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Schwarzenegger Reveals List of Donors

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger flashes a thumbs up in this file photo...
By AARON C. DAVIS, AP
5 hours ago

SACRAMENTO, Calif. —

For the first time, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger released a list of the millionaires and billionaires who pay to send him on lavish overseas trips, offering a glimpse into the elite business and social circles that critics say have unfair access to his power.

To comply with open-records laws, Schwarzenegger released on Thursday a list of wealthy donors to the California State Protocol Foundation, an obscure nonprofit that has paid for millions of dollars' worth of overseas travel and other bills racked up by his office.

Well-known California businessmen who have supported him publicly, such as winemaker Robert Mondavi and Gap founder Don Fisher, are on the list. But so are the names of both Republican and Democratic lawyers, developers, and others who have kept a low profile, or even remained anonymous, in supporting California's celebrity governor.

The names are on a list of donors who paid as much as $25,000 to attend a private fundraiser that Schwarzenegger headlined in San Francisco last month for the California State Protocol Foundation.<snip>

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Others on the list include Jeremiah Hallisey, a major Democratic donor and former appointee of Gov. Gray Davis; Charles Munger, Jr., an executive with Berkshire Hathaway; and George Jewett, former president of Potlatch Corp., a major timber harvester and wholesaler of wood and paper products.

Foundation president Allan Zaremberg, who is also president of the California Chamber of Commerce, did not immediately return a call from the AP on Thursday, but has previously disagreed with characterizations of the trips as luxury vacations or opportunities for donors to press a particular point of view with dignitaries.

According to annual reports filed with the Internal Revenue Service, the Protocol Foundation raised more than $4.2 million from 2003 to 2006. Besides the trade missions, the group has paid for several Capitol receptions, a luncheon for the consular corps and a barbecue for the news media.

http://www6.comcast.net/news/articles/politics/2007/12/07/Schwarzenegger.Donors/


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