The sudden resignation on Friday of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's, D-N.Y., chief of staff Saikat Chakrabarti comes amid a federal investigation into potential campaign finance violations, the N.Y. Post reported.
The investigation is looking into political action committees founded by Chakrabarti and AOC spokesman Corbin Trent, who is working on AOC's 2020 campaign now, according to Post sources.
Chakrabarti has been a mercurial presence on Capitol Hill, according to a senior House Democratic staffer.
"People were not happy that he used his Twitter account to comment about members and the bills that he and his boss oppose," the source told the Post. "There was a series of colliding and cascading grievances."
Federal Election Commission filings and a March complaint show the PACs being investigated funneled more than "$1 million in political donations into two private companies that Chakrabarti also incorporated and controlled," according to the report.
Also, per the Post sources, AOC kept Chakrabarti's pay under a $126K threshold to circumvent congressional rules which would have forced Chakrabarti to disclose outside income.
The report suggests it was Chakrabarti's tweets which led to the AOC meeting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that surfaced the "women of color" comments against the leader, which ultimately led to President Donald Trump's attacks on the "Squad."
Chakrabarti tweeted July 6 – four days before Speaker Pelosi issued her reprimand:
"Pelosi claims we can't focus on impeachment because it's a distraction from kitchen table issues. But I'd challenge you to find voters that can name a single thing House Democrats have done for their kitchen table this year. What is this legislative mastermind doing?"
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