Since 1998, when Murphy helped Bush remake his image and win the Florida governor’s office after an earlier failed bid, the strategist’s firms have received nearly $36 million from Bush’s campaigns, allied political committees and educational foundation, according to campaign finance and tax records compiled by The Washington Post. While the vast majority of the money went to purchase advertising, Murphy got a significant cut as the media consultant…

In an interview, Murphy rejected speculation in news reports and on Twitter that he made millions from Right to Rise. His total compensation was capped, he said, ending up in the “middle six figures.”…

Murphy rejects the idea that the group generated a cash bonanza for anyone involved. Overall, $94 million of the super PAC’s $101 million in spending went to political activities, while administrative overhead and fundraising costs totaled about $7.6 million, officials said.

“One of the reasons I was running the super PAC is because Jeb trusted me not to let the usual D.C. vendor class pick it clean,” Murphy said. “One of the things I was paid to do was manage the money appropriately and make sure that Right to Rise was the op­posite of the caricature of the non-transparent, non-competitive-bid-driven, pocket-packing super PAC.”