Rep. Ro Khanna defends fundraiser at David Sacks's home after supporting Silicon Valley Bank bailout

U.S. Rep. Ro Kinna, a Silicon Valley Democratic congressman, defends his plans to host a fundraiser at David Sacks' home. This is after he advocated for government intervention in the Silicon Valley Bank's collapse.

Sacks was PayPal Holdings Inc.'s +4.79% founder chief operating officer. He often tweeted political opinions that differed from Khanna's and was one of the most vocal VCs calling on the government to intervene after the second-largest U.S. bank failure. Sacks tweeted "Where is Powell?" at one point during the weekend following the bank's collapse. Where is Yellen, Sacks? Stop this crisis now', and has recently been defending venture capitalists' role in the collapse.

Khanna said that the timing of the fundraiser was coincidental in an interview with MarketWatch this week. He said that it was planned before the Silicon Valley Bank collapse and Khanna's advocacy to get the bailout Sacks also requested.

Khanna stated that David Sacks knew what his agenda was, despite their differing political views. He knows that I support Bernie Sanders and higher taxes for people like him.

He stated that he was not in agreement with Sacks's support for Republican politicians like Florida Governor. Ron DeSantis, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance pointed out that Sacks had also donated to Democrats such as Hillary Clinton.

MarketWatch reached out to Sacks Tuesday for comment. He referred MarketWatch's recent tweet about Khanna. This acknowledged that both he as the congressman were being criticized over the fundraiser.

Khanna stated that he has demonstrated that he is capable of being proud of receiving support from tech leaders while remaining independent.

"The tech community explicitly lobbied for me on deregulation 2018 and I stood up against them and voted against," he stated, referring specifically to the weakening 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Rollbacks that allowed smaller banks to be regulated were a part of Silicon Valley Bank's demise.

Last week, the congressman was one of four dozen Democratic legislators from the Senate and the House who cosponsored legislation to repeal the 2018 rollback. The bill was presented by Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, and U.S. Rep. Katie Porter from California.

Porter's office referred to Title IV of 2018's legislation as 'dangerous regulatory rollsbacks'. This law raised the asset threshold at the bank that is subject to regulation to $250 billion. It also invited banks to take on more risk and increase their profits.

Khanna stated that he will speak to Sacks about the need to change banking regulation and Medicare for All at the March 30 fundraiser.

He also claimed that he didn't know that Sacks, who co-founded Craft Ventures, was also an angel investor in companies such as Uber Technologies Inc. UBER. +2.91%, and Airbnb Inc. ABNB. +4.47% -- co-authored a book called 'The Diversity myth: Multiculturalism, Political Intolerance, and Campus.' The 1990s book, which criticised African American history and gender studies, as well as the 'extreme focus on racism', also referred to date-rape in a 'belated regret'. Later, Sacks apologized for his 'former views' and stated that he was embarrassed by them.

Khanna stated that Sacks "knows" she is a strong supporter of diversity.

Invitation to the fundraiser at Sacks' San Francisco home. The contribution levels for entry are $3300, $6600, and $13,200.