Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., speaks at the 2024 Democratic National Convention, Aug. 22, 2024 in Chicago. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) is currently managing a pair of campaign scandals this week, shortly after he became the early frontrunner to replace longtime U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL).

On Monday, the Chicago Sun-Times reported on Krishnamoorthi’s campaign contributions, which included a combined $95,000 from MAGA-aligned donors who gave to the lawmakers’ previous congressional campaigns and now his current Senate campaign.

One of the donors includes Shyam Sankar, a chief technology officer for the data management company Palantir Technologies and advisor to President Donald Trump’s Defense Department. Palantir has been criticized for its role in providing surveillance technology for the administration’s mass deportation efforts, specifically to track the movements of immigrants in the United States. Sankar has openly defended the administration’s approach, arguing that voters approved the aggressive policy at the ballot box.

Krishnamoorthi defended the donations during an interview on CNN on Tuesday, contending that the MAGA donations only make up a small fraction of his total contributions.

On Wednesday, Krishnamoorthi announced that he had donated the $29,300 that Sankar has given him since 2015 to undisclosed immigrant rights groups. However, Krishnamoorthi did not address the $66,000 from the seven other donors initially reported by the Sun-Times.

According to Track AIPAC, Krishnamoorthi has also accepted a total of $266,094 from pro-Israeli lobbying groups in his political career.

False endorsement incident

On Tuesday, NBC News also reported that Krishnamoorthi’s campaign had been promoting an endorsement to his Senate campaign from U.S. Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) in several fundraising emails. However, Lieu had never formally endorsed Krishnamoorthi’s Senate bid and likely will not endorse anyone in the race.

“Congressman Lieu had no prior knowledge of these emails and has not endorsed anyone in the Illinois Senate primary,” Marc Cevasco, Lieu’s chief of staff, told NBC News. “We’re still gathering information to figure out what happened here. But obviously elected officials should be aware if emails are sent using their name.”

Krishnamoorthi’s campaign blamed the incident on an internal miscommunication.

“A previous version of this email was approved, and there was a miscommunication internally. We have rectified this with Rep. Lieu’s team, and the email copy is no longer being sent,” Krishnamoorthi’s campaign said in a statement to NBC.

Krishnamoorthi holds a significant fundraising lead ($24.8 million) over U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly ($2.7 million) and Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton ($2.08 million). The three Democrats will face each other in Illinois’ primary elections on March 17, 2026.