Nat'l Repub Congress Comm NRSC NRCC

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Trump is preparing to launch his “own super PAC to compete” against the Senate Leadership Fund(SLF) “in the next round of Senate races in 2026,” Politico reports.

The plan comes as Trump’s team is “convinced that the Senate GOP campaign arm" — the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) — and its top allied super PAC — the SLF — are hiring ‘Never Trumpers’ for key roles,” according to the report.

One person close to Trump told Politico there’s a “brewing war on the verge of breaking out” between Trump and the NRSC/SLF, which are aligned with outgoing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). The person close to Trump argued the NRSC — currently chaired by Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT), a member of McConnell’s leadership team — “should reflect current leadership and the future, not the past.”

READ MORE:['Vessels for Trump': Reporters warn 'Thune and Johnson are hostages as much as party leaders'

Per Politico:

*The person, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Trump allies “will set up our own SLF and compete” with the longtime top super PAC aligned with former Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell. “If they don’t change how they approach SLF, we will do it for them.”

According to the report, Trump’s plan is to “kneecap the Senate Leadership Fund,” pitting the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement“against longtime GOP donors seeking to influence competitive Senate races.”

Trump's allies are particularly incensed by reports Stephen DeMaura is expected to be brought on “as the next executive director of the NRSC,” Politico reports. “Trump’s team has also taken issue with rumors that longtime Republican consultant Kevin McLaughlin is under consideration to be the next president of SLF.”

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Read the full report at Politico.

READ MORE:[Fox News conservative details Trump’s 'first unforced error' — and warns Senate against 'terrible idea'

a second 'embarrassing' GOP campaign ad has been pulled off the air: report

Tom Boggioni Raw Story

June 06, 2022

In the space of three weeks, the National Republican Senatorial Committee overseen by Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) has watched two ads attacking Democrats that were blatantly misleading pulled off the air, according to a report from MSNBC.

According to Steve Benen of MSNBC, complaints about misrepresentation in attack ads are common, but what is less common is the offending ads being yanked from public view by local TV stations.

"It can be frustrating, but the vast majority of the time, stations don’t want to be in the business of deciding which commercials are so brazenly dishonest that they’re ultimately unsupportable," but that there are exceptions which Scott's committee found out the hard way in less than a month.

The first ad claimed that gas prices under Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) increased 23 percent during her prior tenure as governor -- which turned out to not only be false, but prices actually decreased according to the report the GOP cited.

The second ad went after North Carolina’s Cheri Beasley and accused her of setting free a "child porn offender,” when she served as chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court.

As the New York Times reported, "On Friday, five TV stations in Raleigh and Charlotte said they would pull the ad or that they had 'paused' it pending an examination of its claims, according to emails from the stations to Courtney Weisman, a lawyer working for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which were reviewed by The New York Times. On Thursday, two Charlotte stations took the ad off the air."

According to Benen, who called the two ads an "embarrassing" black eye for Republicans, "For those keeping score, the National Republican Senatorial Committee has now had two television ads pulled over the course of three weeks. Election Day 2022 is still 22 weeks away, and I don’t imagine anyone would be too surprised if that total grows."

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RELATED ARTICLES AROUND THE WEB

famously the last stand of bi-partisan cooperation

this is bi-part: Some of theRepublican Party's top donors are not pleased with the number of Republicans, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, backing President Joe Biden's infrastructure package.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R), who chairs the donor-funded National Republican Senatorial Committee, told Senate colleagues of donors' reactions to the vote during a closed door Senate luncheon on Tuesday, two sources told Axios.

According to Scott, the organization's donors are not pleased with the 19 Senate Republicans and 13 House Republicans who voted to pass the legislation.

Axios reports that given the scrutiny McConnell faced for supporting Biden's agenda, donors believe its essentially a form of political suicide to advance the opposing side's agenda.

READ: Evangelical warns Christians have 'erected a graven image' of Trump and let it corrupt the faith]

Scott, according to Axios, said "some donors had also been paying attention to Trump's statements, one of the sources said, which have included the former president calling the Republicans 'RINOs' who 'should be ashamed of themselves.'"

As a second source noted, most of the Republicans who attended the luncheon actually voted in favor of the infrastructure package. In fact, some even helped author the bill.

On Monday, just one day before the luncheon, eight of the Republican lawmakers— including Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Mitt Romney (R-Utah), as well as Rep. Tom Reed (R-N.Y.) — attended the White House signing ceremony.

