Barney Frank said he supports the protest movement 'to the extent that they obey the law.' Frank backs protests, taps Wall St.

Rep. Barney Frank might sympathize with the Occupy Wall Street protesters, but he’s still got friends in the financial world.

The Massachusetts Democrat headed to New York hoping to raise tens of thousands of dollars Thursday at a fundraiser at the home of Charles Myers, a senior investment banking adviser at Evercore Partners. Myers is one of several Wall Street execs listed on the invite soliciting up to $2,500 from attendees for Frank’s reelection committee, according to a copy obtained by POLITICO.


Frank, the co-author of the sweeping financial regulatory reform bill signed into law last year, said in a recent interview with POLITICO that he didn’t see any conflict between supporting the protests and taking financial services money.

“If you take money from them, but you don’t vote [for] the things they want, how does that put you in conflict?” Frank questioned.

Frank said he supports the movement “to the extent that they obey the law” and that he wishes “that kind of energy was around two years ago when we were voting on the financial reform bill. We’d have a tougher bill.”

Frank spokesman Harry Gural said the event isn’t exclusively a Wall Street fundraiser and will include members of the gay and lesbian community and others.

The invite lists 15 co-hosts, including: Jefferies & Company’s Bill Derrough, Franklin Templeton Investment’s Philippe Brugere-Trelat, Frank Selvaggi, co-chairman of the Empire State Pride Agenda and Tim and Nina Zagat, founders of the Zagat Survey.

Other guests include powerful members of the New York delegation, including Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer, as well as Reps. Gary Ackerman, Yvette Clarke, Joe Crowley, Carolyn Maloney and Nydia Velazquez.

Gural also noted that Frank isn’t counting on Wall Street cash, what with the financial reform law, Dodd-Frank, named for him. “There are people in the industry who are seriously not happy with him” and will not be showing up at his fundraisers, Gural said.

For example, about six months ago, members of the financial industry declined to attend another Frank fundraiser. “The feedback that one of our people got … was, ‘Barney Frank, are you kidding?’”Gural said.

Still, Frank is not avoiding New York entirely.

“The fact is in Congress you need to raise money; that’s just the reality of it,” Gural added, noting that his boss could be attacked at any moment by political opposition.

Frank’s situation is emblematic of the struggle President Barack Obama and other Democratic politicians are facing as they try to support and capitalize on the anti-banking industry fervor, without losing out on campaign checks from the well-heeled industry.

Former Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) and Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), both major recipients of Wall Street money, said that industry campaign contributions don’t translate into political support.

“It’s how you vote, it’s what you vote for that matters … But in my judgment, it’s what you fight for and how you vote, it always has been,” Kerry said.

That position hasn’t earned Democrats many industry fans.

Wall Street executives and financial services lobbyists have complained about Democrats’ recent support of the protesters. A recent Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee email blast endorsing the movement particularly rubbed the industry the wrong way. But the DCCC said it’s gotten an outstanding grass-roots response and doesn’t regret its support for the protests.

One financial services lobbyist described Democratic fundraising on Wall Street while backing the protests as “hypocritical at best. Look at the major donors to Obama, look at the major donors to the DCCC.”

“When you demonize people, it makes them feel like they’re not appreciated, and they’re less willing to take out their checkbook and voluntarily write a check for your cause,” the lobbyist added.

Frank is not the only Democrat who has gone to the Big Apple to raise campaign cash in recent weeks. Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray of Washington held an event there with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada last month. Sen. Jon Tester, along with Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus, both of Montana, also recently headed to New York City to a fundraiser for Tester and the Montana Democratic Party.