Report: Company Run by Former Cambridge Analytica Officials Working on Trump 2020 Effort
A data firm run by multiple ex-Cambridge Analytica officials is reportedly working on Trump 2020 efforts right now.
Data Propria was founded by Matt Oczkowski, who worked with Cambridge until leaving last year, and in a recent interview, he said of the company’s big scandal, “When I first joined there, I legitimately believed in the offering and what they were trying to do. It’s unfortunate that some actions by a few actors at the senior level of the company reflected poorly on the entire company.”
In that same interview, he also talked about Trump 2020 campaign manager (and Trump 2016 digital director) Brad Parscale, saying, “There are few people who understand middle America like we do.”
Today there’s reporting from the Associated Press that Data Propria “has been quietly working” on the Trump 2020 efforts:
The AP learned of Data Propria’s role in Trump’s re-election effort as a result of conversations held with political contacts and prospective clients in recent weeks by Oczkowski. In one such conversation, which took place in a public place and was overheard by two AP reporters, Oczkowski said he and and Trump’s 2020 campaign manager, Brad Parscale, were “doing the president’s work for 2020.”
In addition, a person familiar with Data Propria’s Washington efforts, who spoke on condition of anonymity to protect business relationships, confirmed to the AP that Trump-related 2020 work already had begun at the firm along the lines of Cambridge Analytica’s 2016 work.
Oczkowski said the company has been doing work for the RNC regarding the midterms, but both he and Parscale “told the AP that no Trump re-election work by Data Propria was even planned.”
Parscale said he’s focused on the midterms right now and hasn’t started giving out contracts for 2020.
UPDATE –– 3:40 pm ET: Parscale criticized the AP for their “#FakeNews title”:
The @AP put out a complete #FakeNews title today, which doesn’t shock me anymore. They don’t care it’s fake. It’s all about click bait. They make the title have a meaning that even the story doesn’t back up. @ap is the new @washingtonpost.
— Brad Parscale (@parscale) June 15, 2018
[image via screengrab]
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