CREW 1/22

Top corporate donors to the Sedition Caucus

In the days that followed the insurrection, corporations began to take a stand against the anti-democratic violence, promising to reassess or cut off donations to Republican legislators who incited the insurrection or voted against certifying Joe Biden’s election victory. One year later, many of the same companies have resumed funneling money into the pockets of lawmakers who voted to undermine the election, putting access and influence ahead of the urgent need to stand up for democratic values.

These corporations that pledged to stop or pause donations to the 147 members who voted against certifying the election did not specifically pledge not to donate to the NRSC and NRCC. CREW has nonetheless determined that for corporations to live up to a commitment to preserve democracy, they must also avoid giving to these two committees.

The NRSC itself is currently headed by Senator Rick Scott (R-FL), who was one of eight senators who voted not to certify the results of the election—a decision he stuck with even after seeing the violence and destruction caused by believers of the Big Lie. In 2020, the NRSC supported Senators who would go on to vote against certifying the election — Roger Marshall and Cindy Hyde-Smith. And as of January 2022, the NRSC continues to use one of the most notorious members of the Sedition Caucus, Josh Hawley, to bring in donations.

On the House side, nearly 70% of Republican members voted not to certify the results of the election. It is relevant that the NRCC’s 2020 giving includes 39 members who went on to vote against certifying the election, among them prominent advocates of overturning the election Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert and Dan Bishop. While this giving came before their votes against certifying the election, it is indicative of the members the NRCC supports.

That said, anyone seeking an analysis of corporate giving that does not include the NRSC and NRCC can look at the column in our list of corporate donors here which displays donations only to individual members’ campaign and leadership committees.

Since the insurrection, 717 corporations and industry groups have donated over $18 million to 143 of the 147 members of Congress who objected to the results of the 2020 presidential election, as well as the Republican Party’s main political action committees supporting these members — the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee. Companies that pledged to stop or pause their political giving to these members have contributed a total of $4,785,000 to insurrectionist political groups, including $2,381,250 directly to members of the Sedition Caucus’s campaigns and leadership PACs.

Boeing ($346,500), Koch Industries ($308,000), American Crystal Sugar ($285,000), General Dynamics ($233,500) and Valero Energy ($207,500) are the top corporate donors to those who objected to the election and their party committees. Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Raytheon had all pledged to not donate to members who didn’t support democracy or publicly “paused” their giving — but together, their donations have exceeded half a million dollars, including donations to some of the most anti-democratic members.

https://www.alternet.org/2021/05/capitol-riot-2653051980/

Corporations have sent $2.6 million to ‘Sedition Caucus’ Republicans who promoted the January 6 sinsurrection': report

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A common talking point among far-right Trumpistas — from Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri to Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida — is that Corporate America, especially big tech, has it in for Republicans and is using "cancel culture" in an effort to bully them into silence. Hawley, in his fundraising e-mails, has claimed that "woke" corporations are "canceling" him for promoting election security. But according to a new report by the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, corporate dollars have been flowing, in a big way, to Republican "insurrectionists" in Congress who voted against certifying President Joe Biden's Electoral College victory over former President Donald Trump in the 2020 election.

CREW members Robert Maguire and Caitlin Moniz, in an article published by its website this week, explain, "In just the first few months since the (January 6) insurrection, corporate and industry PACs have contributed more than $2.6 million to campaigns, leadership PACs, and party committees allied with the 147 members of Congress who fed the Big Lie that led to the deadly attack on the Capitol. In all, 170 business PACs — some of which had previously committed to stop giving — have donated to political committees that support and defend the members who voted not to certify the election results."

The many Senate and House Republicans who voted against Biden's Electoral College certification have been slammed as "the Sedition Caucus" by Democrats as well as by some Never Trump conservatives. And Corporate America, according to CREW, has been generous with Republicans who promoted the Big Lie.

"So far, at least 103 of the 147 members of the so-called Sedition Caucus, along with the two main GOP congressional party committees, the (National Republican Senatorial Committee) and (National Republican Congressional Committee), have benefited from corporate giving after January 6," Maguire and Moniz note. "The ten members with the most corporate donations as of the end of March, which is the latest date for which data is available, have nettedmore than $22,000 each from an average of ten business PACs per member."

