Campaign

Warren says she made almost $2M from legal work over past three decades

Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s (D-Mass.) presidential campaign on Sunday released updated information on her compensation from her past private legal work, with the total adding up to just under $2 million.

Her campaign’s legal work page now includes an itemized list of legal cases dating back to the 1980s on which Warren worked, along with the corresponding sum earned for each case. Financial information for some cases remains unavailable.

“These disclosures include all of the cases Elizabeth Warren worked on that we have been able to identify and all of the income from each case we have been able to determine from public records, Elizabeth Warren’s personal records, and other sources,” the campaign said.

The webpage includes Warren’s work as private counsel as well as other work in her legal career, such as consulting work and mediation services.

“If Democrats are going to defeat Donald Trump, or whoever the Republican Party might replace him with, we must nominate a candidate who can create the most robust possible contrast against Republicans on conflicts of interest and corruption issues,” a spokeswoman for Warren’s campaign told The Hill in an email.

“Elizabeth does not sell access to her time — no closed door big dollar fundraisers, no bundling program, no perks or promises to any wealthy donor. She is one of the only candidates who has pledged to end the practice of appointing campaign donors as US ambassadors over professional diplomats, a practice highlighted by the impeachment inquiry,” the spokeswoman, Kristen Orthman, added.

The Massachusetts senator worked in bankruptcy law for several decades before being elected to the Senate in 2012, and prior to that was integral in the Obama administration’s efforts to set up the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CPFB).

She has come under pressure in recent days from a fellow 2020 candidate, South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D), over her compensation for her legal work. The mayor himself is facing scrutiny over his past work for consulting firm McKinsey, about which he has released few details.

“Any candidate who refuses to provide basic details about his or her own record and refuses to allow voters or the press to understand who is buying access to their time and what they are getting in return will be seen by voters as part of the same business-as-usual politics that voters have consistently rejected,” Warren’s campaign added.

The two candidates, who have vied for top spots in early primary state polling in recent weeks, are set to meet again onstage next week at the December Democratic debate in Los Angeles.