CA-11: Former Pelosi Staffer Says Chakrabarti (D) Was Fired From AOC's Staff
While Saikat Chakrabarti has been quick to drop AOC's name on his TV spots and during door-knocking sessions, AOC has not been so quick to offer an endorsement to her onetime chief of staff and campaign manager. And this has raised questions about what the status of their relationship is, exactly.
And while Chakrabarti may indeed still have a friendly relationship with AOC, as he says he does, he may have pissed off too many of the wrong people in Congress during his brief stint as her chief of staff in 2019. As the Chronicle reports today, citing people who would know, including House Speaker Emerita's then-chief of staff, Drew Hammill, Chakrabarti was likely fired from AOC's staff for mouthing off on Twitter too much about their more moderate Democratic colleagues in the House — thus his tenure in that role was only about seven months long.
"[As a staffer] you are supposed to be seen and not heard," Hammill tells the Chronicle. "If other members don’t want to work with your chief of staff, that’s a problem."
Hammill would not confirm or deny whether Pelosi herself had suggested to AOC that Chakrabarti needed to go, but Hammill tells the Chronicle that "it was made very clear to AOC a number of different ways that there is behavior here that is not in your interest," implying that AOC was pressured to fire Chakrabarti.
https://sfist.com/2026/05/04/former-pelosi-staffer-says-chakrabarti-was-fired-from-aocs-staff/
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They are so nicely presented, and All those Unions, and you!
Connie Chan has come a long way since I last looked.
