*Pro-Trump social media personalities Diamond and Silk told the House Judiciary Committee under oath on Thursday “we have never been paid by the Trump campaign,” ABC News reports.
But Trump campaign filings with the Federal Election Commission show that the sisters were paid $1,274.94 for “field consulting.”
The hearing, titled “Filtering Practices of Social Media Platforms,” was called to discuss accusations that Facebook and other social media platforms suppress conservative content.
Diamond and Silk’s, real names are Lynnette Hardaway and Rochelle Richardson, Facebook page had briefly been labeled “unsafe to the community,” which many Republicans said is proof of censorship.
During the hearing, Texas Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee asked whether the duo had ever received money from the Trump campaign.
Diamond said five times under oath that she had not.
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Hardaway (Diamond) says “We’ve never been paid by the Trump campaign” in response to Sheila Jackson Lee
— Joe Perticone (@JoePerticone) April 26, 2018
But according to documents the Trump campaign filled with the Federal Election Commission, Diamond & Silk were paid $1,274.94 in November 2016 for “field consulting.”
When asked about this payment, Silk responded, “We’re familiar with that particular lie. We could see that you do look at fake news.”
As noted by slate.com, she then went on to claim that the payment was actually a reimbursement for plane tickets they purchased to fly to a Women for Trump event in Ohio and suggested that the campaign may have made a mistake in their FEC filings.
Watch Diamond and Silk go back and forth with Congressman Jeffries:
Trump campaign treasurer Bradley Crate sent Slate a statement that supported their version of events:
The issue regarding Diamond and Silk is merely one of semantics, resulting from a reasonable misunderstanding of the Campaign’s reporting obligations. The Campaign’s payment to Diamond and Silk for field consulting was based on an invoice they submitted reflecting their costs for air travel to a Campaign event. The invoice was not supported by accompanying receipts, so as a technical matter, could not be reported as a reimbursement even though its purpose was to make them whole for their out-of-pocket costs.
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