The commercial wasn’t the work of the Trump administration—or even a political candidate or a well-known advocacy organization. The pro-ICE advertisement was placed by a group called American Sovereignty, which is brand new, seems to be a nonprofit or political entity, and has almost no public presence—save for half-a-dozen tweets over the last couple weeks.
According to documents filed with the Federal Communications Commission, the official name of the organization that placed the Super Bowl ad is “American Sovereignty PAC.” That paperwork lists Daniel Scarpinato as a contact for American Sovereignty. Scarpinato, who served as chief of staff to former Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey ®, did not respond to a request for comment.
Scarpinato runs what appears to be a public relations group called Winged Victory: The Agency. The firm bills itself as helping clients with “crafting the right message, rolling out an idea, running a large-scale campaign, or prepping you for that tough interview.” Winged Victory didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Someone created a group (a nonprofit, a political action committee, or something similar) with basically no public presence except for a bland website and a few tweets. It has launched millions in pro-ICE ads, and, at least so far, no one behind the venture has been willing to talk about it.
Ideally, in a democracy, we’d know who is spending millions trying to change public opinion on the secret police. But, in the American system, that’s just not how it works.
“That” tough interview. I think we all know what topic that’s about these days.
