Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., on Tuesday denied allegations that two political action committees founded by her top aide funneled over $1 million in political donations into two of his own private companies.
The New York Democrat, a Democratic Socialist, pushed back against a complaint filed with the Federal Election Commission on Monday — first reported by the Washington Examiner — raising questions about cash transfers from the PACs, which are overseen by her chief of staff, Saikat Chakrabarti.
“There is no violation,” Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said, when confronted by Fox News’ Caroline McKee at Ronald Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Va. “No, no,” she said when asked of potential hypocrisy over potential deviations from her 2018 campaign pledges to increase transparency and reduce the influence of “dark money” in politics.
The FEC complaint was filed by the National Legal and Policy Center. The organization released a statement saying their findings showed illegal activity between Chakrabarti, who headed the two political action committees in question, and private companies owned by him.
“The funds were expended in support of ten or more Congressional candidates by a for-profit entity called Brand New Congress LLC, apparently operated by Chakrabarti,” the complaint says. “The Act requires that all expenditures of $200 or more to be disclosed to the FEC, and their purpose identified.”
The complaint alleges that Chakrabarti’s LLC served as a “cutout,” for at least $885,735 received from Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign and two federal political action committees, Brand New Congress PAC and Justice Democrats PAC, the statement said.
NLPC has asked the FEC to conduct an investigation into the findings.
Ocasio-Cortez’s office did not immediately respond to request for comment from the Washington Examiner.
