Trying to lure donors, an invitation to a Michael Grimm rally and fundraiser in less than three weeks has an enticing detail: the event will have a "very special guest speaker."
NY1 has learned that guest will be former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci.
"We met, we spoke, and he offered to help out and he said, 'If you want me to come out to Staten Island and support you at an event, I would do so. And he said, 'I would write you a check as well,' so it's a double win," said Grimm, who is running to represent Staten Island and part of Brooklyn again in the House of Representatives.
Scaramucci has been perhaps the shortest-lived staffer at the Trump White House; his tenure lasted only 11 days.
But he has been propelled to celebrity status. His name comes with some cachet and is synonymous with the Trump brand.
"I think we get along. I think he knows that, just like what President Trump is going through, I went through a lot worse. I was railroaded by a corrupt Obama Justice Department," Grimm said.
Grimm is referring to his prison time for tax fraud. Now, it's full-steam ahead in what some thought was an implausible comeback.
Scaramucci was not available to go on-camera for this story, but his assistant confirmed to NY1 that he is set to attend the Grimm event.
The president has not taken a position in the race, but Scaramucci is not the first former Trump aide to align with Grimm.
Last October, Grimm tweeted a visit with former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon. We are told that Grimm and Bannon have not been in touch since January.
Grimm's Republican primary opponent, the current congressman Dan Donovan, sees the Scaramucci event as a ploy, another attempt to sway voters in an area seen as Trump country.
"My opponent, who did nothing for the president throughout the president's election, is now looking to cloak himself around the president for his own election," said Donovan. "It's just another example of my opponent using people for his own benefit."
It is support for the president that Grimm cites as a reason he wants to link up with Scaramucci.
"I just respect the fact that he has been so strong for the president," Grimm said. "He is obviously a self-made man. He gets it. He understands where this country was and where it's going."
In an interview last year, Scaramucci said he didn't know Grimm very well. But he said at the time that there are big comebacks in the United States.