💸 Hakeem Jeffries Is Practically an AIPAC Employee, But Lies About the Millions He Gets From Them

On WNYC he pretended they give him $10,000. In reality, they’ve been flooding his campaign with earmarked cash.

Family,

Before I say what I’m about to say about Hakeem Jeffries and AIPAC, I need to ask those of you who can to click here to become a member of The North Star today. We keep this reporting free for the world — for readers in Gaza, readers in Sudan, readers living in deep poverty, and kids in middle school trying to make sense of why their world is on fire. The only way that works is because some of you step up and carry the cost. Your membership keeps this work free for them, and even for you when you can’t afford to pay. If you’re able, please click here to join as a monthly, annual, or founding member.

I Don’t Just Disagree With Hakeem Jeffries. I Loathe What He Represents.

There are not many people in American politics I loathe more than Hakeem Jeffries.

It’s not just that he’s shamelessly pro-Israel while Gaza is being erased. It’s that he insists on pretending that this position is somehow organic, grassroots, born from the hearts of his Brooklyn constituents — when in reality, he is one of AIPAC’s most valuable investments in Washington.

Without AIPAC, I honestly don’t know if Hakeem Jeffries would even exist as a serious political figure. They are literally his largest donor ever. And what he just said on live radio only confirms it.

On WNYC’s “The Brian Lehrer Show,” Jeffries was asked a simple, clear question from a listener:

“Do you take donations from AIPAC, and if so why, what influence do they think they have on your positions regarding the Middle East?”

His answer?

“AIPAC, to the extent it has a political action committee, can contribute, in a given election cycle, $5,000 or $10,000 per cycle, that’s it.”

Then he waved it off: yes, he said, there are pro-Israel donors in his community who support him — as if this was all just neighbors in Brooklyn pooling a few dollars.

That sounds small. Manageable. Harmless.

It’s also wildly misleading.

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What Sludge Just Proved

The journalists David Moore and Donald Shaw at Sludge went and did what too few people bother to do: they followed the receipts.

Here’s what their investigation shows:

• AIPAC’s PAC has earmarked more than $1 million for Jeffries’ campaign committee since February 2022 — the vast majority in the 2024 cycle.

• On top of that, hundreds of thousands more have been steered into his joint fundraising committees.

• Over his career, according to OpenSecrets, AIPAC’s PAC has been his top contributor by a factor of three, raising over $900,000 for him even before this latest flood.

So when Jeffries goes on the radio and says, “AIPAC can only give $5,000 or $10,000 per cycle,” he’s technically referring to one little pool inside AIPAC’s PAC — the small part they give directly as a traditional PAC contribution.

What he very carefully does not talk about is the conduit operation that AIPAC has built around him.

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How AIPAC Launders Influence Through “Conduit” Donations

Here’s how this scam works, in plain language.

AIPAC runs a PAC. That PAC operates an online “AIPAC Political Portal” where donors can log in, select their favorite pro-Israel candidates, and send them money. The payments get processed by a company called Democracy Engine.

On paper, it looks like any other donation platform. But there are a few crucial details:

• Donors must agree that their contributions are “earmarked donations… to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee Political Action Committee for the designated recipient,” under federal regulations.

• AIPAC PAC then reports these donations as earmarked disbursements to candidates. That’s how Sludge can literally trace over $1 million in earmarked funds to Jeffries’ committee.

• When those same donations show up on Jeffries’ side, the FEC reports make it look like the money came from “Democracy Engine + Individual Donor.” No “AIPAC” appears anywhere.

In other words:

To AIPAC and its donors, these are AIPAC PAC donations, labeled as such, bragged on, and used to “strengthen AIPAC’s ties” to the politicians they fund. Their own website promises that candidates will see that you gave “through this site,” and that it will be recognized as pro-Israel support “through the AIPAC PAC.”

But to the public, and to casual readers of campaign finance reports, those donations look like 10,000 random people just spontaneously decided Hakeem Jeffries is their favorite guy.

And then Jeffries goes on the radio and shrugs it off as “five or ten grand.”

That’s not an accident. That’s not a misunderstanding. That’s a strategy.

