Trump campaign paid thousands to pro-Trump TV pundit's firm: report
A pro-Trump TV pundit's firm was paid thousands to act as a consultant this spring for President Trump Donald TrumpEx-Trump lawyer Cohen to pen forward for impeachment book Murkowski says it would be 'appropriate' to bar Trump from holding office again Man known as 'QAnon Shaman' asks Trump for pardon after storming Capitol MORE's 2020 reelection campaign but did not immediately disclose his consulting role during TV appearances, according to a report from The Washington Post.
The Post reported ProActive Communications, which was founded by regular Trump promoter Mark Serrano, was paid $30,000 for "communications consulting," according to federal disclosure forms filed by the Trump campaign on Saturday.
Serrano, who frequently touts and defends the president on the Fox Business network, has been described as a GOP strategist, former adviser to George H.W. Bush and a crisis-management expert during his TV appearances.
Serrano, however, did not disclose his role in the reelection bid until late June, according to The Post.
Serrano responded to the report, which he called "fake news," saying he alerted bookers at the Fox Business Network when his firm began consulting with the campaign and that he has been labeled as a campaign adviser multiple times since then.
"Let's be clear who the real targets of this Washington Post fake news hit piece are: President Donald Trump and Fox News. This is yet another continuing saga of politically-motivated stories that are designed to thwart President Trump's mission to Make American Great Again," he said.
My statement responding to @WaPO fake news story: https://t.co/x9orTee3Zw@realDonaldTrump #MakeAmericaGreatAgain pic.twitter.com/fRcFlLPYKe
— Mark Serrano (@MarkVSerrano) July 20, 2017
Serrano tweeted an image from his Thursday appearance on Fox Business with the chyron describing him as a "Trump campaign senior advisor."
Classic hit piece...once formally under contract, I informed @FoxBusiness and they ID'd me on-air
Proud to be on @realDonaldTrump team! pic.twitter.com/lT6EbglMqx
Fox Business released a statement to the Post on Monday saying they were made aware of Serrano's role in June and disclosed the role during on-air appearances from then on.
"It is the policy of the network to disclose all ties our guests have to any subject matter, and in the case of Mark Serrano, as soon as we were made aware of his new title last month, we made sure to disclose his role during his on-air appearances," Fox Business said in a statement.
A Trump campaign official told the Post that Serrano and his strategic communications firm were not paid for TV appearances, but only for communications strategy.
The Hill has reached out to the Trump campaign for comment.
Tags Donald Trump