Democratic Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley, who has repeatedly pushed to defund the police, spent thousands of taxpayers’ dollars on private security, according to newly released Statement of Disbursements of the House records reviewed by the Daily Caller.
The Daily Caller first reported in April 2021 that Pressley and members of the far-left group in Congress called “the Squad” spent thousands of campaign funds on private security. (RELATED: ‘The Squad’ Pushes To ‘Defund The Police’ While Spending Thousands On Private Security To Protect Themselves)
According to the new Statement of Disbursements of the House records, Pressley spent $63,000 of her Member Representational Allowance (MRA) on “security service” in 2021 — spending $28,000 between Oct. 1, 2021 and Dec. 31, 2021 and $35,000 between May 2021 and August 2021.
The payments show the money was directed to Alisa Tatarian, who is a Financial Administrator at the U.S. House of Representatives. It is not clear how that money was finally spent. The Daily Caller contacted Tatarian as well as Pressley’s office several times about the money that was spent on “security service,” to which they did not respond.
“The Member’s Representational Allowance (MRA) is intended for individual member offices’ expenditures and receipts during a single legislative year. The MRA is funded through fiscal year appropriations and authorized annually by the Committee on House Administration (CHA). It is non-transferable between legislative years,” the House government website states.
A GOP source told the Daily Caller that a financial administrator handles disbursements and reimbursements for members of Congress, therefore it is unlikely that Pressley actually paid Tatarian for security services, but rather listed her name due to the disbursement process. (RELATED: Rep. Cori Bush, Who Wants To Defund The Police, Spent Just Under $70,000 On Private Security)
Date Payee Service Dates Service Dates Description Quarterly Amount;
8/06/21 Tatarian, Alisa S. 7/1/21 7/31/21 Security Service $7,000.00
8/31/21 Tatarian, Alisa S. 8/1/21 8/25/21 Security Service $7,000.00
5/21/21 Tatarian, Alisa S. 5/1/21 5/20/21 Security Service $7,000.00
5/25/21 Tatarian, Alisa S. 4/1/21 4/29/21 Security Service $7,000.00
6/30/21 Tatarian, Alisa S. 6/1/21 6/30/21 Security Service $7,000.00
TOTAL: $35,000.00
Republican New York Rep. Elise Stefanik slammed Pressley, saying she wants police for herself and not the rest of Americans in a statement to the Daily Caller.
“Ayanna Pressley and her fellow Squad members have repeatedly called for our police to be defunded while simultaneously paying top dollar for their own private security with taxpayer funds. All while violent crime rates are surging across our cities. Pressley and the rest of the Squad want police for them but not for us. Democrats are the party of elitist hypocrites and defunding the police. The American people know this, and that is why this November there will be a red tsunami,” the House GOP Chairwoman said.
In a June 2020 interview with TIME, Pressley said she supports efforts to defund police departments, saying it is “about the investment in our communities which have historically been divested from.”
During President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address Tuesday, he mentioned America should be funding police departments not defunding them, breaking with many left-wing Democrats in Congress like Pressley.
*story by The Daily Caller
