Wednesday, August 9, 2017

"YouTube Stars Who Met With Feds to 'Grow' Trump-Themed Business Were Paid by Trump Campaign"

Gizmodo:
YouTube stars Lynnette Hardaway and Rochelle Richardson—better known as “Diamond” and “Silk,” respectively—were invited to the Commerce Department’s headquarters this week, apparently to discuss ways in which they could expand their business. The pair runs a political blog aimed at promoting President Trump and denigrating his critics.

The Commerce Department revealed Diamond and Silk’s visit in a photo posted on the department’s official Twitter account, which said the duo had met with the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) to “discuss how to grow their business and build their brand.”

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At present, they offer only two products in their online store, both Trump-branded pins.

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Monday’s meeting was arranged by Chris Garcia, a former Trump campaign advisor whom the president appointed acting head of the MBDA this year. The meeting would seem perfectly innocent, were it not for the fact that Diamond and Silk were paid Trump campaign consultants.

The Trump campaign denied paying Diamond and Silk for their regular on-stage appearances at political rallies. But an amendment to the campaign’s 2016 FEC report, released in May 2017, reveals the YouTube stars were in fact cut a check shortly after the election