The primary election is set for early June, but the CA-17 contest between five-term incumbent Ro Khanna and tech entrepreneur Ethan Agarwal is already contentious. Agarwal entered the race in March, supported by notable tech billionaires, as a reaction to Khanna’s endorsement of a proposed California measure to implement a one-time 5% tax on those worth over $1 billion.
Agarwal has mainly criticized Khanna for his stock trades while in office.
Recently, anonymous packages containing digital court documents about Agarwal’s legal history have been sent to news organizations covering the race. These include a $683,000 personal judgment against him for halting payments on a $2 million copyright settlement with Universal Music Group, which accused his company, Aaptiv, of using its music without permission; a nearly $2 million lawsuit related to Aaptiv’s One World Trade Center office lease, abandoned during COVID-19 in 2023; and a 2019 federal lawsuit alleging adult content downloads from his IP address. The latter was filed by Malibu Media, criticized for its widespread, similar suits against IP addresses nationwide.
The landlord lawsuit was dropped, and the Malibu Media case settled without finding liability. The UMG judgment is the most significant in the documents. Agarwal had personally guaranteed the settlement, halting payments near the end; another settlement was made later.
Agarwal preemptively addressed one issue when the New York Post published a headline about him being sued for downloading adult content. He shared this on social media, stating, “Transparency and authenticity are important among political candidates. We’re people. We’re not perfect. Yes, this is embarrassing. But now you know my worst thing.”
Investor Chamath Palihapitiya, a supporter, responded soon after by tweeting to Agarwal: “The opposition research has started on you because you may win and Ro is starting to get worried.”