Senator Leahy to Return $1,000 Donation From Bailed Out Citigroup

BURLINGTON, Vt. -- Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., will return a $1,000 campaign donation from Citigroup, the banking giant that has received $45 billion in federal bailout money.

Carolyn Dwyer, Leahy's campaign manager, says she was unaware of the donation until the Burlington Free Press asked about it.

The Burlington Free Press reports Citigroup donated $72,620 to 30 members of Congress, or party political action committees, including nine senators in the first quarter of 2009, according to Federal Election Commission reports.

Citigroup gave Leahy $2,500 in 2007 and another $1,000 in 2008.

Dwyer says it was not the campaign's intent to take money from recipients of the Treasury Department's Troubled Asset Relief Program, known as TARP.