A Quick Guide to Who’s Making Money Off Trump Paranoia

Some notable resistance hucksters.

Peter Ryan

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The Trump era has been a bonanza for investigative journalism and Democratic fundraising. But it’s also inspired a host of opportunists who have capitalized on fears about Trump to hawk their own podcasts, premium Twitter accounts, and books (for children and adults). Here are a few leading lights:

 

Brian and Ed Krassenstein

Credentials: Twins, cryptocurrency speculators, and Florida men once raided by the feds as part of a possible fraud investigation

Known for: Inserting themselves into Trump’s Twitter replies

Profit center: A $19 donation to their Patreon account to fund their podcast, The KrassenCast, gets you a copy of their satirical children’s book, How the People Trumped Ronald Plump.

 

Seth Abramson

Credentials: Creative writing professor, poet

Known for: Extremely long Twitter threads about collusion. Wrote a 451-tweet thread in response to Mueller report.

Profit center: His New York Times bestseller Proof of Collusion. (A sequel, Proof of Conspiracy, is out this summer.)

 

Louise Mensch

Credentials: Former Tory MP and author of the novel Sparkles

Known for: First reporting that Trump aides had been snared in a FISA wiretap. (Whoa!) First reporting that Steve Bannon might face the death penalty for espionage. (D’oh!)

Profit center: A crowdfunded Russia blog called Patribotics

Eric Garland

Credentials: Futurist

Known for: Being the guy who kicked off a 120-tweet thread on Russian election meddling with “It’s time for some game theory.”

Profit center: Sold access to his “premium” Twitter account for $10 a month

 

Claude Taylor

Credentials: Clinton White House staffer, travel photographer

Known for: His Twitter account @TrueFactsStated, where he claimed that Trump was secretly indicted in 2017

Profit center: His Mad Dog PAC, which paid him $72,000 in 2018 for fundraising and social media consulting

 

John Schindler

Credentials: Former NSA staffer turned Naval War College professor (until he resigned after texting a dick pic to a Twitter follower)

Known for: Using his NatSec background to speculate about what Mueller really knows

Profit center: Charges $10 a month for his “premium” Twitter feed (SFW)

 

Image credits: Krassenstein: Youtube; Abramson: M. Scott Bauer/Simon & Schuster; Mensch: Andrew Parsons/i-Images/ZUMA; Garland: Eric Garland; Taylor: Twitter; Schindler: U.S. Naval War College

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