U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, who blasted former colleague Jon Corzine at a high-profile congressional hearing this week had recently made repeated attempts to collect campaign cash from the wealthy ex-senator, according to a news report published this morning.
“She would literally call once every two or three weeks,” one Corzine ally told the New York Post.
“She called all the time.”
Stabenow used her perch as chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee to grill the former senator and New Jersey governor on Tuesday for his failure to explain what happened to $1.2 billion in missing customer money from his bankrupt firm, MF Global.
“This isn’t the Dark Ages,” Stabenow scolded. “MF Global didn’t keep their books with feather quills and dusty ledgers.”
According to the Post, sources in Corzine’s inner circle said they were “stunned” and “amazed” by Stabenow’s attack.
The two served together in the Senate as Democratic allies, but Corzine hasn’t donated to Stabenow since 2006. The Republican Party is calling on Stabenow to return all $4,000 in donations she received from Corzine and his wife, dating back to her days in the U.S. House in 1999.
Stabenow spokesman Cullen Schwarz defended the approach taken by the senator in the hearing and said the tone was not related to any past dealings with Corzine.
“Sen. Stabenow’s committee is holding hearings and subpoenaed Mr. Corzine in order to get at the truth and hold wrongdoers at MF Global accountable. It doesn’t matter who the CEO of MF Global is.”