Vulnerable Dem senator attended Hollywood fundraiser with donor linked to discrimination scandal

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Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., recently stepped away from his farm to raise money in Hollywood with a high-profile Democrat donor linked to lending discrimination allegations, which comes on the heels of the vulnerable politician also receiving fundraising help from an individual tied to corruption allegations this past summer.

Tester was pictured at a Los Angeles fundraiser on November 4th after the Montana lawmaker had already raked in astronomical amounts of campaign money from the Golden State. 

A similar fundraiser for Tester, with many of the same hosts, took place on June 27th - the same day the Montana Democrat was challenged by heavily supported Republican candidate and former Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy. During the second and third quarters of this year, he raised nearly $1 million from donors in California.

"Jon Tester knows where his supporters are at—and it’s certainly not Montana," Montana Republican Party chairman Don "K" Kaltschmidt told Fox News Digital. "Tester votes like California’s Third Senator and elites on the liberal coasts know he’s in lockstep with their far-Left agenda that’s crushing Montanans with sky-high inflation, rising gas prices and higher taxes. Montanans are ready to retire liberal career politician Jon Tester and send a strong conservative to the US Senate in 2024," 

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Republican Montana Senate candidate and former Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy (left) and Democratic Montana Sen. Jon Tester (right). (Tim Sheehy For Montana/ Getty Images)

America's Got Talent host Howie Mandel was listed as a guest at both fundraisers, which had a $500 minimum guest fee and host cost of up to $6,600, according to flyers from the events.

Some of Tester's fundraiser attendees have also been tied to corruption and discrimination allegations.

Russel Goldsmith, a former top executive at City National Bank which reached an agreement with the Department of Justice to pay $31 million in restitution for "redlining" in Los Angeles County in January 2023, was at both the June and November fundraisers.

When Goldsmith was serving as CEO and chairman between 2017 and 2020, City National Bank reportedly "engaged in a pattern or practice of lending discrimination by ‘redlining’ in Los Angeles County" and "avoided providing mortgage lending services to majority-Black and Hispanic neighborhoods in Los Angeles County and discouraged residents in these neighborhoods from obtaining mortgage loans," according to a press release from the Department of Justice.

"In addition, City National only opened one branch in a majority-Black and Hispanic neighborhood in the past twenty years, despite having opened or acquired 11 branches during that time period," the DOJ press release continued.

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Goldsmith also hosted a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton in 2016.

Sen. Jon Tester is seeking re-election in 2024. (Win McNamee)

Thomas Safran, a property developer who was also listed on the flyer for Tester's June event, where the Montana lawmaker was not in attendance, is currently involved in a real estate corruption scandal after giving tens of thousands of dollars to the wife of L.A. City Councilman Curren Price’s consulting firm before Price was scheduled to vote on Safran-related projects. Price was criminally charged for not disclosing the payments that were made to his wife before the vote.

Both the June and November events were hosted by Nancy Stephens and Rick Rosenthal, two of Hollywood's major Democrat donors.

During the 2014 midterm elections, Stephens blamed the Democrats' losses on voters "binge-watching Orange is the New Black as though elections don’t have consequences!"

"Where is the disconnect? Is it voter ignorance, or lack of bragging in the things that were accomplished by this president, or is everyone just on Facebook or binge-watching Orange is the New Black as though elections don’t have consequences!" Stephens told the Daily Beast after the election.

GOP Senate candidate Tim Sheehy is seeking to unseat Tester in 2024. (Tim Sheehy for Senate Campaign)

William Mutterperl, former member of the Board of Directors of ESG-linked BlackRock, was another listed guest. According to the November flyer, the event was paid for by the Tester Victory Fund.

Tester's campaign did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.

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Tester announced in February he would be seeking re-election in the Montana Senate as Democrats defend 23 of the 34 Senate seats up for grabs next cycle.