Barack Obama speaks during a campaign event in Boston, Mass.
One of President Barack Obama's elite fundraisers has been removed from consideration as U.S. ambassador to The Netherlands after he was arrested for drunk driving, the Center for Public Integrity reports.
Timothy Broas, a Washington attorney who has raised more than $500,000 for Obama this year, was pulled over at 1:18 a.m. on June 19 and charged with driving under the influence and resisting arrest. Broas was driving 47 mph in a 35 mph zone when he was pulled over by police in Chevy Chase, Maryland, according to court records.
[Photos: Obama's Inner Circle]
Last Thursday, The White House announced it was withdrawing Broas' nomination.
Had he been confirmed, Broas would have joined more than a dozen fundraisers for Obama who have been rewarded with diplomatic positions. The Obama administration's ambassadors to the European Union, France, Japan, and the United Kingdom, among others, each raised $500,000 or more for the president's 2008 presidential campaign. These so-called "bundlers" get around individual contribution limits by raising money from friends and family, and are often rewarded for it, as the Center for Responsive Politics has reported.
The practice of rewarding loyal fundraisers with diplomatic positions is common for presidents. About 200 of President Obama's bundlers, and almost 80 percent of those who raised $500,000 or more for him in 2008, have joined the administration, many as ambassadors. So far, at least 68 bundlers for Obama's 2012 campaign or their spouses have served in the administration in some capacity, CPI reports.
Seth Cline is a reporter with U.S. News and World Report. Contact him at scline@usnews.com or follow him on Twitter.
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