As previously promised, Speaker John Boehner (OH-R) has began his attack on House conservatives.
Even though the Speaker denies the allegations per The Hill his fingerprints are all over it.An outside group aligned with the Speaker spent thousands of dollars attacking three Republican lawmakers over their threats to not fund the Department of Homeland Security.
The representatives targeted were Jim Jordan (OH-R), Tim Huelskamp (KA-R) and Jim Bridenstine (OK-R).
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As for the connection to Speaker Boehner, American Action Network was behind attacks on the representatives. They launched a $300,000 ad campaign with TV spots depicting terrorists and saying the GOP representatives were putting our security at risk. The irony is Boehner’s chief of staff, Barry Jackson is a board member for American Action Network.
The attack ad was aired on conservative talk shows including those hosted by Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. It was also launched in the form of digital ads in the districts of nine other House Republicans.
Tea Party Representatives Steve King (IA-R) and Matt Salmon (AZ-R) are speaking out against the ads.King said:
It looks like cannibalism by leadership to me. I mean, when you go after your own people, what else would you call that?
He also said:
Conservatives have also said even though they lost the DHS funding fight they came out on the other end even more determined to get done what set out to do.These are Republican resources. They’re being used against Republicans? And then he wants unity?
Rep Salmon is one of the most outspoken rivals of the Speaker and he had the following to say in response to the ads:
It’s kind of like taking someone who’s beating you in a boxing match and throwing something in their eyes just to piss them off. It didn’t accomplish anything except to make people angry.
AAN spokesman Dan Conston was not stepping down from his fight against the hard right. He said there would be more ads to come against conservatives in upcoming fights to back “center-right policies.”
Conston also said:
This was all about tactics. We are all conservatives who believe that the Obama administrations executive order is unconstitutional and we were all looking for the best way to keep DHS open while fighting Obama in the courts.
Huelskamp claimed the day the ads were announced he was waiting to speak to Boehner on the House floor but Boehner just walked by and did not even make eye contact.
Huelskamp said:
He just walked by, he didn’t have a comment. Cause I was waiting to ask him about it. In Kansas, we wouldn’t do that. In my family, if you’ve got a problem with someone, you have the wherewithal to take it up with them.
Rep. King said he thinks the retaliation goes beyond the ads. He received a notice from the Speaker’s office that his approval to travel to Egypt to meet the country’s president was revoked just hours before his flight was expected to depart. No other lawmakers that were expected to go received the same cancellation notice.
King went anyway using his own money.A House GOP leadership aide said:
Members earn the right to go on taxpayer-funded travel. Those rewards aren’t going to be handed out to members who oppose the broader GOP team on a regular bases, especially those who’ve previously asked leaders to bail them out to keep their seat.
Rep. King is the other conservative lawmaker to be targeted that way so far. That is not keeping them from talking thought.
Representative Walter Jones (NC-R) said:
Why are we up here? Are we up here to be puppets for special interest and the Speaker of the House? We’re not puppets.
Boehner on the other hand has done his best to try to distance himself from the ads. His spokesman Kevin Smith pointed out members of Congress are not allowed by law to coordinate with outside political groups. He also said the Speaker does not think the ads were appropriate and that he strongly believes in Ronald Reagan’s 11th Commandment.
That Commandment states:
Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican.