Controversial Clinton Donor Still a Bundler (CNN Pollster Vinod Gupta fundraising for Hillary)

New York Times (excerpt) ^ | June 1, 2007 | Patrick Healy

[HAL9000]

Excerpt -

In the Democratic competition for campaign cash, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton continues to turn to every friend she has – even controversial ones.

An invitation to a million-dollar Clinton presidential fundraiser next Thursday night in Manhattan lists Vinod Gupta, chief executive of InfoUSA Inc., as a “vice chair” of the event, which means he has committed to raise $50,000 from ticket sales.

Mr. Gupta, a friend and benefactor of Mrs. Clinton and former President Bill Clinton, faces a lawsuit from company shareholders accusing him of excessively spending millions of dollars, including $900,000 worth of travel on the Clintons. InfoUSA has also paid Mr. Clinton more than $2 million in consulting services.

~ snip ~

At least 18 “vice chairs” of the event have each committed to raise $50,000; another 13 “hosts” have each promised to make $25,000 in sales, which suggests receipts of at least $1.25 million for Mrs. Clinton that night to boost her competition with Senator Barack Obama and others in fundraising for the second quarter of 2007. (Second-quarter bragging rights will be determined after June 30.) Tickets start at $1,000 per person.

~ snip~

[heywaitadarnminute]

I’ve always believed that Gupta was the guy they got to do the telephone calls to Democrats once they got wind of the butterfly ballot “mess” in Florida. That Gupta used his databases to gin up the whole Floroda thing.

[kcvl]

Clinton Global Initiative

Sanjay Gupta

Senior Medical Correspondent, CNN Medical News

Dr. Sanjay Gupta is senior medical correspondent for the health and medical unit at CNN. Gupta, a practicing neurosurgeon and an assistant professor of neurosurgery, plays an integral role in the network’s medical coverage, which includes daily packages, the half-hour weekend show House Call with Dr. Sanjay Gupta and coverage of breaking medical news.

Geeta Rao Gupta

President, International Center for Research on Women

Geeta Rao Gupta, Ph.D., is president of the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW), a leading global authority on women’s role in development, and passionate advocate for women’s empowerment and the protection and fulfillment of women’s human rights. She has worked at ICRW as a consultant, researcher and officer since 1988, and has headed the private, nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., since 1997.

Dr. Rao Gupta is an internationally renowned expert on women and HIV/AIDS, and frequently is consulted on issues related to AIDS prevention and women’s vulnerability to HIV.

Vinod Gupta

Chief Executive Officer, Info USA

Vinod Gupta is the founder, Chairman and CEO of infoUSA, Inc., one of the nation’s largest database companies.

Gupta began his career as a marketing research analyst for the Commodore Corporation, a mobile home manufacturer in Omaha, Nebraska, where he created a list of sales leads by requesting a copy of every Yellow Pages book in the United States. He gave the list to his employer with the agreement that he could sell the list to competitors, an arrangement that led to the launch, shortly thereafter, of infoUSA.

[hometoroost]

Of course by controversial they mean criminal. But he’d only be called that if he raised money for a Republican.

[doug from upland]

For those who missed it, here is the Gupta/CNN expose on YouTube -— http://youtube.com/watch?v=hFXgpG0R83U