Thread by @righteousbabe22

abcnews.go.com/Technology/wir…

Lots of talk about FB and influence during the election...

And, information has been provided to Congress...including ad targeting...

This is an interesting statement...

And, apparently, as discussed often...the issue wasn't FB specific...

A lot of discussions have referenced the influence of FB and other platforms during the 2016 election...but, why and how remains elusive...

This thread will focus on trying to connect some of those dots...Let's begin with one important piece of any messaging...audience...

Much discussion has focused on Cambridge Analytica. And, yes, I agree they were involved in a bit of targeting during the 2016 election...

However, it is important to look at a full view as well...there were other players in this arena. Let's look at a few...

This article has quite a bit of information...Bear with me as we break it down a bit at a time...
politico.com/story/2016/06/…

First up...The Prosper Group...

A link to their website featuring previous work...
prospergroupcorp.com/our-work

Some familiar names...

And, a few more familiar names...

Now let's look at some of the people at The Prosper Group...
prospergroupcorp.com/the-team

There are quite a few...will focus on a few...

Starting with the co-founders...Kristen & Kurt Luidhardt...

Kristen's bio...Sr. Member of DJT digital operation...previously digital strategy for Pence for Governor...
prospergroupcorp.com/profile/kriste…

Kurt's bio...familiar names...and, a 'sought after expert' on technology & strategy...
prospergroupcorp.com/profile/kurt-l…

Another little bit about Kristen & Kurt from a few months ago...
rawstory.com/2017/07/gop-co…

Apparently, email lists were used to sell wrinkle cream...while pumping conspiracy theories...

How interesting...a firm that worked for several high profile campaigns...coordinated the narrative of a heavily pushed conspiracy theory..

Renting lists is apparently not new...and quite profitable for candidates...
newrepublic.com/article/116237…

Another piece...apparently the combo pushing a narrative to make $ not new either...
motherjones.com/politics/2015/…

And, one a related note...'revenue sharing' between campaigns...
politico.com/story/2015/12/…

A little background on 'rev-shares'...and a name that will pop up in a bit...Harris Media (Rand Paul/DJT)...

Rubio's campaign paid Campaign Strategies (Becki Donatelli) quite a bit in this lucrative (for some) arrangement...

Seems many campaigns participate...Cruz...Walker too...

A fairly hidden source of $$...

With lucrative $$ available, the push to obtain names/data follows...and, nearly every GOP campaign is doing it...

And, you may have caught a familiar name here as well...Luidhardt/Mustard seeds from the wrinkle cream piece earlier...

It's really fascinating that the more you poke around into things, folks seem to pop up in the same circles...

Speaking of same circles, let's pop back to The Prosper Group team...another long-time GOP faithful...Thomas Roberts...links to Bush, Rudy..

Also from the Prosper Group...Alan Moore...prior work with Media Research Center and other conservative outlets with large social engagement

To round out this firm, Melody Quante...content creation...building & engaging audiences on news...🤔

Visuals & targeted audiences...appeal is important...
prospergroupcorp.com/posts/blog/ado…’s-secret-weapon-audience-targeting

How this looked...timing and opportunity collided...more on influencers in a bit.
prospergroupcorp.com/posts/blog/pro…’s-highest-honor-trump-digital-work

Next up from this article...Revv....
politico.com/story/2016/06/…

A little background on Revv...
buzzfeed.com/amphtml/jsvine…

From hyperlink above...a bit more about Lansing...and, get used to seeing links to the RNC for a bit...
gop.com/rnc-chairman-a…

And, from Lansing's LinkedIn...
linkedin.com/in/gerrit-lans…

You may have noticed the WH position above...well...it was brief...
politico.com/blogs/donald-t…

The other name mentioned in that piece...Caroline Wiles...

Yes...this Susie Wiles...wife of Lanny Wiles...

https://twitter.com/RighteousBabe4/status/887001209743310848

Back to Lansing...from LinkedIn another firm appears...imge...
imge.com

And, for some folks at imge...
imge.com/meet-the-team/

If another name sounds familiar, you may recognize Gary Coby from other bits about the DJT campaign...
cnn.com/2017/07/20/pol…

Lansing's other partners in Revv...Nick Marcelli...
linkedin.com/in/nickmarcell…

And, a little more about Marcelli...
redalertpolitics.com/thirty-under-t…

And, to round out the Revv founders...Chris Georgia...formerly with Jeb's campaign...
fp1strategies.com/about/chris-ge…

A litte more about Georgia...quite an extensive resume...

And, about FP1 Strategies...achieving goals and seizing opportunities
fp1strategies.com/services/

FP1's approach to advertising...persuasive...

About FP1's grassroots..."opinion leader education" and "online advocacy" ....

And, the digital operations of FP1...digital, mobile and 'social' channels...

Even though they taut 'bipartisan', apparently many of their team members have links to Bush campaigns and/or RNC or other GOP umbrellas...

