Update 08/05/2020 9:36pm:

According to the POTUS, he has zero involvement with Kanye West's presidential bid. "I get along with him very well," Trump said during a White House press briefing on Wednesday. "I like him, I like his wife ... his wife recommended certain people to get out of prison. They were in prison for a long time. A long, long time. It should've never happened ... [Kim's] got a good heart, very good heart. And I like Kanye very much, but no, I have nothing to do with him getting on the ballot. We'll have to see what happens. We'll see if he gets on the ballot. But I'm not involved."

Original 08/05/2020 2:10pm:

At least four people involved with GOP connections are aiding in Kanye West's attempt to get on the 2020 presidential ballot. The connections have raised concerns about West's run for president and if it's just a spoiler campaign that could help President Trump's campaign.

A Vice report identified Republican elections lawyer Lane Ruhland after a local reporter in Wisconsin recorded her dropping off ballot signatures for West. Ruhland worked for the Republican National Committee during the 2016 election recount in Wisconsin. She also represented the Trump campaign in its lawsuit to force Priorities USA to pull an anti-Trump ad off the airwaves.

Mark Jacoby, another person linked to West's campaign, was arrested on voter fraud charges in 2008 while working for the California Republican Party. Jacoby is an executive at Let The Voters Decide, which has been collecting signatures for the Kanye West campaign in Ohio, West Virginia, and Arkansas.

Gregg Keller, a Missouri-based strategist, has been listed as a contact the campaign in Arkansas. Keller was also the former executive director of the American Conservative Union and was under consideration to be Trump's campaign manager in 2015.

Another person with ties to the West campaign is Chuck Wilton, who's listed as a convention delegate for Trump and could potentially cast an Electoral College vote for West. In addition, Milton's wife is a Trump appointee at the United States Department of Agriculture.

While it remains to be seen what Kanye's attempting to accomplish with his presidential bid, some believe that the Republicans and GOP operatives are helping him qualify for the presidential ballot to draw Black votes from Joe Biden.

Source: The New York Times