In letters to Harris and Trump, 13 watchdog groups emphasized the importance of releasing information about their bundlers—typically wealthy individuals who raise donations for candidates—to increase transparency in the 2024 elections. While candidates are not required by federal law to disclose bundlers unless they are lobbyists, many campaigns have historically done so voluntarily.
“Government accountability depends on transparency in our campaign finance system, and that includes transparency about presidential campaign bundlers,” the watchdogs wrote. The letters were signed by groups including Issue One, Campaign Legal Center, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, Common Cause, OpenSecrets, National Legal and Policy Center, Public Citizen, and others.
“This is why we call on you today to implement a system to regularly and meaningfully release information about your campaign bundlers before Election Day,” the letter continued. “Ideally, your campaign would release information about your bundlers in tandem with all upcoming campaign finance reporting deadlines with the Federal Election Commission.”
In their letter to Harris, the transparency advocates pointed to how Joe Biden had disclosed his bundlers during his 2020 campaign. NBC News had previously reported that the Biden-Harris ticket had several tiers of bundlers who enjoyed special perks on the campaign trail as they fundraised.
“It has long been a bipartisan tradition for candidates to voluntarily release information about their elite campaign fundraisers, with Democrats and Republicans alike embracing the practice, including President Joe Biden, former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former Senator John McCain, and you during the 2020 presidential election,” the letter to Harris stated.
The coalition, which also includes groups such as Business for America, Democracy 21, and RepresentUs, cited reports indicating that Trump’s campaign features at least seven tiers of bundlers, some raising $1 million or more.
Michael Beckel, research director for Issue One, remarked, “The public has the right to know who is trying to curry favor, access, and influence with the next president by raising significant sums of campaign cash.” He added, “It’s concerning to see the nominees of both major parties backsliding on this simple transparency measure that helps bolster trust in government.”
Beckel noted that for over 25 years, both Democratic and Republican presidential candidates have recognized the value of voluntarily disclosing bundlers. “Disclosing information about campaign bundlers is a good-government guardrail that should not be abandoned,” he said.
Both the Harris and Trump campaigns did not respond to requests for comment.
