Donald Trump Refusing to Pay His Pollster Nearly $1 Million

When Donald Trump hired his first pollster in May, it was a sign to some that he was taking his White House run more seriously. But six months later, the New York businessman is refusing to pay almost everything the polling firm has billed the campaign, adding up to approximately three-quarters of a million dollars.

The campaign’s latest Federal Election Commission report shows it contesting $766,756.67 that veteran pollster Tony Fabrizio’s firm says it is owed for polling, The Washington Post reported Monday.

The filings show that the debt to Fabrizio Lee, the pollster’s Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based firm, is listed as a "contested" expense. The records also include an additional $55,300 debt to his organization that is not contested.

Trump campaign officials on Monday refused comment on the dispute, with a campaign spokesperson telling The Post, “This is an administrative issue we’re resolving internally.”

Fabrizio, who was hired by the campaign in May, did not receive any payments until September, when his firm took in nearly $624,000, according to FEC filings.

Fabrizio is an ally of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort, who abruptly left the campaign in August in one of several periods of upheaval. He has served as a pollster for the presidential campaigns of Bob Dole and Rick Perry, as well as Florida Gov. Rick Scott and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

However, reports throughout the campaign suggest that Fabrizio, who expressed concern to Trump about his bombastic style, increasingly found himself on the outside of the campaign's inner circle.

In one instance, Fabrizio told Trump that attacks like the one on the Khan family would sink his bid for the White House — a sit-down the Republican nominee apparently did not like. The Huffington Post also reported that Trump, a poll-obsessed candidate, grew a distaste for Fabrizio when he delivered bad news in the polls. And New York Magazine reported over the weekend that Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, had rejected Fabrizio's plans to conduct focus groups at the convention, saying that he could tell what resonated with the audience "from the applause."

Trump has a history of not paying contractors and other workers in his enterprises. A USA Today investigation found that hundreds of people — including hourly wage earners such as dishwashers and painters — have been stiffed by the New York businessman. Trump said it was because The Trump Organization was unhappy with the work.

"Let’s say that they do a job that's not good, or a job that they didn’t finish, or a job that was way late. I’ll deduct from their contract, absolutely," Trump said. "That’s what the country should be doing."

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr Commons