A company accused of profiting from a Facebook data breach may have helped U.S. Senator Thom Tillis win his 2014 election.
The voter profiling firm Cambridge Analytica allegedly harvested information from 50 million Facebook users without their knowledge, and then turned around and used the information to target specific political ads toward those users.
According to WRAL, North Carolina's 2014 Senate race ended up being a trial run for the company, which later worked on Donald Trump's successful presidential election bid.
In 2014, the Tillis campaign and North Carolina Republicans paid Cambridge Analytica a combined $180,000 for its services.
In response to the allegations, NCGOP Director Dallas Woodhouse pointed out that the Obama campaign used targeted Facebook campaigns in 2012.
State Democrats have called Cambridge a “shady firm,” saying the payments raise questions about whether or not Republicans were aware of the company's alleged ties to Russia.