CAMARILLO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan 8, 2025--
Salem Media Group, Inc. (OTCQX: SALM) announced today the appointment of Brad Parscale as the company’s Chief Strategy Officer.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250106008891/en/
Parscale will contribute his innovative mindset, political experience, network, and technical insight to the expanding Salem Media Group mission and digital initiatives in this new role.
Brad Parscale is a leading expert in digital marketing and online strategy, renowned for driving growth. As a digital architect and entrepreneur, Parscale has built and scaled companies through data-driven advertising, social media engagement, and cutting-edge technology. Parscale’s career skyrocketed during his tenure as Digital & Media Director for Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign, where his innovative use of social media and digital fundraising reshaped modern political campaigning, leading to his role as Campaign Manager for Trump’s 2020 re-election bid.
Parscale’s life has been transformed by his faith following his baptism and a renewed dedication to Christ in recent years. This journey has fueled his commitment to championing causes that defend freedom, individual liberty, and self-governance. In 2024, his platforms—Campaign Nucleus and EyesOver—were instrumental in Donald Trump’s historic presidential victory and numerous down-ballot races. By streamlining campaign operations and enhancing voter engagement through real-time sentiment analysis, Parscale’s innovations continue to shape the future of political and commercial landscapes.
Salem Media Group Chief Executive Officer David Santrella said, “I am incredibly excited to have Brad join Salem. He brings a wealth of digital marketing experience to Salem, tremendous knowledge of and connections within conservative media, and a great passion for Salem’s mission. Brad’s track record in media and politics speaks for itself, and I am confident that Brad will help drive Salem to new levels of success and impact.”
Brad Parscale commented, “I’m excited to join Salem Media as Chief Strategy Officer and help lead the company into a new era of innovation. Salem’s strong foundation in Christian values and commitment to delivering quality content provides a great opportunity to expand into new distribution channels and leverage cutting-edge technology. I look forward to enhancing Salem’s ability to create engaging, values-driven content that connects with today’s audiences while exploring new tools and platforms to broaden our reach. I’m eager to join the Salem team to drive growth and ensure the company thrives as a leader in faith-based media.”
Brad is based in Texas, where he lives with his wife Candice.
About Salem Media Group, Inc.:
Salem Media Group is America’s leading multimedia company specializing in Christian and conservative content, with media properties comprising radio, digital media and book and newsletter publishing. Each day Salem serves a loyal and dedicated audience of listeners, readers and viewers numbering in the millions nationally. With its unique content focus, Salem provides compelling audio and video programming, text content, fresh commentary and relevant information from some of the most respected figures across the Christian and conservative media landscape. Learn more about Salem Media Group, Inc. at www.salemmedia.com.
Brad Parscale (Photo: Business Wire)
WASHINGTON (AP) — A former FBI informant who fabricated a story about President Joe Biden and his son Hunter accepting bribes that became central to Republicans’ impeachment effort was sentenced Wednesday to six years in prison.
Alexander Smirnovpleaded guilty last month in Los Angeles federal court to tax evasion and lying to the FBI about the phony bribery scheme in what prosecutors say was an effort to influence the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.
Smirnov, a dual U.S. and Israeli citizen, falsely claimed to his FBI handler that executives from the Ukrainian energy company Burisma had paid then-Vice President Biden and his son $5 million each around 2015.
Smirnov's explosive claim in 2020 came after he expressed "bias” about Joe Biden as a presidential candidate, according to prosecutors. In reality, investigators found Smirnov had only routine business dealings with Burisma starting in 2017 — after Biden's term as vice president.
Prosecutors noted that Smirnov's false claim “set off a firestorm in Congress” when it resurfaced years later as part of the House impeachment inquiry into President Biden, a Democrat who defeated Republican then-President Donald Trump in 2020. The Biden administration dismissed the House impeachment effort as a “stunt.”
Before Smirnov’s arrest, Republicans had demanded the FBI release the unredacted form documenting the unverified allegations, though they acknowledged they couldn’t confirm if they were true.
"In committing his crimes he betrayed the United States, a country that showed him nothing but generosity, including conferring on him the greatest honor it can bestow, citizenship," Justice Department special counsel David Weiss' team wrote in court papers. "He repaid the trust the United States placed in him to be a law-abiding naturalized citizen and, more specifically, that one of its premier law enforcement agencies placed in him to tell the truth as a confidential human source, by attempting to interfere in a Presidential election."
Smirnov will get credit for the time he has served behind bars since his arrest last February in the case accusing him of lying to the FBI. Prosecutors in November brought new tax charges alleging he concealed millions of dollars of income he earned between 2020 and 2022.
Smirnov's lawyers had sought no more than four years behind bars, noting the “substantial assistance" he provided to the U.S. government as an FBI informant for more than a decade. Smirnov's lawyers noted in court papers that he suffers from serious health issues related to his eyes and argue that a lengthy sentence would “unnecessarily prolong his suffering.”
“Mr. Smirnov has learned a very grave lesson and proffers to this Honorable Court that he will not find himself on this side of the law again,” attorneys Richard Schonfeld and David Chesnoff told the judge in court papers.
Smirnov was prosecuted by Weiss, who also brought gun and tax charges against Hunter Biden. Hunter Biden was supposed to be sentenced in December after being convicted at a trial in the gun case and pleading guilty to tax charges. But he was pardoned by his father, who said he believed “raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice.”
In seeking a lighter sentence, Smirnov's lawyers wrote in court papers that both Hunter Biden and President-elect Trump — who was charged in two federal cases by a different special counsel — “have walked free and clear of any meaningful punishment.”
Special counsel Jack Smith abandoned the two federal cases against Trump — accusing him of conspiring to overturn his 2020 election loss and hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida — after Trump's presidential victory over Vice President Kamala Harris in November.
Follow the AP's coverage of Hunter Biden at https://apnews.com/hub/hunter-biden.
FILE - In this courtroom sketch Defendant Alexander Smirnov speaks in Federal court in Los Angeles, Feb. 26, 2024. (William T. Robles via AP, File)
