Fund-raiser nets DLCer Spitzer $2 million

[Freddie Stubbs]

NEW YORK -- New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer collected more than $2 million at a political fund-raiser, with hedge fund managers and lawyers among the big donors, and said he could accept campaign funds from the investment community without compromising his enforcement role.

Spitzer, the leader of investigations into Wall Street conflicts of interest and mutual fund trading, has said he is interested in running for governor in 2006. Though he hasn't officially declared his candidacy, Thursday's fund-raiser was Spitzer's biggest ever.

His investigations of "certain aspects of the securities market doesn't mean that there can't be or shouldn't be contributions from anybody within that sector, any more than it would mean because we bring consumer-type cases, no consumer manufacturer could contribute," Spitzer told reporters. He said his campaign committee has "a very careful vetting process" to avoid accepting gifts from donors under scrutiny by his office.

A Spitzer campaign aide who declined to be identified said hedge funds, lawyers and the real estate industry were among his leading sources of campaign money.

more: http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?category=STATEOTHER&storyID=198386&BCCode=HOME&newsdate=12/12/2003