On Aug. 13, The New York Times carried a front-page article entitled "Donors Descend on Schumer and Others in Debate on Iran." The article opened a window on the activities of big money donors in the Congress of the United States.

According to the Times story, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-New York, had been consulting with John Shapiro, a wealthy financier and "longtime benefactor" of the senator and other Democratic politicians. Shapiro is also the head of the American Jewish Committee (AJC), an organization that claims 100,000 members and that, since 2009, has described itself as "a center for Jewish and Israel global advocacy," thereby misleadingly tying these two interests – Jewish advocacy and Israeli advocacy – together.