Soon-to-be former Rep. Liz Cheney is serious about possibly running for president against Donald Trump in 2024. Not only has she raised a lot of cash, she has tapped some heavy hitters in the Republican Party as consultants and advisors.
Cheney is using the services of i360, a data and technology company owned by the conglomerate, Charles Koch Industries. She has also garnered the expertise of several GOP consultants who are hiding behind a shield of anonymity provided by limited liability.
Jeff Miller, a longtime lobbyist, and ally of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has told vendors not to work with Cheney’s team, according to The New York Times.
The filing shows two PACs, Conservatives for a Strong America and Wyomingites Defending Freedom and Democracy, paid i360 to help deploy pro-Cheney ads through text messages. Axios reported that the leader of Wyomingites Defending Freedom and Democracy is former Trump White House aide Julia Griswold Dailer, who didn’t return a request for comment.
A nonprofit partially funded by Charles Koch, Americans for Prosperity, paid $11 million to i360 for data services, according to the nonprofit’s 2020 tax disclosure.
While Koch didn’t back Trump during either his 2016 or 2020 campaigns, his political network worked with the Trump administration to support some of the former president’s key initiatives, including cutting regulations for businesses and extensive tax cuts.
Those consultants and vendors are risking a lot by helping Cheney, given Trump’s propensity to seek revenge on those who cross him. And it’s no wonder that many of those vendors and consultants who worked for Trump at one time are trying to hide their identity now.
FEC filings show that one of the Cheney campaign’s top vendors in the 2022 election cycle was a company called Red Right Media. That company was paid more than $1 million for advertising and media services by Cheney’s campaign during her 2022 primary run, including more than $300,000 in July, according to FEC disclosures.
Though it doesn’t appear to have a public website, Virginia business records say that Red Right Media is a an alternative name for a company called X/Roads Communications. According to state business records, X/Roads Communications is run by Mike Dubke, a veteran Republican strategist who once worked in Trump’s White House as communications director. Dubke was a managing partner of X/Roads Communications before taking on the role with Trump in 2017, according to financial disclosures filed while leading the White House communications team.
Related: Report: Joe Biden Called Liz Cheney After Her Election Loss
Cheney’s only role if she runs for president would be as a spoiler to keep Trump from winning. Once the third-ranking Republican in the House, Cheney is now setting herself up to sabotage the Republican Party just as the party is under maximum assault from radical partisans in the Democratic Party.
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