Karger alleges that Vander Plaats was shopping his endorsement around for $1 million, citing an ABC News report at the time that relied on unnamed sources. Santorum and Vander Plaats did not characterize their interaction that way. Santorum acknowledged at the time that money was discussed at a meeting with Vander Plaats but that the evangelical leader did not ask Santorum for it. Vander Plaats said that he wanted money from Santorum backers to run television ads backing him.