U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet better pay closer attention to the fundraising firm he hires to raise money for his reelection bid, because the company he used for his presidential aspirations is being accused of exploiting the workers.
From Business Insider’s exclusive report on Basecamp Strategy and CEO Mike Reid:
Inside an exploitative Democratic money machine: Ex-staffers describe a ‘sham’-like PAC, burnout conditions, and panic attacks
Ultimately, it was a small cog in the massive machine of Democratic fundraising. But it’s also an example of how the sprawling party apparatus drafts young, idealistic workers to extract hundreds of millions of dollars from small donors — and then pumps it into a web of PACs, campaigns, firms, and consultants.
Not only did the company allegedly exploit and mistreat workers, Reid is also accused of behaving like a racist, even as he sought to raise money for minority candidates.
Former staffers told Insider that Reid, who is white, made comments they perceived as racist or racially insensitive. Two said that in a company meeting in the summer of 2021, Reid said people of color made him uncomfortable.
The former email writer, a woman of color, recalled that Reid said that the demographics of the company’s staff reflected his own comfort level and that he was comfortable with only certain kinds of diversity.
So that’s awkward.
The work expectations sound extreme, and the boss totally comes off as a dick in this report.
Why in the world would Bennet have hired this guy? An enterprising reporter should probably ask him about that.
Compass Colorado dug up the report this week and confirmed Bennet’s presidential campaign was Basecamp Strategy’s third largest client in the 2020 cycle.
The number one client was a PAC also operated by Reid, which spent 60% of its profits from 2018 to 2021 on fundraising with Basecamp Strategies.
A comfortable and profitable relationship, Business Insider reported.
It looks like Bennet profited handsomely off the backs of the workers, raking in $3.5 million during the July quarterly reporting period, and $2.1 million in the October quarter.
Bennet raised a total of $7.5 million for his failed presidential campaign.
Bennet dropped out of the presidential race about five months after his contract ended with Basecamp Strategies.