Trump Impeachment Lawyer in N.Y. Primary Taps Big Law for Cash

Dan Goldman, the former federal prosecutor and Levi Strauss & Co. heir in today’s New York 10th District Democratic congressional primary, received more than a sixth of donations from the legal industry, records show.

Those giving included WilmerHale partner Preet Bharara, Goldman’s former boss at the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York; Jeff Kessler, co-executive chairman of Winston & Strawn; and Karen Patton Seymour, the former Goldman Sachs general counsel and now Sullivan & Cromwell partner.

“Dan’s a lawyer—he has years of experience and contacts both in the legal profession and from Wall Street—so that’s his network,” said Chris Coffey, chief executive officer of political consultancy Tusk Strategies. “When you’re a new candidate, you immediately go to your network.”

Goldman, the former lead Democratic counsel in Donald Trump’s first impeachment, led rivals in the newly drawn district in a poll taken Aug. 10-13 by Emerson College, Pix11 and The Hill.

About 22% of Democratic primary voters favored Goldman, compared with 17% for Yuh-Line Niou, who was elected to the state assembly in 2016, and 13% each for Mondaire Jones, a US House member who moved to Brooklyn from the Rockland County district he currently represents, and Carlina Rivera, a city council member from Manhattan, according to the poll.

Goldman, who has never held public office, spent about 10 years as an assistant US attorney. He joined the House Intelligence Committee as an adviser in 2019 and later served as the lead counsel in the inquiry related to Trump allegedly pressuring Ukraine to investigate his political rivals.

He launched a campaign for New York attorney general in November 2021 though withdrew when incumbent Letitia James decided to run for re-election.

Legal Industry Aid

Of the more than $1.4 million Goldman raised from individual donors through Aug. 3, $240,000 came from the legal profession, according to Federal Election Commission data.

Kessler donated $2,900 to Goldman while Bharara and Seymour gave him $1,000 each, FEC records show.

FEC rules generally limit individual contributions to $2,900 per race, meaning an individual can donate $2,900 for the primary and general election contests.

Employees at financial institutions Blackstone and Goldman Sachs each poured in about $20,000 into Goldman’s coffers.

Goldman put at least $2 million of his own money into the race this month, FEC records show.

Family Wealth

If elected to Congress, Goldman would likely become one of the 20 wealthiest members, Bloomberg News has reported. He has a net worth of between $64 million and $253 million from 1,700-plus assets and has pledged to put his assets in a blind trust if elected.

His grandmother, Rhoda Haas Goldman, was the daughter of the former president of Levi Strauss, according to New York Jewish Week.

Jones is a former Davis Polk associate first elected to Congress in 2020 to represent a district in Rockland and Westchester counties. Like Goldman, he has received about a sixth of his campaign contributions from the legal profession.

Jones has received nearly $600,00 in donations from attorneys since 2021, including more than $70,000 from lawyers at his former firm, according to the FEC.

As of late July, Jones had ranked fourth among House candidates in contributions from lawyers, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Jones Support

Paul Weiss attorneys donated more than $30,000 to Jones, and Simpson Thacher lawyers have chipped in another $14,000 to the candidate.

Paul Weiss partner Loretta Lynch, a former attorney general in the Obama administration, made a contribution of $2,900 in May. Martine Beamon, a leader of Davis Polk’s white collar practice, has donated the maximum $5,800, according to federal records.

Jones has also gotten financial support from Cleary Gottlieb general counsel Lawrence Friedman.

Many of the contributions came before Jones chose to run in the New York City district. He launched his bid for the seat in late May following a messy redistricting process in the state, which saw Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chair Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney announcing a run in the newly configured district encompassing Westchester and Rockland.

Jones began the race with about $3 million on hand, but his cash advantage ended when Goldman began putting his own money into his campaign.

Niou and Rivera have also found support from Big Law.

Edward Wallace, a leader of Greenberg Traurig’s New York office, donated $1,000 to Rivera and Ethan Klingsberg, a top mergers and acquisitions partner at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, donated $500 to Niou, according to the FEC.