Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Lewandowski says he ‘said no’ to Cambridge Analytica
WASHINGTON — Corey Lewandowski, the first of Donald Trump’s campaign managers during his 2016 presidential bid, said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he had turned down the datamining firm Cambridge Analytica on three occasions.
“I never approved Cambridge Analytica’s contract,” he said. “They did not work for the campaign when I was the manager. We have to be clear about that. They pitched me three times; three times, I said no. They did not come to the campaign until after I left.”
Cambridge Analytica has been criticized over reports that it wrongfully obtained the data of an estimated 50 million Facebook users to help the Trump campaign.
Lewandowski managed Trump’s campaign from 2015 to June 2016. Cambridge Analytica, launched in 2013 by the wealthy conservative Mercer family and former Breitbart News mogul Steve Bannon, did its first work in the 2016 cycle for Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, then for Ben Carson. Veterans of both campaigns have said that the firm’s work was not worth its cost.
During Lewandowski’s time in the Trump campaign, Bannon was still running Breitbart, a source of Trump-friendly news — including stories that defended Lewandowski after then-Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields filed battery charges against him.
Meanwhile, Facebook’s CEO apologized for the Cambridge Analytica scandal with ads in multiple U.S. and British newspapers Sunday, saying the social media platform doesn’t deserve to hold personal information if it can’t protect it.
The ads signed by Mark Zuckerberg said a quiz app built by a Cambridge University researcher leaked Facebook data of millions four years ago. “This was a breach of trust, and I’m sorry we didn’t do more at the time,” the ads said.
Also Sunday, the social media site faced questions about collecting phone numbers and text messages from Android devices. The website Ars Technica reported that users who checked data gathered by Facebook found that it had years of contact names, telephone numbers, call lengths and text messages.
Facebook said Sunday the information comes only from Android users who opt-in to allow it.