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A member of Congress and Trump backer stepped in to help the social media company owned by former President Donald Trump jump the line to get a foreign-worker visa for a company executive, according to an investigation by ProPublica.
The former director of special projects for Republican Nebraska Representative Don Bacon claims she was told to help Trump Media even though she believed it was inappropriate. Bacon suggested she “needed to deal with it” when she raised concerns.
The former staffer later said ProPublica “misrepresented” what she said.
Trump Media makes up about half of the former president’s net worth. It’s the first known time an officeholder has helped Trump privately in connection to the social media firm.
While nothing about obtaining the visa was illegal, it goes against Trump’s own policies and public statements. The Trump administration pushed US companies to hire Americans and put in place policies that made it more difficult to get visas for skilled workers.
Similarly, Trump’s 2024 platform states that it will “strengthen” policies to “buy ... and hire American.”
A person with knowledge of the situation told ProPublica that a North Macedonian software developer was partly selected for the executive role because US candidates were more expensive. Vladimir Novachki had already been approved for a visa, with the help of Trump Media, when the firm contacted Bacon’s office.
However, a backlog at the US embassy in North Macedonia was causing severe delays in scheduling an interview, which is needed in order to finalize the process.
Bacon’s office then stepped in to help Trump Media, according to ProPublica.
While companies often reach out to congressional offices for help with visa applications, they usually contact the congressperson for their district. Trump Media is located in Sarasota, Florida.
A spokesperson for Bacon cited privacy concerns when telling ProPublica that they couldn’t discuss case details, but said that Trump Media was not afforded special treatment. They added that the request came from a Trump Media staffer residing in Bacon’s Nebraska district.
“This case was not treated any differently than the hundreds of cases we process every year,” the spokesperson said.
“Politics don’t come into play for official congressional work.”
Bacon spokesperson Danielle Jensen told The Independent in an email that “Trump Media didn’t ask our office to do anything. A constituent of NE02 reached out seeking assistance for one of his employees.”
She added that Bacon did not personally direct staff to deal with the matter and that the issue had no link to Trump’s criticism of Bacon and his suggestion that a primary candidate take him on: “Absolutely not. In fact, before and after the visa request, President Trump publicly criticized Don Bacon. Obviously, there was no quid-pro-quo. But Don Bacon and our staff did this for a constituent like we do for all constituents. No more, no less.”
“Our staff routinely assists thousands of constituents with any issue arising from a federal agency. This was cut and dry: a constituent asked for assistance for an employee, we made an inquiry of the relative agency, no guarantee of outcome or timeline was ever given, and this request was handled in the same manner as all other casework,” Jensen added.
A Trump Media spokesperson claimed that ProPublica had “grotesquely manufactured this hit piece by fabricating statements, misusing stolen communications containing our employee’s private information and maliciously insinuating wrongdoing where categorically none exists.”
An attorney for Trump Media sent a letter threatening to sue the outlet, calling the story “defamatory.”
Trump’s company has previously hired a foreign outsourcing firm, while several people living abroad list jobs at the company on their LinkedIn profiles, despite the former president saying that he’ll stop the practice of outsourcing labor and “punish” firms who send jobs abroad.
The Trump campaign told ProPublica: “When President Trump is back in the White House, he will enforce our immigration laws and deport illegal immigrants.”
“Trump has always been in favor of allowing in thoroughly vetted highly skilled immigrants who do not undercut American wages.”
Novachki joined the Canadian IT and tech outsourcing firm Cosmic Development which was co-founded by Chris Pavlovski who also founded the rightwing video platform Rumble. Pavlovski subsequently recommended Novachki as being able to build a version of the firm’s Truth Social platform for a lower rate than Americans.
The Independent has contacted Trump Media for comment. The Trump campaign referred back to Trump Media when reached for comment.
