Failing President Announces Reelection Run, Hires Shady Techie as Campaign Manager

Donald Trump's approval rating is at the lowest point of his presidency, but he's still looking ahead to his 2020 reelection campaign - and the man he chose to run it headed a portion of the 2016 campaign that's under investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller.

Trump named Brad Parscale, a Republican digital strategist, as his campaign manager for 2020, Politico reports. He ran digital operations in the 2016 campaign, and that, like the campaign overall, is being investigated by Mueller as part of his probe to see if Russia interfered with the election.

Parscale testified to the House Intelligence Committee in a private session last October in the committee's investigation, Politico notes. When he was invited to testify, he issued a statement saying he was "unaware of any Russian involvement in the digital and data operations."

"Yet Parscale has gotten caught up in controversial actions Cambridge Analytica, a prominent conservative data firm that he hired to work for the Trump campaign," CNN reports. Cambridge Analytica CEO Alexander Nix sought WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's assistance, apparently to create a searchable database of hacked Hillary Clinton emails, according to CNN. Cambridge Analytica officials said Nix never connected with Assange, and Parscale denied any knowledge of the attempt to involve WikiLeaks.

His role in the campaign actually extended beyond digital operations, according to CNN. "Behind the scenes he grew into much more: directing campaign spending on television ads as well as digital, building a small dollar donor operation, and having significant influence on the overall campaign working closely with then-Republican National Committee chief of staff Katie Walsh and the RNC get out the vote operation," CNN reports.

Trump questioned the campaign's extensive spending on digital media, at one point saying, "I don't believe in this mumbo-jumbo digital stuff," Parscale recalled to 60 Minutes earlier this year. After Trump won the Electoral College, however, he expressed gratitude for the digital effort, Parscale said.

Parscale, who runs Florida-based Parscale Strategy, had never been involved in politics before he joined the Trump campaign in 2015. He and his firm had worked for Trump's businesses for several years, though, designing websites and developing digital strategies, CNN reports.

Trump filed documents last year for his 2020 run, so it's "no surprise" that he's seeking reelection, CNN notes, "but it is unusual for a sitting president to hire a campaign manager three years before the election."