Attorneys for Trump register American Made Media Consultants LLC, a shell company approved by Jared Kushner and Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale.
Eric Trump’s wife Lara Trump is named president of the company. Mike Pence’s nephew John Pence is named vice president. Both resign in October 2019 for reasons that are unclear at the time of reporting. Trump campaign CFO Sean Dollman is named treasurer and secretary.
The initial purpose of the company is unverified, but AMMC acts to shield Trump campaign expenses from the public and authorities like the Federal Election Commission. Nearly half of the $1.26 billion raised for Donald Trump’s re-election campaign is paid to AMMC.
Once the funds are controlled by AMMC, election laws no longer govern how the money is spent. In June and December 2020, two different reports come out noting that AMMC funneled millions of dollars in campaign donations to Trump family members. Lara Trump and Don Jr.’s girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle both receive a monthly salary from AMMC without ever being officially employed by the campaign. This use of AMMC is likely illegal.
While the situation differs, Kushner knows a little something about the violation of election laws, as his father, Charles Kushner, was sentenced to prison for up to 24 months after being convicted of illegal campaign contributions, in addition to tax evasion, and witness tampering, the latter involving Kushner the Elder’s brother-in-law, a prostitute, and a camcorder.
Vanity Fair
Some reports suggest that AMMC is used to oversee how Brad Parscale spends campaign funds. His company, Parscale Strategy, provided cover for how campaign funds were spent previously, but Parscale took advantage of that for his own benefit.
Parsale has bought a Ferarri, a Range Rover, a $400,000 boat, two million dollar condos and a $2.4 million waterfront house in Florida since joining the campaign in 2018.
Trump File
AMMC and Parscale Strategy are not the only companies used by the Trump campaign to pay officials through 2020. For example, campaign strategist Jason Miller receives $35,000 a month for his work, but he’s paid by video production vendor Jamestown Associates.
Sources
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/12/jared-kushner-campaign-shell-company
https://www.thedailybeast.com/jared-kushner-okd-trump-campaign-shell-company-that-secretly-paid-inner-circle-says-report
https://www.salon.com/2020/12/18/how-the-trump-family-grift-grew-out-of-the-presidents-paranoia-about-brad-parscale/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewsolender/2020/07/28/non-partisan-watchdog-accuses-trump-campaign-of-laundering-170-million/?sh=3596d09d6128
Photo: Daniel X. O’Neil (Cropped) (License)