SCOOP: The Trump campaign shell company that helped hide $617M in presidential campaign spending was almost exclusively a Trump family production, run in part by a top deputy to Eric Trump, @Politicsinsider has learned. by @tomlobianco & @davelevinthal ($) https://www.businessinsider.com/eric-trump-deputy-kushner-campaign-spending-shell-company-2020-12

That Eric Trump deputy, attorney Alex Cannon, worked closely to run American Made Media Consultants with Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner, Trump daughter-in-law Lara Trump, and former campaign manager Brad Parscale.

Together, they built a campaign shell company so powerful and opaque that key Trump campaign aides feared what they might uncover if they learned too much about its operations, according to interviews with more than a dozen Trump advisors and Republicans close to the campaign.

Vast swaths of AMMC's spending still remain a mystery to the public and Trump's own campaign team, although Insider was able to uncover some of American Made Media Consultants' expenditures based on interviews and public documents filed with the Federal Election Commission.

The power and secrecy of the shell company has spurred calls for federal investigations, including requests filed by three Democratic lawmakers after Insider broke the news last week of Kushner and Lara Trump's involvement.

The shell company was originally created by the Trump kids & Parscale to protect Trump from exorbitant consultant fees & grifting accusations, many of which had been levied at Parscale for his dual role atop campaign & approving payments to himself, Trump advisors told Insider.

But as the campaign evolved during 2019 and into the 2020 sprint, AMMC was also used to make secret payments to Lara Trump and Kimberly Guilfoyle, the girlfriend of Donald Trump Jr., who doubled as the Trump campaign's national finance director.

It also facilitated large payments — not disclosed publicly — to top campaign strategist Jason Miller, through an arrangement with the campaign firm he worked for before joining the Trump campaign.

Now w/ Trump's loss clear to almost everyone except Trump, the campaign shell company has become a focal point for advisors lamenting what went wrong. Competing factions in Trumpworld are accusing each other of stealing from the president's campaign coffer via the shell company.

Insider broke the news Friday that Kushner helped create AMMC and picked Lara Trump and Vice President Mike Pence's nephew, John Pence, to serve on its board — facts unknown even to core Trump campaign operatives. Lara Trump is married to Eric Trump.

"The obfuscation raises so many questions," said one Trump advisor.

Whether Trump officials broke the law or will face any consequences remains to be seen. Any possible criminal charges would have to be decided on by prosecutors reporting to Joe Biden's Justice Department. Biden's transition team did not respond to requests for comment.

The Trump campaign's use of AMMC means the public has no clear idea how the Trump campaign & a sister committee spent about half of the $1.26 B it raised since Trump launched his reelection on the same day as his 2017 inauguration.

"I don't think people stole money with it, but I do think it was used to conceal payments to people who didn't want to show up on reports," a Trump advisor said of AMMC. "It was nothing illegal. But unseemly? Yes."

Other Rs said the shell company & the hiding of payments feels like Trump family members may have crossed a line. "With Trump it's all about him and money and everyone around him took it to the Nth degree," said one R close to the campaign. "It's truly a criminal enterprise."

This is a doozy of a story from @tomlobianco & @davelevinthal well worth a subscription. Here's how to sign up: https://www.businessinsider.com/subscription