Thread by @DanaHoule

Good scoop by NYT to figure out troll sites attacking Dems are run by a Repub connected to Trump’s campaign

But it would have been nice if in in a gazillion word article they’d mentioned that what’s described likely violates numerous campaign finance laws nytimes.com/2019/06/29/us/…

This feels like the Stormy Daniels revelation. My first thought when that broke was about the money, & if it violated campaign finance laws

So, in case any journalists are reading this, I offer a few questions you may already be pondering but which I’d hate to see unasked:

1. How much did these sites cost?
2. Who paid for it? If it was Mauldin, was it really his money, or money given to him by someone else to be used on these sites?
3. Did he do all the work himself? If so, is he reporting it as an in-kind contribution to some entity?…

4. If any of his employees were involved, did he pay them out of his own pocket? Or were they paid from his company’s account?
5. Did he intend to ever report these sites & his in-kind labor? If so, why hide his connection to the sites?
6. Can he point to any other sites…

…he set up and ran in races other than the 2020 presidential campaign? If so, did he divulge he was the source, and did the campaign or an independent group list it as a contribution in-kind?
7. Did he use any research in making these sites? If so, where did he get the…

…research? Was it from the Trump campaign? If so, did he pay the Trump campaign for the use of the research?
8. What exactly did the Trump campaign know about these sites &nthat they were created & maintained by him (or his agents)? How were they informed?
9. Who at the Trump…

…campaign knew, and how did they learn about it?
10. Was,it discussed at the same time he was discussing his work for the campaign w campaign officials?

I could have come up with more, but I’ll stop there. But I do have two last questions that I would love to see asked…

11. Does he have any knowledge of anyone in the Trump family knowing about this? And what did Parscale know?
12. Has he ever heard that if you may be accused of breaking the law that you should say nothing to anyone unless directed to by your attorney?

I should be clear, I’m not trying to dump on the reporter; to figure out the sites were Mauldin’s, then to get Mauldin to talk… that’s very good reporting. But the reporters get immersed in what they’re doing &nsome5imes overlook something important. That’s where editing…

…becomes especially important. But apparently none of the editors thought about any of these matters. That’s appalling, not because I expect them to know the details of campaign finance law, but bc they should at least read all of this, and think “hmmm…that probably involved…

…moving some money around, and that stuff can be complicated but it can also be a way campaigns and candidates skirt the law, maybe we should check that out.”

Because, you know it was only central to one of the biggest stories of the last three years!