至少有六名活跃在共和党政界的特工与此事有关坎耶·维斯特迷人的11小时独立2020总统竞选。
作为总统之间的竞争唐纳德·特朗普前副总统乔·拜登在离大选还有不到三个月的时间里加剧了紧张局势选举这些特工参与了韦斯特的竞选活动，其中一些人与特朗普的阵营有关联，这引发了人们对那些帮助特朗普参选的人的动机的质疑。
在今年夏天早些时候宣布他的总统抱负后不久，韦斯特在一次采访中否认了他对特朗普的支持福布斯访谈，说，“我要摘下红帽子，接受采访。”他还表示，如果特朗普不在，他将作为共和党人参选。如果特朗普在那里，我将以独立候选人身份参选。”
他还承认，他的总统竞选可能会使拜登的黑人选民流失，他说，“说黑人投票是民主党的，是种族主义和白人至上的一种形式。”
韦斯特在几个州都在争夺选票，此前他曾试图在其他州进行竞选，但失败了，他还在争先恐后地寻找选民——在选举团中代表各州的党派官员——在他获胜后代表他。
这些特工被揭露之际，人们开始质疑韦斯特竞选的动机以及他在开幕集会上的行为。他的妻子金·卡戴珊·韦斯特呼吁同情她说她的丈夫在躁郁症的基础上承受了个人和艺术上的压力，“他的话有时与他的意图不一致。”
在签名受到审查后，韦斯特的团队撤回了他在新泽西州投票的申请。他的团队也错过了南卡罗来纳州的最后期限，无法召集400人。竞选顾问说，他们觉得需要收集签名才能让韦斯特在加州投票。
尚不清楚这些特工与西方的官方努力有何关联，包括谁雇佣了他们。一位了解韦斯特竞选活动的消息人士在一条短信中告诉美国广播公司新闻，韦斯特上周召开了一次会议来重新安排他的竞选活动。
这位艺人的昵称是:“叶希望有更多的组织，并找出为什么所有的尴尬标题，说:”
这位消息人士说，西方想要“创造奇迹”，“阻止”拜登，给美国黑人一个“积极的选择”，或者“为2024年的竞选学点东西。”
与选民欺诈有关联
据知情人士透露，其中一名特工是一名与共和党有关联的特工，名叫马克·雅各布(Mark Jacoby)，他在佛罗里达州和加利福尼亚州的公司“让选民决定”已被韦斯特的竞选团队雇佣，在选定的州收集签名。
被媒体描述为“专业签名收集者”的雅各布一直积极支持佛罗里达州、加利福尼亚州、亚利桑那州和马萨诸塞州与西部无关的各种支持共和党的事业。
2008年，雅各布在加州共和党担任专业签名收藏家时因选举舞弊被捕指控称，他在童年时居住的加州的一个地址登记投票，这样他看起来就符合所有签名收集者都有资格在加州投票的法律要求。他后来承认了与此案有关的轻罪，并被判处三年缓刑和30天加州交通部服务。
他当时还被指控欺骗选民登记为共和党人，说他们是在为其他原因签署请愿书。
在对的声明中《纽约时报》本月早些时候，Jacoby说他的公司是无党派的，为所有政党工作。他在声明中补充说:“我们不对任何现有客户发表评论，但像所有美国人一样，任何有资格参选的人都有权参选。”雅各布没有回复美国广播公司新闻的置评请求。
周三，当一名记者问特朗普是否听说过共和党人努力让西方参与投票时，他说，“我非常喜欢坎耶。”我和他参加投票没有任何关系。”
共和党全国委员会发言人迈克·里德在一份声明中对美国广播公司说:“这对我们来说是新闻，就像对你们一样。”
他补充说:“我们唯一的关注点是重新选举总统和全国各地数千名伟大的共和党候选人。”
科罗拉多州、威斯康星州和阿肯色州
在科罗拉多州，韦斯特的竞选活动刚刚开始，只需要1000美元的费用和九个签名就可以进入总统选举。美国广播公司新闻部召集了所有九名签名支持韦斯特的人，其中四人是现任或前任共和党特工，两人是注册的民主党人。
在接受美国广播公司采访时，雪莱·康(Shelley Kon)说，她的朋友雷切尔·乔治(Rachel George)告诉她不要和记者交谈，也不要把他们介绍给竞选团队。她是科罗拉多州韦斯特选区的九名选民之一，雷切尔·乔治是一名资深共和党特工，曾在几个工作人员和竞选团队中任职，其中包括当时的科罗拉多州众议员科里·加德纳(Cory Gardner)担任了三年的传播主任。Kon说，当记者开始打电话时，她感到“尴尬”。
在谈到签署乔治交给她的文件时，她对美国广播公司说:“我知道我不该这么做。”孔是一名登记的民主党人，她说她认为自己在今年的大选中还没有决定。在对美国广播公司新闻的一份声明中，她说“如果有人真的想竞选总统，你知道，为什么不给选民在民主过程中的选择呢?”
乔治没有回复美国广播公司的信息和电话。
根据州司法部长办公室的消息，更多的共和党特工签署了韦斯特的科罗拉多州表格，他们是赛斯·雅各布森，前政治主任，达里尔·格伦的美国参议院竞选团队和科里·加德纳的2014年美国参议院竞选团队的工作人员，亚当·约翰逊，前科罗拉多州共和党政治主任，马修·齐林斯基，2012年科罗拉多州众议院第五选区的共和党候选人，和约瑟夫·彼得斯，科罗拉多州助理司法部长，前共和党竞选团队的工作人员。他们都没有回复美国广播公司的电话。这使得科罗拉多州九个签名中的四个来自对共和党政治策略有丰富经验的人。另一个是雅各布森的室友。
与韦斯特竞选活动有关的其他共和党特工包括莱恩·鲁兰，他是威斯康星州麦迪逊市的一名律师，曾为威斯康星州共和党担任法律顾问。据报道，周二鲁兰有人看见他在下车据美国广播公司附属机构WISN 12新闻报道，已向州选举委员会大楼提交签名文件，将韦斯特的名字列入选票。
“无可奉告”，下午5点刚过，一名妇女走进麦迪逊的选举委员会大楼，为坎耶·韦斯特签名pic.twitter.com/zVxePn5Fe2
——马特·史密斯(@mattsmith_news)2020年8月4日
除了为威斯康辛共和党工作之外，鲁兰德还为共和党全国委员会工作，最近还代表特朗普竞选团队工作，因为她被列入了一个从今年4月开始诉讼反对威斯康辛州一家地方电视台关于支持民主党的美国超级政治行动委员会的反特朗普广告。
鲁兰德没有回应美国广播公司新闻的置评请求。
在阿肯色州，格雷格·凯勒(Gregg Keller)是一名资深的共和党工作人员，此前曾与米特·罗姆尼和约翰·麦凯恩的总统竞选团队合作，在周二提交的签名文件中，他被列为西部竞选团队的联系人。根据他们的网站，凯勒曾担任拉尔夫·里德的信仰和自由联盟的执行董事和美国保守派联盟的执行董事，该联盟是美国最古老的“保守基层组织”。
匆忙寻找选民
寻找西方国家的选民的热潮是有问题的。选民通常在大选前几个月选出，一些州在州初选期间决定选民。在一些州，它们是在政党大会上决定的。
在佛蒙特州被选为共和党代表的查克·威尔顿被列为该州西部的选民。2017年，特朗普政府任命威尔顿的妻子温迪担任总统州执行董事为美国农业部在佛蒙特州的农业服务机构工作，她仍然担任这个角色。美国广播公司新闻已经联系了佛蒙特州的共和党，询问该州的规定是否允许选民被列为多名候选人，但他们没有回应置评请求。
另一个与共和党有关联的名字是简·德拉蒙德成员据共和党全国律师协会网站介绍，该协会是一个共和党“专业人士组成的网络，他们通过实践领域分享专业知识”，根据向密苏里州的国务卿办公室提交的文件，该协会被列为密苏里州西部可能的选民之一。
凯勒、威尔顿和德拉蒙德没有回复美国广播公司的置评请求。
当被问及韦斯特是否正在进行一场象征性的竞选活动时，一位接近竞选活动的消息人士告诉ABC新闻，“拜登和特朗普都陷入了丑闻之中，而坎耶只是在迎合公众。”
At least 6 Republican operatives, some tied to Trump camp, working to get Kanye West on the 2020 ballot
At least six operatives who have been prominently involved in the Republican political world have been linked toKanye West's captivating 11th-hour independent 2020presidential bid.
As the rivalry between PresidentDonald Trumpand former Vice President Joe Biden intensifies with less than three months to go until theelection, the involvement of the operatives in West's campaign, some of whom have ties to Trump's camp, raises questions about the motives of those helping to put his name on the ballot.
Shortly after announcing his presidential aspirations earlier this summer, West disavowed his support for Trump during aninterview with Forbes, saying, "I'm taking the red hat off, with this interview." He also said he would run as a Republican "if Trump wasn't there. I will run as an independent if Trump is there."
He also acknowledged that his presidential bid could bleed out Biden's Black voters saying, "To say that the Black vote is Democratic is a form of racism and white supremacy."
West is vying to get on the ballot in several states after faltering in his attempts to do so in others and scrambling to find electors -- party-tied officials who represent states in the Electoral College -- to represent him should he win.
The revelations about the operatives come as questions have been raised about West's motives for the campaign and his behavior during his opening rally. His wife, Kim Kardashian West, hascalled for empathysaying her husband has undergone personal and artistic pressure on top of his bipolar disorder, and that "his words sometimes do not align with his intentions."
West's team withdrew his bid to get on the ballot in New Jersey after signatures came under scrutiny there. His team also missed the deadline in South Carolina and couldn't muster the 400 people campaign advisors said they felt that they needed to gather signatures to get West on the ballot in California.
It is unclear how the operatives are connected to West's official efforts, including who hired them. A source with knowledge of West's campaign told ABC News in a text message that West held a meeting last week to reset his campaign.
"Ye wanted more organization and to figure out why all the embarrassing headlines," the source said, using the entertainer's nickname.
The source said West would like to "have a miracle," "stop" Biden and give Black America a "positive choice" or "learn something for the 2024 run."
Operative with link to voter fraud
One of the operatives is a GOP-linked operative named Mark Jacoby, whose Florida and California-based firm Let the Voters Decide has been hired by West's campaign to collect signatures in select states, according to sources close to the West campaign.
Jacoby, who has been described in media reports as a "professional signature collector," has been active in supporting various pro-GOP causes in Florida, California, Arizona and Massachusetts unrelated to West.
While working as a professional signature collector for the California Republican Party in 2008, Jacoby wasarrested on voter fraudcharges for allegedly registering himself to vote at a childhood California address where he no longer lived so he would appear to meet the legal requirement that all signature gatherers be eligible to vote in California. He later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor in connection with the case and was sentenced to three years' probation and 30 days of service with the California Department of Transportation.
He at that time was also accused of tricking voters into registering as Republicans by saying they were signing a petition for other causes.
In a statement toThe New York Times, earlier this month Jacoby said his company was nonpartisan and worked for all political parties. "We do not comment on any current clients, but like all Americans, anyone who is qualified to stand for election has the right to run," he added in the statement. Jacoby did not return ABC News' request for comment.
On Wednesday, when Trump was asked by a reporter if he had heard about Republicans working to get West on the ballot, he said, "I like Kanye very much. I have nothing to do with him getting on the ballot."
And Republican National Committee spokesperson Mike Reed told ABC News in a statement that it was "news to us, just like it is to you."
He added, "Our sole focus is re-electing the president and the thousands of great Republican candidates running across the country."
