/https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/60c7d59b0cb69c615d764dfc/0x0.jpg)
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) has been one of Donald Trump’s staunchest supporters. She’s also been his customer.
Getty Images
Subscribe to Forbes’ new Checks & Imbalances newsletter to get exclusive scoops like this one delivered to your inbox.
The No. 3 Republican in the House of Representatives returned to one of Donald Trump’s properties, raising money for both her campaign and the former president’s business.
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) held what she termed her“biggest #TeamElise fundraiser ever!” A video posted to Instagram shows the former president addressing her supporters (who also happened to be his guests), plugging both Stefanik’s campaign and the club’s macaroni and cheese.
Campaign filings show that the business relationship between Stefanik’s political groups and the former president’s company stretches back more than a year. Within one week in December 2019, Stefanik’s campaign, affiliated PAC, and joint-fundraising committee all reported their first disbursements at a Trump property. The expenditures added up to $8,900, not a sum that will make or break the Trump Organization. But, if Stefanik was looking to check a box that says I’m a Trump customer, well, ✓✓✓.
The most-recent patronage, which has yet to be reported to the Federal Election Commission, comes on the heels of Stefanik’s move from moderate conservative to staunch Trumpist, a shift that helped vault her into Rep. Liz Cheney’s (R-Wyo.) old position as chair of the House Republican Conference. Stefanik’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Elise Stefanik teamed up with former President Donald Trump to throw the “biggest #TeamElise fundraiser ever!”
Twitter/Elise Stefanik
I took an unusual route to get here. In a past life, I worked as a travel and food writer, which is how I got the assignment in 2016 to cover the grand opening of the
…
I took an unusual route to get here. In a past life, I worked as a travel and food writer, which is how I got the assignment in 2016 to cover the grand opening of the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., just a couple miles from my home. When Trump won the election and refused to divest his business, I stayed on the story, starting a newsletter called 1100 Pennsylvania (named after the hotel’s address) and contributed to Vanity Fair, Politico and NBC News. I’m still interested in Trump, but I’ve broadened my focus to follow the money connected to other politicians as well—both Republicans and Democrats.