Washington Post: Laura Loomer accused of undisclosed payments for political social media posts

Accusations of hidden payments for posts

Far-right activist Laura Loomer, known as an ally of US President Donald Trump, allegedly received more than $60,000 from private clients for political posts on social media without publicly disclosing these payments. This is reported by The Washington Post, citing the account of a former adviser to Trump's campaign team Alex Bruesewitz and three other people familiar with these arrangements. The outlet notes that these claims raise questions about the transparency of the increasingly influential business of political messaging on the internet.

What the documents and testimony show

Financial documents reviewed by the newspaper allegedly show four payments totaling more than $60,000 sent to Loomer and her Florida-based company King Breaker Media since May of last year. Two sources said they paid Loomer directly for posting political messages on her account on the X platform, which has 1.9 million followers. Another source said he oversaw clients who made such payments. According to two people familiar with the arrangements, Loomer sometimes charged between $3,000 and $5,000 per post.

The parties' positions

Bruesewitz acknowledged that he paid Loomer through his political consulting firm X Strategies for posts related to political issues. He said the practice had gone too far and called for clearer disclosure rules. Loomer herself, 33, rejected the claims that she was paid for tweets, describing her work as journalism, public relations and opposition research. She asserts that Bruesewitz paid her for preparing a research document, which she then distributed, and denies having fixed rates. The outlet also recalls that Loomer has repeatedly found herself at the center of controversies over her public interventions in the administration's personnel appointments and national security matters; Trump acknowledged that he heeded some of her recommendations.