Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) is canceling a fundraiser this Wednesday after a flap when it became public that the lobbyist host, Heather Podesta, had advertised the work of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence as the “first course” at the event. (Heather and her husband, Tony, are prolific fundraisers.)

Podesta reportedly wrote in an e-mail note attached to the formal invitation that donors who gave between $1,000 and $2,500 could order up “the Select Committee on Intelligence for the first course.” (We have mention of the event in our database, but not the actual email reported in the press.)

Feinstein’s spokesperson explained the cancellation this way:

“It was obvious that this would be subject to misinterpretation by some, and it was canceled to avoid any misinterpretation,” said Gil Duran, a spokesman for the senator. “No contributions were received, so there is nothing to return.”

Funny what a little sunlight will do. Of course it’s extremely common for fundraising invitations to include mention of lawmakers’ committee assignments.

Check out this event today for Rep. Pete King (R-NY), pointing out that he’s ranking member of the Homeland Security Committee and also serves on the House Financial Services Committee.

And this one, also for an event today, for Sen. Dan Boren (D-OK) mentions that he’s a member of the Blue Dog Coalition–and the House Committee on Natural Resources & Select Intelligence.

The fact is, if every politician who flagged his or her committee assignments were to cancel their fundraisers–well, there wouldn’t be many fundraisers.

We’ve found invitations for at least 28 parties this year for members of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions, of which several can be linked directly to health care industry lobbyists. (This is part of a series we’ve been running on parties for members of key health care committees.) These include:

• Nine lobbyists from the Podesta Group broke from their boss, Tony Podesta’s Democratic proclivities and invited donors to a breakfast with Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC). Among the companies some of them represent: Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Millenium Pharmaceuticals, Roche Group, and Genzyme Corp. Burr’s gotten more than $2 million in campaign contributions from the health care sector for his campaigns. (The nine lobbyists are: Sharon Cohen, Kimberley Fritts, Randall Gerard, Lauren Maddox, David Marin, Elizabeth Morra, John Scofield, John Shank, and Missi Tessier.)
• A half dozen lobbyists for the firm Mehlman Vogel Castagnetti Inc.–Jamie Brown, Colette Desmarais, Bruce Mehlman, Elise Pickering, Dean Rosen, and Alex Vogel–planned a fundraising breakfast on March 10 for Sen. Johnny Isakson. Their clients include Abbott Laboratories, America’s Health Insurance Plans, and AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals. Isakson has collected more than $855,000 in campaign contributions from health care interests for his campaigns.
• Back in February, lobbyists for Fabiani & Co. organized another Isakson fundraiser, this one featuring “special guest” –Sen. Burr. Jim Fabiani and Stephen Conafay represent such clients as Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Braincells Inc., and Acorda Therapeutics.

[Thanks to intern Josh Heath who helped research this post.]