Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) took to X on Monday to blast the flood of money from political action committees into the 2026 elections, with a special shout-out to the cryptocurrency industry's $288 million in spending. His message was blunt: "This is legalized bribery. End Citizens United and move to the public funding of elections NOW."

Sanders specifically called out the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and its allies, noting they've already spent $50 million this cycle. He also pointed to $185 million from AI-linked groups. The senator is adamant that the Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling, which unleashed unlimited corporate and PAC spending on elections, must be overturned.

The numbers Sanders cited are eye-popping, even if they couldn't be independently verified by MarketDash. AIPAC's leading affiliate has dropped over $34 million so far and still has more than $93 million in its war chest, per FEC records. On the AI front, Leading The Future—backed by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz—has spent $24.39 million as of March 31. And in crypto, the super PAC Fairshake has contributed $74 million through May 31, while Protect Progress has dished out over $19 million.

This isn't Sanders' first rodeo with campaign finance reform. He's previously slammed Andreessen Horowitz for trying to "buy politicians" to avoid regulation of AI and crypto. Earlier this year, he called the Trump family's cryptocurrency profiteering an "unprecedented kleptocracy."

Sanders didn't immediately respond to MarketDash's request for comment, and AIPAC hasn't yet replied to his allegations. But his message is clear: until the system changes, big money will keep calling the shots.