Billionaire GOP presidential contender Vivek Ramaswamy bragged during last week’s debate that he was the “only person on the stage who isn’t bought and paid for” — even as he has brushed off concerns that the ultrarich have too much influence over politics and policy.

But over the past few years, Ramaswamy leveraged relationships in the conservative dark money world in order to drum up lucrative public pension investments and consulting business from Republican state financial officers.

Public employees and retirees, who depend on their pensions for retirement income, were largely kept in the dark about these relationships. Ramaswamy and executives at his “anti-woke” asset manager, Strive Enterprises, did not register to lobby in any of the dozen states where they contacted state financial officers — even as Ramaswamy or other Strive employees met with government officials and sought pension business. In a couple of cases, local ethics lawyers said that Strive should have registered to lobby.