Tag: NRCC

NRCC warns donors Trump will find out if they opt out of monthly donations

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The National Republican Congressional Committee threatened donors that it will tell former president Donald Trump that they are defectors if they opt out of giving recurring monthly funds to the campaign arm for the House GOP.

After donating to the NRCC, donors are shown a yellow box with a small pre-checked box that warns: “If you UNCHECK this box, we will have to tell Trump you’re a DEFECTOR.” Left checked and the supporter will be agreeing to contribute every month.

The tactic, roundly criticized by campaign finance experts as deceptive, was also employed by the Trump campaign from September until the 2020 election to shore up its dwindling coffers. Continue reading.

Ethics expert: GOP ‘crosses the line’ with House hallway ambushes

DCCC complaint says NRCC violated ban on using official resources for campaigns

Having video trackers shadow candidates to get campaign dirt has become a common tactic, but the National Republican Congressional Committee  went too far if it directed aides to ambush Democrats in House office buildings, experts on congressional ethics said.

Though a GOP spokesman called it “frivolous,” the experts said there was merit to a complaint filed by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee against the chairman of the NRCC, Rep. Tom Emmer. It could lead to the Minnesota lawmaker facing an investigation by the House Ethics Committee.

“The complaint details conduct that is clearly prohibited by federal law and House ethics rules that bar campaign activity in House buildings,” Bryson B. Morgan, a lawyer who worked as an investigative counsel for the Office of Congressional Ethics from 2013 through 2015, told CQ Roll Call in an email. “If the Office of Congressional Ethics determines that NRCC Chairman Rep. Emmer was involved in or knew of this effort, I would expect the matter to be referred by OCE to the Ethics Committee.” Continue reading.

Dems say GOP broke ethics rules using video trackers in House office buildings

Democratic campaign arm seeks ethics probe

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is accusing its GOP counterpart, the National Republican Congressional Committee, of violating ethics rules by sending trackers to video record members of Congress in House office buildings.

The DCCC filed a complaint with the Office of Congressional Ethics on Monday alleging the NRCC and its chairman, Minnesota GOP Rep. Tom Emmer, violated House rules barring lawmakers from using official resources for political purposes.  Twitter accounts for the NRCC and some of the committee’s spokespeople posted videos of Democrats in House office building hallways being questioned by someone in December and January.

Trackers, or campaign staffers who take video of candidates and pepper them with questions, are common. But the Capitol complex has been considered off-limits for trackers in the past. The DCCC contended in its complaint that trackers on the Capitol grounds are not just frowned upon, they violate the rules. Continue reading.

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”

5 Things To Know About The Top Republican Who Said Rich Jews Bought Congress

Rep. Tom Emmer has been accused of anti-Semitism after he sent a letter to fellow Republican officeholders claiming that three Jewish Democratic billionaires had “bought control of Congress for the Democrats.”

Here’s what you need to know:

The letter sparked backlash:

Emmer, a third-term congressman representing Minnesota’s exurban Sixth District, is the chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee, which advises and raises money for Republicans running for Congress. A letter he sent to NRCC members in March, which was first reportedby the American Jewish World newspaper last week, claimed that the Trump administration’s good works were being covered up by “biased media and hundreds of millions of dollars of anti-Republican propaganda put out by liberal special interests, funded by deep-pocketed far-left billionaires George Soros, Tom Steyer and Michael Bloomberg.”

View the complete August 6 article by Aiden Pink on the Forward website here.

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.

 

Mueller report is a reminder that Russian hack hit House races, too

Talks between the DCCC and NRCC about using stolen information stalled in September

Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s report provided new details Thursday about how Russian agents hacked into Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee computers in 2016, renewing the question of whether the two parties would agree not to use stolen material in future political attacks.

Leaders of the DCCC and the National Republican Congressional Committee came close to such an an agreement in late 2018, but talks broke down.

The two committees, which have new leaders for the 2020 cycle, have not restarted discussions. The DCCC is interested in re-engaging in talks, according to a source familiar with the committee’s thinking.

View the complete April 18 article by Bridget Bowman on The Roll Call website here.

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.