Setting the Record Straight

Saikat has fought against corruption for over a decade in national politics.

A super PAC funded by tech billionaires has sent mailers claiming Saikat was part of a "dark money" and "corruption" scheme. Here is what actually happened: In 2019, the National Legal and Policy Center, a far-right organization funded by the Scaife Foundation and other right-wing donors, filed an FEC complaint against Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Saikat Chakrabarti, Justice Democrats and others. Anyone can file an FEC complaint, and this far-right group did this to generate headlines to attack AOC and Saikat.

Of course, the follow-up never gets headlines. The FEC conducted a full investigation.

Nonpartisan campaign finance experts found no evidence of self-dealing or corruption. In January 2022, the FEC voted to dismiss the case. In February 2022, they voted 5-1 to close the file entirely. That’s because Saikat did everything legally and exactly according to the law.

It’s shameful that a Democrat would use MAGA lies to go after another Democrat in this race. The reality is, Saikat has fought strongly against corruption in national politics. He has fought to ban congressional stock trading, end the revolving door between Congress and the lobbying industry, and overturn Citizens United and move to a publicly financed election system.