Hillary Clinton’s campaign held fundraising events in five foreign cities Thursday, offering U.S. lawyers living overseas the chance to have a “virtual policy conversation” with Sen. Timothy M. Kaine of Virginia, one of Clinton’s potential running mates.
Thursday’s receptions — held simultaneously in Moscow, Paris, Rome, Warsaw and Zurich — served as the kickoff of a new Lawyers Abroad for Hillary program, part of an aggressive push by the putative Democratic presidential nominee to tap new constituencies for funds as she ramps up for the general election.
An invitation obtained by The Washington Post welcomed potential donors to join “a virtual policy conversation” with Kaine and Sara Solow, the campaign’s domestic-policy adviser. Contributors were asked to give between $100 and $500 to participate, and to provide documentation of their U.S. passport or green card.
A campaign official confirmed Kaine and Solow called into the events, which were hosted by partners of prominent firms and companies. In Moscow, the co-hosts were Peter Reinhardt of Ernst & Young and Jon Hines of Morgan Lewis, according to details obtained by The Post. Hines represents private and state-owned companies in Moscow, including an affiliate of Gazprom, the Russian energy giant, according to his bio on the firm’s website.
In London, hosts included Mark Bergman of the firm Paul, Weiss; Ed Nalbantian of Jones Day; Tamara Box of Reed Smith; and Walter White of McGuire Woods. Bergman and White were listed as past donors to the Clintons’ family foundation.
In Paris, Valerie Picard of the global shipping and cargo giant Bolloré Transport & Logistics served as a host, while David DeBenedetti, who specializes in private-equity law and shale gas issues, hosted in Warsaw.
Presidential candidates commonly solicit funds from citizens living overseas, and Clinton’s has conducted similar events in the past, one featuring her State Department aide Jacob Sullivan. Clinton’s new Lawyers Abroad effort comes as presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump has seen a fundraising surge, raising $51 million last month in conjunction with the Republican National Committee. Clinton still out-raised him, bringing in $68.5 million with the Democratic Party, including $40.5 million for her campaign.
Through the end of June, Clinton’s campaign said she had raised $288 million and an additional $90 million for Democratic Party committees. During the same period, Trump appears to have brought in about $90 million, including $50 million of his own money.
Clinton has a big head start on Trump when it comes to collecting large checks through new jumbo-size joint fundraising committees making their debut this cycle.
The Hillary Victory Fund, a joint fundraising committee that Clinton formed with the DNC last year, recently added on more state parties as participants, bringing the number from 32 to 38. That allows wealthy contributors to give an additional $60,000 per person to the fund, for a total of $416,100 a year. And last month, the campaign launched a second joint fundraising committee with the DNC that collects checks up to $239,200, including $100,200 for the party’s convention account and $100,200 for the party’s headquarters account.
In a four-day period last week, Clinton held 10 fundraisers, sprinting from New York to California. Attendees were asked to give $100,000 apiece for two of the events: a reception at the Chicago home of M.K. and J.B. Pritzker and a breakfast at a Mediterranean restaurant facing the San Francisco Bay.
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