Tag: National Republican Congressional Committee

DCCC again asks NRCC to pledge not to use hacked materials

Bustos resending a letter first sent to Emmer six months ago

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is renewing a request to its Republican counterpart that both parties pledge not to use hacked materials in the 2020 campaign.

DCCC Chairwoman Cheri Bustos of Illinois first sent such a letter to National Republican Congressional Committee chairman Tom Emmer in April. Six months later, she’s resending the letter, following House passage — largely along party lines — of an election security bill this week.

“The urgency I conveyed in April has not dissipated. In fact, the importance of this issue has only grown,” Bustos wrote in the letter, which was obtained first by CQ Roll Call.

View the complete October 25 article by Simone Pathé on The Roll Call website here.

Minnesota GOP Officials Silent on Contributions from Men Indicted for Conspiring to Funnel Foreign Money into U.S. Elections

Lewis, Stauber, Hagedorn, and Carnahan refuse to condemn foreign meddling in Minnesota elections

SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA – Late last week, two associates of Rudy Giuliani, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, were arrested as they attempted to flee the United States. The two were charged with allegedly conspiring to funnel foreign money to Republican politicians and candidates for the purpose of buying influence in U.S. – Ukraine relations.

As the Pioneer Press reported, multiple Minnesota Republicans received money from Parnas and Fruman, including Jason Lewis, the Minnesota Republican Party, and the National Republican Congressional Committee, run by Tom Emmer.

While the NRCC and Republican officials in other states have returned the money they got from Parnas and Fruman, including Brian Mast, Kevin McCarthy, Joe Wilson, Brian Fitzpatrick, Lloyd Smucker, and John Katko, Jason Lewis and MN GOP Chair Jennifer Carnahan have thus far refused to return or donate the contributions. Continue reading “Minnesota GOP Officials Silent on Contributions from Men Indicted for Conspiring to Funnel Foreign Money into U.S. Elections”

The NRCC is accusing Democrats of antisemitism — including Jewish members of Congress

The House campaign arm of the Republican party has made name-calling a part of its strategy for 2020.

National Republican Congressional Committee chair Rep. Tom Emmer, of Minnesota’s Sixth District, has made it clear in interviews that party leadership endorses the effort. In June, Emmer told Politico his staff has a “direct mandate” from himself and Republican leadership to “to be ruthless.”

As part of this campaign of ruthlessness, they’ve called House Democrats “deranged” and “socialists.” (A lot.) They’ve called Minnesota’s Collin Peterson “cranky.”

They’ve also called House Democrats “anti-semitic.”

View the complete August 2 article by Gabe Schneider on the MinnPost website here.

DFL Sends Kendall Qualls’ Political Consultant the Paperwork to Run for Congress Himself

SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA – After Republican and NRCC recruit Kendall Qualls filed to run for congress in Minnesota’s 3rd district, he refused to answer all questions on his own campaign and directed the press to ask his political consultant, Gregg Peppin, instead. Today, the Minnesota DFL has sent political consultant Gregg Peppin the paperwork necessary to run for congress himself.

“It’s bizarre that Kendall Qualls cannot answer why he’s running for congress,” said DFL Chairman Ken Martin. “Worse still, Kendall Qualls is relying on political consultant Gregg Peppin to explain Qualls’ own candidacy for him. If Qualls is just going to be a mouthpiece for political consultant Gregg Peppin, perhaps Gregg Peppin should be the one running for congress. To facilitate this, the Minnesota DFL has sent political consultant Peppin the paperwork needed to declare a run for congress.”

The Minnesota DFL sent Gregg Peppin the following documents:

  • A letter from DFL Chairman Ken Martin
  • The Federal Elections Commission’s Statement of Candidacy Form
  • The Federal Elections Commission’s Statement of Organization Form
  • The Minnesota Secretary of State’s Affidavit of Candidacy Form

“Mr. Peppin will need to come up with Minnesota’s $300 filing fee himself,” added Martin.

 

NRCC breach exposes gaps 2 years after Russia hacks

Democrats are seizing on recent revelations that the House GOP’s campaign arm was hacked earlier this year to spotlight that both parties are vulnerable to cyberattacks.

The FBI is investigating a cyber breach at the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) that felt like déjà vu to many in Washington — hackers targeting political campaign groups. This time, however, the perpetrators aimed their digital tools at the GOP instead of Democrats.

“It creates more of a sense of how critical it is that we protect our infrastructure,” Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) told The Hill this week. “The federal government has certainly had plenty of hacks of their own, so we can’t say with any certainty, ‘Do this like we do it you won’t have a problem,’ because we’ve had plenty of problems.”

View the complete December 9 article by Olivia Beavers and Jacqueline Thomsen on The Hill website here.

New Record for ‘Outside Spending’ on Minnesota House Races

With nearly three weeks to go before Election Day, outside special interest groups have already spent a record amount of money in Minnesota. This week, the outside spending surpassed $27 million, more than the record $26.9 million spent in the entire 2016 election cycle.

“Money is attracted to competitive races and we’re right in the middle of that,” said Steven Schier, a political scientist from Carleton College. “I think money is going to Minnesota because the polling on both sides that we don’t see publicly shows a lot of competition, particularly in the congressional races.”

KSTP ‘Vote 2018’ Election Coverage

A review of outside spending records at opensecrets.org shows a pronounced increase in spending on Minnesota’s U.S. House races. In 2008, just $5.7 million was spent in the state. That figure jumps to $21.9 million in 2014 and now to more than $27 million.

