Top Morgan Stanley Wealth Manager Explains How Political Fundraising 'Really Works' and Why He Gave to Clinton
Gary Kaminsky is Morgan Stanley's vice chairman of wealth management and has donated to Hillary Clinton for years. On Wednesday, Fox News asked Kaminsky, as a contributor to the Clinton campaign, how he defended Hillary Clinton's controversies.
But Kaminsky didn't—and wanted to set the record straight about what the Wall Street donations even mean.
“Let me tell you how it really works," Kaminsky began. "In 2007, when I was at Neuberger Berman, which was at the time owned by Lehman Brothers, my phone rang and the number to a Lehman Brothers called me [and they] very rarely called me. I picked up, said ‘What can I do for you?’ He said, ‘We’re gonna have a dinner tonight over at the Russian Tea Room for Hillary Clinton. I need you to be there and I need you to write a check.'"
Kaminsky complied with the request, and today Morgan Stanley is among Hillary Clinton's top 10 donors. But Open Secrets even states that "the organizations themselves did not donate, rather the money came from the organizations' PACs, their individual members or employees or owners, and those individuals' immediate families. Organization totals include subsidiaries and affiliates."
"That’s how it really works," Kaminsky said. "Many of these people ... that are donating to the campaign aren’t donating ‘cause they believe in it or they want to believe in it. It is part of what the business is. These firms have for years supported candidates, and if you are a senior executive at the firm you’re not going to be terminated if you don’t make a contribution, but you’re certainly going to think twice about saying no.”
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