Although the congresswoman insists otherwise, one independent reporter says New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is just as swampy as any other Democrat in Congress.
In a report based on public documents, political pundit and strategist Luke Thompson alleged that Ocasio-Cortez’s 2018 campaign may have funneled money through a PAC to her boyfriend, a dubious arrangement that raises ethical questions and, according to Thompson, could be illegal.
Boyfriend makes bank
Thompson first revealed last week that Ocasio-Cortez’s boyfriend, Riley Roberts, had been granted an email address ending in @house.gov, a privilege that is typically reserved for staff and sometimes family of members of Congress. But Roberts is not officially married to Ocasio-Cortez — or at least, he was not when the congresswoman filled out campaign disclosures in 2017 and 2018 — and his status as an official staff member for her office remains in question.
This revelation from Thompson, which he first posted to Twitter, drew swift and spirited rebuttals from Ocasio-Cortez, her team, and many acolytes — which only prompted Thompson to do some more digging.
As it turns out, according to Thompson’s report on Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings, Roberts was paid to work on Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign in 2017 by a PAC that had been hired by the campaign to provide “strategic consulting” and other services.
That PAC was known as Brand New Congress, which was created by Silicon Valley tech millionaire Saikat Chakrabarti. The organization is legally structured as both a PAC and a separate limited liability company (LLC), both of which have goals of helping unknown and unconnected candidates gain equal ground against established opponents.
The Brand New Congress PAC is also closely affiliated with the Justice Democrats, which was co-founded by Chakrabarti and progressive leftist pundit Cenk Uygur of The Young Turks.
Money through the funnel
But that’s not all. A review by Thompson revealed that Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign paid Brand New Congress LLC slightly more than $18,000 in three separate payments for their work ahead of the 2018 midterms.
Soon after, Brand New Congress LLC paid Roberts at least $6,000 for his work as a “marketing consultant” for the Ocasio-Cortez campaign.
“Why would Chakrabarti, a founding engineer at Stripe and a wealthy veteran of Silicon Valley, be hiring a no-name ‘UX Experience’ guy with little discernible marketing experience to serve as Brand New Congress PAC’s sole marketing consultant?” Thompson wondered, referring to Roberts. “The answer seems to be that Chakrabarti was funneling money paid to him by AOC’s campaign back to Roberts and by extension to AOC.”
Put simply, according to Thompson: “It seems probable Chakrabarti was reimbursing [Ocasio-Cortez] for her campaign expenses off-books” via Roberts. This claim, like the rest of Thompson’s report, has not been confirmed — but it seems Chakrabarti maintains a close relationship with Ocasio-Cortez and her boyfriend.
After Ocasio-Cortez won her campaign in 2018, Chakrabarti was hired on as the congresswoman’s chief of staff, prompting further speculation of wrongdoing from pundits like Thompson, who has been barraged with hate messages from supporters of AOC, including Chakrabarti and even the congresswoman herself. His Twitter account was also temporarily suspended, though Twitter soon reinstated it and apologized.
Meanwhile, it seems Ocasio-Cortez and her campaign have some explaining to do. Perhaps these shady dealings can be explained away, but if Chakrabarti indeed “made an illegal campaign contribution in excess of federal limits” like Thompson alleges, there’s no getting out of this one for AOC.
799 Responses
Thanks so much for the blog article.Thanks Again. Want more.
An outstanding share! I have just forwarded this onto a coworker who has been conducting a little homework on this. And he in fact ordered me breakfast due to the fact that I found it for him… lol. So allow me to reword this…. Thanks for the meal!! But yeah, thanks for spending the time to talk about this topic here on your web site.
Thanks a lot for the post.
You need to take part in a contest for one of the best websites on the web. I most certainly will recommend this website!
After I originally commented I appear to have clicked the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and now every time a comment is added I get four emails with the same comment. Is there a means you are able to remove me from that service? Appreciate it!
Very good article! We are linking to this particularly great post on our site. Keep up the great writing.
Really informative blog article.Really thank you! Really Great.
I am so grateful for your post.Really thank you! Great.
Muchos Gracias for your blog post.Really looking forward to read more. Fantastic.
I value the post.Really thank you! Keep writing.
Hi, I do believe this is a great web site. I stumbledupon it 😉 I am going to come back once again since i have saved as a favorite it. Money and freedom is the best way to change, may you be rich and continue to guide others.
Saved as a favorite, I really like your website!
Awesome blog.Really looking forward to read more. Really Cool.
You’re so awesome! I don’t suppose I’ve truly read through a single thing like that before. So great to find someone with a few genuine thoughts on this subject. Really.. thanks for starting this up. This site is one thing that’s needed on the internet, someone with some originality!
An outstanding share! I’ve just forwarded this onto a co-worker who had been doing a little homework on this. And he actually bought me breakfast because I discovered it for him… lol. So let me reword this…. Thank YOU for the meal!! But yeah, thanks for spending some time to talk about this issue here on your web site.
I really appreciate this post. I’ve been looking all over for this! Thank goodness I found it on Bing. You’ve made my day! Thx again!
A big thank you for your blog. Cool.
Thanks again for the blog post.Much thanks again. Keep writing.
I value the blog article.Thanks Again.
Thank you for the auspicious writeup. It in fact was a amusement account it. Look advanced to more added agreeable from you! By the way, how could we communicate?
Very good article post.Really thank you! Cool.
Wow, great article. Really Cool.
Really informative blog. Keep writing.
Hello there! This blog post couldn’t be written any better! Reading through this article reminds me of my previous roommate! He continually kept talking about this. I am going to forward this information to him. Fairly certain he will have a good read. Thanks for sharing!
Major thankies for the article post.Really thank you! Cool.
There’s definately a great deal to learn about this topic. I love all of the points you’ve made.
Really appreciate you sharing this blog article.Really looking forward to read more.
Appreciate you sharing, great article post.Really thank you! Keep writing.
Saved as a favorite, I like your blog!
Woah! I’m really enjoying the template/theme of this blog. It’s simple, yet effective. A lot of times it’s very hard to get that “perfect balance” between superb usability and visual appearance. I must say you have done a superb job with this. In addition, the blog loads super fast for me on Safari. Superb Blog!
Thank you ever so for you article.Really thank you! Much obliged.
Have you ever considered about including a little bit more than just your articles? I mean, what you say is valuable and all. However just imagine if you added some great pictures or video clips to give your posts more, “pop”! Your content is excellent but with pics and clips, this website could definitely be one of the best in its niche. Amazing blog!
Everyone loves what you guys are up too. This sort of clever work and exposure! Keep up the great works guys I’ve incorporated you guys to my personal blogroll.
Great article post.Really thank you! Awesome.
This is a topic which is near to my heart… Many thanks! Where are your contact details though?
A round of applause for your article.Much thanks again. Cool.
Im grateful for the blog.Much thanks again. Awesome.
I was very pleased to uncover this site. I want to to thank you for ones time for this particularly wonderful read!! I definitely liked every part of it and i also have you saved as a favorite to see new things on your site.
Nice post. I learn something new and challenging on blogs I stumbleupon on a daily basis. It will always be interesting to read through content from other authors and practice something from other websites.
Great, thanks for sharing this article.Really thank you! Will read on…