Maguire and Moniz cite Rep. Glenn Thompson of Pennsylvania as a member of the GOP "Sedition Caucus" who received "$44,000 from 17 corporations and industry groups." Another Republican they mention is Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer of Missouri.

"The NRCC and NRSC — the two main party committees backing Republicans in the House and Senate — have brought in a combined $1.7 million from PACs tied to more than 57 companies and industry groups," Maguire and Moniz note. "The list includes household names likePfizer, Intel, T-Mobile, and CVS, as well as PACs tied to trade groups that represent industries as varied as real estate, mortgage banking, and insurance agents."

Another company mentioned in CREW's report is Cigna.

According to Maguire and Moniz, "The health insurer Cigna…. released a statement after the insurrection saying that it would "discontinue support of any elected official who encouraged or supported violence, or otherwise hindered a peaceful transition of power." But within a month, its PAC was back to making contributions, starting with a $15,000 contribution to the NRSC — soon followed by another $15,000 to the NRCC."

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[edit] NRCC Leadership

The NRCC is governed by its chairman, U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions (TX-32), and an executive committee composed of Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives.

The Chairman is elected by the House Republican Conference after each Congressional election. Republican Leader John Boehner and the seven other elected leaders of the Republican Conference of the House of Representatives serve as ex-officio members of the NRCC's executive committee.

The day-to-day operations of the NRCC are overseen by Executive Director Guy Harrison, who manages a staff involved in campaign strategy development, planning and management, research, communications, fundraising, administration, and legal compliance.

In addition to Chairman Sessions, several other members of the House of Representatives aid the efforts of the Committee by overseeing various areas important to the NRCC. These members include:^[1]

Rep. Greg Walden (OR-02) – Deputy Chairman

Rep. Kevin McCarthy (CA-22) – Vice Chairman for Recruitment

Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (GA-03) – Vice Chairman for Redistricting

Rep. Mary Fallin (OK-05) – Vice Chairman for Communications

Rep. Jeb Hensarling (TX-05) – Vice Chairman for Finance

Rep. Mike Rogers (MI-08) – Vice Chairman for Retention

Rep. Devin Nunes (CA-21) – Vice Chairman for Coalitions

The NRCC is broken down into several internal divisions which have various areas of responsibility:^[2]

Executive

Treasury

Research

Political

Finance

Communications

eCampaign

[edit] Young Guns Program

Founded in the 2007–2008 election cycle by Congressmen Eric Cantor, Kevin McCarthy and Paul Ryan, the Young Guns Program began as a Member driven organization of House Republicans dedicated to electing open seat and challenger candidates nationwide.

During the 2008 cycle, through a partnership of Republican volunteers, donors and 59 members of the House of Representatives, five House GOP challengers won against incumbent Democrats. Four of those were Young Guns – Tom Rooney (FL-16), Bill Cassidy (LA-06), Lynn Jenkins (KS-02), and Pete Olson (TX-22).^[3]

Under the leadership of Chairman Sessions, the NRCC adopted the Young Guns program as the candidate recruitment and training program for House Republicans and it is designed to assist Republican candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives build a foundation for victory.^[3]

This program is open to all Republican candidates – regardless of a primary or convention situation in their districts – with the ultimate goal of ensuring whoever the Republican nominee is, they are able to build the strongest campaign possible. Those enrolled work with NRCC staff to meet rigorous benchmarks designed to improve their campaign structure, fundraising, communications and online strategy.

There are three levels of the Young Guns program – “On the Radar”, “Contender”, and “Young Gun”. In 2010, 92 campaigns were granted "Young Gun" status.^[4]

[edit] Incumbent Retention

As Republicans work to expand the numbers of seats they hold in the House of Representatives, the NRCC created its “Patriot Program” to aid incumbents in their re-election efforts. This program serves as a gauge by which potentially targeted incumbents commit themselves to meet rigorous goals in attempts to strengthen their campaigns and work towards victory. These "Patriots" work with the NRCC to develop aggressive goals, and plans to meet such goals for fundraising, coalitions outreach, grassroots development, eCampaign operations, volunteer recruitment, and a number of additional aspects of their re-election campaigns. They have the full support and participation of the NRCC and Republican House Leadership.

There are currently 26 enrolled incumbents in the NRCC’s “Patriot Program”

[edit] Fundraising

In 2000 and 2002, one-third of the Committee's $210.8 million raised was in soft money donations. As Congress considered prohibiting such donations, the Committee stepped up its efforts, holding record-breaking events featuring President George W. Bush.[1].

