Richard Grenell, a MAGA shitposter who served as ambassador to Germany and acting director of national intelligence during Donald Trump’s first stint in office, appears to have launched a desperate influence campaign on his former boss, angling to get nominated as secretary of state, Politico reported on Thursday.
According to Politico’s report, Grenell offered MAGA influencers “paid contracts of as much as five figures to post favorably about Grenell.” One contract Politico obtained laid out the guidelines the influencers must follow, including that their favorable posts about Grenell must take place at “peak posting times,” “must appear genuine,” and not “appear as an overt advertisement or promotional message.”
Politico did not report the names of the influencers Grenell reached out to in his quest to be the nation’s top diplomat. But Ron Filipkowski, editor-in-chief of the liberal news outlet MeidasTouch, found people like expelled ex-Rep. George Santos, right-wing media personality Glenn Beck, and conspiracy theorist Mike Cernovich all tweeting favorable things about Grenell shortly after the election.
It is unclear whether these accounts—or any—were paid for their pro-Grenell tweets. However, people like Santos are known for using their celebrity to make a buck. After his expulsion, Santos made hundreds of thousands making Cameo videos.
Trump ultimately had the good sense not to nominate Grenell as secretary of state, a position that requires diplomacy—of which Grenell has none. When he served as ambassador to Germany, the Germans hated him so much that a member of the country’s parliament wanted Grenell expelled from the country.
Politico reported that Grenell’s influence campaign—which he denied doing—worked against him.
“His open lobbying for the position had grated on people in Trump’s orbit,” Politico reported.
Trump wound up nominating Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida to be secretary of state, and Rubio looks downright competent compared with the host of rejects Trump chose for other positions.
But Grenell’s influence campaign is the latest example of the kind of corrupt dealings in Trump’s orbit.
Trump’s lawyers are investigating Trump ally and adviser Boris Epshteyn for allegedly seeking payment in exchange for promoting people who wanted jobs in the Trump administration.
According to a CNN report:
The internal investigation, which was confirmed by half a dozen sources and is not criminal in nature, has probed multiple instances of Epshteyn allegedly requesting payment in exchange for promoting candidates for administration positions or offering to connect individuals with people in the upcoming administration relevant to their industries, sources said.
In one instance he requested as much as $100,000 per month in exchange for his services, according to sources familiar with the matter.
[…]
“The way I see it is it’s very much a pay-for-play,” said one person who spoke to the legal team that investigated Epshteyn. This person described a separate incident in which Epshteyn allegedly tried to request payment for questionable consulting services, offering to connect the person with incoming administration officials relevant to their industry or lobbying firms that will be the most well-connected to the new administration.
It’s all the more proof that Trump has never cared about draining the swamp. He and the people around him are as swampy as it gets.
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