GIVE IT BACK, PAT: Auringer Calls on Ryan to Return Every Dollar He Took Through AIPAC

KINGSTON, N.Y. - July 17, 2026

Congressional candidate Jackie Auringer today called on Congressman Pat Ryan to immediately return the nearly $792,000 he pocketed through AIPAC - every dime of it - after Ryan publicly renounced the organization this week in a transparent bid to appease the radical DSA wing that now runs his party.

Ryan says he no longer wants AIPAC's endorsement and intends to return the money. Fine. Let's see it. According to reporting by the Washington Examiner, Ryan has taken in $791,782 through AIPAC since 2022.

"Give it back, Pat," Auringer said. "Not some of it, every single penny. Pat Ryan financed his political career on AIPAC's money but the moment the radicals in the DSA demanded it, he cut ties; he folded."

Auringer pointed to the DSA's growing grip on Democratic primaries as exhibit A for why Ryan is running scared. In New York's 13th Congressional District, democratic socialist Darializa Avila Chevalier - backed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani - recently won her primary after it surfaced that she had posted that Israel's right to exist was in question, on a deleted account that also called for abolishing police, prisons and borders. That is the wing of the party Pat Ryan is now bending over backwards to court.

"This is who's setting the agenda in today's Democratic Party," Auringer said. "A candidate who questioned whether Israel should even exist just won a Democratic primary with the backing of Pat's pal, the mayor of New York City. Ryan sees which way the wind is blowing in his party, and he's decided AIPAC is the one he can afford to throw overboard. That tells Hudson Valley voters everything about his priorities."

Auringer is calling on Ryan to do three things, in public, with paperwork: disclose exactly how much he intends to return, identify which contributions get refunded, and release documentation proving the money actually went back.

Ryan spent years championing aid to Israel, traveled there through AIPAC's sister organization, and built a public record touting the U.S.-Israel alliance. Now, as the DSA's influence over the Democratic Party grows and Ryan positions himself for his next race, he says AIPAC has no place in American politics.

"You don't get to keep the money, trash the people who raised it, and pretend it's principle instead of politics," Auringer said. "Return the full $791,782. Show the receipts. And tell Hudson Valley voters exactly why your convictions changed the moment the DSA started grading his homework — not a day before."