The Silicon Valley Congressional Race Is Getting Ugly

The superior isn’t until June, but nan CA-17 race betwixt five-term incumbent Ro Khanna and tech laminitis Ethan Agarwal is already getting nasty. Agarwal entered nan race successful March, backed by a roster of salient tech billionaires mostly successful consequence to Khanna’s public support for a proposed California ballot measure that would enforce a one-time 5% taxation connected residents worthy much than $1 billion.

Agarwal, for his part, has been going aft Khanna by chiefly citing his banal trades while successful office.

Now newsrooms covering nan title person been receiving anonymous packages of integer tribunal documents detailing Agarwal’s ineligible past. The record includes a $683,000 individual judgement against him aft he stopped making payments connected a $2 cardinal copyright colony pinch Universal Music Group, which had accused his institution Aaptiv — a workout app that paired audio coaching pinch licensed euphony — of utilizing its recordings without permission; a astir $2 cardinal landlord suit tied to Aaptiv’s One World Trade Center office, revenge successful 2023 complete a lease Aaptiv walked distant from during COVID; and a 2019 national suit alleging big contented was downloaded from Agarwal’s IP address. The past was brought by Malibu Media (a institution that revenge thousands of astir identical suits against IP addresses crossed nan state and was wide criticized arsenic a ineligible shakedown operation).

The landlord lawsuit was later dropped; nan Malibu Media lawsuit settled without immoderate tribunal uncovering of liability. The UMG judgement is nan astir substantive point successful nan file. Agarwal personally guaranteed nan $2 cardinal colony earlier stopping payments 3 months from nan decorativeness line; nan 2 sides later brokered different settlement.

Agarwal sewage up of astatine slightest 1 communicative himself. After nan New York Post connected Friday ran nan headline “Silicon Valley tech campaigner was sued for downloading tons of porn,” Agarwal shared it connected societal media, writing: “I deliberation transparency and authenticity is important among governmental candidates. We’re people. We’re not perfect. Yes, this is embarrassing. But now you cognize my worst thing.”

Investor Chamath Palihapitiya, 1 of his salient backers, weighed successful soon after, tweeting to Agarwal: “The guidance investigation has started connected you because you whitethorn triumph and Ro is starting to get worried.”