Parscale tells 60 Minutes Facebook employees were embedded in Trump’s digital ops

As the Trump campaign’s digital director, Parscale ran Trump’s social media and online advertising operations out of San Antonio. His work has been widely credited with helping Trump win in 2016. As the Trump campaign’s digital director, Parscale ran Trump’s social media and online advertising operations out of San Antonio. His work has been widely credited with helping Trump win in 2016. Photo: Edward A. Ornelas /San Antonio Express-News Photo: Edward A. Ornelas /San Antonio Express-News Image 1 of / 15 Caption Close Parscale tells 60 Minutes Facebook employees were embedded in Trump’s digital ops 1 / 15 Back to Gallery

Facebook employees were embedded in President Donald Trump’s digial operations in San Antonio, adviser Brad Parscale told CBS News’ 60 Minutes in an interview scheduled to run Sunday.

Parscale ran the digital operation out of San Antonio widely credited with helping Trump win last year and that’s now under scrutiny as part of a broader look at Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election. Parscale, who’s agreed to meet with House lawmakers investigating the matter, oversaw the campaign’s targeted social media outreach as digital director.

“Meet the Trump campaign digital director whose strategic use of Facebook political ads may have been a critical factor in Donald Trump’s victory,” CBS News said the press release.

Asked about the campaign’s use of Facebook, Parscale told Lesley Stahl the campaign “took opportunities that I think the other side didn’t,” according to a clip of the segment posted Friday.

“Well we had their staff embedded inside our offices,” Parscale said of Facebook. “Facebook employees would show up for work every day in our offices.”

Facebook, Google and Twitter employees were there “multiple days a week,” Parscale said, helping them learn how to use the platform. Parscale had previously said that his staff worked “side-by-side” with staff provided by Facebook, Twitter and Google, according to a statement he posted July 14 to Twitter.

Parscale has been making headlines this year for major changes to his business, as well as for agreeing to interview with the U.S. House Intelligence Committee as part of its ongoing investigation into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

“I have accepted a request from the House Intelligence Committee to meet with them for a voluntary interview, and I look forward to sharing with them everything I know,” Parscale said in the July statement.

Parscale said at the time that the presidential campaign used the same online marketing strategies as corporate America and that he wasn’t aware “of any Russian involvement in the digital and data operations.”

Earlier that month, Parscale also said he was moving his firm’s political data and marketing operation from San Antonio to Florida in pursuit of an airport with more direct flights. And it was later announced on August 1 that Giles-Parscale was selling its commercial design and online services to e-commerce service provider CloudCommerce in a deal valued at $9 million.

Although he has moved his political work to Florida in search of better airports with more direct flights to Washington and New York, Parscale told the Express-News this summer he considers San Antonio his home.

The story is scheduled to broadcast on 60 Minutes on the CBS Television Network on Oct. 8, and 60 Minutes runs from 6 to 7 p.m. CDT.

sehlinger@express-news.net | Twitter: @samehlinger