Balint would accept contributions from them. The campaign did not answer.
According to an invitation to the event obtained by VTDigger, the “meet and greet” is being co-hosted by FGH PAC, the political action committee associated with consulting firm FSG Global. The other co-host is Mike Iger, managing director of FSG’s Washington, D.C., office. The gathering is being held at the lobbying firm’s D.C. offices on F Street, a 20-minute walk from Capitol Hill.
As recently as the last quarter of 2022, according to federal disclosures, Iger lobbied for such clients as tax preparation company Jackson Hewitt, Lyft, Viacom, McKinsey & Company, and Alden Torch Financial, a Denver-based investment firm facing scrutiny for attempting to wrest control of and profits from low-income properties subsidized by taxpayers. Iger did not return an email sent to his firm or a call left with his office Wednesday.
According to Saurav Ghosh, the director of federal campaign finance reform at the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center, it doesn’t matter whether Balint calls this a “fundraiser” or a “meet and greet.” It’s “entirely possible that attendees may be asked to make contributions to Balint’s campaign at or after the event,” Ghosh wrote in an email.
“The real issue is that a lobbyist PAC is listed as the ‘Host’ of this event, which conveys a cozy relationship between corporate special interests and a member of Congress,” Ghosh said.
Michael Beckel, research director at Issue One, a bipartisan political reform organization, said that “while no money is likely to exchange hands at a meet and greet,” hosting such an event is still a great way for a lobbyist to curry favor.
“Most constituents don’t regularly get an invitation to join a member of Congress for lunch, but many lobbyists do,” Beckel wrote. “And when lobbyists get opportunities like this to mingle with members of Congress, they tend to use them to continue to forge positive working relationships with lawmakers who have sway over the issues of their clients.”
But another campaign finance reform group that has endorsed Balint came forcefully to her defense. End Citizens United organized the pledge not to take corporate PAC cash that both Balint and U.S. Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., took in their most recent campaigns. Bawadden Sayed, a spokesperson for the group, wrote in an email to VTDigger that it was their understanding that the event was “a meet and greet — not a fundraiser.”
“Representative Balint does not take corporate PAC money and we have no reason to expect that to change,” Sayed wrote.
The pledge, which has proved wildly popular with both centrist and progressive Democrats since 2018, has been dinged for being largely symbolic and riddled with loopholes. Welch, for example, raked in cash from trade associations, which are technically distinct from corporate PACs, though they represent industry groups that lobby Congress. The pledge also does not preclude candidates from taking money from corporate lobbyists, which both Welch and Balint have done.
“Representative Balint has always been clear that she shares ECU’s mission to protect democracy by getting big money out of politics, and we are proud to support her,” Sayed said.