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AIPAC’s Money Is Genocide Money

We need to be clear about what AIPAC is paying for.

Sludge notes that AIPAC’s PAC made more than $55 million in contributions to federal candidates in just the 2023–2024 elections. They aimed that firehose at anyone who dared to question Israel’s assault on Gaza.

• They pumped more than $2.8 million into George Latimer to unseat Jamaal Bowman.

• They funneled nearly $3.2 million into Wesley Bell to knock out Cori Bush.

• They showered Ritchie Torres, Pete Aguilar, Ted Lieu, Haley Stevens, Angie Craig, and others with hundreds of thousands each.

This isn’t just about “being pro-Israel.”

This is about punishing any elected official who even lightly suggests that maybe, just maybe, bombing children by the tens of thousands is wrong.

Meanwhile, as Sludge reminds us, the United States has spent $21.7 billion in military aid for Israel in the two years since October 7th, with tens of billions more in pending arms sales. B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights – Israel have already said Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

So when Hakeem Jeffries takes over a million dollars through AIPAC’s portal, and unspeakable amounts more over his career, he is not taking “neutral” money. He’s accepting money from the very people making sure the bombs never stop.

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“My Community” Didn’t Give Him This Money

On the radio, Jeffries leaned on this line:

“Are there pro-Israel donors from my community who contribute to my re-election campaign? Of course there are, because I represent a significant number of pro-Israel people in Brooklyn, New York.”

That sounds nice and local. Brooklyn. Neighbors. People he sees at the grocery store.

Sludge looked at the actual list of the top 14 donors who, through AIPAC’s PAC, sent $15,000 each this year to the Jeffries Victory Fund, his joint fundraising committee.

None of them live in his district.
None of them live in Brooklyn.

One lives in the Bronx. Two in other New York towns. The rest are scattered across California, Illinois, New Jersey, and other states.

They are not his “community.” They are AIPAC’s national network of investors, betting big on a man they trust to keep their interests safe, even when those interests mean flattening Gaza, arming apartheid, and crushing the left flank of his own party.

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Objection & Answer

Objection: “But all PAC money ultimately comes from individual donors. Isn’t this just citizens giving in a legal way?”

Answer: Yes, the dollars originate with individuals. But the power lies in the fact that those donations are organized, branded, and deployed by AIPAC to send a clear message: “We did this for you, and we can do it against you.” The candidate knows who made it happen, and what it’s for.

What the evidence shows: AIPAC itself says the point of its portal is to “transparently tie contributions to candidates’ support for our ally Israel by labeling it as pro-Israel support through the AIPAC PAC.” That’s their language, not mine. When over a million dollars is funneled to Hakeem Jeffries that way, it’s not “random civic participation.” It’s a targeted investment in a politician who has chosen a side.

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Anyone Taking AIPAC Money Should Not Get Your Support

Let me say it as clearly as I can:

If a politician takes a single penny from AIPAC or its PAC, they should not receive your support. Period.

Not your vote.
Not your donations.
Not your platform.

I don’t care if they’re Democrats or Republicans. I don’t care how “progressive” they claim to be on other issues. If they are funded by the organization that is spending tens of millions to crush critics of a genocide, you cannot separate the two.

The fact that a few Democrats — Valerie Foushee, Morgan McGarvey, Deborah Ross, Seth Moulton — have announced they’ll reject AIPAC PAC money tells you something important: they know how toxic this funding has become. Even the New York Times has noticed a slight distancing from AIPAC inside the party.

Hakeem Jeffries is running in the opposite direction. He is defending the money while pretending it barely exists.

That’s who he is. That’s what his behavior shows you. Believe it.

And then draw the line: We will not support AIPAC’s candidates. We will not applaud their rise. We will not call them “leaders” while they cash checks that keep Gaza burning.

If my work helps you name that line and hold it, I’m asking you to stand with me and click here to become a member. If you’re able to go a little further and sustain us at a higher level, please click here to join as a monthly, annual, or founding member. We are funded by everyday people, not by AIPAC, not by corporations, not by billionaires. That’s the only way I can write and speak this freely.

Love and appreciate each of you.
Your friend and brother,
Shaun

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