ProPublica reported that in 2022, Bacon intervened to help a Trump Media employee “jump the line” to receive a hard-to-obtain foreign-worker visa. Bacon’s assistance reportedly came a couple weeks after Trump attempted to recruit a primary challenger against Bacon. A former Bacon aide reportedly claimed the request was not treated like typical requests from constituents and they did not want to help, but Bacon suggested she “needed to deal with it.”
2024: ProPublica Reported Bacon Intervened To Help Trump’s Social Media Company “Jump The Line” To Receive A Difficult-To-Obtain Foreign-Worker Visa. According to ProPublica, "A congressman intervened to help former President Donald Trump’s social media company jump the line for a difficult-to-obtain foreign-worker visa to bring a company executive to the U.S., according to interviews and records reviewed by ProPublica. A former staffer for Rep. Don Bacon, a Nebraska Republican, said the congressman personally instructed her to help Trump Media, even though she thought it was inappropriate to mix politics with the office’s constituent services duties." [ProPublica, 8/29/24]
2022: Bacon’s Assistance To The Trump Company Came A Couple Weeks After Trump Attempted To Recruit A Primary Challenger Against Bacon. According to ProPublica, "The request from the former president’s company came at a delicate moment in Bacon and Trump’s relationship. Bacon had supported Trump in both his presidential campaigns up until that point. But he was also willing to buck his own party at times, criticizing Trump’s actions during the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, for example, and voting for President Joe Biden’s infrastructure bill. That vote prompted Trump to release a statement in January 2022 raising the specter of a primary challenge against Bacon that year: ‘Anyone want to run for Congress against Don Bacon in Nebraska?’ The emails from Trump’s company asking for help from Bacon’s office came a couple weeks later. Canter, the ethics expert, said the timing made the request more troubling, potentially increasing the pressure on Bacon to help. (No significant primary challenger materialized, but Trump did not support Bacon in his race.) Records show Bacon’s office quickly went into motion, gathering the forms and rationales it would need to push the case forward with the State Department." [ProPublica, 8/29/24]
A Former Bacon Aide Reportedly Claimed The Request From Trump’s Company Was Not Treated Like Typical Requests From Constituents. According to ProPublica, "When ProPublica first reached out to Cartwright, Bacon’s former director of special projects, she initially said she had only a faint recollection about the case. She called back hours later unsolicited and in a brief conversation shared some details about her role. She recalled that someone had called the congressman to ask for his intervention and that the request was not treated like typical pleas for help from constituents. A ‘It was higher-level than your average Joe,’ she said." [ProPublica, 8/29/24]
Bacon On Fulfilling The Trump Company’s Visa Assistance Request: “We All Feel Uncomfortable About It.” According to the Omaha World-Herald, "Bacon said Thursday his response after the request was that ‘we all feel uncomfortable about it — I’ve got someone from the Trump team asking me to help out with a visa.’ So he said his office sat down to discuss how to handle the request. ‘I said, ‘Well, it’s a constituent — we should handle it like we handle every constituent request,’’ he said. ‘It would have been a story if I didn’t help. It was a constituent. I said, ‘Let’s make sure we follow procedures and we do it like we do everyone else.’ So that was the basis.’" [Omaha World-Herald, 8/29/24]
Bacon Said There Was “Zero Quid Pro Quo, Zero Any Deal Made” With The Trump Campaign.
According to the Omaha World-Herald, "Bacon noted that even after his office assisted on the visa, that did not stop Trump from criticizing Bacon during an appearance in Omaha just before the May 2022 primary, with Trump saying ‘he’s not good.’ ‘There was zero quid pro quo, zero any deal made,’ Bacon said." [Omaha World-Herald, 8/29/24]