Luke Thompson had originally unearthed the central piece of evidence tying Ocasio-Cortez's congressional office to Riley Roberts — her boyfriend's official congressional staff email. In the wake of this news, some people noticed that the Ocasio-Cortez campaign paid Roberts $1,750, but Thompson insisted this was only "a means of keeping accounting in order." During the first half of 2018, the boyfriend volunteered with the campaign, and his efforts were classified as an in-kind contribution. This is normal.
Two far more conspicuous payments to Roberts came in 2017, however. Those involved Brand New Congress, an organization founded and run by Saikat Chakrabarti, who happens to be Ocasio-Cortez's chief of staff.
Chakrabarti founded Brand New Congress in 2017. "It’s a rather ingenious organization, but one that dwells in a legal gray-area as far as campaign finance law is concerned," Luke Thompson reported. "It facilitates campaigns on shoestring budgets by providing a single clearinghouse for campaign services, generally filed under the banner of 'strategic consulting'. But, as a result, it limits the meaningfulness of FEC disclosures by those campaigns," and it means that Brand New Congress "spends most of its budget on overhead and makes relatively few actual contributions to candidates."
Yet Chakrabarti's organization is really two organizations in one. "It’s a nonqualified political action committee — a PAC — that can raise and bundle campaign contributions for candidates. Donations and expenditures from PACs, like those to and by candidates, are publicly disclosed."
pjmedia.com
Two far more conspicuous payments to Roberts came in 2017, however. Those involved Brand New Congress, an organization founded and run by Saikat Chakrabarti, who happens to be Ocasio-Cortez's chief of staff.
Chakrabarti founded Brand New Congress in 2017. "It’s a rather ingenious organization, but one that dwells in a legal gray-area as far as campaign finance law is concerned," Luke Thompson reported. "It facilitates campaigns on shoestring budgets by providing a single clearinghouse for campaign services, generally filed under the banner of 'strategic consulting'. But, as a result, it limits the meaningfulness of FEC disclosures by those campaigns," and it means that Brand New Congress "spends most of its budget on overhead and makes relatively few actual contributions to candidates."
Yet Chakrabarti's organization is really two organizations in one. "It’s a nonqualified political action committee — a PAC — that can raise and bundle campaign contributions for candidates. Donations and expenditures from PACs, like those to and by candidates, are publicly disclosed."
Ocasio-Cortez Boyfriend Troubles Reveal the Corruption at the Heart of Her Campaign
This shady campaign group likely explains why AOC is in Congress.
