Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Eli | Email Lauren In a scene ripped out of “Catch Me If You Can,” the Biden campaign and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee are freezing hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations made by a businessman accused of fraudulently pretending to be associated with the CIA. A Biden campaign official told West Wing Playbook they were putting a $50,000 donation made to the Biden Victory Fund last April by GAURAV SRIVASTAVA into escrow after concerns were raised about the source and legality of the donation. A spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which received almost $290,000 last year from a man identifying as Srivastava, said that group, too, has set aside the money for the “foreseeable future” out of an abundance of caution. The decisions to freeze the money come in the wake of recent reporting around Srivastava’s business dealings and philanthropic giving. A Los Angeles-based businessman, he has been involved in a variety of causes through a family foundation. But he was also the subject of an unflattering profile by Project Brazen, a news outlet founded by two former Wall Street Journal reporters, that suggested misconduct on his part, including fake ties to the CIA. POLITICO Influence reported last month that the Atlantic Council had terminated its donor relationship with Srivastava after they couldn’t confirm important details of his background. 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. All of it has raised the question of who, exactly, Srivastava is. 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.” But a spokesperson for AECOM told POLITICO that they don’t have anyone on staff by that name who works in America. Two months later, someone of the exact same name made the donations to the DCCC, this time listing a different address in Los Angeles and saying he was the “chairman” of the “Unity Resource Group,” a company that lists itself as “providing and managing high level personal and major event security operations.” Srivastava did not respond to requests for comment. His lawyer declined to comment on the donations and whether the Srivastava associated with AECOM was the same as the one associated with Unity Resource Group. He did say the allegations against Srivastava, as detailed in the Project Brazen profile, were “categorically false.” Two people familiar with the donations confirmed that the Biden Victory Fund contributions listed under Gaurav Srivastava were in fact made by the L.A.-based businessman. And his connections to the president extend beyond writing his campaign a check. Unity Resources Group briefly employed the lobbying firm AND Partners, which is run by ANKIT DESAI, a former JOE BIDEN aide. Srivastava also met Biden one-on-one last year, according to two people familiar with the matter. Project Brazen, which reported on Tuesday that the Biden camp was backing away from Srivastava, also dug up a picture of the president meeting with him. Srivastava also employed retired Gen. WESLEY CLARK as a consultant. Clark told West Wing Playbook that he helped Srivastava meet foreign governments and conduct international business including on matters of global shipping. Clark said the relationship fell apart after 10 months, when Srivastava failed to pay Clark. “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.” Clark also said that Srivastava “wanted to give sizable donations to politicians,” and that he introduced him to former Biden campaign manager GREG SCHULTZ. Schultz said that he talked to Srivastava a couple times and introduced him to Desai, who declined to comment. The Biden campaign and the DCCC are not the only Democratic entities to receive checks from a Gaurav Srivastava. Listing AECOM as his employer, someone by his name gave $6,600 to Rep. MIKIE SHERRILL’s (D-N.J.) campaign. A spokesperson for the congresswoman’s campaign said she was donating the funds to a local New Jersey charity. A Gaurav Srivastava listing Unity Resources Group as his employer gave Sen. MARIA CANTWELL (D-Wash.) $3,300. The campaign is giving the equivalent amount of money to the anti-hunger charity Northwest Harvest, a spokesperson said. A Gaurav Srivastava also made donations of $6,600 each last year to Sens. MARK WARNER (D-Va.) and ROBERT MENENDEZ (D-N.J.) and Reps. PAT RYAN (D-N.Y.) and ABIGAIL SPANBERGER (D-Va.). Spokespeople for those campaigns didn’t respond to questions about the donations. MESSAGE US — Are you GAURAV SRIVASTAVA? We want to hear from you. And we’ll keep you anonymous! Email us at westwingtips@politico.com. Did someone forward this email to you? Subscribe here! FRIENDLY REMINDER: Sign up for West Wing Playbook’s March Madness group by Thursday! Click here to join the men’s group and here for the women’s group.
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