At least a half-dozen of Barack Obama's new transition team leaders were among the top fundraisers who "bundled" cash for him on the campaign trail. Four of them pulled in $500,000 or more as Obama bundlers.

Obama's earned high marks from government watchdogs for his transition's strict new ethics rules, which bar any lobbyist from working on the transition in any issue area they've lobbied during the past year. Still, rules aimed at excluding lobbyists are invariably squishy, as Obama's ban on political donations from lobbyists illustrated during the campaign.

Read the latest "Rules of the Game' column by campaign finance writer Eliza Newlin Carney of National Journal. HERE.