The RNC has a big spending problem. And under Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, Republican campaigns have lost again and again, but the money flowing to a group of strategists and consultants who appear to rake in the dough even when they give advice that leads to election losses has never been higher.
According to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), the Republican National Committee (RNC) paid over $80,000,000 to an LLC in 2020 called Digital Consulting Group. The LLC was created in 2020.
Where did this money go? It pains me to tell you that Salon.com was asking this question in 2020. It's a sad and embarrassing day when Salon.com is right about something.
Now, filings with the Federal Election Commission show that the RNC paid Digital Consulting Group more than $42 million for media buys, consulting and marketing between February and October. The company went from nonexistent to being the Republican Party's highest-paid vendor of the 2020 election, all in the space of eight months.
But Digital Consulting Group presents a mystery. No other political campaign or committee has reported any payments at all to the company. While a number of organizations share the name, this particular Digital Consulting Group — a Delaware company founded Jan. 15, 2020 — does not appear to have a website, and a Delaware business entity search does not reveal an owner or location. The RNC's spending reports list a virtual address in Wilmington, but beyond that the company cannot be traced.
That doesn't sound good. It sounds like money laundering. I did find a website for it though. Republicans ought to be deeply concerned that this much money is going...who knows where for who knows what without any positive net gain for Republicans. In fact, Ronna "Romney" McDaniel (yes, she's Mitt Romney's niece) hasn't presided over one positive election cycle for Republicans. Since her elevation to the RNC chair, she has contributed to the losses of seven governorships, three seats in the US Senate, 19 seats in the US Congress, and the presidency in 2020. Her losing record is unmatched. She did raise a lot of money, though. She's very good at helping people part with their money and redistributing it to connected insiders. And if the money never went to useful endeavors and instead just enriched friends and insiders, it sure is a good gig! You don't have to win elections to grift millions from the RNC! Or maybe it's just the way things work. I guess there's nothing illegal about nepotism and enriching one's friends. It's distasteful, immoral, and unethical but no one goes to jail for it, do they?
The RNC responded to inquiries about Digital Consulting Group saying:
We used the firm to buy television and digital ads directly for the 2020 cycle to leverage ad buying power and expertise. Many of the vendors used were chosen by the RNC in consultation with the Trump Campaign, resulting in the spend of 60 million legally coordinated dollars to support President Trump’s reelection and Republicans up and down the ballot.
This also gave us a competitive advantage of obscuring ad buy details, which is a common practice among Republicans and Democrats. (For example, the Romney campaign with American Rambler Productions and Obama campaign with GMMB).
Additionally, some of these payments went towards peer-to-peer text messaging and email for GOTV
Maybe I'm just naive, but why on earth is "obscuring ad buy details" a good thing? Why don't they want us to know about the details? Or who bought them? Using the word "obscuring" to defend one's actions is bizarre. And if you have to defend yourself by saying "Democrats do it too!" the bar is way too low. Telling me that Romney and Obama did it too doesn't make me feel any better. We keep telling the Republican party that we don't want "business as usual" and yet, here we are! This is the way we do it because this is how it's always been done! they say with a straight face.
Craig Miller Productions got more than $1.2 million from the RNC. One of the things it did for that money was to produce McDaniel's boring podcast. I've listened to this podcast called Real America with Ronna McDaniel and if I ever have to do it again I might dig out my eardrums with the sharp end of a nail. Unless you enjoy listening to political insiders interviewing other political insiders with no levity you should pass. But beyond the sleep-inducing content, there's nothing to it that would require any kind of major production. I'm a podcaster. It doesn't cost much to produce a podcast. I do it for the cost of my laptop, recording equipment, and software all of which costs under $2000. I reached out to Craig Miller Productions to find out what they charge for a 30-minute podcast that could rival Ambien in the sleep-aid market. At the time of publishing, they had not responded.
The RNC did respond to questions about Craig Miller Productions and claims that money went to ad buys and not the podcast. Well, I hope so because otherwise they got rolled.
Craig Miller Productions has done media production for the RNC, which includes the our television ad that ran during the MLB All Star Game, our television ads defending Texas’s Election Integrity law, and our television ad in 2021 featuring Tim Scott, among others. These were the main costs, while the Real America Podcast was nominal since we only utilized them during the buildout of our in house podcast studio, which we make available to all elected Republicans to use. Additionally, this podcast has helped our Finance and Digital teams raise money for the RNC.
Well, whatever. Too bad none of those ads made a hill of beans worth of difference. (And they have their own podcast studio? Must be nice.) Republicans still lost. Maybe that $1.2 million should have been spent on buying printers that work in Maricopa County.
When I reached out to Ronna McDaniel to ask her why she hasn't resigned in disgrace after a long record of losing her spokesperson attacked me with this prickly reply.
