Jon Corzine Donations Returned By Obama Campaign, DNC

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama's re-election campaign and the Democratic National Committee have returned more than $70,000 in contributions from former New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine following the collapse of MF Global, Corzine's financial firm, officials said Friday.

Obama's campaign and the DNC returned contributions of $35,800 from Corzine and his wife, Sharon Elghanayan, said Democratic officials who spoke on condition of anonymity. They were not authorized to speak publicly.

Corzine was among Obama's top fundraisers, raising at least $500,000 for Obama's re-election campaign since April, according to records released by the campaign. The former Goldman Sachs chief held a fundraiser for the president last April and was considered a main Obama emissary to Wall Street.

One of the Democratic officials said the campaign and DNC would evaluate whether to return donations from other MF Global employees on a case-by-case basis.

A spokesman for Corzine declined to comment.

MF Global filed for bankruptcy protection on Oct. 31 after a disastrous bet on European debt sparked fear among investors and trading partners. It was the eighth-largest U.S. bankruptcy and the largest on Wall Street since the 2008 collapse of Lehman Bros.

About $1.2 billion was found to be missing from client accounts when the securities firm failed, with much of the missing money belonging to farmers, ranchers and other business owners who used MF Global to reduce their risks from fluctuating prices of commodities such as corn and wheat. The FBI and federal regulators are investigating MF Global.

Corzine, who also is a former U.S. senator, told congressional panels earlier this month that he didn't know any customer money was missing until the day before MF Global collapsed.

Bloomberg News was first to report the returned campaign contributions.

Comments

[KCY]

09:51 AM on 01/31/2012

I wonder if that missing 1.2 billion is sitting in Obama's campaign fund. I can just hear it now...."Oh, I never knew it was there"

[IndependentRule]

07:28 PM on 01/27/2012

Corzine was Obama's shortlist for treasury Secretary!!! Imagine that?

[IndependentRule]

06:10 PM on 01/27/2012

But Corzine donated $500K

http://www.opensecrets.org/pres12/bundlers.php?id=N00009638

[formeraf80]

12:25 AM on 01/06/2012

Does this guy really think that after all the praise he has heaped on Corzine, that returning a donation will wash his hands of all this dirt? He is a Chicago pol,,,he was born covered with dirt like all the other Chicago pols.

[fuzzywzhe]

12:15 PM on 01/05/2012

If Obama had a set of balls, he would have taken the money and returned it to the people Corzine ripped off.

[lakotawmn1]

01:14 AM on 01/06/2012

Kind of like closing the barn door after the horses have gotten out. What a joke! Below is a post I ran across while reading up on this debacle.

President Obama on Jon Corzine:
"Jon knows these are challengin­g times. That is why he got into public service. He didn't do it for the paycheck."
"Jon's got the mop and he is cleaning up after somebody else's mess."
"One of the things you got in Jon Corzine is somebody who tells it to you straight," said President Obama.

[IndependentRule]

07:27 PM on 01/27/2012

Make a good commercial for the GOP nominee. He was on the Short list for Treasury Secretary!

The Democratic governor of New Jersey would probably want the job, if for personal reasons alone. Corzine used to be the head of investment bank Goldman Sachs

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1856772_1856757_1856750,00.html #ixzz1khxr9L8V

[Jimmy RonPaul Chen]

04:42 AM on 12/31/2011

So not only has the Obama administration not returned all money raised/donated by Corzine but now I see why Obama personally granted Goldman Sachs a $12 billion bailout in 2008 when that same year, Goldman Sachs handed out just as much in bonuses. All this while an all-time high of 46.2 million Americans live in poverty, not to mention the poverty level for children increased to 22% in 2010 (1 in 5 children lives in poverty).

And If this is just what we do know, imagine what we don't know. Pretty sure Corzine isn't Obama's only corrupted friend.

Oh and what about that NDAA bill that Obama will sign--the one that costs $662 billion that makes every American citizen potential enemies of the state? Surely, you and I can afford another Obama term.

[iam99]

05:20 AM on 12/27/2011

Hanging around the cesspool makes stink that doesn't come out.

