Hillary Clinton hit up Wall Street for cash on her Wednesday swing through the Northeast despite months of attacks leveled at her by Bernie Sanders for her extensive ties to Wall Street.
Clinton spent Wednesday evening at the Englewood, New Jersey, home of hedge fund manager Orin Kramer, a longtime Democratic donor who raised more than $1 million in a single night for President Obama's 2008 campaign, according to the New Jersey Record.
Kramer, who is CEO of hedge fund Boston Provident, was an early backer of Obama in 2008 but went to great lengths to maintain his relationship with the Clinton family.
The New York Observer reported shortly after Clinton ended her 2008 campaign that Kramer was "doing more than anyone in the country to erase Clinton's debt," an effort that was required to rally Clinton supporters behind Obama's candidacy. He also hosted a major fundraising event for the Clinton Foundation in 2014, signaling that he was ready to get behind her presidential campaign.
Perhaps adding more fuel to the fire for Sanders supporters is that the event was co-hosted by Phil Murphy, who spent more than two decades as an executive at Goldman Sachs before entering politics as national finance chairman for the Democratic National Committee. He was rewarded for his fundraising work by Obama with the ambassadorship in Germany, a post he held from 2009 to 2013.
Murphy had the benefit of being an executive at Goldman Sachs when it became a publicly traded company, likely netting him hundreds of millions of dollars. It is widely believed he will run for New Jersey governor in 2017 and already has a Super PAC committed to the effort.
Murphy does not hide the fact that he made a lot of money at Goldman Sachs. He is known for flying around the world in his private Gulfstream jet, which he often takes to his chateau in Italy.
His arrival in the private jet to his job in Germany reportedly set off complaints from German Chancellor Angela Merkel that Obama was giving important posts to wealthy campaign donors that had no diplomatic experience.
Topping off the presence of Wall Street at Clinton's fundraiser is the chairman of law firm Sullivan & Cromwell, H. Rodgin Cohen, who was described by the Wall Street Journal last year as "one of Wall Street's top lawyers."
No candidate in the 2016 presidential race has received more money from the financial sector than Clinton.