Report: "Raja Will Take Money From Anyone"

Analysis Reveals Krishnamoorthi Accepted Nearly $800,000 from pro-Trump Special Interests

Mismatch Between His Talking Points and His Donors

CHICAGO — A newly published report reveals that Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-08), a candidate to replace U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, has taken more than $790,000 in political contributions from special interests that support the Trump Administration’s agenda despite Krishnamoorthi’s key campaign talking point that he has a “plan to stop Trump.”

The deep hypocrisy is revealed in the new analysis, Raja Will Take Money From Anyone,of Krishnamoorthi’s campaign fundraising reports from his current candidacy for U.S. Senate and past political campaigns.

Donors include ICE contractors, weapons industry interests, and Israel lobbying group American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

“You get the sense that Rep. Krishnamoorthi is just saying what he thinks voters want to hear, because his political contributors tell a completely different story,” said Denali Dasgupta, Research Director at SACRED Acts (South Asian American Coalition to Renew Democracy Acts). “A candidate who takes so much money from corporations that profit off of ICE, the war in Iran and the Trump administration cannot hold Trump accountable. A look at Krishnamoorthi’s long-time repeat donors reveal where his loyalties truly lie.”

Key Findings

• Despite Krishnamoorthi’s campaign goal of “abolish[ing] Trump’s ICE” and his calls to “ protect families and demand accountability,” he has taken at least $275,220 from corporations that have benefited from Trump’s attacks on immigrants.
  
• Krishnamoorthi condemns the Trump administration’s war with Iran but has accepted $323,542 from AIPAC’s political action committee and direct contributions from AIPAC Board Members and significant donors over the course of his career. AIPAC backs the Trump administration’s war with Iran.
  
• Rep. Krishnamoorthi describes Trump’s war on Iran as a “reckless decision,” but he has accepted $194,500 from the weapons manufacturers that stand to profit from the Trump administration’s wars.
  

With recent polling showing that 46% of Illinois voters are still undecided and voting already underway for the March 17 primary, its critical voters have all the information about the candidates running for Senate.

“Whoever we elect to the U.S. Senate will likely represent Illinoisans for a long time so it's important voters know everything about the candidate,” said Saqib Bhatti, Executive Director of the Action Center on Race and the Economy. “We need a senator who will serve the people of Illinois, not someone whose vote is for sale to the highest bidder. That’s why we need to come together to reject Raja.”

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The Action Center on Race & the Economy (ACRE) is a 501(c)(4) organization formed in 2017 that drives political and policy campaigns that fight for structural change. We directly take on the financial institutions and anti-democratic actors that are responsible for pillaging communities of color and poor families, subverting voting rights, and destroying our environment.

We support racial, economic, and environmental justice organizations with strategic planning and advocacy coordination on political campaigns. We also lead campaigns to spotlight the political influence that corporate and financial profiteers wield as they erode the basic racial and economic rights of communities of color.

SACRED Acts advances democracy and collective liberation by producing original action research and public education that exposes and disrupts the alliances between white supremacist movements and extremist South Asian American groups in the United States. We organize multiracial, multifaith, and anti-caste coalitions to counter authoritarianism and strengthen movements for justice.