View the complete October 17 post on the KSTP.com website here.

Paulsen, NRCC, CLF Ignore Public Shaming, Double Down on Lies

Paulsen’s coordinated smear campaign reaches an unprecedented low as he ignores requests from survivors to stop who demand better

Excelsior, MN – Erik Paulsen’s desperate and disgraceful coordinated smear campaign against Dean Phillips reached new lows this week when the Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF), Paulsen for Congress and the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) released new coordinated ads featuring claims that have drawn extraordinary blowback from one of the Twin Cities’ most important health providers, prominent Republicans, community and business leaders, and the sexual assault and harassment survivors Paulsen is using as political pawns.

The women, represented by attorney Lori Peterson, recently called on Paulsen to take down his ad and apologize for exploiting their trauma and drawing them into a political attack based on a lie. Instead, Paulsen and his special interests patrons are doubling down.

“This is the most vile, offensive and objectively untruthful campaign ever conducted in Minnesota, and Erik Paulsen is to blame,” said Zach Rodvold, campaign manager for Phillips for Congress. “In Congressman Paulsen’s desperation to hold onto power, he’s shown that he is willing to do and say anything to win, even forcing survivors of sexual assault and harassment to relive their trauma for his own personal gain. Those women have joined with Republicans, business and community leaders and people across the district in calling on Paulsen to take his ads down and apologize. That’s exactly what he should do.” Continue reading “Paulsen, NRCC, CLF Ignore Public Shaming, Double Down on Lies”

So, you saw a nasty ad …

As you may have noticed, Erik Paulsen and his special interest patrons are spending millions of dollars to flood the airwaves with negative attack ads again Dean Phillips. You might have questions, and Dean and his campaign team were happy to shed light on the truth:

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Dean Phillips is running a people-powered campaign because he believes that our politics are broken — and these kind of ads are part of the problem. Dean has taken $0 from PACs, lobbyists or members of Congress; instead, 64,000 individuals have contributed to the campaign, at an average donation of us $32. Change is coming, and everyone’s invited!

 

Paulsen’s Patrons Filling the Airwaves with Even More Falsehoods and Distortions

New NRCC ad attacks Dean Phillips for something that happened two years after he stepped down as CEO of Phillips Distilling

Excelsior, MN – Just days after Erik Paulsen and the special interests supporting his campaign were called out for running false and misleading ads against Dean Phillips, party committees and special interest super PACs benefitting Congressman Paulsen are doubling down on their dishonest attacks, with the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) launching yet another smear ad featuring false claims.

The new NRCC ad claims that Dean Phillips “profited” from — and his company was “cited” for — marketing alcohol to underage people. The private citizen’s complaint to the Distilled Spirits Council referenced in the ad by the NRCC occurred in 2014, two years after Dean Phillips left his position as CEO of Phillips Distilling, and while he held no financial stake in the company.

“Negative ads are one thing,” said Dean Phillips. “But spending millions of dollars to repeatedly and intentionally mislead voters is beneath the dignity of a member of Congress and his allies. That’s why I’m on a mission to change the culture of corruption caused by big money in our political system.”   Continue reading “Paulsen’s Patrons Filling the Airwaves with Even More Falsehoods and Distortions”

Don’t be Fooled: The Truth About the Alphabet Soup at the End of Those Attack Ads

We’re sure you’ve been been seeing the mudslinging ads attacking Dean Phillips by massively distorting the fact and using quotes out of context.  There’s always “legalese” at the end of those ads.  Most people don’t know what those organizations are.

Here are the Facts

These ads are coming from people who are doing everything they can to protect Erik Paulsen’s seat in Congress.  They’re doing that to make certain they control what happens in Congress after the election be it another tax cut for the rich, attack on our health care, moving to dismantle Social Security and Medicare “because the deficit is out of hand”* and so much more.

Rep. Erik Paulsen — We find it interesting that after holding his seat since the 2008 election, Erik Paulsen has nothing positive to say about what he’s done for his constituents, which only leaves him the option of parroting the falsehoods of the PACs supporting his re-election.

CLR (Congressional Leadership Fund) — This Super PAC is the dishonest organization that released the CIA confidential security clearance application of a DFL candidate in Virginia to use for political purposes.  It was formed in 2011 and is closely aligned to House Speaker Paul Ryan.  Their purpose is to elect Republicans and do what they can to oppose the election of Democrats.

NRCC (National Republican Congressional Committee) — This is an organization that supports the election of Republicans to the U.S. House of Representatives. Its leadership is made up of Republican Representatives..

Open Secrets’ Report of 2018 Expenditures:  https://www.opensecrets.org/races/election?id=MN

Washington Post post of media money reserving spots:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/r/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2018/09/16/National-Politics/Graphics/tracking912_18.pdf?tid=a_inl_manual

MPR News:  Who is Spending in Your District? (Updated daily):  https://features.mprnews.org/2018/campaign-spending/#

Open Secrets Listing of Paulsen Independent Expenditures this Cycle:  https://www.opensecrets.org/members-of-congress/other-data?cid=N00029391&cycle=2018#ind

*  There are theories out there that this tax cut (it wasn’t a rework of the tax code and benefits for average Americans go away in 5 years) has cut the income coming into the Treasury and exploding the debt. That will allow a Republican majority in Congress to do away with social service programs because they can’t be paid for — because they cut the taxes of the richest American and corporations.