Hollywood Making Large Donations to Sen. Hillary Clinton’s Reelection Campaign

Although many of them live 3000 miles from New York, and are certainly not her constituents, stars and dignitaries from Hollywood, California, are lining up to open their wallets and pocketbooks to Sen. Hillary Clinton’s reelection campaign. In fact, as reported by the Associated Press (hat tip to Drudge), the donors list reads like a virtual Who’s Who: “Top stars such as Tom Hanks, Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson donated to the New York senator in recent months, generating the kind of cash usually associated with a major box office opening - or a potential presidential bid in 2008. Clinton, who doesn't face much of a challenge in her re-election, received $4,200 from ‘The DaVinci Code’ star Hanks, the Academy Award- winning actor, and his wife, Rita Wilson.”

As the AP reported, the Clinton war chest continues to grow: “The itemized donations were made public Wednesday, with the paperwork for April through June more than 4,000 pages. In that period, Clinton raised almost $5.7 million, bringing her total for her re-election effort to $43 million to date. She had more than $22 million cash on hand.”

The article didn’t address how much of these funds will likely not be used for her current campaign, as she clearly doesn’t face much of a challenge. However, that’s not stopping Hollywood elites from giving the maximum allowed by law:

Another contributor was Chris Rock, one of many comedians who made bawdy jokes at the Clintons' expense after the investigation into Bill Clinton's affair with intern Monica Lewinsky. Rock gave the senator $2,100.

Singer Bette Midler gave the maximum allowed by law, $4,200, as did actor James Caan.

Other donors included Donald Trump's ex-wife Marla Maples, who gave $2,000, and director Rob Reiner, who gave $3,200.

Billy Crystal donated $4,000, and Walt Disney Co. CEO Robert Iger gave $2,100.

An interesting facet of the article was the appearance that some of the money raised has already gone to purposes not directly associated with her current reelection campaign:

The records also provided a tantalizing clue for would-be Clinton sleuths that she's serious about a White House run: two bills for unidentified campaign worker travel at the Hampton Inn in Des Moines, Iowa, the state with the first caucus in the presidential nomination process.

One bill for $182.25, was dated April 17; a second, for $145.77, was dated April 26.

Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson said the receipts were nothing more than a clerical error, and that the amounts reflected hotel bills for trips to Albany, N.Y., and Austin, Texas. He said the paperwork would be corrected.

Does the name Peter F. Paul ring a bell?