Pro-Trump social media stars Diamond and Silk appear to lie under oath about Trump campaign payment
Pro-Trump social media personalities Lynnette Hardaway and Rochelle Richardson, who are popularly known as Diamond and Silk, appeared to lie to a congressional panel on Thursday about their financial ties with Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, according to reports.
The two women, during a House Judiciary Committee hearing on free speech and social media, were asked a question about whether they were paid by the Trump campaign in 2016. The social media stars denied receiving any money from the Trump campaign.
Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-Texas), directing a question at "Diamond" Hardaway, asked: "Ms Hardaway have you ever been paid by the Trump campaign?"
'No, we’ve never been paid by the Trump campaign," Hardaway replied.
Jackson-Lee then pressed on, asking: "Not $5? Not $100? What about $1,274.94?”
To which, Hardway insisted: "We have never been paid."
Contrary to the pair's statement, the Trump campaign’s Federal Election Commission filings suggest that the duo were given a payment of $1,274.94 on November 22. 2016 for "Field Consulting," according to the Huffington Post.
Rep Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) then brought the stark discrepancies between the two narratives and reminded them they were under oath and would be subject to criminal penalties if it was found out that they had lied in their statement.
The pairs, Hardaway and Richardson, maintained their position and told the committee that the payment was improperly labeled. They added that the money was given to them as a reimbursement for the airfare when then the two had purchased flight tickets to go speak at a Trump rally in 2016.
The pairs are deemed as the most popular African-American followers of President Trump, according to reports.
The social media stars, who are popular for their live-stream videos, have also repeatedly claimed that Facebook has "censored" them. There is no concrete evidence that the social media giant specifically targeted the content produced by them on its portal.
Facebook, however, had admitted that a message saying that their videos were "unsafe" was sent to them, but it later stated that it was erroneously sent to them.
“We have communicated directly with Diamond And Silk about this issue. The message they received last week was inaccurate and not reflective of the way we communicate with our community and the people who run Pages on our platform,” a Facebook representative told the Washington Post.
“We have provided them with more information about our policies and the tools that are applicable to their Page and look forward to the opportunity to speak with them.”