Especially after the ban, the NRCC's fundraising sources and techniques have been criticized. For the 2004 election cycle, its top three donors included two Indian tribal clients of Jack Abramoff. Others include gambling interests (also related to Abramoff).[2]

On September 21, 2006 Chairman Tom Reynolds met with lobbyists in Washington, D.C. to warn them to contribute only to Republicans and not to challengers from the Democratic Party because their donations would be tracked and they would lose favors among the Republican members of Congress.^[5] Similar activities of the K Street Project occurred when Davis was head of the NRCC; the organization was fined by the Federal Election Commission for transferring funds between PACs for the same candidates in violation of contribution limits.^[6]

The NRCC has also offered awards such as "Physician of the Year", "Businessman of the Year", "Columnist of the Year" and "Congressional Order of Merit" to thousands of individuals each year.^{[7][8][9][10][11]}

In comparison to other groups, a larger number of donors to the NRCC do not declare an occupation or employer, making connections difficult; this may be due to the nature of its donor pool, which consists of more individuals than groups, according to the Federal Election Commission.

[edit] Automated phone calls

In 2006, just days before the November 7 midterm Congressional elections, there were numerous reports of a series of automated phone calls ("robocalls") being authorized by the NRCC, with the apparent intention to confuse and annoy the supporters of Democratic candidates for the House of Representatives.^[12] The automated call would typically begin by saying, "Hello, I'm calling with information about _" and naming the Democratic candidate. If the recipient hung up, the call would be repeated, often several times, thus leading voters to believe incorrectly that the Democratic campaign was harassing them.^[13] The NRCC used the tactic in at least 53 competitive House races.^[13]

In New Hampshire, the state attorney general's office requested that the NRCC end the robocalls, but many individuals in the state continued to report receiving them. New Hampshire News Article The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee sent the NRCC a cease-and-desist letter. The DCCC letter cited the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulation requiring that a prerecorded telephone call must identify the responsible entity at the beginning of the message, and must include the entity's telephone number. Because the NRCC's calls did not name the NRCC at the beginning and did not provide a contact phone number, the DCCC charged the NRCC with "a pattern of willful noncompliance with FCC requirements". [3]

[edit] Allegations of embezzlement

On March 13, 2008 the NRCC stated that its former treasurer, Christopher J. Ward, had apparently transferred "several hundred thousand dollars" in NRCC funds to "his personal and business bank accounts".^[14] An estimated $724,000 in losses were embezzled from the NRCC by Ward between 2001 and 2007.^[15] Ward has served as treasurer for 83 Republican committees^[16] and has done work for the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.^[17]

On June 6, 2008 the Department of Justice, in filing a civil forfeiture proceeding against Ward's house, alleged that Ward "made over $500,000 in unauthorized withdrawals" and that he used the money to make his mortgage payments and for home renovation.^[18]

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) conducted a probe into disclosure reports submitted by the NRCC during Ward's tenure as treasurer. Guy Harrison, the executive director of NRCC, agreed to pay a $10,000 civil fine and signed a conciliation agreement with the FEC on June 10, 2010.^[15]

[edit] 2008 Congressional Elections

In 2008 the NRCC concentrated on trying to help incumbent Republicans win re-election. Even so, the committee had to make "triage"-type decisions about allocating its funds. In October 2008, it canceled several hundred thousand dollars worth of television advertising time slated for the re-election campaigns of Michele Bachmann, Marilyn Musgrave, and Tom Feeney, having concluded that they could not win.^[19] The decision drew criticism from the conservative Family Research Council, which stated, "It appears that the NRCC is abandoning social conservative candidates and the issues for which they stand…."^[20]

[edit] 2010 Congressional Elections

In 2010, Republican candidates won a historic amount of seats in the House of Representatives after completing a "rout" of Democrats.^[21] Rep. Sessions and the NRCC staff received praise for harnessing voter sentiment and contributing to Republican gains.^[22]

The NRCC raised and spent tens of millions of dollars on Independent Expenditure advertising. Republicans won in 52 of the 66 seats where the NRCC made those expenditures.^[23]

