(USNewsMag.com) – Senator Jon Tester, a Democrat from Montana, has recently been seen rubbing shoulders with Hollywood elites to bolster his campaign funds. This campaign action comes amid mounting criticism over his connections to a prominent Democratic donor implicated in lending discrimination allegations.
This isn’t the first time the Senator has been linked to controversial figures; earlier this summer, he also accepted financial support from an individual associated with corruption accusations.
Tester was seen attending a fundraiser in Los Angeles on November 4th after accumulating significant campaign donations from California. This event mirrored a similar gathering on June 27th, when his Republican opponent, former Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy, announced his candidacy. Between this year’s second and third quarters, Tester collected nearly $1 million from Californian supporters.
“Tester seems more aligned with California’s interests than Montana’s,” commented Don “K” Kaltschmidt, chairman of the Montana Republican Party. He criticized Tester for his alignment with the progressive agenda, blaming it for inflation, rising fuel prices, and tax increases in Montana.
The high-profile fundraisers, one of which was attended by America’s Got Talent host Howie Mandel, required guests to pay a minimum of $500, with host fees climbing up to $6,600.
However, some of the attendees at these events have been linked to severe allegations. Among them was Russell Goldsmith, a former top executive at City National Bank who was implicated in a significant “redlining” scandal in Los Angeles County. Goldsmith agreed to a $31 million settlement with the Department of Justice in January 2023.
Goldsmith, who served as CEO and chairman from 2017 to 2020, was involved in a discriminatory lending practice that disproportionately affected majority-black and Hispanic neighborhoods in Los Angeles County. According to the Department of Justice, City National Bank had only opened one branch in a predominantly black and Hispanic neighborhood in the past two decades, despite opening or acquiring 11 branches.
Among other attendees was Thomas Safran, a property developer currently implicated in a corruption scandal involving payoffs to the wife of an LA City Councilman, before a vote on Safran-related projects.
The fundraisers were organized by Nancy Stephens and Rick Rosenthal, two of Hollywood’s most prominent Democratic donors. Stephens had previously blamed the Democratic losses in the 2014 midterms on viewers “binge-watching Orange is the New Black as though elections don’t have consequences!”
Also in attendance was William Mutterperl, a former board member of BlackRock. The event was reported to have been funded by the Tester Victory Fund.
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