Consultants who worked on Donald J. Trump’s presidential campaigns were paid more than $1.6 million to advise a conservative Albanian opposition party on its strategy for parliamentary elections in May, according to a finance report filed on Monday.
In the report, submitted to the Albanian election commission, the Democratic Party of Albania revealed payments totaling the equivalent of more than $1.62 million to the consulting firm of Chris LaCivita, who helped manage Mr. Trump’s 2024 campaign, and nearly $65,000 for polling by the firm of Tony Fabrizio, who has advised the Trump political operation.
The Democratic Party of Albania lost badly in the May elections, despite efforts by Mr. LaCivita and Paul Manafort, who briefly ran Mr. Trump’s 2016 campaign, to position the party’s leader, former President Sali Berisha, as a sort of Trump-like figure.
The payments, which were listed in Albanian currency, came over the course of less than four months, beginning in mid-February and ending in late May, according to the report.
Mr. LaCivita worked as part of a team in Albania with Mr. Fabrizio and Mr. Manafort. The arrangement raises the prospect that Mr. LaCivita’s firm, Advancing Strategies, may have subcontracted with Mr. Fabrizio and Mr. Manafort, which is a standard structure for campaign consultants. The three men have pitched their services as a team to other overseas campaigns since Mr. Trump’s victory last fall.
American political consultants who win U.S. presidential races are often in high demand around the world, and it is not unusual for them to reap lucrative paydays from foreign campaigns.
Mr. LaCivita, who traveled to Albania multiple times during the campaign to stump for Mr. Berisha, declined to comment. Mr. Manafort and Mr. Fabrizio did not respond to requests for comment.
Mr. LaCivita and Mr. Manafort cast Mr. Berisha as the victim of a witch hunt engineered by domestic rivals and Democrats, including the billionaire megadonor George Soros, and the administration of former President Joseph R. Biden Jr.
Mr. Berisha is facing corruption charges in Albania in connection with a property deal, and in 2021 he was sanctioned by the Biden administration for “significant corruption,” according to a statement from former Secretary of State Antony Blinken. He accused Mr. Berisha of misappropriating public funds and using his power to enrich his allies and family.
After Mr. Berisha’s party lost to the ruling Socialist Party of Prime Minister Edi Rama, Mr. LaCivita amplified claims by Mr. Berisha that the election was rigged.
A recount requested by Mr. Berisha’s party did not support those claims.
Kenneth P. Vogel is based in Washington and investigates the intersection of money, politics and influence.
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