[cdterm47]

07:33 PM on 12/26/2011

Why would Obama return money from Corzine who is his go to guy on the economy??

[bigblue22143]

06:58 PM on 12/26/2011

Why doesn't the article talk about how Corzine was Obama's "go to guy" on fixing the economy? How Obama campaigned in New Jersey for Corzine 5x? They are close friends and this article fails to mention that also. Birds of a feather, and why is it only part of the money? Why is it the press fails to acknowledge all of Obamas corrupt friends?

[biabouman41]

12:36 PM on 12/26/2011

You would have had to knock Republicans over the head to get them to do the right thing.

[Olderandwiser55]

10:27 PM on 12/26/2011

And they still wouldn't do the right thing...

[KCY]

09:46 AM on 01/31/2012

You're worse than Obama! Can't come up with a way to defend your guy Obama so you make fun of the Republicans.

[Confused1]

10:23 AM on 12/26/2011

Why isn't the headline "Obama returns SOME of Corzine's donations"? IMHO, Obama is hanging onto the rest in the hopes we forget about the rest of the $430,000.

[blurredmolly]

10:45 AM on 12/26/2011

prove it

[cdavispapa]

09:18 PM on 01/05/2012

just known the crook obama is all the prove you need.

[KCY]

09:48 AM on 01/31/2012

Read the article "One of the Democratic officials said the campaign and DNC would evaluate whether to return donations from other MF Global employees on a case-by-case basis."

[Thumbody]

10:20 AM on 12/26/2011

But if 500 million shows up from the missing MF money we will have to accept it, because we cannot prove that it came from that account.

[Eagleman]

10:23 PM on 12/25/2011

A friend in need is a friend who refunds ?

[MyResponsibility]

08:14 PM on 12/25/2011

Returned only $70k? How about the other $530k raised by Corine and given to PresBO's reelection? I thought that Republicans had cornered the market on Wall Street influence peddling?

[dems08]

06:14 AM on 12/26/2011

read the article

[parlimentMike]

08:48 AM on 12/26/2011

I read the article, and in only mentioned other MF contributions, not the balance of the money he brought in. The best Obama defense is diversion, isn't it.

[Olderandwiser55]

10:11 PM on 12/26/2011

Hmmm....Newt Gingrich Freddie Mac....millions...for his "financial expertise" lol.

[MyResponsibility]

10:17 PM on 12/26/2011

older perhaps, but not wiser.  Your deflectin is better left for juviniles.

[muck-raker]

05:39 PM on 12/25/2011

ORANGE jump suits for Corzine,Dodd,Frank,Blankfein,Greenspan,Rubin,Summers et al
Watching the MF Global saga unfold, I had to wonder: “How was it possible for a broker dealer to tap segregated client monies to speculate in risky assets and lose billions?”

MF Global’s story, as you will soon understand it, raises serious concerns for any investor. That the activities that led to MF Global’s collapse were possibly legal (!) is stunning. The details are complex, but follow them through to the end and you will see all of the problems of our system — political corruption, excess leverage, focus on short-term profit at the expense of survival — in one sordid affair.

1. What MF Global did with client monies was “technically” legal (though it probably violated the spirit of the law).

2. Britain’s leverage loopholes provided a back door for U.S. firms such as Lehman Brothers and MF Global to “re-hypothecate” client assets — and leverage up.

3. As a result of MF Global’s lobbying, key rules were deregulated. This allowed the firm to use client money to buy risky sovereign debt.
Much More:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/the-systemic-risk-revealed-by-mf-globals-collapse/2011/12/14/gIQAtrTI1O_story.html

[littleblackcat]

09:32 PM on 12/25/2011

That Corzine is a Democrat is shameful enough, and then the republicans want to FURTHER ELIMINATE regulations! This is exactly WHY regulations need to be tightened to a choke-hold on the necks of the financial robber barons.

CEOs are supposed to KNOW what is going on in their companies, so Corzine's "defense" smells like a week-old fish in August.

[Olderandwiser55]

09:36 PM on 12/26/2011

MF Global was collapsing within a year of its birth in 2007. Corzine is the third CEO. The WP opinion piece doesn't cover that history at all. No media does.

Where are the other two-running "investments" elsewhere.