A political advocacy group backed by President Obama acknowledged Tuesday that its executive director had set up a White House meeting for a New Jersey businessman entangled in a lawsuit with a federal agency, who then pledged to raise $100,000 for the group one day after the meeting.

The group, Organizing for Action, also said that on three occasions its fund-raisers or other employees had tried to steer potentially controversial donations to allied liberal groups that did not disclose their donors. The contributions include the check promised by the businessman, written by an acquaintance reportedly seeking a presidential pardon for a 1991 Medicare fraud conviction.

Organizing for Action did not accept the contribution, and no evidence has emerged that the administration took action to help either man. Last week, the group fired the fund-raiser involved in soliciting the $100,000 contribution, Samantha Maltzman.

But the revelations, first reported by NBC News, thrust into controversy an organization that had hoped to play a major role in advancing Mr. Obama’s second-term agenda but has faced criticism since its inception for providing big donors with access to the president and some of his closest aides.