To close out on Revv for now...apparently another lucrative opportunity...worth more than a position in the WH...
politico.com/story/2017/04/…

Interesting tactics...oh, and, Spicer lies seemingly began way before the podium...

Lordy, I hope that database of credit card information is secure...

That's interesting timing and approach...

Some mixed information...where $ came from...who knew vs who didn't...

Worth noting this last bit again...apparently, something caught on...

Next up for digital partners mentioned in the article...Cambridge Analytica...

Much has been discussed about CA from multiple sources...and, will loop back around in a bit...

Then, of course, there is Parscale...were there others that were 'subcontracted'?...

Will get back to Parscale in a bit as well...Last interesting bits from article (link again since bouncing around)
politico.com/story/2016/06/…

These segue to next focus...RNC data buildup that began in 2014...and how it integrated with DJT campaign...a "winning combination"?

Quick recap...a few companies/key people identified above with links to GOP infrastructure/operations and campaigns...

Now, let's delve into that RNC data buildup...and how the fusing of multiple data warehouses can have an impact...

You may recall the RNC data operation from news this past summer...
thehill.com/policy/cyberse…

RNC...databases...data on almost 200 million folks just hanging out requiring no password access...

Data acquired since the focus/buildup that began in 2014...under direction of Reince Priebus...
huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/18/rnc…

That ever important narrative ==> $ ... note the 'infrastructure'...

Remember, too there was quite a bit of planning that went into next steps to win...as delved into previously...

https://twitter.com/RighteousBabe4/status/892258407599755264

But, back the Huffpo piece...some high profile hires...👀

First up...Andy Barkett...just prior to becoming CTO at RNC...Sr. Mgr. Production Engineering at Facebook...
linkedin.com/in/andrew-bark…

Following his 2-year stint at the RNC, Barkett has moved on to investing in several companies...not going to dig into those...

Next up...Chuck DeFeo...prior to RNC, was at Connell Donatelli, ACLJ (Sekulow), & Edelman...and former Bush/Cheney..
linkedin.com/in/chuckdefeo/

Following his time at RNC, DeFeo moved to i360...yup...the Koch data arm...more follows...

A bit about i360 before we round out the RNC data team...a for profit funded by a non-profit...tons of datapoints...
politico.com/story/2014/12/…

Reportedly wasn't to be ready till 2018...but a steady flow of $...and a drive to make the data 'actionable'...

Access to data and built-in testing mechanisms...targeting and messaging...and learnings...

i360 is also a partner of the RNC digital operation...

Additional important points to note...unlimited $...little/no oversight...and, yes, that Marc Short...

Back to the RNC data operation buildup...with Barkett & Defeo...Azarias Reda...
linkedin.com/in/azariasreda/

Prior to RNC, Reda has impressive resume with stops at Microsoft and LinkedIn...

Reda 1st Chief Data Officer...& later CTO at RNC...developed infrastructure & analytics...>200M voter profiles...data exchanges w/ campaigns

In addition to some other ventures, Reda founded Republic Computer Science for ground game efficiencies...

Going back to the Huffpo piece...every narrative needs some promotion...and a little ruckus over credit...

Assuming the partnership happened between April (Huffpo) & Dec. (Politico)...better file=better data...working together...

As mentioned above...there were some departures...Defeo to i360...Barkett remained adviser to Priebus...
politico.com/story/2015/01/…

New staffers (Finn) and promotions (Reda)...continue upgrading the operation & analyzing voter preferences...and integration...for big win..

To close out this article...RNC data operation successful on tech front (social media, voters, donors, volunteers)..i360 focus on grassroots

A couple of people mentioned to highlight...starting with Mindy Finn...who came onboard at RNC following Barkett & Defeo departures...

As mentioned, Finn held previous positions with campaigns & Twitter...and co-founded Engage a political media firm...

The stint at RNC not listed on LinkedIn...so, included position just prior at NRSC...and, positions following...

More recently for Finn...may be leaving GOP altogether...tribalism in politics...and, a possible clue?🤔
politico.com/story/2017/07/…

Also mentioned was Katie Walsh (Chief of Staff to Priebus)...left WH and returned to RNC...Sr Data & Digital Adviser
politico.com/story/2017/07/…

And, Michael Palmer President of i360...better than Google?...interesting quote on those datapoints...
time.com/4432432/koch-b…

Normally try to edit the ads...but, interesting article in ss above that I plan to go back & read about Pence/Koch plotting 2018 strategies🤣

Couple of final points...RNC/i360 partnership...possibly accurate vote prediction based on trends in analyzing datapoints compiled...

Brief pause to recap again...following 2012 election RNC decides to up its digital operation...high profile hires...partnerships with others

such as Koch funded i360 to share across campaigns up and down ballot across country...interesting names pop up together/close proximity...

Going to stop here for now...More to come shortly...Thanks for reading!!