There appears to have been some last-minute maneuvers happening over the weekend by supporters of Saikat Chakrabarti, and Chakrabarti himself, in an effort to tie Connie Chan to a political action committee that is pro-Israel.

It seems like an odd last-minute maneuver, but Saikat Chakrabarti and his campaign have amplifying this Drop Site story that published on Saturday, which reports that money from a pro-Israel group, AIPAC, has been flowing to Connie Chan's campaign via a "circuitous route."

Essentially, the report points to money donated by AIPAC and its offshoot Democratic Majority for Israel (DMFI) to another PAC called Elect Democratic Women (EDW) Action Fund. And AIPAC's own United Democracy Project PAC has also been giving money to EDW Action Fund, and then on May 1, EDW Action formed a new PAC called Pro-Choice Majority Action, which has now spent $475,000 in donations to Chan's campaign.

Chan has publicly pledged not to take money from AIPAC, and has been vocally supportive of Palestine along with SF's other progressive supervisors. And EDW Action Fund, as Mission Local points out, has also supported other progressive women candidates who are pro-Palestine, including Oakland Rep. Lateefah Simon, and Portland Rep. Maxine Dexter.

A spokesperson for Chan's campaign, Julie Edwards, called the story "a desperate attempt from our opponent to undermine our campaign because we have momentum to win on June 2."

In a statement, Edwards continued, "The notion that Connie Chan — whose support of the Block the Bombs Act and the end of military aid to Israel, condemnation of the Gaza genocide and advocacy for Palestinians are public record — would somehow be carrying water for AIPAC is absurd and laughable."

Support for Israel is, of course, a major ding against a candidate in many circles in San Francisco, however state Senator Scott Wiener, who continues to have a commanding lead in the race, has been vocally supportive of Israel while also trying to toe the line and condemn the Israeli government's actions in Gaza.

When asked at a January candidate forum whether the war in Gaza was "a genocide," Chakrabarti and Chan both emphatically held up "Yes" signs while Wiener demurred — something that he clearly recognized was going to be a problem for his still nascent campaign for Congress.

Within days, Wiener issued a statement condemning the war and saying he now considered Israel's actions a genocide, and two weeks later, given his change in stance, he stepped down from a leadership role in the legislature's Jewish Caucus.

Chakrabarti now seems to want to shift that stink over to Chan, at a moment in the race, after the endorsement by Pelosi, when Chan is looking to be more competitive in Tuesday's primary when it comes to second place.

Writing on Xitter Sunday morning, Chakrabarti says, "AIPAC wants to keep me out of the top two for a simple reason: Of the three leading candidates, I am the only one who named the genocide in Gaza and called for a full arms embargo on Israel from the start, and I have a decade-long record to prove it is not just talk."

Except, it seems like Chan has been pretty pro-Palestine all along, so attempting to say he was the only one calling out the genocide "from the start" seems disingenuous.

And as 48 Hills' Tim Redmond wrote on Sunday, "If AIPAC somehow thinks they are getting an ally by giving money to a PAC that gives money to a PAC that gives money to a PAC that supports Chan, they got the wrong woman."

More likely, if there was a direct motivation on the part of AIPAC, that motivation is to promote a candidate who is more likely to lose against Wiener in November, as some have pointed out.

There has been no official poll released since Pelosi made her late-in-the-game endorsement of Chan, and the last poll, taken between May 3 and May 7, had Wiener at 38%, Chan at 22%, and Chakrabarti at 21%.

Related: Pelosi Finally Says What She Thinks About Chakrabarti and Wiener In Race to Succeed Her

Top image via Connie Chan for Congress