In an “exclusive interview,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) told New York Daily News reporters Chris Sommerfeldt and Jason Fisher that she and her former Chief of Staff Saikat Chakrabarti are “in conversation” with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) about a Complaint filed by the National Legal and Policy Center in March. (Matter Under Review #7575)
Of course, the FEC doesn’t have conversations with Respondents to Complaints. It conducts investigations. By confirming that she and the other Respondents are interacting with the FEC, Ocasio-Cortez confirmed the existence of an investigation, contrary to assertions of some of her supporters. From the article:
Ocasio-Cortez dismissed the complaint as a political hit job.
“All of these things were filed by these fringe, Republican groups. It’s a tactic they use and it’s very common,” she said. “It’s a form of legal trolling.”
The accusation that NLPC is a “Republican” group would come as a surprise to Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX), whose wife’s relationship with a lobbyist we exposed on July 29.
Moreover, our track record of successful complaints and investigations speaks for itself. In New York specifically, six state and local politicians have gone to prison as a result of our exposés.
And of course there’s Charles Rangel. Ethics Committee action against him, based on my photographs and recordings, prompted his resignation from the Chairmanship of the Ways and Means Committee. NLPC also exposed the fact that he failed to disclose rental income from his Dominican Republic beach villa, a count in his Censure by the entire House.