Democratic Super PACs are drawing big dollar donors, according to a report by the New York Times. However, Times reporter and former staff writer for the liberal American Prospect, Nicholas Confessore, grossly understated the political contributions one of President Barack Obama’s biggest supporters.
Labor unions have given more than $14 million to the Democratic groups, with the Service Employees International Union and the air traffic controllers’ and the pipefitters’ unions each contributing at least $1 million. The actor Morgan Freeman, the producer Jeffrey Katzenberg and Haim Saban, the Los Angeles media investor, have each given $1 million or more.
Katzenberg has been far more significant to liberal Super PACs and Obama’s reelection effort than merely having "given $1 million or more." In fact, Katzenberg has contributed at least $2 million to Obama’s Super PAC, Priorities USA, and $125,000 to other Democratic Super PACs.
Earlier this month, Confessore reported that Katzenberg raised at least $2,064,280 during this cycle and $6,606,379 since 2007 for Obama. The more than $8.6 million to Obama and his Super PAC since 2007 is a far cry from the language used to describe Katzenberg in the Times story.
Confessore also fails to mention that Katzenberg's animation studio is under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for bribery charges related to a distribution deal. Confessore’s newspaper reported that Vice President Biden met with China’s Vice President Xi Jinping to help facilitate the deal.