JD Vance left his Venmo account's friend list public, so some journalists at Wired took a deep dive.
Plenty of Heritage Foundation and other unsavory folks populate the list. While Vance didn't leave any smoking guns, unlike Madison Cawthorne and Matthew Gaetz, the list of people in his address book raise a lot questions.
Vance's friends have an average of 277 friends each. This wider network of associates shows an extended web of accounts who share names with high-profile political figures like Cohen, Nick Ayers, Todd Ricketts, and Michael Flynn Jr., as well as far-right activists like Project Veritas founder James O'Keefe, Laura Loomer, and Ali Alexander.
"What you guys need to realize is that Vance is influenceable," wrote Andrew Torba on X. Torba is the founder of Gab, a social network popular with conspiracy theorists and Christian nationalists. He has long promoted antisemitic content on his social media accounts. "We have plenty of people in his orbit. Plenty of our guys can be put into positions of power because he's there."
"This appears to be his actual personal contacts," says Jordan Libowitz, the vice president of communications for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, or CREW. He notes that the data found on Venmo is much more personal than what campaigns typically share through official channels, warning that "the more personal data that is public about someone the more points of pressure or influence there are on that person."
Wired
It is most likely Vance allowed his whole contacts list to be processed as he signed up for Venmo, and the people identified are not necessarily splitting the check with him. Hopefully, this helps make obvious how tied into the Trump campaign Project 2025 is. It is already clear that Vance is a MAGA standard bearer.
Previously:
• Russian TV host giddy over Trump's JD Vance pick: 'Trumpier than Trump' (video)
• In 2016 JD Vance said 'I can't stomach Trump' and he's a 'total fraud' (audio)
• Trump's VP pick widens the ideological gap
• Ohio's JD Vance suggested women stay in violent relationships
• Trump's VP pick shares great reasons not to vote Trump
