Kanye West’s presidential run was an interesting time following his days as a MAGA-hat toting, “slavery-was-a-choice” spewing conservative. However, a newly surfaced report by the Daily Beast alleges the DONDA artist’s campaign was secretly run by Republican operatives and his team went to great lengths to hide it.
The report states the campaign “disguised potentially millions of dollars in services it received from a secretive network of Republican Party operatives, including advisers to the GOP elite and a managing partner at one of the top conservative political firms in the country.” There are also allegations that the campaign did not report paying some of these advisors, which could equate to a violation of federal laws.
The reasoning behind the GOP backing West was in an effort to re-elect Donald Trump as stated by Jordan Libowitz, communications director for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, D.C. “Whether that was a goal of Kanye is another issue. But he was clearly seen as a way to steal potential votes from Biden,” he explained. “You’re not just going to trip and find your way into these Republican circles,” continued Libowitz.
Paul S. Ryan, vice president of government watchdog Common Cause, stated, “It’s no secret that Kanye West’s candidacy would have a spoiler effect, siphoning votes from Democrat Joe Biden. Voters had a right to know that a high-powered Republican lawyer was providing legal services to Kanye—and federal law requires disclosure of such legal work.”
There are also claims the campaign used legal services from several Trump-affiliated law firms to “push baseless election fraud lawsuits on behalf of Trump or the GOP.” One example listed was nine payments made between August 2020 and September 2021 totaling $692,057.35 for “compliance” and “accounting” to a Texas entity called “GSF Inc.” However, no business records indicate GSF Inc. exists in Texas and no other political committee has hired the firm.
Coincidentally, a database lists several right-wing candidates having paid a company, Grand Slam Finance, Inc., with the same address. Grand Slam was reportedly created by accountant Russell Anderson, who handled the books for former House Majority Leader Tom Delay’s political action committee. Anderson claims he sold his stake three to four years ago to his partner Deanna Hayes.
Despite the extensive report, it remains unclear how aware West was of the inner workings of his highly controversial campaign.
Watch West’s official presidential campaign ad below: