One of the coolest millions you could ever make is to found a political company, then get a prime RNC post and direct all the party's candidates to use the services of the business you founded. Nice work if you can get it—if you can stomach working for the Republican party, that is. And we assume you can't.
But it sure wasn't a problem for Gerrit Lansing, co-founder of the political donations company Revv, then chief RNC digital strategist, followed by a short-lived stint in Trump’s White House, writes Shane Goldmacher.
The Republican Party’s top digital strategist in 2016 got a nearly $1 million payout from a firm he co-founded that collected online contributions to the party and its nominee, Donald Trump — despite earlier claims that the strategist had severed his ties to the company. [...]
Republican operatives representing multiple GOP presidential and Senate campaigns said that Lansing pushed them to use the company he co-founded, Revv, to collect their online donations after he was hired for the top RNC job — and that he used the fact that the RNC was using his platform as a selling point. Lansing was subsequently named to a top role in Trump’s White House.
Bonus round: Spicey floated some 'alternative facts' about the relationship!
The controversy puts White House press secretary Sean Spicer in an awkward spot. As the RNC’s chief strategist, Spicer denied to POLITICO in mid-2016 that Lansing had any financial stake in Revv.
“He has zero connection to Revv,” Spicer said then. “He had to sever the ties.”
In fact, Lansing never did. He received a $909,000 payout from the company last year.
“The statement that was issued last year was based on information provided by Gerrit,” Spicer told POLITICO this week.
Lansing left the White House in early February because he refused to sell his share in the company, which presented a significant conflict of interest. (Perhaps when Kellyanne Conway’s White House shopping network got panned, Lansing figured the post wasn’t worth the headache.)
During the election, many GOP campaign operatives felt pressured to use Revv based on Lansing's dual roles. Some openly questioned the optics of being the RNC's chief digital strategist while continuing to pitch your own company as a campaign tool.
“I asked Gerrit if the RNC was okay with him pitching a product he owns and running the business while holding a senior position there—and I noted how bad that looked,” [Fiorina strategist Ron] Steslow recalled. “He said he had negotiated a deal and had permission, alluding to the fact the RNC had had difficulty finding qualified candidates for the role. So essentially their competitive advantage was the conflict of interest itself. I was really bothered by the audacity of that.” [...]
“I asked what their plan was to grow that user base fast enough to be valuable in the current election cycle,” Steslow said of his meeting with Lansing and another Revv co-founder. “Their answer was their relationships at the RNC and NRCC —and that the RNC would be switching to Revv very soon, bringing all of those donors onto the platform.”
Ahh … it seems the RNC's digital depth was of the kiddie pool variety, so they cut some corners. Sounds fishy, Spicey! CC: Reince Priebus.