Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski is back

Former Donald Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski is back on the Trump political team payroll, making $20,000 from the Republican National Committee last month.

In a filing Monday with the Federal Election Commission, the RNC reported paying the money to Lewandowski’s firm on April 24 for “management consulting.” It appears to be the first disbursement reported to Lewandowski’s firm from the committee this election cycle, taking place the month after Trump’s hand-picked choice and his daughter-in-law took over leadership positions there.

Lewandowski has remained in Trump’s circle of associates in recent years. Earlier this spring, he was reportedly under consideration for a position working on the Republican National Convention, The New York Times previously reported.

A spokesperson for the Trump campaign said Lewandowski is advising the committee on the “delegate and convention process.”

Lewandowski did not respond to a request for comment.

No stranger to controversy, Lewandowski was Trump’s first campaign manager in his 2016 presidential bid. He has served in and been forced out of other roles in Trump’s sprawling political operation, including being removed from a top post with a pro-Trump super PAC in 2021.

Lewandowski at the time was accused by a top Trump donor’s wife, Trashelle Odom, of making unwanted sexual advances towards her while at a Las Vegas charity dinner. He was later charged with a misdemeanor, but entered an agreement with prosecutors to have the charge dismissed in exchange for completing impulse control counseling, community service and paying a fine.

Paul Manafort, another former Trump 2016 campaign leader ousted from his post, was also brought on to help advise planning ahead of the Republican convention. But Manafort — who served time in prison for tax and bank fraud, and was later pardoned by Trump — stepped aside from what he described as a volunteer role, telling The New York Times that the reporting on his involvement with the convention was a “distraction.”

Jessica Piper contributed to this report.