Update: The MoJo 400

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Monika Bauerlein,
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December is make-or-break for Mother Jones’ fundraising, and in "No Cute Headlines or Manipulative BS," we hope that giving it to you as matter-of-fact as we can will work to raise the $350,000 we need to raise this month. Donations make up 74 percent of our budget this year, and all online gifts will be matched and go twice as far until we hit our goal.

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Even though the last election cycle is long over, the country’s biggest political contributors — profiled in the Mother Jones 400 — are still making headlines.

WINNERS

Clinton nominated meatpacking heir James Hormel (#84; $186,200) as alternate representative to the United Nations (Hormel’s 1992 candidacy for Fiji’s ambassadorship flopped when his gay activism and the country’s sodomy laws didn’t mix).
Felix Rohatyn (#4; $471,250) was nominated as ambassador to France, beating out Mary Raiser (#270; $108,000), the White House chief of protocol.
Walter Shorenstein (#11; $334,350) and love interest Tippi Hedren shared an April dinner with Hillary Clinton in New York.

SINNERS

Matt Fong, California’s state treasurer, returned a possibly illegal $100,000 donation that Jessica Elnitiarta (#329; $100,000) and her father, Ted Sioeng, gave to Fong’s campaign.

For more on Elnitiarta’s returned contribution, see “Beijing 90210“.
Protesting the “total corruption” of political fundraising in the U.S., the Hollywood Women’s Political Committee dissolved. Thirteen MoJo 400 luminaries had given the group nearly $50,000.

SPINNER

Lillian Vernon’s (#197; $124,060) son and publicist, David Hochberg, called Mother Jones to say how happy they were with the issue, adding, “If there’s anything else we can help you with, let us know.”