RNC Pays Big Bucks To Former 'Apprentice' Producer, For Convention Stuff. And Things!

Totally legal and totally cool.

With Donald Trump's reelection effort riding a wave of perfect poll numbers, a booming economy, and a nation that's completely healthy and at peace with itself, there's really little reason to think too much about politics, since nothing could possibly derail Trump's coronation as president-for-life. Which is why it's probably not worth even considering this  Daily Beast story reporting that the Republican National Convention has hired a former producer of Trump's financial-education documentary series "The Apprentice" to help it put together the party's big Coronavirus Rainbow Party. Of particular not-interest is the tiny detail that the producer, former NBC exec Chuck LaBella, has no actual experience in doing political conventions or events. Also of no significance at all would be that LaBella is said to know "all the dirt" about Donald Trump. Honestly, no single person could have all the dirt.

LaBella no doubt works hard for the money, and that's why the RNC treats him right (also we have no idea why the article has his name with a lowercase b when he capitalizes it himself):

From August 2019 through May 2020, the Committee on Arrangements for the 2020 Republican National Convention made a dozen payments totaling more than $66,000 to Labella Worldwide, Inc. for "production consulting services."

Gosh, dare we dream of a Gary Busey-Meat Loaf rematch at the convention? There can obviously be no other reason for the payments to LaBella's very busy entertainment concern, which is thriving so hard that its website currently looks like this:

We suppose a particularly rude person might conceivably jump to totally unwarranted conclusions from some other details in the Daily Beast story:

According to actor Tom Arnold, who was a contestant on the show and has since become a vociferous Trump critic, Labella wasin possession of Trump's ostensibly salacious—and, in political and media circles, long-sought—behind-the-scenes Apprentice outtakes. "Chuck LaBella was there and knows all," Arnold said.

Arnold's accusations are often brushed aside by Trumpworld as conspiracy-mongering. But the charges he leveled were reportedly serious enough that Trump's then personal lawyer,Michael Cohen, helped situate Labella with a close attorney, Keith Davidson, in late 2017. Davidson's name became prominent for his representation of another Trump-adjacent personality: porn star Stormy Daniels,for whom he helped arrange hush money payments in order to maintain her silence about her alleged affair with Trump. Davidson did not return a request for comment.

What, you people see the names of some people who happened to be involved in hush-money payments that Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to making on the behalf of Individual One, and you think there might be something funny going on with these completely above-board consulting fees to a great entertainment industry expert who's bringing his expertise to an upcoming event? Gosh, you're cynical, and the Daily Beast is very careful — as are we — to avoid suggesting there's anything the least bit untoward going on here.

And indeed, it would be highly inappropriate to think otherwise, says RNC national press secretary Mandi Merritt, who is definitely not described as having a completely flat, expressionless affect as she told the Daily Beast that LaBella was doing perfectly standard event production things:

Chuck LaBella is consulting on a variety of efforts for convention, including talent, production, stage design, and media consulting. [...] It's incredibly common for large scale events such as these to receive consulting from those with backgrounds in the entertainment industry and to suggest anything other than that is not only flat on wrong, but offensive and misleading.

INCREDIBLY common, probably the most ordinary thing ever! An unnamed RNC official also pointed out that the Democrats are using a person who happens to have entertainment industry connections for their convention, too, noting that the DNC has "re-hiredRicky Kirschner(sic) as executive producer for its convention." Kirshner, the Daily Beast points out, has indeed "produced every Democratic Party convention since 1992 in addition to Super Bowl halftime shows and the Tony Awards," so he really is a LOT like the former Trump associate who has never done a political convention before and is merely rumored by a crazy actor guy to have dirt on Trump.

The article also notes that, before it went into COMING SOON mode, an archived version of LaBella's website said he was "currently consulting for two network television shows: Fox's The Masked Singer and ABC's Holey Moley." We would add that since Sarah Palin was recently on the "Masked Singer" thing — intoning, we shit you not, "Baby Got Back" — clearly LaBella IS a political sort of guy, so let's just not read anything at all into his being paid to work on this summer's RNC.

We would say more, but we suddenly really need to pee for absolutely no reason at all.

[ Daily Beast ]

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