Clinton cashes in from A-list

Clinton's $25.8M in record-breaking fundraising comes from a list of nation's wealthy and famous

BY GLENN THRUSH
glenn.thrush@newsday.com


WASHINGTON - Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart famously defined pornography this way: "I know it when I see it."

Four decades later, Hillary Rodham Clinton has issued a concurrent opinion of sorts in the pages of her massive first-quarter campaign finance filing.


Clinton, an outspoken feminist who recently slammed Don Imus for degrading the Rutgers University's women's basketball team, has accepted $2,300 from Playboy founder Hugh Hefner.

Less than two years ago, Clinton's Senate campaign rejected a $1,000 donation from Hustler honcho Larry Flynt, whose empire has a decidedly more hardcore edge.

A spokesman wouldn't explain why the candidate believed Flynt's money was dirty and Hefner's was clean.

The Hefner contribution, made on March 28, is one of 60,000 donations logged in Clinton's record-breaking $25.8 million first-quarter fundraising haul filed with the Federal Election Commission on Sunday.

Donations above $100 or more occupy more than 16,000 lines on a spreadsheet, charting Clinton's unique connections with the famous, the rich, the powerful and even her venerable political enemy, Rudolph Giuliani.

"Sopranos" producer Brad Grey, a longtime Giuliani pal acting as a West Coast fundraiser for the former mayor, hedged his bets with Clinton, slipping her $4,600, the records show.

In addition, two top City Hall advisers to Giuliani known for their anti-terrorism and disaster preparedness expertise are supporting the former first lady.

Former city health commissioner Margaret Hamburg, now a scientist with a group that wants to halt nuclear proliferation, gave Clinton the maximum of $4,600. Jerome Hauer, Giuliani's emergency management chief, gave Clinton $2,000.

The former first lady didn't have similar luck with Giuliani's City Hall predecessor David Dinkins. He gave Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd $1,000.

Clinton, who has battled Sen. Barack Obama for the hearts and dollars of the entertainment industry, scored her share of star cash, including Motown founder Berry Gordy ($4,600), Chevy Chase ($4,600), musician-producer Quincy Jones ($4,600), hockey great Mario Lemieux ($2,300), Miami Heat center Alonzo Mourning ($2,300), Eagles drummer Don Henley ($2,300) and singer Barry Manilow ($2,300).

Then there are the moguls, including billionaire Warren Buffett ($4,600), Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen ($4,600), News Corp. executive Gary Ginsberg ($4,600), Warner Music boss Edgar Bronfman Jr. ($4,200), who recently held a fundraiser for Obama, and Internet pioneer and Google vice president Vinton Cerf ($4,200).

Ivan Boesky, the once-jailed financier who was a model for Gordon Gekko in "Wall Street," gave Clinton $2,000.

Michael Douglas, who played Gekko, gave her $4,600.