Conservative social media personalities Diamond and Silk testified under oath before Congress on Thursday that they had never been paid by President Donald Trump‘s campaign—except federal filings show otherwise.
Lynette Hardaway, who goes by Diamond, and Rochelle Richardson, who goes by Silk, were testifying before Congress about alleged bias against conservative pages on Facebook and other social media platforms. The vocal Trump-supporting pair rose to fame on YouTube and have gone on to make appearances on Fox and Friends.
“We have never been paid by the Trump campaign,” Hardaway repeated several times under questioning from Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Tx.)
Jackson Lee also asked specifically about $1,274.94–a number that, according to Federal Election Commission records, was paid to the social media personalities by the Trump campaign in November 2016 for “field consulting.”
Diamond and Silk repeatedly tell congressional committee that “we have never been paid by the Trump campaign.” FEC records show Diamond and Silk were paid $1,274.94 for field consulting work. https://t.co/80ORQiNShQ pic.twitter.com/fUl8VasiVA
— ABC News (@ABC) April 26, 2018
Hardaway’s response was the same, denying that they had been paid by the Trump campaign.
At one point during the hearing, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) mentioned to the duo that their testimony was “under oath, subject to art penalty of perjury,” according to the New York Daily News.
Diamond and Silk were at the center of the hearing, alleging that Facebook sent them a message that said their videos were “unsafe to the community.” They also made headlines earlier month when Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tx.) invoked their names during Mark Zuckerberg‘s congressional hearing, asking the Facebook CEO why their page was “blocked.” Zuckerberg claimed there was an “enforcement error” over the page.
