A New York investor named John A. Paulson is at the heart of the fraud lawsuit filed today by the Securities and Exchange Commission against Goldman Sachs.

Paulson’s hedge fund company allegedly paid Goldman Sachs to structure a financial investment product that allowed Paulson & Co. to choose which mortgage securities to invest in, based on a belief that they would lose value or default, and then take short positions against them. Thus, when the subprime mortgages actually lost value, Paulson & Co. earned a profit of about $1 billion.

John Paulson, the president of the company, is not charged in the complaint with any wrongdoing in the case.

His only financial transactions, however, have not taken place on Wall Street.

In 2005, 2007 and 2008, his firm spent between $30,000 and $90,000 each year on federal lobbying.

Furthermore, along with his wife, Jenny, Paulson has contributed more than $213,000 to federal candidates, parties and committees during the past decade, according to a Center for Responsive Politics review of campaign finance reports filed with the Federal Election Commission.

Of that amount, about 60 percent has gone to Republicans and about 40 percent has gone to Democrats.

Here is a chart that displays the recipients of their giving, along with the total amounts given and when the contributions occurred.

Recipient Total Cycle Republican National Committee $57,000 2008 Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee $55,400 2008, 2010 National Republican Senatorial Committee $27,250 2008 John McCain (R-Ariz.) $9,200 2008 Leadership PAC of Eric Cantor (R-Va.) $5,000 2010 Republican Party of Colorado $4,874 2008 Republican Party of Minnesota $4,874 2008 Republican Party of New Mexico $4,874 2008 Republican Party of Wisconsin $4,874 2008 Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) $4,800 2010 Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) $4,600 2008 Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) $4,600 2008 Carl Levin (D-Mich.) $4,600 2008 Max Baucus (D-Mont.) $4,600 2008 Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) $4,600 2008 Rudolph Giuliani $2,300 2008 Harry Reid (D-Nev.) $2,300 2010 Mitt Romney $2,300 2008 Joseph Edward Driscoll (D-Pa.) $2,000 2004 Managed Funds Association PAC $1,000 2008 Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) $1,000 2008 Rick Lazio (R-N.Y.) $1,000 2000 Total $213,046

CRP Senior Researcher Douglas Weber contributed to this report.



For permission to reprint for commercial uses, such as textbooks, contact the Center: Feel free to distribute or cite this material, but please credit the Center for Responsive Politics.For permission to reprint for commercial uses, such as textbooks, contact the Center: [email protected]

·

·

·

·

·

·

·

·

·

Support Accountability Journalism At OpenSecrets.org we offer in-depth, money-in-politics stories in the public interest. Whether you’re reading about 2020 presidential fundraising, conflicts of interest or “dark money” influence, we produce this content with a small, but dedicated team. Every donation we receive from users like you goes directly into promoting high-quality data analysis and investigative journalism that you can trust. Please support our work and keep this resource free. Thank you. Support OpenSecrets ➜

Read more OpenSecrets News & Analysis: