Gaurav Srivastava came under investigation, allegedly because of inconsistencies in his background information. He had donated $50,000 to the Biden Victory Fund in April of last year and $290,000 to DCCC two months later.
Due to questions regarding the source and legality of the donation, an Indian American businessman has made it, and the Biden campaign has frozen it. Gaurav Srivastava, who purportedly gave false information about his past to the Biden Victory Fund in April of last year, donated $50,000. Politico’s West Wing Playbook revealed that the Los Angeles-based businessman also claimed to be connected to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). He gave the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee a donation as well. The DCCC has also set aside the $290,000 for the “foreseeable future out of an abundance of caution,” a spokesperson for the organisation told Politico.
Politico said that Srivastava identified himself as a “urban designer” for the multinational infrastructure consulting firm AECOM and that he was from Los Angeles on the campaign finance filing that accompanied the Biden Victory Fund donation. However, an AECOM representative informed the newspaper that they “do not have anyone on staff by that name who works in America.”
The Biden Victory Fund contributions listed under Gaurav Srivastava were, in fact, made by him, two people familiar with the donations confirmed to Whale Hunting, a weekly newsletter from Project Brazen. The newsletter notes that Biden met with the president once last year, in an article about his “backing away” from Srivastava during the campaign.
According to Politico, “donations to the DCCC were made by someone with the exact same name last June.” The report further stated that the Los Angeles address utilised differed from the one associated with the Biden Victory Fund donation. Nor was the affiliation the same. As chairman of the Unity Resource Group, which “provides and manages high-level personal and major event security operations,” Srivastava identified himself in this filing, according to Politico. According to Whale Hunting, the group “briefly employed the lobbying firm AND Partners,” which is headed by Anti Desai, a former Biden aide.
Politico was informed by retired General Wesley Clark that Greg Schultz, a former Biden campaign manager, introduced Srivastava to Desai. Because Schultz wanted to donate to political campaigns, Clark, a consultant for Srivastava, facilitated a connection between his employee and Schultz. He claimed that he “assisted him in meeting foreign governments and conducting international business, including on matters pertaining to international shipping.” But Clark told Politico that the relationship only lasted ten months before his employer stopped paying him. “His efforts just fell apart, and we were looking at doing some work in the Democratic Republic of the Congo,” he said. “He made claims about things he was not capable of doing.”
Additionally, the newsletter disclosed that Srivastava’s present and past associates are being questioned by FBI agents in Los Angeles “about his campaign donations, claims of being a federal officer and other financial affairs.”
The Atlantic Council, a foreign policy think tank based in Washington, D.C., ended its funding arrangement with Srivastava last month. According to Whale Hunting, “new information uncovered during the donor review process prompted the termination.” “Contrary to Srivastava’s claims, the think tank found that the foundation he claimed was not a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organisation,” the newsletter continued.
An October 2023 profile on Srivastava by Project Brazen provides details about Srivastava’s relationship with the Atlantic Council. Through their family foundation, Srivastava and his wife Sharon donated at least $1 million to the think tank for its Global Food Security Forum in Bali in November 2022. Established in 2015, the Gaurav & Sharon Srivastava Family Foundation aims to serve communities around the world that lack the same fundamental resources available in the United States. Project Brazen began its deep dive into Srivastava “after a failed attempt to defraud another attendee of the conference, the Geneva- and Dubai-based Dutch oil trader Niels Troost.”
“The allegations against his client as detailed in the profile were categorically false,” Srivastava’s attorney said in a statement to Project Brazen. On the other hand, he “declined to comment on the donations,” or if his affiliation with AECOM and Unity Resource Group were the same.
Politico, meanwhile, reported that “there are other Democratic organizations receiving checks from Srivastava besides the Biden campaign and the DCCC.” According to the report, Gaurav Srivastava, who claimed to be employed by AECOM, “gave $6,600 to Rep. Mike Sherrill’s (D-N.J.) campaign.” There’s also “a Gaurav Srivastava listing Unity Resources Group as his employer,” who gave Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) $3,300.Sens. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.), along with Reps. Pat Ryan (D-N.Y.) and Abigail Span Berge (D-Va.), each received $6,600 in donations last year, according to Politico.
