Politics

Former Trump Aide Sought Foreign Help On Campaign, But It Wasn’t From Russia

REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File Photo

Daily Caller News Foundation logo
Chuck Ross Investigative Reporter
Font Size:

A former aide to the Trump campaign requested proposals from an Israeli intelligence firm to target Hillary Clinton and to use fake online personas to influence GOP delegates toward Donald Trump.

The New York Times reports that Rick Gates, the campaign’s deputy chairman, met in March 2016 with an Israeli political operative who later contacted Psy-Group, an intelligence firm operated by former Israeli spies.

Psy-Group submitted three proposals to Gates aimed at influencing Republican delegates and undecided voters. The firm also proposed compiling dossiers on Clinton and a handful of her closest associates.

The Trump campaign ultimately did not hire Psy-Group, according to The Times. But the proposals are of interest to the special counsel’s office, which is investigating any links between the Trump campaign and Russian government. The Times article presents no evidence that Russians were involved in the Psy-Group proposals. But the interactions do suggest that at least one campaign official, Gates, was open to using legally dubious tactics to influence voters, according to The Times report.

One proposal called for Psy-Group to create and use fake online personas to target Republican delegates ahead of the GOP convention in July 2016. At a cost of $3 million, Psy-Group proposed creating fake online personas with the aim of discrediting Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Trump’s closest Republican rival ahead of the Republican National Convention.

Psy-Group also pitched the idea of compiling dossiers on Hillary Clinton and 10 of her closest associates. The proposal would carry out any “complementary intelligence activities” and provide the campaign with “any actionable intelligence.”

Gates, who joined the Trump campaign as a deputy to his business partner, Paul Manafort, is currently cooperating with Mueller’s team. He pleaded guilty in February to a slew of charges related to his work with Manafort on behalf of a Ukrainian political party well before the start of the Trump campaign. (RELATED: Gates Admits To Stealing From Manafort During Testimony)

Manafort was convicted in a Virginia federal court on Aug. 21 on charges related to the same work. He pleaded guilty in a similar case in Washington, D.C. Manafort is cooperating with prosecutors as part of that plea deal, though it is unclear whether he is providing information related to his time on the Trump campaign.

Gates was provided the Psy-Group proposals following a meeting in March 2016 with George Birnbaum, an Israeli political operative who has worked for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Birnbaum also advised the Ben Carson presidential campaign.

Gates expressed interest in using social media manipulation to win delegates, Birnbaum told The Times.

“He was interested in finding the technology to achieve what they were looking for,” he said.

Birnbaum had contacted Gates to pitch him on technology that Gates and Manafort could use for their Eastern European clients. After the meeting with Gates, Birnbaum worked with Psy-Group employees on Trump campaign proposals.

Follow Chuck on Twitter

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

PREMIUM ARTICLE: Subscribe To Keep Reading

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign Up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
BENEFITS READERS PASS PATRIOTS FOUNDERS
Daily and Breaking Newsletters
Daily Caller Shows
Ad Free Experience
Exclusive Articles
Custom Newsletters
Editor Daily Rundown
Behind The Scenes Coverage
Award Winning Documentaries
Patriot War Room
Patriot Live Chat
Exclusive Events
Gold Membership Card
Tucker Mug

What does Founders Club include?

Tucker Mug and Membership Card
Founders

Readers,

Instead of sucking up to the political and corporate powers that dominate America, The Daily Caller is fighting for you — our readers. We humbly ask you to consider joining us in this fight.

Now that millions of readers are rejecting the increasingly biased and even corrupt corporate media and joining us daily, there are powerful forces lined up to stop us: the old guard of the news media hopes to marginalize us; the big corporate ad agencies want to deprive us of revenue and put us out of business; senators threaten to have our reporters arrested for asking simple questions; the big tech platforms want to limit our ability to communicate with you; and the political party establishments feel threatened by our independence.

We don't complain -- we can't stand complainers -- but we do call it how we see it. We have a fight on our hands, and it's intense. We need your help to smash through the big tech, big media and big government blockade.

We're the insurgent outsiders for a reason: our deep-dive investigations hold the powerful to account. Our original videos undermine their narratives on a daily basis. Even our insistence on having fun infuriates them -- because we won’t bend the knee to political correctness.

One reason we stand apart is because we are not afraid to say we love America. We love her with every fiber of our being, and we think she's worth saving from today’s craziness.

Help us save her.

A second reason we stand out is the sheer number of honest responsible reporters we have helped train. We have trained so many solid reporters that they now hold prominent positions at publications across the political spectrum. Hear a rare reasonable voice at a place like CNN? There’s a good chance they were trained at Daily Caller. Same goes for the numerous Daily Caller alumni dominating the news coverage at outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, Daily Wire and many others.

Simply put, America needs solid reporters fighting to tell the truth or we will never have honest elections or a fair system. We are working tirelessly to make that happen and we are making a difference.

Since 2010, The Daily Caller has grown immensely. We're in the halls of Congress. We're in the Oval Office. And we're in up to 20 million homes every single month. That's 20 million Americans like you who are impossible to ignore.

We can overcome the forces lined up against all of us. This is an important mission but we can’t do it unless you — the everyday Americans forgotten by the establishment — have our back.

Please consider becoming a Daily Caller Patriot today, and help us keep doing work that holds politicians, corporations and other leaders accountable. Help us thumb our noses at political correctness. Help us train a new generation of news reporters who will actually tell the truth. And help us remind Americans everywhere that there are millions of us who remain clear-eyed about our country's greatness.

In return for membership, Daily Caller Patriots will be able to read The Daily Caller without any of the ads that we have long used to support our mission. We know the ads drive you crazy. They drive us crazy too. But we need revenue to keep the fight going. If you join us, we will cut out the ads for you and put every Lincoln-headed cent we earn into amplifying our voice, training even more solid reporters, and giving you the ad-free experience and lightning fast website you deserve.

Patriots will also be eligible for Patriots Only content, newsletters, chats and live events with our reporters and editors. It's simple: welcome us into your lives, and we'll welcome you into ours.

We can save America together.

Become a Daily Caller Patriot today.

Signature

Neil Patel