AOC’s chief of staff ran $1M slush fund by diverting campaign cash to his own companies

[tnt]

@thinkingman

hillary was investigated because an entire country descended into chaos and americans died on her watch

Do you know how many american diplomats died under Pres. Bush?

[tnt]

@Guvnah

Pick any national-level politician.

Investigate every transaction and every contact and every email. You’ll find someone breaking the law.

So much power and so much money and so much influence swirls around politics that someone somewhere in each and every campaign does something wrong – whether by mistake or deliberately.

This is our new political arena now. Eliminate a political threat through the judicial system.

It used to be that the squeaky wheel got the grease. The loudest politicians got the attention.

Now, the nail that sticks up gets hammered down.

I agree with this, but I have to say, almost $1M being funneled into private LLCs is a little different than what violations you might find scrounging around for something.

This seems bad to me, but It’s early in teh story arc. We’ll see…

[Plasmaball]

Here is the major difference between the gop and the dems…the dems typically…not always but typically cave on these issues…where the gop tends to dig in and fight it out. This is more in line with their dont give a ■■■■ attitude…
We see this with trump. Clearly he violates finance rules and what do we see? Excuses…witch hunt…and screams of outrage and persecution not seen since the well i cant think of a group who has screamed this loud over persecution than the gop…

For some reason it seems to work…its like a crying baby .people tend to feel bad and want to help it…

[Smyrna]

Let’s hear AOC’s POV on this. My guess is that if this has happened and it’s illegal, she was not aware. She may say some crazy ■■■■ but…I believe…she believes it and is sincere in her integrity.

[kingarthur65]

@Roxiebelle

Really? I think its more like she learned from Obama and other crooked Democrats because they don’t fool around with their campaign finance violations It was proven $3 Million for Obama, alleged $1 million for AOC! The alleged amount against President Trumps campaign is a paltry $250K which is less then Obama’s fine of $300K!

So come on now give Democrats credit for something they are a hell of lot better at corruption the anybody else.

The fines were for reporting violations and are common violations. Some f the donations were not reported in a timely manner. The reason Obama’s fine was higher than Trumps is because he raised more money. The violations AOC are not in the same ballpark. The article accuses AOC’s chief of staff of self dealing. Something Trump is being investigated for doing. Obama’s campaign was never accused of this.

[kingarthur65]

@tnt

I agree with this, but I have to say, almost $1M being funneled into private LLCs is a little different than what violations you might find scrounging around for something.

This seems bad to me, but It’s early in teh story arc. We’ll see…

Didn’t Trump openly self deal from his campaign. His campaign paid for travel on Trump’s plane, paid for hotel stays at Trump hotels, paid for office space in Trump tower…

[vaard]

When did the investigation into whitewater begin and when did clinton lie?

It was not at the start of the investigation… it wasnt even after the two year mark…

Even then, all they got him for was a process crime, which we have been hearing lately is not only not a big deal but a badge of honor to repubs…

[dantes]

This doesn’t seem to be that new of a problem.

2016-09_Memo--Scam-PACs.pdf

Our election system may be so screwed up they their is either legal or impossible to prosecute.

Of a related note, these articles seem purposefully written to give an impression that this guy and AOC were diverting her campaign money into their bank accounts.

[goodbyte]

@dantes

This doesn’t seem to be that new of a problem.

Money is speech, so unsurprising.

[DOLOOP]

@madasheck

Two words: Washington Examiner.

Weird.

On the face of it, you’d think this would be prime, prime fodder.

Indeed, Foxnews.com had this story above the fold a little while ago. Now it’s not. I wonder why.

Instead, they’ve got the article now above the fold about “New anti-AOC billboard slams Democrat over Green New Deal ‘boss’ comments”.

Pretty sure a million dollars in campaign finance fraud is more important than some anti-AOC billboard.

[conan]

Must defend little princess at all cost.

[mollyBrown]

We need a one and only thread for AOC.

[DOLOOP]

@mollyBrown

We need a one and only thread for AOC.

It would need it’s own database server and dedicated bandwidth…

[sikofit]

@conan

Must defend little princess at all cost.

There is nothing little about Trump but it is refreshing to see some self reflection from you

[Borgia_dude]

@goodbyte

@Candyman

Secondly, if they find that she was aware of his dealings, then she goes too.

I agree if it is found that she knew about it then she should resign at minimum.

Agreed. Resignation is on the table if she knew.

[Borgia_dude]

@conan

Must defend little princess at all cost.

I’m not defending her. If she knew she needs to step down (and possibly be charged).

[sikofit]

@Borgia_dude

If she knew she needs to step down (and possibly be charged).

I totally agree

[CanadianJudo]

Its not illegal if it was Trump would be busted big time for spending PAC money on his own companies.

[Bodecea]

@acsirip

"Two political action committees founded by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s top aide funneled over $1 million in political donations into two of his own private companies, according to a complaint filed with the Federal Election Commission on Monday.

The cash transfers from the PACs — overseen by Saikat Chakrabarti, the freshman socialist Democrat’s chief of staff — run counter to her pledges to increase transparency and reduce the influence of “dark money” in politics.

Chakrabarti’s companies appear to have been set up for the sole purpose of obscuring how the political donations were used.

The arrangement skirted reporting requirements and may have violated the $5,000 limit on contributions from federal PACs to candidates, according to the complaint filed by the National Legal and Policy Center, a government watchdog group.

Campaign finance attorneys described the arrangement as “really weird” and an indication “there’s something amiss.” They said there was no way of telling where the political donations went — meaning they could have been pocketed or used by the company to pay for off-the-books campaign operations.

PACs are required to disclose how and when funds are spent, including for expenditures such as advertisements, fundraising emails, donations to candidates, and payments for events and to vendors.

The private companies to which Chakrabarti transferred the money from the PACs are not subject to these requirements."

Full article bellow
Ocasio-Cortez chief of staff diverted $1M in campaign cash to his companies | Washington Examiner

The optics of this are not good

How come the so-called amount keeps climbing with each CRC report of it?

[SeaManatee]

@thinkingman

@Oryx

@thinkingman

sounds like a 2 yr plus investigation is warranted to me

As soon as Republicans throw Hillary in jail they can turn to AOC. Any day now, I’m sure.

unless dems find evidence of collusion first

any day now

oh wait they gave up on that. “obstruction” is the new one

So we’re still pretending obstruction is new and hasn’t been something looked into ever since he fired Comey and said on camera it was because of Russia. That’s cool.