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MelissaB

(16,420 posts)
Thu Jul 20, 2017, 09:31 AM Jul 2017

Pro-Trump TV pundits firm took undisclosed payments from Trump campaign

Pro-Trump TV pundit’s firm took undisclosed payments from Trump campaign

For months, Mark Serrano has been one of President Trump’s fiercest defenders and most enthusiastic supporters on TV. In semiregular appearances on the Fox Business Network, the veteran Republican operative has praised Trump’s leadership and bashed news media coverage of him. He’s called Ivanka Trump the most “powerful or influential advocate for women’s empowerment ever in our history.”

Fox News and Fox Business have described Serrano variously as a Republican strategist, a crisis-management expert and a former adviser to President George H.W. Bush since he began appearing on the networks in 2014.

But Serrano has had another role this spring, one that wasn’t disclosed to viewers as he was touting Trump: His firm was a paid consultant to the president’s 2020 reelection campaign.

Federal disclosure forms filed by the Trump committee Saturday show that it paid Serrano’s firm, ProActive Communications, a total of $30,000 for “communications consulting.” The records indicate that it paid $20,000 on April 17 to the company, based in Leesburg, Va., and another $10,000 on May 30.

TV news organizations, including Fox, typically screen would-be pundits and panelists for any financial connection to campaigns, issues or companies they might be asked to comment about on the air. Insiders, such as a campaign official or party strategist, are often welcomed, but only if their professional role is disclosed to viewers upfront.

More: https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/pro-trump-tv-pundits-firm-took-undisclosed-payments-from-trump-campaign/2017/07/19/a7ae21f8-6bef-11e7-b9e2-2056e768a7e5_story.html?utm_term=.3497b6d203ca

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