Biden nominates major campaign donor, private jet owner to oversee key transportation board

FIRST ON FOX: President Biden's nominee for a key Washington, D.C.-area transportation board is a billionaire Biden campaign donor and bundler who flies frequently on a private jet and co-owns a professional sports franchise.

Biden first nominated Samuel Slater to serve on the board of directors of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) shortly after taking office in 2021, but he was forced to renominate him this year after his nomination was stalled in the Senate Commerce Committee. The MWAA is mainly tasked with overseeing the operations of Reagan National and Dulles International, the region's two central airports.

"I am excited about this opportunity to serve and believe the depth of my private sector experience will be a benefit to the Authority," Slater remarked during his confirmation hearing in November. "In addition to safety, MWAA’s primary objectives are to plan, provide and actively manage world-class facilities and access to the global aviation system in a way that anticipates and serves the needs of the National Capital region."

"The diversity of my professional experiences requires me to be similarly focused on consumer needs and desires, from the needs of residential, commercial and retail tenants, to the public consumer experience within sport, media and live entertainment," he continued. "Throughout these activities, I continually engage with the end-user perspective and study how to improve customer enjoyment and satisfaction with a service."

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President Biden nominated Sam Slater to serve on the board of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority just months after taking office in 2021. (Getty Images)

However, Slater is the managing partner of the Boston-based real estate firm Tremont Asset Management, a subsidiary of his family's firm, Slater Family Holdings, of which he is a managing partner as well. He also serves on the board of the Seattle Kraken NHL team and co-founded Burn Later Productions, a Hollywood film studio, in 2012.

And Slater — who is a prolific Democrat campaign donor — did considerable work for Biden's 2020 presidential campaign. Slater individually contributed nearly $140,000 to Biden's campaign, according to Federal Elections Commission data, while serving on the campaign's National Finance Committee and as a "bundler," a person who collects and organizes other campaign donors' contributions.

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Slater donated another $150,000 to Biden’s inaugural committee in December 2020, according to the American Accountability Foundation (AAF), a right-leaning nonprofit watchdog group that investigated Slater's campaign contributions.

Joe Biden is sworn in as president in front of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 20, 2021. Slater donated $140,000 to Biden's campaign and another $150,000 to Biden’s inaugural committee. (Andrew Harnik/Pool/Getty Images)

In a questionnaire Slater returned to Senate Commerce Committee Republicans ahead of his confirmation hearing last month, he said he didn't believe his considerable donations to Biden's campaign and the Democratic National Committee presented a conflict of interest.

"This is as swampy as it gets. Biden is rewarding a billionaire donor who flies around the world in his private jet by giving him a government job for which he's completely unqualified," AAF co-founder and President Tom Jones told Fox News Digital.

"This is everything the American people hate about how Washington, D.C., operates," Jones added. "It is an absolute disgrace. We hope the U.S. Senate will not go along with this and restore honest good government to our Capitol."

In addition, Boston Magazine reported in September that Slater, who the outlet described as a billionaire, recently purchased a luxury private jet from adult entertainment company Playboy. And social media posts from him and his wife indicate that the two frequently travel via private jet.

The White House and Slater Family Holdings didn't respond to requests for comment.

Thomas Catenacci is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.