Barack Obama has drawn praise for establishing rigorous ethics rules to govern the formation of his transition team. But as National Journal's Eliza Newlin Carney notes in this week's "Rules Of The Game" column, these rules have not kept the team entirely free of big-money influences:
At least half a dozen of Obama's new transition team leaders were among the top fundraisers who "bundled" cash for him on the campaign trail. Three of them pulled in $500,000 or more as Obama bundlers -- Julius Genachowski, co-founder and managing director of Rock Creek Ventures; Donald Gips, vice president at the technology firm Level 3 Communications; and Thomas J. Perrelli, a lawyer with Jenner & Block.
"Any time you see these people who brought in half a million dollars to the campaign being appointed to government service, it's a red flag," said Craig Holman, legislative representative at Public Citizen, which is tracking Obama appointments on its new Web site. One of every four of President Bush's bundlers ended up in a government post, Holman noted, a performance he hopes Obama will not repeat.
Carney's full column is available here.
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