NY Congressional Candidate Faced Palantir Sexual Comments Claim

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State Assembly

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Bores, 35, worked at Palantir from 2014 to 2019, then joined an AI startup focused on combating money laundering before switching to a financial-technology company called Promise Pay. In 2022, he was elected to the New York State Assembly, representing a district that includes Manhattan’s Murray Hill and Turtle Bay neighborhoods and parts of East Midtown and the Upper East Side.

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He is one of more than half-a-dozen candidates running in the primary to succeed retiring Representative Jerry Nadler in the liberal 12th Congressional district, which encompasses much of Manhattan’s Upper East Side and Upper West Side. 

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There’s no polling to show who is leading the race ahead of June’s vote, though Bores seems well positioned because of his fundraising and the attention he’s gotten on social media. Other candidates include Assembly Member Micah Lasher, who Nadler endorsed this week as his replacement; former President John F. Kennedy’s grandson, Jack Schlossberg; former Republican George Conway; former broadcast journalist Jami Floyd; and civil rights attorney Laura Dunn. 

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Bores has made criticism of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement actions as well as AI regulation centerpieces of his campaign. Since announcing his candidacy in October, he has raised $2.2 million, the most of anyone in the race, in part on the strength of his anti-ICE, anti-Palantir messaging.

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During the time Bores worked for Palantir, the company provided ICE with a case management system and tools the company used to organize workplace raids and other immigration enforcement efforts. More recently, Palantir’s role in supporting Trump’s mass deportation effort over the past year has made the company a lightning rod for criticism in the US.

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Accusations, Exit

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Before he left Palantir, Bores was accused of making sexually explicit comments to a coworker on at least two occasions, people familiar with the matter said. The formal warning letter came on Feb. 20, 2019. He tendered his resignation on Feb. 25 and had his exit interview the next day.

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In that conversation, Bores said he was leaving the company primarily because of the travel the job required — he wanted to spend more time in New York instead of going to Washington to work with government clients, the people said. Bores also said he would recommend working at Palantir to a friend, and specifically working on the company’s government contracts. He didn’t mention his disapproval of ICE contracts as a reason for his departure, but did mention that he had a new job lined up, the people said. 

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Palantir’s press office didn’t respond to a request for comment.

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Bores also focused on artificial intelligence as a state lawmaker. He co-sponsored legislation called the Raise Act, a version of which Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law late last year, that requires AI developers to create plans for handling safety risks associated with their technology.

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A pro-AI political action committee called Think Big PAC has already spent more than $1.1 million on television and digital ads critical of Bores, including one that references his time at Palantir. Think Big PAC is an arm of a larger Super PAC called Leading the Future, which has publicly announced plans to spend $100 million in the 2026 midterms in support of pro-AI candidates.

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“It is clear that these Trump megadonors are just threatened by the one candidate that they know can stand up to them and to Trump,” Bores said in a statement released in response to the ads. “And they are right: I am the biggest threat to their quest for unbridled control over our children’s minds, our jobs, our energy bills, and our democracy.”

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His 2024 financial disclosure, the most recent one available, shows Bores and his wife reported between $2 million and $3.7 million in assets, including a one-bedroom co-op apartment worth between $750,000 and $1 million. In his 2022 disclosure, Bores reported earning between $250,000 and $350,000 from exercising Palantir stock options.

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—With assistance from Fola Akinnibi and Katrina Manson.

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