Ocasio-Cortez’s Wealthy Chief of Staff Avoids Disclosing His Finances

by Andrew Kerr   Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s wealthy chief of staff, Saikat Chakrabarti, did not file a disclosure revealing his net worth and outside income earned in 2018, despite the congresswoman having the legal means to compel him to do so. Chakrabarti cofounded two PACs — Brand New Congress and Justice Democrats — that were instrumental to the New York Democrat’s electoral rise. The political action committees funneled over $1 million to an LLC Chakrabarti controlled during the 2018 midterms. A complaint filed in March with the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) called the operation “an elaborate scheme to avoid proper disclosure of campaign expenditures.” Ocasio-Cortez announced in February that she was capping her staff salaries at $80,000, meaning that nobody on her payroll, including Chakrabarti, would earn the senior pay rate of $126,000 that requires congressional staffers to publicly disclose their finances, the Washington Examiner previously reported. But the House Ethics Committee requires every representative to have at least one staffer file a financial disclosure. Members such as Ocasio-Cortez that don’t pay any of their employees at the senior pay rate must designate at least one so-called principal assistant who is required to disclose their finances. Representatives have broad latitude…

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The Tennessee Star Report: AOC and Social Justice Grifters Cast By Justice Democrats Via Knoxville, Tennessee Exposed

On Tuesday’s Tennessee Star Report with Steve Gill and Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 am to 8:00 am – Gill and Leahy talked about the Knoxville, Tennessee location that allegedly acted as an office for two PAC, a campaign, and now a casting center for potential Democratic candidates. One of those candidates actually won a seat in the House, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was cast out of the Gay Street office in Knoxville. At the conclusion of the segment the men discussed that this same scam had been done in Virginia two years ago and whether or not the people of Virginia would take their state back. Gill: Breitbart, written by Michael Patrick Leahy did a great story yesterday detailing this scam. I mean these are social justice grifters as you’ve termed them. Leahy: Oh, that’s a good term. Gill: That are out there you know scooping in money putting it into their own pockets under the auspices of creating political candidates to go out there and change the world. I don’t know if you’ve seen this video. This AOC video. Leahy: Yeah Gill: Of literally they did a casting call.…

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Ocasio-Cortez and Her Chief of Staff ‘Could Be Facing Jail Time’ If Their Control Over PAC Was Intentionally Hidden, Former FEC Commissioner Says

by Andrew Kerr   Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her chief of staff Saikat Chakrabarti obtained majority control of Justice Democrats PAC in December 2017, according to archived copies of the group’s website, and the two appear to retain their control of the group, according to corporate filings obtained by The Daily Caller News Foundation. If the Federal Election Commission (FEC) finds that the New York Democrat’s campaign operated in affiliation with the PAC, which had raised more than $1.8 million before her June 2018 primary, it would open them up to “massive reporting violations, probably at least some illegal contribution violations exceeding the lawful limits,” former FEC commissioner Brad Smith said. Ocasio-Cortez never disclosed to the FEC that she and Chakrabarti, who served as her campaign chair, controlled the PAC while it was simultaneously supporting her primary campaign, and former FEC commissioners say the arrangement could lead to multiple campaign finance violations. The group backed 12 Democrats during the 2018 midterms, but Ocasio-Cortez was the only one of those to win her general election. “If the facts as alleged are true, and a candidate had control over a PAC that was working to get that candidate elected, then that…

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