Colorado, Wisconsin and Arkansas
In Colorado, where West's campaign just filed, only a $1,000 fee and nine signatures are needed to get on the presidential ballot. ABC News called all nine of the people who signed in support of West, four of whom are current or former Republican operatives and two who were registered Democrats.
When called by ABC News, Shelley Kon, one of the nine electors who signed for West in Colorado, said she was told by her friend, Rachel George, a veteran Republican operative who served on several staffs and campaigns including a three-year stint as communications director for then-Colorado Rep. Cory Gardner not to talk to reporters and to refer them to the campaign. Kon said she was "embarrassed" when the calls from journalists began.
"I knew I shouldn't have," she told ABC News about signing the paperwork given to her by George. Kon, who is a registered Democrat said she considers herself undecided in this year's general election. In a statement to ABC News, she said "if someone actually wants to run for president, you know, why not give voters the choice in that democratic process?"
George did not respond to messages and phone calls from ABC News.
More Republican operatives who signed West's Colorado form were Seth Jacobson, former political director for Darryl Glenn's U.S. Senate campaign and staffer for Cory Gardner's 2014 U.S. Senate campaign, Adam Johnson, former Colorado GOP political director, Matthew Zielinski, a 2012 Republican candidate for District 5 of the Colorado House of Representatives, and Joseph Peters, an assistant attorney general in Colorado and former GOP campaign staffer, according to the State attorney general's office. None of them returned ABC News' calls. This makes four of the nine signatures in Colorado from people with substantial experience in Republican political strategy. Another is Jacobson's roommate, according to the filing.
Other GOP operatives linked to West's campaign include Lane Ruhland, a Madison, Wis.,-based attorney who has worked as legal counsel for the Republican Party of Wisconsin. Ruhland on Tuesday was reportedlyseen dropping offsignature filings to the state elections commission building to put West's name on the ballot, according to ABC Affiliate WISN 12 News.
“No comment” as woman enters election commission building just after 5p in Madison to drop off signatures for Kanye Westpic.twitter.com/zVxePn5Fe2
— Matt Smith (@mattsmith_news)August 4, 2020
Apart from her work for the Wisconsin Republican Party, Ruhland has also worked for the Republican National Committee as well as most recently, representing the Trump campaign, as she was listed among the attorneys in alawsuit from April this yearagainst a Wisconsin local television station regarding an anti-Trump ad from pro-Democratic super PAC Priorities USA.
Ruhland did not respond to ABC News' request for comment.
In Arkansas, Gregg Keller, a veteran GOP operative who previously worked with Mitt Romney and John McCain's presidential campaigns, was listed as the West campaign's contact on its signature filing submitted Tuesday. Keller had previously served as the executive director of Ralph Reed's Faith and Freedom Coalition and executive director of the American Conservative Union, according to their website, the oldest "conservative grassroots organization" in the United States.
Rush to find electors
The rush to find people to serve as electors for West's bid has been problematic. Electors are typically selected months in advance of the general election and some states decide on electors during the state's primary election. In some states they are decided at the party conventions.
Chuck Wilton, who was voted as delegate for the Republican Party in Vermont, was listed as an elector for West in the same state. In 2017, the Trump administration appointed Wilton's wife, Wendy, to serve as thestate executive directorfor the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Farm Service Agency in Vermont, a role she still occupies. ABC News has reached out to the Republican Party in Vermont to ask whether the state's rules allow electors to be listed for multiple candidates, but they did not respond to a request for comment.
Another GOP-linked name that has been associated with West's presidential bid is Jane Drummond -- amemberof the Republican National Lawyer Association, a Republican "network of fellow professionals by practice area who share expertise," according to their website -- who was listed as among West's possible electors in Missouri, according to the filing with the Secretary of State office in Missouri.
Keller, Wilton and Drummond did not return ABC News' requests for comment.
When asked if West is running a symbolic campaign, a source close to the campaign told ABC News, "Biden and Trump are both caught in scandals and Kanye just catches on with the public."
