Top bundlers for Barack Obama’s reelection campaign have ties to the lobbying industry despite Obama’s promise to keep lobbyist influence away from his campaign. Obama, you’ll recall, also recently brought on a lobbyist as a senior adviser.

More than a dozen of President Obama’s top campaign financiers have close ties to the lobbying industry, despite his pledge to remain free from the influence of lobbyists and their cash, according to an analysis of donor lists by the New York Times.

At least 15 Obama “bundlers,” or volunteer fundraisers who gather contributions from their deep-pocket friends, are actively involved in the federal policymaking process, working in law firms or corporate offices that focus on lobbying, the Times found.

None of the donors are formally registered as federal lobbyists, the threshold the Obama campaign uses to regularly refuse contributions. But the individuals’ activities, the Times contends, fit the definition.

In other words, Obama’s using legal technicalities to rake-in the lobbyist cash while being able to say he’s not accepting money from “lobbyists”. Reminds me of the White House logs. A while back the New York Times reported that the administration, which had promised transparency, was meeting with lobbyists in a coffee shop to avoid having to record their presence at the White House. Sleazy.

Pfizer executive Sally Susman, for example, chairs the company’s political action committee and leads its “public affairs activities, including relations with governments,” according the Pfizer website. She has bundled more than $500,000 in donations for Obama so far.

Comcast executive David Cohen, who oversees the media giant’s government affairs and public affairs, also bundled more than $500,000 and has hobnobbed with Obama on Martha’s Vineyard.

And Michael Kempner, whose PR firm MWW Group touts to its clients its “important relationships with both the Democratic and Republican leadership,” has also bundled half a million dollars for Obama. His firm includes seven registered lobbyists, according to the Times.

The Obama campaign fires back by noting that these individuals are not legally registered as lobbyists, as if that makes the situation better. As if that doesn’t violate the administration’s supposed policy of keeping lobbyist influence away. Once again the administration relies on legal technicalities to maintain status quo while claiming to be an agent of unprecedented change.