Donkey-Chompers' Chief of Staff Suddenly Resigns, and FEC Probes His Convoluted Financial Schemes

Socialism and transparency are for other people.

The feds are looking into possible campaign finance misdeeds by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's chief of staff and lead rainmaker, who suddenly resigned Friday, federal sources told The Post.

The inquiry centers on two political action committees founded by Saikat Chakrabarti, the top aide who quit along with Ocasio-Cortez spokesman Corbin Trent, the sources said. Trent left to join the congresswoman’s 2020 re-election campaign.

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The two PACs being probed, Brand New Congress and Justice Democrats, were both set up by Chakrabarti to support progressive candidates across the country.

But they funneled more than $1 million in political donations into two private companies that Chakrabarti also incorporated and controlled, according to Federal Election Commission filings and a complaint filed in March with the regulatory agency.

In 2016 and 2017, the PACs raised about $3.3 million, mostly from small donors. A third of the cash was transferred to two private companies whose names are similar to one of the PACs -- Brand New Congress LLC and Brand New Campaign LLC -- federal campaign filings show.

While PACs must follow stringent federal rules on disclosure of spending and fundraising, private companies are not subject to the same transparency.

The complaint filed by the National Legal and Policy Center, a government watchdog group based in Virginia, alleged that the LLCs appeared to have been set up to obscure those federal reporting requirements.

posted by Ace of Spades at 05:31 PM

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