Kerry friend, two more bundlers get jobs
Posted: Thursday, June 25, 2009 4:33 PM by Domenico Montanaro
Filed Under:
Barack Obama
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro and Kelly O'Donnell
Senate Foreign Relations Committe Chairman
John Kerry's former-brother-in law -- who remains a close friend -- and two more Obama top fundraisers were handed plum jobs as ambassadors to Italy, Austria and Finland.
David Thorne's late sister Julia was Kerry's first wife and mother of his daughters. He was named ambassador to Italy.
Bill Eacho, of Bethesda, Md., and
Bruce Oreck, of Boulder, Colo., both raised more than $500,000 for Obama during his presidential campaign.
Eacho was named ambassador to Austria. Oreck was nominated for ambassador to Finland.
That brings the number of bundlers who have landed ambassadorships to 14.
Here's the full list:
-- Bill Eacho (Austria): More than $500,000
-- Bruce Oreck (Finland): More than $500,000
-- Donald Gips (South Africa): More than $500,000
-- Nicole Avant (Bahamas): More than $500,000
-- Charles Rivkin (France): More than $500,000
-- John Roos (Japan): More than $500,000
-- Donald Sternoff Beyer Jr. (Switzerland and Liechtenstein): More than $500,000
-- Howard W. Gutman (Belgium): More than $500,000
-- Matthew Barzun (Sweden): More than $500,000
-- Louis Susman (U.K./Northern Ireland): Between $100,000 and $200,000
-- Laurie Susan Fulton (Denmark): Between $100,000 and $200,000, attorney at Williams & Connolly in DC
-- Vinai K. Thummalapally (Belize): Between $100,000 and $200,000
-- David Jacobson (Canada): Between $50,000 and $100,000
-- Samuel L. Kaplan (Morocco): Between $100,000 and $200,000
