- Documents obtained by DailyMail.com reveal former South Bend mayor Pete Buttigieg’s campaign took a total of $253,750 from 23 companies
- Company executives were then awarded a combined $33,310,426 in city contracts from the Board of Public Works whose members Buttigieg appointed
- Buttigieg, 40 – now the US Transportation Secretary – will oversee $210billion in discretionary grants under the new bipartisan infrastructure bill
- But government watchdogs say the Democrat’s pattern of donations and contracts as mayor could present the appearance of a ‘pay to play’ scandal
- ‘This is alarming, and very concerning, because this is the swamp personified,’ Taxpayers Protection Alliance president David Williams told DailyMail.com
Transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg’s top political donors received millions of dollars in city contracts after giving thousands to his campaigns while he was mayor of South Bend, Indiana.
Buttigieg’s political action committees took money from 23 companies who then got jobs from South Bend’s Board of Public Works whose members he appointed, documents obtained by DailyMail.com reveal.
On two occasions, the former presidential candidate received donations the same day the companies were awarded contracts.
Other city contractors gifted the mayor cigars, alcohol and golf trips worth hundreds of dollars.
The companies, their executives and spouses donated a total $253,750 to Buttigieg’s campaigns, and received a total of at least $33,310,426 in city contracts between 2011 and 2019.
After Buttigieg appointed one former company executive to city’s Public Works department, the firm was then handed multiple infrastructure jobs, and became one of Mayor Pete’s largest donors.
Buttigieg served as the mayor of South Bend from 2012 to 2020. He was appointed transportation secretary by President Joe Biden early last year.
Government watchdogs say the pattern of donations and contracts could present the appearance of a ‘pay to play’ scandal – and raises concerns over the $210billion earmarked in the bipartisan infrastructure bill for Buttigieg to dish out in discretionary grants as transport secretary, part of a $1.2trillion budget.
‘The pattern of contracts and donations appears to be a huge conflict of interest,’ Taxpayers Protection Alliance president David Williams told DailyMail.com.
‘This really doesn’t bode well for the secretary of transportation when he has access to almost $1.2trillion in infrastructure money.
‘This is alarming, and very concerning, because this is the swamp personified. You don’t have to be a Rhodes Scholar to look at this and think that something’s wrong here.
‘Was there a quid pro quo? Was there some sort of backroom deal for these projects? taxpayers deserve answers.’
By JOSH BOSWELL
