Meanwhile, a top McCain fundraiser is drawing scrutiny for lobbying the US government on behalf of the oil giant Chevron in a lawsuit accusing it of environmental and social destruction in the Amazon. Nearly 30,000 Amazon residents have filed suit against Chevron, seeking $12 billion in damages. The fundraiser, Wayne Berman, has been one of McCain’s biggest financial supporters. Berman and other Chevron lobbyists are calling on the Bush administration to end Ecuador’s special trade preferences unless the Ecuadorian government forces the Amazon residents to drop the case.