At Private Dinners, Pence Quietly Courts Big Donors and Corporate Executives<br />Mr. Trump frequently said that because of his own real estate fortune, he didn’t need or want support from wealthy donors or the political<br />groups known as “super PACs,” to which donors can give seven-figure donations and which Mr. Trump blasted as “very corrupt.”<br />Mr. Pence’s aides point out that he also has dinners at the residence for groups other than donors,<br />including members of Congress, world leaders, military families, civic leaders and friends.<br />The off-site events and dinners at Mr. Pence’s residence underscore the vice president’s outreach to donors for an administration<br />led by a president who dislikes courting contributors, who often expect personal attention in exchange for their support.<br />Marc Lotter, Mr. Pence’s press secretary, called the dinners “private” and said<br />that the vice president had not held any political fund-raisers at his residence, which would be complicated by a law barring the solicitation of political contributions in government buildings.<br />If you’re an incumbent president and vice president, then that’s part of what you do.”<br />Mr. Pence’s office declined to release the lists of guests invited to the dinners, which have<br />not appeared on schedules released by the vice president’s office to the news media.
