Drop Site@DropSiteNews
🎥 Rep. Adriano Espaillat accused progressive challenger Darializa Avila Chevalier of “celebrating the death of innocent” Israelis in their election debate today, pointing to her attendance at the anti-genocide protests in NYC on October 8, 2023.
🔹New reporting from Drop Site News finds a surge of last-minute donations from major pro-Israel donors and millions in outside spending flowing to Rep. Espaillat’s campaign as he faces the Mamdani-backed democratic socialist in New York’s 13th Congressional District, which includes Harlem, East Harlem, Washington Heights and Inwood.
🔹 On a single day in June, Espaillat raised nearly $112,000 from 69 wealthy donors outside his district. Drop Site reports that 48 of those donors have also contributed significant sums to AIPAC since 2023, and most have also given to AIPAC-aligned organizations.
🔹 The spending comes amid a broader multimillion-dollar effort to boost Espaillat before the June 23 primary. Since early May, more than $3.3 million in outside spending has been deployed on his behalf, including over $2.5 million from the Super PAC BOLD America.
🔹 Drop Site reports that much of the funding behind the spending blitz may not be publicly disclosed until after the election because of federal reporting schedules.
🔹 The race has become a proxy battle over Israel and the future direction of the Democratic Party, with Avila Chevalier criticizing U.S. support for Israel’s war in Gaza and Espaillat declining to describe the assault as a genocide.
Avila Chevalier responded by noting that 1,400 Palestinians had already been killed or wounded in Gaza by the time she attended the October 8 ceasefire rally. The full exchange ⬇️