For someone who breezed into Washington, D.C., railing against the unfavorable influences of big money interests, Democratic Socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.) seems to have warmed up to her new environment quite nicely.
Or, at least, that’s what a First Amendment watchdog organization, the Coolidge Reagan Foundation, is alleging.
According to a complaint filed last month with the Federal Election Commission (FEC), a pair of political action committees founded by Ocasio-Cortez’s 2018 campaign manager, Saikat Chakrabarti, allegedly funneled $1 million in donations into two of his private companies, the Washington Examiner reported.
The complaint, filed by the National Legal and Policy Center, a government watchdog organization, claims Chakrabarti set up the two companies for the express purpose of hiding how the donations were utilized. The two PACs – Brand New Congress and Justice Democrats -- were founded in 2016 and 2017.
According to The Daily Caller, Ocasio-Cortez was involved as well:
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 alleged are true, and a candidate had control over a PAC that was working to get that candidate elected, then that candidate is potentially in very big trouble and may have engaged in multiple violations of federal campaign finance law, including excessive contributions, former Republican FEC Commissioner Hans von Spakovsky told The Daily Caller at the time.
Another former FEC commissioner, Brad Smith, told the publication that the complaint will likely trigger an investigation that could result in jail time for both Ocasio-Cortez and her former campaign chief.
The new complaint filed by the Coolidge Reagan Foundation is 50 pages long and lists more than 20 counts of potential violations against Ocasio-Cortez and Chakrabarti, as well as the PACs they created to allegedly perpetrate an illegal “dark money” scheme. (Related: Hey, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, are you listening? Venezuelan leader ADMITS socialism has FAILED.)
Can you imagine the outcry from the Left if this was happening to a Republican?
In the most detailed manner yet, this latest complaint notes:
[Ocasio-Cortez and Chakrabarti] engaged in a brazen scheme involving multiple political and commercial entities under their control to violate federal election law, circumvent federal contribution limits and reporting requirements, and execute an unlawful subsidy scheme. This scheme allowed Ocasio-Cortez to gain an unfair advantage by receiving illegally excessive contributions and illegally subsidized campaign services.
According to lead counsel for the foundation, Dan Backer, in a statement to The Gateway Pundit, “The subsidy scheme carried out by AOC and her campaign manager involve some of the most egregious campaign finance violations ever recorded. Perhaps even more egregious is AOC’s hypocrisy on the matter, as she continues to portray herself as a campaign finance reformer. It’s time for the Federal Election Commission—and all Americans—to hold AOC accountable, and say no to her self-serving brand of socialism.”
Naturally, all persons are considered innocent until proven guilty, but isn’t it deliciously ironic that the very sanctimonious ex-bartender, Ocasio-Cortez, who came to Washington with a ready lecture on the tip of her tongue lamenting the way the swamp does business, for her to be caught up in the same kind of swamp business?
We certainly think so.
It’s too early to know whether the complaints will even result in charges, let alone convictions. But we already know if she is, her far Left defenders are going to find a way to blame it on POTUS Donald Trump and Republicans – and they will never, ever believe that she was guilty of doing anything wrong.
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