Herschel Walker's wife got on board with the college football legend's campaign to become a Republican senator after realizing she could use it to make money, according to a report.
Five former campaign officials and advisers told The Daily Beast that Walker's wife, Julie Blanchard, believed she could strike a private agreement with a media company where a friend worked to collect a percentage off of the campaign's media purchases.
“It was clear from that point that Julie was going to be in charge,” one former adviser said. “The dangerous thing is she had no idea about what the f--k she was doing. She’s also got the worst political instincts of anyone I’ve ever met, and that’s a dangerous combination. It was clear she was just motivated by, ‘How can I control it? What are the ways I can make money?’”
However, campaign officials prevented Blanchard from carrying out her scheme and she was never able to reach an agreement with the media company. She also angered advisers and operatives by recommending major investments in urban radio in her mistaken belief that Walker could win 50 percent of the Black vote, the report said.
“Julie wanted Cardi B on the campaign trail,” one staffer previously told The Daily Beast. “The person who sings ‘Wet A-- P---y,’ and you want to bring her on the campaign trail to appeal to conservatives, just because she tweeted that we’re in a recession?”
Blanchard, who had dated Walker for more than a decade and married him about five months before he entered the Georgia Senate race – which he ultimately lost – had initially been "adamantly" opposed to his candidacy because she believed revelations about his past could damage his reputation and brand.
“In a meeting one day, she suddenly made clear to us that she thought she would be able to get points off of the media buys,” one source said. “If this was going to be a $100 million operation, then in her mind she deserved to get some of that money.”
That source said Blanchard intended to funnel that kickback money into one of her companies, and four sources said she repeatedly tried to direct campaign contracts to ICON International, where an old friend who had no political experience worked.
“We kept telling her that it just didn’t make any sense to hire them for this,” a former top adviser said.
A campaign finance expert said that arrangement, if carried out, could have violated a ban on personal use of campaign funds and amount to a reporting violation.
“Campaign funds cannot be used for anybody’s personal benefit,” said Brendan Fischer, deputy executive director of watchdog group Documented. “Candidates must tread cautiously when hiring family members or friends. Any payments to family members must be for fair market value.”
