Crosspartisan coalition calls on presidential candidates to embrace transparency by disclosing their campaign “bundlers” before Election Day

In an effort led by Issue One, 13 organizations from across the ideological spectrum are urging Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump to publicly reveal information about their top campaign fundraisers before Election Day.

“Government accountability depends on transparency in our campaign finance system, and that includes transparency about presidential campaign bundlers,” the groups state in the new letters, which were mailed and e-mailed this week to the campaigns of Vice President Harris and former President Trump, following up on similar requests made last month to which the campaigns have not yet responded.

“At a time when too many campaigns are awash in dark money, candidates should be embracing measures that bring more transparency to political money, not rebuffing them,” said Issue One Research Director Michael Beckel. “Voluntarily reporting information about elite political fundraisers is a simple transparency measure that helps bolster trust in our government and allows the public to better follow the record amounts of money bankrolling the 2024 presidential election.”

Elite political fundraisers known as bundlers — a nod to the literal and/or metaphorical bundles of checks they collect — frequently raise vast sums of money for presidential candidates, often hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars. This enables them to ingratiate themselves — and curry favor — with their preferred candidate, earning levels of access and influence that most voters can only dream of. Under both Democratic and Republican administrations, influential bundlers have received plum postings, such as ambassadorships and positions on commissions.

Campaigns are already required by law to regularly report detailed information to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) about any federal lobbyists who bundle campaign contributions on their behalf.

The new letters urge the Harris and Trump campaigns to implement “a robust bundler disclosure system that publicly displays information about all individuals who raise $50,000 or more for your campaign,” ideally “in tandem with all upcoming campaign finance reporting deadlines with the Federal Election Commission.” The letters note that doing so “would help demonstrate [their] commitment to transparency.”

Presidential candidates must file new campaign finance reports with the FEC twice before Election Day — by midnight on Sunday, Oct. 20, and again by midnight on Thursday, Oct. 24.

It has long been a bipartisan tradition for presidential candidates to voluntarily share information about their campaign bundlers.

Candidates ranging from President George W. Bush to President Barack Obama to 2008 GOP presidential nominee John McCain to 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton each released some information about their campaign bundlers.

Likewise, during the 2020 presidential campaign, now-President Joe Biden and now-Vice President Kamala Harris each disclosed some information about their campaign bundlers, as Issue One previously noted. However, Republican Donald Trump opted not to voluntarily reveal any information about his campaign bundlers during either his 2016 or 2020 presidential campaigns.

Nevertheless, media outlets including Puck News and CNBC have reported that Trump’s campaign has at least seven tiers of bundlers receiving special perks and access — from those who raise at least $15,000 (“Trump Force”) to those who raise at least $1 million (“Ultra MAGA”).

And last year, NBC News reported that the Biden-Harris reelection campaign had at least four tiers of bundlers — those who raised at least $46,000; those who raised at least $750,000; those who raised at least $1.25 million; and those who raised at least $2.5 million.

To date, there has not been any public disclosure of these elite fundraisers’ identities.

The 13 organizations that signed these new letters to the Harris and Trump campaigns are as follows:

• Business for America
• Campaign Legal Center
• Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington
• Common Cause
• Democracy 21
• Issue One
• League of Women Voters of the United States
• Michigan Campaign Finance Network
• National Legal and Policy Center
• OpenSecrets
• Project On Government Oversight
• Public Citizen
• RepresentUs