As Sens. John Kerry and John Edwards arrived in Boston today for the Democratic National Convention, so did the California man who is their single biggest contributor. He is Stephen Bing, a wealthy film producer who, with little fanfare, has managed to steer a total of more than $16 million of his money to Democratic candidates and the supposedly independent groups that support them. "To most of the people who track money and politics, they're like, who the hell is Steve Bing?" said Chuck Lewis, founder of the Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit, nonpartisan watchdog organization. Bing is perhaps best known for sparking a tabloid frenzy when he publicly expressed doubt that he was the father of actress Elizabeth Hurley's baby. (A paternity test proved he was indeed the father.)
"The man who doinked Elizabeth Hurley,
He was the bravest of them allllll!" |
He repeatedly has refused to say why he is funneling millions of dollars to the Democrats. Lewis thinks it is cause for concern. "We can identify who the big donors are, but how much do we really know about any of them?" he said.
| We know the Noo Yawk Times and WaPo aren't going to chase them down... |
In fact, Democratic Party officials said they knew nothing about the man who law enforcement officials tell ABC News is Bing's friend and business partner — Dominic Montemarano, a New York Mafia figure currently in federal prison on racketeering charges.
Watch for Kerry to begin his term granting pardons instead of waiting till the end, like Clinton.
Montemarano has a long criminal record and is known to organized crime investigators by his street name, Donnie Shacks. |