Watchdog org: Trump ‘16 campaign, PAC illegally coordinated
“New documents from a former Cambridge Analytica insider reveal what an election watchdog group claims was illegal coordination between [t]rump’s 2016 presidential campaign and a billionaire-funded pro-[t]rump super PAC.
"The legal complaint touches on some of the same people involved in today’s hotly contested presidential race and provides a detailed account alleging that [t]rump’s last campaign worked around election rules to coordinate behind the scenes with the political action committee.
…"The complaint also alleges that Cambridge Analytica — which improperly acquired and used 87 million Facebook users’ profiles to predict their behavior — had a shared project calendar for both entities, among other evidence.
”’The idea that this spending was at all independent is farcical and these emails underscore that,’ said Brendan Fischer, an attorney for the government oversight group, whose new filing supplements a lawsuit filed four years ago. ‘Cambridge Analytica not only misused people’s personal data, but it was a conduit for the wealthy family that owned it to unlawfully support the [t]rump campaign in 2016.’
“The super PAC created a plethora of ‘crooked Hillary’ memes that circulated widely on social media, and was financed largely by conservative billionaire Robert Mercer, who also founded, owned and managed Cambridge Analytica. Kellyanne Conway led an earlier incarnation of the PAC when it supported Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz before she resigned to advise [t]rump’s 2016 campaign.
…"One September 2016 email it cites is from a Cambridge senior vice president, announcing some of the PAC’s ads against Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton that the Cambridge official says were produced by ‘our production partner’ Glittering Steel, which then-CEO of the [t]rump campaign Steve Bannon had a financial stake in.
"The White House referred questions to the campaign. Tim Murtaugh, the communications director for [t]rump’s reelection campaign, did not respond to repeated email and text messages seeking comment.
…"Cambridge dissolved after facing investigations for playing a key role in the 2014 breach of Facebook users’ personal data. The company denied it used the data in [t]rump’s 2016 campaign, an assertion which ex-employees have disputed, although Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said the data could have been used in Russian propaganda efforts.
…"In all, Cambridge ran over 4,000 ad campaigns for the [t]rump campaign that generated more than ‘1.4 billion impressions,’ with ‘persuasion ads’ leading to a 3 percent increase in ‘average favorability’ and get-out-the-vote ads yielding a 2 percent increase in people voting absentee, according to a post-election presentation.
"The same presentation identified some voters as ripe for ‘deterrence.’”