San Francisco-base investigative reporter Garance Burke, obtained documents from a former Cambridge Analytica insider revealing what an election watchdog group claims was illegal coordination between Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and a billionaire-funded pro-Trump super PAC.
The cache of previously unreleased emails, presentations and slide decks was provided exclusively to the AP by Cambridge Analytica’s first business development director, Brittany Kaiser. Burke’s story detailed how Trump’s 2016 campaign coordinated behind the scenes with the political action committee, and provided rich detail on how some key 2016 staffers are involved in the president’s current re-election campaign.
In an updated complaint filed with the Federal Election Commission, the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center says the now-defunct British data analytics firm violated election law by ignoring its own written policy, blurring the lines between work performed for Trump’s 2016 campaign and the Make America Number 1 political action committee, largely funded by billionaire Robert Mercer.
Alexander Nix, chief executive of Cambridge Analytica, leaves his offices in central London, March 20, 2018. His attorney says Nix has no knowledge of alleged coordination at Cambridge Analytica between Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign and a billionaire-funded pro-Trump super PAC.
Dominic Lipinski / Press Association via AP