Democratic firebrand Jasmine Crockett took almost $400,000 from Political Action Committees, despite claiming otherwise, documents seen by The Post reveal.
A 2020 Tweet sent by the 44-year-old congresswoman – recently blasted for nicknaming disabled Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ‘hot wheels’ because he uses a wheelchair – claimed she had accepted “zero dollars” from corporate PACs while her opposition had taken $192,000.
However, campaign finance disclosure for the period between July 5 and Dec. 31, 2020 show a different picture. Disclosures from when she ran for State Representative of District 100 in the Dallas area, show 22 different entries from donors described as PACs, giving between $500 and $5,000 to her campaign.
They include telecoms company AT&T, various teaching associations, a Wholesale Beer PAC, a Texas Trial Lawyers PAC and others.
Prof. Matthew Foster, a lecturer on government at American University, told The Post: “What’s controversial about [PACs] is people fundamentally see it as an issue of buying one’s support.
“Democrats are more sensitive to this. They know people look at their contributions and use them against them. Candidates and campaigns may avoid accepting them because of the optics as the average person fundamentally finds this very icky and sleazy and corrupt. It’s a visceral reaction.
“Clearly [Crockett] thinks that issue is a big deal and a way to resonate with voters – so if what they put out there was false it’s a great opportunity for the opposition to run on that.”
Crockett, who previously practiced as a lawyer, draws a $174,000 annual salary as a member of the House of Representatives. She appears to have fully embraced traditional PACs in the years since her Tweet.
Public records show she accepted more than $370,000 in federal contributions from PACs representing corporations or business associations since 2022. These have a spending limit and are different to Super PACs, which can also donate to political campaigns.
Her donors included a mix of PAC and non-PAC donors including pharmaceutical giants including AbbVie and Gilead Sciences, financial services companies BlackRock and Goldman Sachs, major defense contractors including Lockheed Martin and RTX and brands including McDonald’s, Home Depot, CVS, Verizon, and Toyota. Crockett did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.
Meanwhile, Crockett’s disclosures also show she has received lavish luxury trips while in office. In February 2023, just a month after being elected to the US house, she went on an travelled to Doha, Qatar, at a total cost of about $17,500. The trip was paid for by the US Qatar Business Council which has ties to the pro-Hamas Qatari government.
The disclosure shows that while there she stayed at the Waldorf Astoria Lusail Doha, a five-star waterfront resort. The trip involved meetings organized by the US-Qatar Business Council between Crockett and high-ranking members of the Qatari government.
Crockett also went on cultural exchange trips in 2023 paid for by the Indian and Emirati governments, according to her financial disclosure for that year. Those trips were also paid for by the governments of the respective countries.
“At a minimum it looks horrible … Even if it’s just travel expenses covered and a place to stay overnight. It’s one of those borderline issues where you can form an argument for either side as to whether or not the member travelled as part of their role, and even if there’s a violation they’re not always reported to FEC — and that’s why these things easily get dicy.
“Anything in-kind – even if it’s a spare house and the foreign government member let them stay overnight or covers their expenses, flights, dinners, these are considered in kind contributions and treated as if given money.
“But even then, it’s where a lot of politicians get in trouble. Because they have to be accounted for. It’s a violation in the spirit of it,” said Foster, although he also pointed out such gifts weren’t necessarily deemed illegal.
Crockett’s trip took place before the Hamas terror attack on Israel in Oct. 7th of that year, which left 1,200 Israelis dead and 250 captured as hostages, some of whom are still being held by the terror group. In the same set of disclosures, Crockett also listed a trip she took to Israel.
