The Biden Campaign and Democrats Freeze Donations From Los Angeles-based Indian American Businessman
- Gaurav Srivastava, who gave $50,000 to the Biden Victory Fund last April, and $290,000 to DCCC two months later, came under scrutiny allegedly due to discrepancies in his background information.
The Biden campaign is freezing donations made by an Indian American businessman, due to concerns about its source and legality. Gaurav Srivastava, who made a donation of $50,000 to the Biden Victory Fund last April, allegedly due to discrepancies in his background information. The Los Angeles-based businessman also pretended to be associated with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Politico’s West Wing Playbook reported. He also donated to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. A DCCC spokesperson told Politico that the group, too, has set aside the $290,000 for the “foreseeable future out of an abundance of caution.”
On the campaign finance filing accompanying the Biden Victory Fund donation, Srivastava listed himself as being from Los Angeles and working for the global infrastructure consulting firm AECOM as an “urban designer,” Politico said. But a spokesperson for AECOM told the publication that they “don’t have anyone on staff by that name who works in America.”
Two people familiar with the donations confirmed to Whale Hunting, a weekly newsletter from Project Brazen, that the Biden Victory Fund contributions listed under Gaurav Srivastava were in fact made by him. In a report on the Biden campaign “backing away” from Srivastava, the newsletter mentions him meeting the president once last year.
Last June, “someone of the exact same name made the donations to the DCCC,” Politico said. But the Los Angeles address used was different from the one from the Biden Victory Fund donation, the report added. The affiliation was not the same either. On this filing, Srivastava listed himself as chairman of the Unity Resource Group, which “provides and manages high-level personal and major event security operations,” Politico said. The group “briefly employed the lobbying firm AND Partners,” which is run by Anti Desai, a former Biden aide, according to Whale Hunting.
Retired Gen. Wesley Clark told Politico that Srivastava was introduced to Desai by former Biden campaign manager Greg Schultz. Clark, who was employed by Srivastava as a consultant, helped connect his employee with Schultz because he wanted to donate to political campaigns. He said he “helped him meet foreign governments and conduct international business including on matters of global shipping.” However, the relationship lasted for just 10 months, Clark told Politico, when his employer failed to pay him. “We were looking at doing some work in the DRC [Democratic Republic of the Congo], and his efforts just fell apart,” he said. “He claimed to do some things that he couldn’t do.”
The newsletter also revealed that FBI agents in Los Angeles have been interviewing Srivastava’s current and former associates “about his campaign donations, claims of being a federal officer and other financial affairs.”
Last month, the Atlantic Council, a Washington, D.C. think tank dealing with international affairs, terminated its donor relationship with Srivastava. “The termination was prompted by new information uncovered during the donor review process,” according to Whale Hunting. The think tank “discovered that the foundation claimed by Srivastava was not a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, contrary to his representations,” the newsletter added.
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.”
Srivastava’s lawyer told Project Brazen that “the allegations against his client as detailed in the profile were categorically false.” He, however, “declined to comment on the donations,” or whether he was “associated with AECOM was the same as the one associated with Unity Resource Group.”
Meanwhile, Politico noted that “the Biden campaign and the DCCC are not the only Democratic entities to receive checks from Srivastava.” Someone named Gaurav Srivastava, who listed AECOM as his employer, “gave $6,600 to Rep. Mike Sherrill’s (D-N.J.) campaign, the report said. There’s also “a Gaurav Srivastava listing Unity Resources Group as his employer,” who gave Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) $3,300.” Donations of $6,600 each were made last year to Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) and Reps. Pat Ryan (D-N.Y.) and Abigail Spanberge (D-Va.),” Politico said.