The NRCC made some of its biggest gains in New York, where two incumbents won reelection and at least five seats (as of November 16, 2010) flipped from being held by Democrats to being held by Republicans. In Pennsylvania, the Committee retained seven incumbents and flipped five seats from being held by Democrats to being held by Republicans. The Committee made gains across the midwest, where it won control of both North and South Dakota, and made sizeable gains in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan.^[24]

The Committee targeted numerous veteran Democrats who held important posts in their party’s leadership. The NRCC worked to help GOP candidates defeat Committee Chairmen John Spratt (Budget), Ike Skelton (Armed Services), and James Oberstar (Transportation and Infrastructure).^[25] In each of these cases, Republicans prevailed over the Democrats.^[26]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

^ Nrcc leadership. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.nrcc.org/about/nrcc-leadership/
^ About the nrcc. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.nrcc.org/about/About-NRCC/
^ ^a(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Republican_Congressional_Committee#cite_ref-gopyoungguns_2-0) ^b(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Republican_Congressional_Committee#cite_ref-gopyoungguns_2-1) About young guns. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.gopyoungguns.com/about
^ Young gun candidates. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.gopyoungguns.com/candidates
^ "Traps are set for Dems". MSNBC. September 28, 2006. Archived from the original on 2008-04-22. Retrieved 2008-05-17.
^ "PARTY MISUSE OF SOFT MONEY TO PAY FOR ISSUE ADS RESULTS IN $280,000 CIVIL PENALTY". FEC. April 9, 2004. Retrieved 2008-05-17.
^ Ross, Brian (April 5, 2005). "Are Honors for Physicians the New Political Diploma Mill?". ABC News. Retrieved 2009-07-11.
^ Smith Amos, Denise (January 1, 2003). "Some awards come with a big price". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved 2009-07-11.
^ Lease, Daryl (March 3, 2003). "You may already be a donor!". Sarasota Herald Tribune. Retrieved 2009-07-11.
^ Weisman, Jonathan (February 22, 2003). "House GOP Fundraisers Put a Price On Honor". The Washington Post: pp. A.01. Retrieved 2009-07-11. Washington Post archive
^ Flatow, Ira (July 11, 2007). "Congressional Order of Merit – For A Price". Retrieved 2010-07-09.
^ Babington, Charles; MacGillis, Alec (November 7, 2006). "It's a Candidate Calling. Again". The Washington Post: pp. A08
^ ^a(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Republican_Congressional_Committee#cite_ref-AP_12-0) ^b(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Republican_Congressional_Committee#cite_ref-AP_12-1) Elliott, Philip (November 1, 2006). "How do you like those nasty telephone calls from the campaigns". The Boston Globe^[dead ^link]
^ "NRCC Chairman Cole Releases Statement and Update on Apparent Accounting Irregularities" (Press release). National Republican Congressional Committee. March 13, 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-14.
^ ^a(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Republican_Congressional_Committee#cite_ref-embezzlement_14-0) ^b(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Republican_Congressional_Committee#cite_ref-embezzlement_14-1) Bresnahan, John. NRCC settles embezzlement case. Politico. June 11, 2010.
^ Kane, Paul (March 14, 2008). "NRCC Says Ex-Treasurer Diverted Up to $1 Million". The Washington Post: pp. A01
^ Silverstein, Ken (February 6, 2008). "NRCC Financial Scandal Looks Like an Inside Job". Harper's Magazine
^ "" Justice Dept: Ward took at least $500K in GOP campaign funds"". Yahoo! News. June 6, 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-08.
^ Cillizza, Chris (October 22, 2008). "House Republicans Bow to Political Reality". The Washington Post
^ Allen, Jonathan (October 23, 2008). "Social Conservatives Aim Fire at GOP Campaign Committee". CQ Politics. Retrieved 2008-10-24.
^ Seib, G. (2010, November 3) How the Rout Was Won: Careful Plans, Timely Wave http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704141104575588631233481588.html
^ McKenzie, W (2010, November 2) A Big Night For Pete Sessions http://dallasmorningviewsblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/11/a-big-night-for.html
^ Miller, S (2010, November 9) Strategists second-guess Dem spending strategy after losses in House http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/campaign-committees/128523-dems-spending-questioned-after-historic-house-losses
^ http://www.nrcc.org/news/Election-Results-Map/
^ Murray, S (2010, November 2) Losses among Democratic leaders could set up a scramble for power http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/02/AR2010110202539.html
^ Hananel, S (2010, Nov. 4) Three top committee chairmen are ousted http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2010/11/04/three_top_committee_chairmen_are_ousted/

[edit] External links

Official website
NRCC Business Advisory Council site, referenced as part of the National Leadership Award solicitations.
Cornell University Guide to the National Republican Congressional Committee Records, 1964?–1971
Donations to NRCC at OpenSecrets.com
Donations to NRCC in 2004 from Campaignmoney.com
Donations to NRCC in 2006 from Campaignmoney.com
"Worried Over Soft Money, G.O.P. Readies Major Gala", New York Times
"Politician or telemarketer?" MSNBC Nightly News, December 11. 2003
Jack Abramoff Lobbying and Political Contributions, 1999 – 2006 at CapitalEye.com

Chairpersons

of the RNC

The NRCC mess revisited: Accounting investigation report released

By Michelle Malkin • June 12, 2008 03:20 PM

I’ve been following the financial and management travails of the National Republican Congressional Committee regularly here (just search “NRCC“). And I know they’ve been hearing an earful from you. Today, the committee followed up on the massive internal fraud scheme it was forced to reveal in March.

NRCC Chairman Tom Cole released the following statement regarding the summary of the NRCC accounting investigation:

“Today, I briefed the Republican congressional leadership and the NRCC’s Executive Committee on the conclusions of our review and investigation into accounting irregularities and misappropriated funds by Chris Ward.

“For years, Chris Ward submitted bogus financial audits to banks and concocted a scheme to direct NRCC funds to his personal accounts for his own selfish purposes. Misappropriated funds and related accounting irregularities took nearly five months for financial experts to unravel, diverting precious financial resources and time that would otherwise have been devoted to our main job of electing Republicans to Congress. However, because of the time and effort devoted to the forensic audit, the NRCC is in a much stronger position to protect against such a fraudulent act from happening again.”

I’m including the entire summary of the NRCC probe by Covington & Burling LLP below. Caveat emptor, people. Repeating what I’ve said many times: If the GOP can’t get its own house in order, how can they demand that the Democrats do the same?

***

On January 28, 2008, the National Republican Congressional Committee learned that, despite prior assurances, no audit of the NRCC’s 2006 financial statements was being conducted. Shortly thereafter, the NRCC learned that its former Treasurer, Christopher Ward, appeared to have fabricated an audit report and submitted it to the NRCC’s bank.

On January 30, 2008, the NRCC retained Covington and Burling LLP to conduct an internal investigation. We, in turn, retained the accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (“PwC”) to conduct a forensic accounting investigation of the NRCC’s financial records. On June 6, 2008, Covington and PwC completed the investigative work. We are now providing this

summary of the investigation and its findings.

While these findings reflect the best information currently available to us, they are based on limited information. Certain documents, and key witnesses such as Ward, were not available for review or interview. Moreover, it is possible that additional losses could be identified, or other irregularities identified, as the NRCC’s in-house accounting staff, which has been augmented based on our recommendation, continues to reconcile the NRCC’s books and bank statements for prior

years and review support for disbursements made to vendors.

Purpose of the Investigation

Our investigation had several purposes:

• To identify and quantify irregularities in the NRCC’s books and records, and to determine the circumstances that led to the irregularities, to enable the NRCC to obtain, in the future, an audit of its financial statements. Such an audit will likely be necessary for the NRCC to obtain line of credit financing to support its ongoing operations.

• To enable the NRCC to correct public disclosure reports and to ensure compliance with Federal Election Commission (“FEC”) reporting requirements.

• To enable the NRCC to take appropriate corrective action based on investigative findings.

• To support law enforcement in its investigation of Ward’s actions.

• To determine the scope of the NRCC’s loss so that the NRCC may pursue recovery of its loss through an insurance claim and/or restitution.

Scope of Work

The investigation conducted by Covington and PwC included:

• Interviews with more than two dozen current and former NRCC employees, officers, and consultants.

• Analysis of 49 bank accounts for the NRCC and various President’s Dinner Committees during the period January 2001 through February 2008.

• Analysis of selected accounting system transactions, including payments to Ward and his business entities, vendors, campaign committees, independent expenditures, payroll, and the NRCC’s line of credit.

• Analysis of available electronic data, including email records.

• Analysis of hard copy documents including bank statements, desk files, vendor files, and general accounting related materials.

• Analysis of various FEC reports filed by the NRCC, the President’s Dinner Committees, and other entities.