These misrepresentations have been peddled by Harmeet and her allies for weeks, and this 11th-hour attempt to smear the RNC reeks of desperation. As a member of the Executive Committee, Harmeet has had an [sic] ample opportunity to raise concerns about any of these items and has never dissented to passing the RNC's budget, either in the Executive Committee or on the floor with the full 168 members. Support from RNC members, major donors, and conservative leaders for Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel has only grown in recent days, and that is a testament to her fundraising prowess, stewardship of funds, and unifying vision which are imperative for Republican success in 2024. - Emma Vaughn, Spokesperson for Ronna McDaniel's re-elect.
I don't know Harmeet Dhillon and I'm fairly sure she would most likely become like the rest of them soon enough. I'm definitely not an "ally" of anyone running for the RNC chair. I can't stand the RNC. I have no faith in the RNC, Republicans, or anyone who runs for any office. Truly, I think people who run for office have a screw loose and the second they get there that screw starts rattling around the brain demanding more and more power and destroying whatever goodness that person had until they are a shell of themselves and start to look and act like Chuck Schumer. Are any of them different? I doubt it.
Here are a few of the consulting/strategy firms that got millions of dollars and in return, we got Joe Biden.
This article isn't about Harmeet Dhillon. It's about the current RNC chairwoman Ronna "Romney" McDaniel and the Republican establishment that loves to take your money and doesn't care if it wins or loses elections because either way, the champagne is always flowing for the political class.
Back in November, Red State published a bombshell report that showed McDaniel wasting donor funds in egregious ways on herself and her senior staffers. Somehow, she's still the chairwoman despite this fiscal irresponsibility that Republicans are supposed to eschew while delivering a stunning loss in 2020 and a lackluster performance in 2022. A person with some sense of shame would have resigned by now. Not Ronna McDaniel, however. She's still seeking another term so she can jet around in luxury while more Republicans lose, I guess.
The Red State report found unbelievable grifts including lavish bills from Lulemon for Ronna's sportswear habit and 17 million spent on dumb-looking ornaments for donors. Call me crazy, but if I were a donor to the RNC I would prefer they used that cash to win elections.
Our review found that the amounts spent during the 2021-22 election cycle seem to have been par for the course and possibly even lower than previous portions of McDaniel’s tenure. According to FEC filings, since 2017, the RNC has spent:
- $3.1 million on private jet services
- $1.3 million on limousine/chauffeur services
- $17.1 million on donor mementos
- $750,000 on floral arrangements
- $80,000 in alcohol-related expenditures
Nearly $400,000 has been spent on event tickets and other entertainment activities, including $30,000 for a private box at a Las Vegas Raiders game, $13,000 for Broadway shows, $9,400 at Madison Square Garden, and $43,000 at Top Golf locations in Texas, Nevada, Virginia, and Maryland.
McDaniel's response to the article was not to explain what she was thinking when she was busy buying private jet rides and luxury spandex for herself, or flying staffers to Vegas for booze and Broadway shows, or throwing money down the drain on hair stylists and makeup artists to make her feel like a Kardashian—Mc Daniel's response was to attack the journalist who uncovered the information and claim it was only .8% of the donor money that she brought in. "If critics want to misrepresent and push false narratives about the RNC’s spending this past cycle, they should do the math before realizing it only adds up to 0.8% of the total amount the Chairwoman raised," said Emma Vaughn, spokesperson for the chairwoman. (Do you see a pattern here?)
Here are the dumb donor gifts that cost 17 million dollars.
Does it matter what percentage of your money is spent on waste? Perhaps we would all overlook Ronna's spandex habit or the lavish hair expenditures if the RNC had delivered a win in 2020 and a more decisive win in 2022. As it is, they want us to continue to support these losers with fancy trips to get drunk in Vegas and buy suites at sporting events even though they haven't fixed the problem plaguing Republicans— losing to Democrats—which I should point out is the only reason to have an RNC. What planet are they living on? Coffee is for closers, Ronna.
Personally, I don't think we should ever pay for any of these political operatives to get their hair and nails done even if they are going on TV. I've been on TV. I did my own hair. It's not reasonable to pay $100,000 for hair upkeep for this woman and anyone defending it is also someone we should consider tossing to the curb.
The vote is happening tomorrow and I fully expect McDaniel to win because...let's face it: Republicans are stupid. Voters who vote Republican continue to accept losses without meting out any consequences to those who contributed to the losses. Instead, they get rewarded with expense accounts and access to millions of dollars to dole out to friends.
Boy, am I in the wrong line of work. Hey, RNC, send me a few million bucks and I'll give you advice on how to keep losing! You should start by voting for Ronna McDaniel!
