Brad Parscale, President Donald Trump's 2020 reelection campaign manager, has been funneling donor money to the President's daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, and the President's son's girlfriend, Kimberly Guilfoyle. Both women are Trump campaign surrogates and have expanded to advisory roles as well.
Normally, the Federal Election Commission would require payments to surrogates be disclosed in public filings. The Trump campaign has avoided this by paying millions to Parscale's company, Parscale Strategy, which then reportedly doles out paychecks to Lara Trump and Kimberly Guilfoyle.
The New York Times report detailing the strange transaction reported:
"According to two people with knowledge of the matter, Parscale Strategy has also been used to make payments out of public view to Lara Trump, the wife of the president's son Eric, and Kimberly Guilfoyle, the girlfriend of Donald Trump Jr...Their presence makes for an odd dynamic between a campaign manager and a candidate's family."
The article also reports that Guilfoyle admonished Parscale in front of two witnesses, complaining her checks were always late. He assured her that his wife would see to it that the problem was solved.
It's unclear why the Trump campaign is going to such lengths to conceal the payments from public view, but because the donor funds are going through a private company before being paid out to their recipients, it's likely easier to avoid certain campaign finance regulations.
People are concerned, but not surprised.
It's a wonder which is more lucrative to the Trump family: the campaign or the administration?
