The meeting’s purpose was to see “how Elizabeth Warren, with her platform, could work with us to move a progressive vision for the country and really engage with communities of color,” said Jonathan Westin, director of New York Communities for Change, who attended. “That goes hand in hand with what she’s already doing. The language she is speaking is part and parcel of what we believe is wrong with this country.”

An aide to Warren maintained that the senator did not know the group she was meeting with had any connection to the “Draft Warren” campaign until POLITICO informed her office. “The point of the meeting was to discuss economic and social justice issues,” the aide said. “As Senator Warren has said many times, she does not support the draft group’s efforts and is not running for President.”

But Westin is a vocal supporter of the “Draft Warren” campaign who, as a co-chair of New York’s Working Families Party, voted for the political party to join the Draft Warren coalition last February. Just weeks before the sit-down with Warren, he wrote a blog post for MoveOn.org calling for her to run for president. His co-author on the piece, Katelyn Johnson, executive director of Chicago’s Action Now Institute, also attended the sit-down with Warren.