Jill Stein paid $100k to consulting firm led by Trump supporter with Jan. 6 connection

23 September 2024

Progressive Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein is running for president for the third time, but she has struggled to get on the ballot in some states — including Wisconsin and Nevada.

Democrats have fought to exclude her from the ballot in various states, while Republicans and Donald Trump supporters have tried to help her out in the hope that she will act as a spoiler and take votes away from Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris. And Stein, according to Salon's Marin Scotten, has enlisted the help of a consulting firm whose leader may have been present during the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol Building.

Stein's campaign, Scotten reports, has "paid $100,000" to Accelevate, a consulting firm "that has worked with Republican campaigns for signature-gathering services."

According to The Intercept, Trent Pool (who heads Accelevate) may have been on the Capitol grounds on January 6, 2021.

Scotten explains, "A spokesperson for Stein said she was unaware of Pool's reported connection to January 6; a lawyer for Pool insisted his client was filming a documentary, not taking part in the attack. The boost from Trump allies is part of a larger coordinated effort by the GOP to support third-party candidates as an alternative to Harris, seeking to divert attention and ultimately votes from the vice president, the Associated Press reported earlier this month. Similar efforts have been made to include independent candidate Cornell West on the ballot in Arizona."

Scotten notes that Stein "rejects the argument that her candidacy is enabling a Trump path to victory, positioning herself as a left-wing alternative to the country's two major parties."

However, many members and allies of the Democratic Party's left wing — including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) — have endorsed Harris.

Stein, now 74, was a Democrat until she switched to the Green Party in 2002 and became their presidential nominee in 2012 and 2016.

Read Salon's full article at this link.

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