Keith Schiller, President Donald Trump’s longtime bodyguard, is advising the Republican National Committee on security for the 2020 convention, a contract that nets Trump’s longstanding personal aide $15,000 a month.
Schiller left the White House in September as the director of Oval Office operations, but his ties to Trump are deep and date back to the President’s time as a private citizen and television personality. He was an omnipresent figure during the Trump campaign, often next to the candidate in key moments of the race, and he was interviewed in November as part of the House Intelligence Committee’s investigation into 2016 meddling.
Schiller, according to Federal Election Commission reports, began receiving about $15,000 a month for “security services” in October 2017, around the same time that he left the White House.
An RNC official confirmed that Schiller’s company — KS Global Group LLC — “has been retained to provide security consultation for the RNC 2020 convention site selection process, which is currently underway.”
The official added that the money to pay Schiller comes out of the committee’s convention fund, as opposed to their building or general campaign funds.
The payments, which were first reported by CNBC, appear to be more money than the $165,000 Schiller made at the White House.
Schiller, a former New York Police Department officer, has been referred to as “most underestimated person on Trump’s team” and is widely known inside Trump’s orbit as someone who knows more about the President than anyone else.
Schiller joined Trump’s personal office in 1999 and immediately began rising through the ranks. He became Trump’s head of security in 2005.
People close to Schiller and Trump have said that their relationship, in the end, was more one of friends more than colleagues.
“He was always the man in charge of Donald Trump’s security, but during the years of service, he also became a confidant, and it is almost like neither realized it,” said a former Trump Organization employee. “What they have left is a really strong personal bond.”