A consulting firm owned by Brad Parscale, President Trump’s campaign manager, was reportedly paid almost $1 million by the America First Action super PAC, which supports the president and other GOP candidates.
The firm was initially believed to be owned by Brad’s wife Candice, but Parscale confirmed on Friday night that he was the sole owner of the company and his wife’s involvement was limited to bookkeeping.
The consulting firm, Red State Data and Digital, was paid by the super PAC for “website design and development” and “fundraising consulting,” according to the Federal Election Commission. Single payments ranged from $495 to $10,000.
It is illegal for a super PAC to be involved in a campaign, but both Candice and Brad Parscale have stated that there is nothing nefarious about the relationship between the consulting agency and the super PAC.
“This is a perfectly legal and appropriate arrangement, which is firewalled, with zero chance for coordination,” Brad Parscale said to CNN. “There could not possibly be coordination because the ads placed were for other candidates in the 2018 midterms. Everything is in FEC compliance.”
Candice Parscale also stated that her involvement in the day-to-day dealings of Red State Data and Digital was limited to accounting.
“I do payroll and invoicing,” she said.
Some have raised concerns about optics of a super PAC working so closely with a company attached to the president’s campaign manager.
“It calls into question the independence of the super PAC,” former general counsel to the FEC Larry Noble said. “One would hope a watchdog agency would investigate allegations of coordination.”
America First Action used Brad Parscale’s former marketing company, Parscale Strategies, before he became the campaign manager for Trump. Red State was formed in March 2018, just days after Parscale was named as campaign manager.
“It looks terrible because it’s hard to believe they would not share information,” Noble said. He described the appearance of the relationship as “concerning.”
A spokesperson for America First Action also dismissed the notion that their relationship with Red State Data and Digital because of the Parscales’ involvement.
“Red State is a valued vendor that provides us with digital consulting services at a competitive rate,” the spokesperson said. “America First strictly complies with FEC rules and regulations and any suggestion otherwise is patently false.”
UPDATE: An earlier version of this story indicated that Red State was owned by Candice Parscale, as was reported by CNN. Brad Parscale contacted CNN to confirm that he is the sole owner of Red State, not his wife as was originally reported.
“So, legally we both own it,” Parscale said on Friday night. “She [Candice] is my wife and I allow her to file and be on my companies because I trust her. It depends on how you look at it. But no. It is all my company.” He also indicated that his wife’s status as “member” or owner was “listed it incorrectly” on the paperwork that incorporated the company in 2018. “She just checked the box of what she was. I’m the owner.”
“@cnn are liars trying to write a dirty story about my wife. I own all my companies. My wife is member on some of them to do filings and bookkeeping,” Parscale tweeted later in the evening. “This is a disgusting trick to make a very simple thing look nefarious. Her last name is Parscale, what would that hide?”
.@cnn are liars trying to write a dirty story about my wife. I own all my companies. My wife is member on some of them to do filings and bookkeeping.
This is a disgusting trick to make a very simple thing look nefarious. Her last name is Parscale, what would that hide?
— Brad Parscale (@parscale) August 30, 2019
