Ex-Trump aide is paid $15k a month by RNC for security consulting

A former aide to President Trump is being paid $15,000 a month by the Republican National Committee (RNC), according to new financial filings which were also reported by CNBC.

Keith Schiller, Trump’s former security chief and confidant for 20 years, owns KS Global Group, a private security firm that the RNC paid thousands of dollars for “security services,” according to the committee’s financial disclosure.

The firm received $15,000 at the beginning of January, according to a monthly, itemized disbursements report filed by the RNC.

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An RNC official told CNBC that the RNC’s convention fund is paying Schiller for security consulting on site selection for the 2020 GOP convention. The fee does not come from campaign donations.

Schiller left his White House post as director of Oval Office operations in September, reportedly because he was unhappy with having reduced access to Trump after John Kelly joined the administration as chief of staff.

Schiller’s firm has collected a total of $75,000 from the RNC since October. He reportedly made $10,000 a month while working for the Trump campaign, and had an annual salary of $165,000 while in the White House. While working in the Trump Organization as director of security, he earned $294,000 a year.

Stephen Spaulding, former Federal Election Commission special counsel and now chief of strategy at Common Cause, referred to the RNC payments to Schiller as coming from a “slush fund,” telling CNBC that such accounts are “lightly regulated and ripe for abuse.”

“Trump’s bodyguard’s firm is getting a fat payout from the RNC and its deep pocketed donors,” he said. “Convention fund donations buy plenty of influence and access … Now it looks like they’re helping to keep Schiller’s firm afloat.”

-Updated 2:44 p.m.