• Limited analysis of independent expenditures by the NRCC during the 2006 election cycle.

The procedures performed by PwC were designed to assist counsel in the investigation but were not designed to detect all errors, irregularities, or fraudulent activity that may exist or to determine whether value or services were actually received for payments made to third parties.

Our analysis was limited to the documentation obtained from the NRCC. Neither Covington nor PwC were able to interview Mr. Ward nor obtain access to potentially relevant documents that may have been in his possession, including his personal bank records. We also did not have access to bank account information of non-NRCC committees or organizations other than the President’s Dinner Committees. Some of the findings are based on the results of interviews only and were not always supported by written documentation.

In addition, the investigation was limited by the availability of bank records, NRCC records, and President’s Dinner Committee records, virtually none of which were available for the period prior to 2001, and some of which were not available for more recent periods.

Findings

A. Annual Audits

This investigation was prompted by the discovery that no independent audit of the NRCC’s 2006 financial records had been conducted during 2007, despite repeated assurances that an audit was underway. Our investigation later determined that no independent audits of the NRCC’s books and records had been conducted since an unfinished audit by the firm Deloitte &

Touche LLP (“Deloitte”) in Spring 2003, covering the NRCC’s 2002 fiscal year.(1)

The investigation confirmed that bogus audit reports had been prepared by Ward and provided to the NRCC’s bank for the years 2002 through 2006.

(1) During the course of the investigation, Covington learned that while the 2002 audit was nearly completed, it was never finalized by Deloitte. It remains unclear at this time why the audit was not finalized after Ward became Treasurer in 2003 and took responsibility for overseeing outside audits.

B. Ward’s Apparent Scheme

The essence of Ward’s apparent scheme was that he used his authority to order wire transfers to direct funds through various committees and ultimately to his own accounts. Based on information that is currently available, it does not appear that anyone other than Ward knowingly participated in this scheme.

C. Apparently Unauthorized Payments

The forensic accounting investigation of the NRCC’s books and records conducted by PwC identified a series of apparently unauthorized payments of funds by Ward, during a period beginning in 2001 and ending in 2007, from the NRCC to outside committees whose bank accounts Ward controlled, including joint fundraising committees in which the NRCC participated. Ward then transferred these funds from the outside committees to his personal and business bank accounts. These transfers were not reported, or were reported inaccurately, by Ward on Federal Election Commission reports.

The total estimated loss to the NRCC itself is approximately $725,000. This includes amounts transferred out of NRCC accounts to President’s Dinner Committee accounts and other political committee accounts over which Ward exercised control, as well as a portion of the loss sustained by the Dinner Committees, which would otherwise have flowed to the NRCC.

D. Independent Expenditures

Given the amount of NRCC funds that are spent on independent expenditures, we asked PwC to analyze independent expenditures made during the most recent complete election cycle, the 2005-2006 cycle. Because of the lack of documentation contained within the NRCC’s files related to the independent expenditures, PwC was unable to conduct a comprehensive investigation of NRCC independent expenditures. While the limited review that was possible did not identify irregularities involving Ward that were related to the independent expenditures, the lack of available documentation (beyond what is required by FEC regulations) precludes our reaching any more definitive findings concerning independent expenditures.

Recommendations

Based on our findings, we have made various recommendations to NRCC management, several of which have already been adopted:

• The NRCC should adopt a written compliance program, and should consider amending its bylaws, to formalize its accounting practices and procedures, including oversight of accounting [ongoing]. Those practices should include a requirement of two signatures for all wire transfers and a requirement that the NRCC’s Oversight Committee meet with

the NRCC’s outside auditors annually [adopted].

• The NRCC should appoint a new, experienced Treasurer and create a new position of Chief Financial Officer, and should provide them with additional staff as needed to implement a more robust and professional accounting operation [adopted].

• The augmented accounting staff should conduct a thorough reconciliation of the NRCC’s bank statements and books [ongoing].

• The NRCC should require all outside vendors for independent expenditures to provide detailed supporting documentation on a timely basis to ensure adequate records exist for a reconciliation and verification of independent expenditures promptly after the conclusion of the election cycle. The NRCC should also consider providing additional administrative support to the independent expenditure function to maintain such records

[adopted].

Robert K. Kelner

Scott F. Gast

Zachary G. Parks

Randall H. Cook

COVINGTON & BURLING LLP

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Wire story here.