A prominent Evangelical figure and Republican donor says he will end his contributions to the organized Republican Party in reaction to the leaked fundraising presentation that advised using "fear" to solicit contributions and displayed an image of President Obama as the Joker from Batman.
Mark DeMoss, who heads a major Christian public relations firm in Atlanta and served as a liaison to the Evangelical community for Mitt Romney in 2008, wrote Chairman Michael Steele yesterday that he was "ashamed" of the presentation, calling depictions of Obama, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Majority Leader Harry Reid "shameful, immature and uncivil, at best."
"I’m afraid the presentation is representative of a culture and mindset within the Republican National Committee," DeMoss, a past member of the RNC's "Eagle" program for top donors who gave the party $15,000 in 2008, wrote in the letter to Steele, which he shared with POLITICO. (DeMoss hasn't given this cycle.) "Consequently, I will no longer contribute to any fundraising entity of our Party—but will contribute only to individual candidates I choose to support."
The letter was copied to House and Senate Republican leaders, whose campaign committees DeMoss said he'd also stop supporting.
DeMoss, whose causes include a project devoted to civility and who is the scion of a major Evangelical family, concluded:
"Mr. Chairman, I love giving money to candidates at every level who I believe in and want to see elected. But it is becoming increasingly difficult to consider making a contribution to the Party itself. The sort of behavior displayed in Boca Grande only contributes to the widespread cynicism of politics in general and our Party in particular. It is, in my opinion, indefensible and destructive."
His full letter is after the jump.
March 5, 2010
Chairman Michael Steele
Republican National Committee
310 First Street SE
Washington, DC 20003
Dear Mr. Chairman:
Like many Republicans today, I am ashamed of the fundraising presentation given by RNC Finance Director Rob Bickhart at last month’s GOP gathering in Boca Grande, Florida. The depictions of President Obama, Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Harry Reid were shameful, immature and uncivil, at best. While I realize your office made steps to distance you from this presentation I’m afraid the presentation is representative of a culture and mindset within the Republican National Committee; consequently, I will no longer contribute to any fundraising entity of our Party—but will contribute only to individual candidates I choose to support.
I have been a member of the Republican Eagles on a number of occasions in the past, including the 2008 cycle. I have been constantly solicited by the RNC, the NRSC and the NRCC, among other GOP organizations and efforts. Recently I was visited in my office by Lynn Westmoreland, who shared with me the redistricting efforts he is leading in the House. He was requesting funds for this initiative (without the sort of nonsense presented recently by your Finance Director) and I was considering contributing to the project. I will not consider doing so now, with apologies to Congressman Westmoreland
Mr. Chairman, I love giving money to candidates at every level who I believe in and want to see elected. But it is becoming increasingly difficult to consider making a contribution to the Party itself. The sort of behavior displayed in Boca Grande only contributes to the widespread cynicism of politics in general and our Party in particular. It is, in my opinion, indefensible and destructive.
Sincerely,
Mark DeMoss
President, The DeMoss Group
Founder, CivilityProject.org
cc: Peter Terpeluk, RNC Finance Chairman
Rob Bickhart, RNC Finance Director
Sen. John Cornyn, NRSC
Sen. Mitch McConnell, Senate Minority Leader
Rep. Pete Sessions, NRCC
Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, NRCC
Rep. John Boehner, House Minority Leader
Rep. Eric Cantor, House Minority Whip
Venners was a partner in the influence venture on behalf of Saddam Hussein's regime with William Timmons, a Washington lobbyist who was tapped by John McCain to play a leading role in his presidential transition team, according to federal court records and pubic investigative reports by the United Nations.
As first disclosed by Huffington Post, Timmons played a central role over a five year period in the lobbying campaign on behalf of Saddam's regime to ease sanctions against Iraq shortly after the end of the first Gulf War.
Timmons declined to comment for that article as well as for this one. Venners did not respond to messages seeking comment at his office, or that of his wife, a Washington political consultant.
Samir Vincent, an Iraqi born American citizen who Timmons and Venners worked closely with on the influence campaign, pleaded guilty to criminal charges in January 2005 that he acted as an unregistered agent of Saddam Hussein's regime. Tongsun Park, a second lobbyist who Timmons and Venners also worked closely with, was convicted by a federal jury in July 2006 on charges that he too violated the Foreign Agent Registration
During the same period beginning in 1992, when Timmons and Venners worked closely with Vincent and Park on the lobbying campaign, they were also attempting to negotiate a contract with the Iraqi government to purchase and resell Iraqi oil. The four men stood to share at least $45 million if the business deal went through. In the end, the arrangement failed because the sanctions were not lifted.
Federal campaign finance records, some of which are available online, show that between 2004 and 2008, Venners made some $40,000 in campaign contributions to the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee, which raise money to finance, respectively, Republican Senate and House candidates. Between 2006 and 2008, Venners made more than $16,000 in additional campaign contributions to individual campaigns of House and Senate Republicans, according to public records. He contributed during the same period to a single Democrat during that period, Sen. Max Baucus, of Montana, whom he gave $1,000.
On its website, the NRSC says of itself: "The National Republican Senatorial Committee is the only political committee solely dedicated to electing Republicans to the U.S. Senate, and re-taking the majority in 2008.
"The NRSC provides invaluable support and assistance to current and prospective Republican U.S. Senate candidates in the areas of budget planning, election law compliance, fundraising, communications tools and messaging, research and strategy."
The National Republican Congressional Committee does much the same thing for Republican House candidates.
Timmons and Venners were cooperating witnesses in the federal investigations of Vincent and Park and were never charged by prosecutors with wrongdoing. And information made public during the case indicated that Vincent and Park often engaged in illegal activity--such as acting as middlemen on behalf of the Iraqi regime to pay millions of dollars in bribes to U.N. officials to ease economic sanctions against Iraq-- without Timmons and Venners knowing what Vincent and Park were up to.
But other evidence made public during the trial demonstrated that Timmons knew that he and Vincent were working closely with top aides to Saddam Hussein in the lobbying campaign to ease or lift economic sanctions against the Iraqi regime.
Testimony and records made public during Park's criminal trial detail that virtually everything Timmons did while working on the lobbying campaign was within days conveyed by Vincent to either one or both of Saddam Hussein's top aides, Tariq Aziz and Nizar Hamdoon. Vincent also testified that he almost always relayed input from the Iraqi aides back to Timmons.
Talking points that Timmons produced for the lobbyists to help ease the sanctions, for example, were reviewed ahead of time by Aziz, Vincent testified in court. Proposals that Timmons himself circulated to U.S. officials as part of the effort were written with the assistance of the Iraqi officials, and were also sent ahead of time with Timmons' approval to Aziz, other records show.
Timmons' activities occurred in the years following the first Gulf War, when Washington considered Iraq to be a rogue enemy state and a sponsor of terrorism. His dealings on behalf of the deceased Iraqi leader stand in stark contrast to the views his current employer held at the time.
Little known about man who has sent thousands to GOP The circumstances surrounding Hao's sudden and prolific political activism are curious and his whereabouts unclear. His name isn't listed on property records or the mailbox at the unassuming tract home listed on his donations. Hao lives "overseas," insisted a man who answered the door at the Roselle home recently. The man declined to identify himself.