And then no one can publicly see the finances of her Svengali, Saikat Chakrabarti.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’ decision to cap her office salaries at $80,000 will let her chief of staff and senior employees avoid public transparency laws that would require them to reveal outside income, gifts, and stock trading activity.
The New York Democrat announced last week that she would institute “living wage” rules in her office, paying staff members a minimum of $52,000 a year and a maximum of $80,000 a year.
Under federal law, congressional employees who earn more than $126,000 a year — which includes most chiefs of staff — must submit public financial disclosure forms that detail outside income they earn, stock investments, debt, and gifts or paid trips that they are given by outside sources.
Ocasio-Cortez chief of staff Saikat Chakrabarti, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, would be shielded from the public disclosure laws that apply to the vast majority of chiefs of staff in Congress.