The wine cave fundraiser exposed some Democrat dirty laundry. Remember the corrupt Jim Wright (D.Tx)?

Inside Mayor Pete's $2,800-a-head wine cave fundraiser that prompted debate fury: Napa Valley dinner thrown by Silicon Valley billionaires for the Democrat had $900 bottles of cabernet sauvignon and a chandlier with 1,500 crystals

• South Bend, Indiana, mayor held fundraiser on Sunday at Hall Rutherford wine caves in the hills of California's Napa Valley 
• Fundraiser for presidential hopeful was hosted by the winery's billionaire owners Craig and Kathryn Hall 
• An estimated 200 guests paid $2,800 each to attend the fundraiser at the winery 
• During Thursday's Democratic debate in Los Angeles, Buttigieg's rivals Elizabeth Warren and Andrew Yang criticized the mayor for the fundraiser 
• Buttigieg has been accused by Warren and Senator Bernie Sanders of courting big-money donors for his campaign 

Buried in the story are these facts about the Hall's:

"The Halls are prolific donors who split their time between Dallas and their California wineries.

But they have also drawn notoriety over their past giving, as well as Craig Hall’s role in a 1980s savings and loan crisis.

Massive contributions to Democrats in the 1990s helped secure an Austrian ambassadorship for Kathryn Hall during Bill Clinton’s second term.

Risky investments by Craig Hall, the chairman and founder of the Hall Group, during the savings and loan meltdown in the 1980s culminated in an over $300million federal bailout and the resignation of House Speaker Jim Wright of Texas, a Democrat he turned to for help.

Federal regulators had been zeroing in on a series of Hall’s unpaid loans.

To push back, the developer and bank operator turned to Wright, who was then ascending in the House leadership, to get them to back off, the AP reported at the time.

Wright held up legislation that would have given the struggling industry a $15billion lifeline and told federal officials they had a ‘choice.’

A few days later, the regulator overseeing some of Hall’s loans was replaced and the legislation moved forward.

Taxpayers eventually covered the cost of Hall’s default while the developer’s outreach to Wright played a central role in a congressional ethics investigation that toppled him from the speaker’s office in 1989.

In 1993, the year Craig and Kathryn Hall were married, he agreed to pay a $100million settlement and moved on.

The couple has since given a minimum of $2 million to Democratic Party committees and have donated substantial amounts to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, according to an analysis of data from the Federal Election Commission.

That total, though, is likely higher because not all their older contributions show up in current FEC records.

In 1996, they were among a group of high-profile donors who attended a coffee at the White House with Clinton and donated at least $234,000 to Democrats while he sought reelection. Kathryn Hall was part of a group of contributors who were later rewarded with ambassadorships."