Some might call it a PAC of lies.
A New York political action committee is still raising cash, despite being officially shut down by the Federal Election Commission more than a month ago.
Matriarch, a PAC dedicated to helping “progressive working women candidates run for elected office,” is the project of failed public advocate candidate Nomiki Konst, who announced the venture in a tweet on Oct. 25.
“Who spearheaded the Green New Deal? Who began the fight for the $15 min wage? Who led on impeachment? Courageous working women!.” Konst, 35, said. “@MatriarchOrg is supporting working women running for Congress. Show some progressive love!”
Less than a month later, however, the FEC delivered some bad news, telling her in a letter that they would be “administratively terminating her committee” — which an FEC spokesperson told The Post was due to the PAC’s failure to file required disclosure reports.
The shutdown hasn’t stopped Konst from moving full steam ahead to promote the PAC and raise money.
“On this #GivingTuesday consider supporting the record number of progressive working-class women running for Congress. They aren’t taking corporate money and are challenging big interests – which is why our coalition was built,” read a Dec. 3 message from the PAC’s official Twitter account. Konst also pushed the PAC this month during an appearance on The Young Turks — where she previously had been employed as a journalist.
The PAC’s website gives no indication of the administrative shutdown and eagerly accepted a $5 donation from the Post.
Just days before the PAC was terminated, Konst sat for a cushy interview with the left-leaning Intercept website and boasted of having 1,500 nominations for 2020 congressional races. She says her expectation is to make the PAC’s first endorsements in January.
The fundraising means Konst will be forced to file a disclosure report in January 2020 and formally reconstitute her PAC. If she fails to do so, the FEC could initiate fines or an audit of Matriarch.
“This is not something I would ever want to have happen with any PAC that I work with,” Jerri Ann Henry, a GOP consultant who had worked around campaigns and PACs for 15 years, told The Post.
Henry said nobody would be going to jail over the issue, but said the appearances were bad.
“You should check the legalities first and then ask for money, not the other way around. If I worked for her, I would be asking every day where stuff is,” she said.
Though Konst announced the PAC in October, records show the group was actually launched quietly in June 2018 — and from there was beset by multiple notices from the FEC citing them for failure to file their required forms. Their most recent financial report filed was in January 2019, showing zero money spent or raised. A July 2019 report was missed altogether.
It’s not the first time Konst has faced ethics questions. Her 2019 race for Public Advocate was marred by allegations of fraud from a campaign aide, who accused her of funneling more than $100,000 in public matching funds to a consulting firm with ties to an ex-boyfriend.
In a statement, Matriarch board member Rania Batrice pinned the blame on the PAC’s former attorney and said subsequent forms would be filed on time.
“We have changed lawyers, have worked closely with and amended all with the FEC to update our current status and will be filing accordingly to reflect the beginning of fundraising since our very recent launch,” she said.
