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FEC Filing Proves Trump Paid Actors to Pose as Supporters at Campaign Announcement

The Hollywood Reporter has obtained documents from an FEC action where Gotham Government Relations, which was retained by Donald J. Trump for President, Inc., admitted to hiring Extra Mile.

Extra Mile is an ideal resource for casting directors and producers looking to book background actors in feature films, television, commercials, music videos, industrials, promotional videos and print jobs.

Donald Trump Escapes FEC Punishment Over Paid Actors at Presidential Announcement

As Donald Trump gets sworn in as the 45th president of the United States, the Federal Election Commission has closed the chapter on an investigation on how his presidential campaign started.

On June 16, 2015, Trump announced he was running for the highest office.

As first detailed in The Hollywood Reporter, the campaign hired actors to cheer him on.

That drew public attention, although it was later overshadowed by his harsh pronouncement of Mexicans as "rapists."

At the time, Trump's then campaign manager Corey Lewandowski denied paying anyone to attend the event and said that he had never heard of Extra Mile or Gotham Government Relations, the two companies that THR reported were involved in putting out a casting call for people to attend the event.

A few months later, with no disclosures related to this, the American Democracy Legal Fund filed a complaint, alleging that Trump's campaign violated the reporting provisions of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971.

Donald J. Trump for President, Inc., then admitted paying Gotham $12,000 on Oct. 8, 2015.

Gotham reported to the FCC it hired Extra Mile as a subcontractor to provide support at Trump's announcement.

Still, this doesn't settle the issue because of the allegation that Trump may have accepted prohibited or excessive contributions from the two companies involved with hiring the actors.