Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez chief of staff accused of hiding more than $1 million in campaign cash

Washington Times ^ | March 4, 2019 | S. A. Miller

[billorites]

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s top aide illegally funneled more than $1 million in campaign donations to two companies he owned, according to a complaint filed Monday with the Federal Elections Commission.

Saikat Chakrabarti set up Brand New Congress PAC to collect and bundle donations for newbie politicians including Ms. Ocasio-Cortez. He then diverted more than $1 million into two of his companies that did campaign work, skirting reporting requirements, said the complaint by the National Legal and Policy Center.

“These are not minor or technical violations. We are talking about real money here,” said Tom Anderson, director of NLPC’s Government Integrity Project. “In all my years of studying FEC reports, I’ve never seen a more ambitious operation to circumvent reporting requirements.”

He added that Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, “has been quite vocal in condemning so-called dark money, but her own campaign went to great lengths to avoid the sunlight of disclosure.”

The PAC money went to Mr. Chakrabarti’s Brand New Congress LLC and Brand New Campaign LLC, entities that unlike PACs and candidate campaigns do not have to report or itemize their spending.

The Ocasio-Cortez campaign also was paying Brand New Congress LLC for “strategic consulting.”

Mr. Chakrabarti, a Silicon Valley tech millionaire who delved into far-left politics, was instrumental in the long-shot win for Ms. Ocasio-Cortez win over veteran politician Rep. Joseph Crowley and was rewarded with the chief of staff job.

Another FEC complaint by filed last week by the Coolidge Reagan Foundation alleged Brand New Congress PAC was involved in a scheme to funnel money to Ms. Ocasio-Cortez’s live-in boyfriend, Riley Roberts.

At the same time Mr. Roberts, a 29-year-old web developer, received payments totaling $6,0000 as a “marketing consultant” for the PAC, the Ocasio-Cortez campaign was paying Brand New Congress LLP for strategic consulting.

[Revel]

Also see:

https://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3732118/posts

[Magnum44]

In all my years of studying FEC reports, I’ve never seen a more ambitious operation to circumvent reporting requirements

They learned from masters like Obama and Hillary

[unixfox]

Impeach. Impeach. Impeach.

Right Maxine?

[Dilbert San Diego]

Well, well.

We all want to know, were any laws broken?

And will incidents such as these, help Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats keep her under control????

[billorites]

"“The timing and amounts of these transactions, the use of two affiliated entities as intermediaries, the vague and amorphous nature of the services Riley ostensibly provided, the magnitude of these transactions compared to both the limited funds the campaign had raised at the time and the total amount of its expenditures, and the romantic relationship between Ocasio-Cortez and Riley collectively establish reason to believe these transactions may have violated campaign finance law,” said the complaint. "

I'm confident that there's an innocent explanation that explains these unfortunate coincidences.

[Steely Tom]

And will incidents such as these, help Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats keep her under control????

PDJT's fake crimes will be used to justify/rationalize these real crimes.

[ifinnegan]

The guy on his shirt was a Nazi.

No joke, no exaggeration. Imagine if an R wore a Goering T-Shirt.

[tet68]

What did she know, and when did she know it???

[KarlInOhio]

The PAC money went to Mr. Chakrabarti’s Brand New Congress LLC and Brand New Campaign LLC

The Brand New Congress looks just the same as the Old Congress.

[Responsibility2nd]

Dumb as dirt. But when it came to learning how to scam campaign funds?

She’s a quick study.

[KSCITYBOY]

BTT

[SaveFerris]

Maxine will claim she and her associates dindoonuffin.

Or something like that.

[smvoice]

This b!tech is going to make Hillary look like Margaret Thatcher in comparison. Dear God in Heaven, stop her. Or take us.

[rhc2000]

This broad is going to take incoming from both parties now, which is too bad because she is a gift.

[hardspunned]

“were any laws broken”

What difference does that make, she’s a Democrat?

[Grampa Dave]

Taking to Twitter, Thompson lays out a case where Ocasio-Cortez’s boyfriend was paid $6,000 by a PAC owned by Saikat Chakrabarti, now her chief of staff, at a time “when her campaign was running out of money.”

The PAC is affiliated with Justice Democrats, a collaboration between Chakrabarti and Cenk Uygur of The Young Turks, Thompson noted.

Who might Saikat Chakrabarti be?

Again there are no coincidences at this level!:

[Political Junkie Too]

Unfortunately, there is no impeachment for House members. She can only be expelled or convinced to resign.

-PJ

[Dilbert San Diego]

Very true, I should indicate sarcasm, at the thought that a Democrat breaking a law would be in trouble.

[21twelve]

Hey - isn’t that the guy on youtube ads that opens his garage door, and then stands by “his” Ferrari. (And in the background is the very lousy sheetrock job on his garage walls? More typical for a crappy rambler than a multi-million dollar home.)

Learn from me how to make millions and you too can have nice things....