Sen. Marco Rubio is scheduled to conduct a fundraiser in Beverly Hills tonight for his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, billed by organizers as his final visit to the Los Angeles area before voting in the early caucus and primary states begins.
Rock singer John Ondrasik, known by his stage name Five For Fighting, will perform at the fundraiser at the home of Hyatt Hotel heir Tony Pritzker, a brother of Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, who was the national finance chair of President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign.
Tickets for the dinner and photo reception are $2,700, the maximum individual contribution for a candidate seeking his or her party’s presidential nomination allowable under federal law.
Individuals personally contributing $2,700 and agreeing to raise $27,000 will receive two tickets to what is billed as “an intimate pre-reception” with Rubio and 10 dinner tickets, according to a copy of the invitation obtained by City News Service.
The event is closed to reporters, like nearly all fundraisers for presidential candidates.
The 44-year-old Rubio, who would be the nation’s first Latino president, on Monday called for a swift reversal of “limitations imposed on these critical intelligence programs” by the USA Freedom Act in the aftermath of the terrorist attack in San Bernardino that left 14 people dead.
“Because too many in Washington have failed to grasp the nature of this enemy, we have less access to intelligence now that we did just days ago,” Rubio said.
The National Security Agency’s mass surveillance program was formally shut down four days before the attack in San Bernardino. A court order has left historical calling records at the NSA off limits to FBI agents running the investigation, even with a warrant.
“Radical jihadists are trying to kill as many Americans as they can,” Rubio said. “Our law enforcement and intelligence professionals need access to this information. Failing to give them the tools they need to keep Americans safe is dangerous and irresponsible.”
