wagner, bridgett policy
<div><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">---</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2022/03/11/revealed-new-leaders-of-council-for-national-policy-set-extremist-agenda/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2022/03/11/revealed-new-leaders-of-council-for-national-policy-set-extremist-agenda/</a></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">david a</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; box-sizing: inherit; padding: 0px; word-spacing: 3.6px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>at its first meeting of 2022, the secretive Council for National Policy (CNP) laid out its plans for influencing this year’s midterm elections, abolishing abortion rights, defunding the left, limiting China’s influence, and countering a topic of great concern to Republicans: “wokeness.”</b></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; box-sizing: inherit; padding: 0px; word-spacing: 3.6px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">According to an <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/21409776-council-for-national-policy-meeting-program-february-24-26-2022" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; background: 0px 0px; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">agenda</a> obtained by the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD), the <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Council_for_National_Policy" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; background: 0px 0px; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">CNP</a> meeting took place the last weekend in February at the posh Ritz-Carlton in Dana Point, California. The agenda reveals changes in leadership and current priorities of the influential group, which is closely<a href="https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2020/10/27/secretive-council-for-national-policy-closely-tied-to-trump/" data-wpel-link="internal" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; background: 0px 0px; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;"> tied to Trump</a> and the Republican Party.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; box-sizing: inherit; padding: 0px; word-spacing: 3.6px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Kevin Roberts, a CNP board member and president of the Heritage Foundation, kicked the event off with a speech on </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">“how the Conservative Movement can go on the offense to promote America’s founding principles across the country.”</span></b></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; box-sizing: inherit; padding: 0px; word-spacing: 3.6px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">CNP is known for “connecting the manpower and media of the Christian right with the finances of Western plutocrats and the strategy of right-wing Republican political operatives,” as Columbia University P</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">rofessor Anne Nelson </span><a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/156431/how-powerful-council-national-policy-right-wing-shadow-network" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="background: 0px 0px rgb(255, 255, 102); text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">describes</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> the group in her definitive book </span><b><a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/shadow-network-9781635573190/" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Shadow Network: Media, Money, and the </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Secret Hub </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">of the Radical Right</span></span></a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">.</span></b></font></p><h2 style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px 0px 10px; word-spacing: 3.6px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="box-sizing: inherit;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Leadership Changes Elevate Voter Suppression Advocates </font></span></h2><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; box-sizing: inherit; padding: 0px; word-spacing: 3.6px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The program for the February meeting offers the first glimpse of the secretive group’s high-level members and leaders since CMD<a href="https://www.exposedbycmd.org/featured-documents/council-for-national-policy-membership-directory-september-2020/" data-wpel-link="internal" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; background: 0px 0px; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;"> published</a> its September 2020 Membership Directory, provided by open source intelligence researcher Brent Allpress.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; padding: 0px; word-spacing: 3.6px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">The group’s Executive Committee is headed by <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Judicial_Watch" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">Judicial Watch</a> President Tom Fitton,</span> who has taken over from William Walton as CNP’s president. Judicial Watch’s “Election Integrity Project” has pushed for voter roll purges and promotes the myth that voter fraud is widespread in the U.S.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; box-sizing: inherit; padding: 0px; word-spacing: 3.6px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">At the August 2020 CNP meeting, Fitton facilitated two panels on “election integrity,” CMD<a href="https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2020/10/27/secretive-council-for-national-policy-closely-tied-to-trump/" data-wpel-link="internal" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; background: 0px 0px; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;"> reported</a>. “We need to stop those [vote-by-mail] ballots from going out, and I want the lawyers here to tell us what to do,” Fitton told meeting attendees, according to <a href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:MZg8XqRgznwJ:https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/council-national-policy-video/2020/10/14/367f24c2-f793-11ea-a510-f57d8ce76e11_story.html+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; background: 0px 0px; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">videos</a> obtained by <i style="box-sizing: inherit;">The Washington Post</i>.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; padding: 0px; word-spacing: 3.6px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Another lifelong advocate of voter suppression now serves as CNP’s vice president: <b>J. Kenneth Blackwell, a former secretary of state in Ohio and member of Trump’s failed voter fraud panel, the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity.</b> He currently chairs the <a href="https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2021/09/14/trump-die-hards-launch-maga-voter-suppression-center/" data-wpel-link="internal" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">Center for Election Integrity</a> at the <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=America_First_Policy_Institute" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">America First Policy Institute</a> (AFPI), a nonprofit spin-off of the Trump administration</span>.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; box-sizing: inherit; padding: 0px; word-spacing: 3.6px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In May 2021, Blackwell facilitated an “Action Session” at CNP’s 40th anniversary <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/21057063-council-for-national-policy-may-2021-meeting-agenda" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; background: 0px 0px; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">meeting</a> on how to combat the national voting rights effort, featuring U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL), who voted against certifying the 2020 presidential electoral college results, and GOP lawyer <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cleta_Mitchell" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; background: 0px 0px; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">Cleta Mitchell</a>, who has promoted Trump’s Big Lie and advised him on his infamous call pressuring Georgia’s secretary of state to “find” enough votes for the former president to win the state.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; padding: 0px; word-spacing: 3.6px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">At its February meeting, CNP hosted a screening of the<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"> film<a href="https://capitolpunishmentthemovie.com/" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;"> <span style="box-sizing: inherit;"><b>Capitol Punishment</b></span></a> with director Chris Burgard, which promotes the claim that, “Everything that we are being told [about the insurrection] is a lie and Americans are being persecuted to support that lie.</span>” CNP has extensive ties to <a href="https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2020/11/06/operatives-tied-to-council-for-national-policy-organizing-protests-alleging-voter-fraud/" data-wpel-link="internal" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">#StoptheSteal</a> and <a href="https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2021/01/08/christ" data-wpel-link="internal" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">the violent insurrection</a> at the Capitol on Jan. 6, CMD reported.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; box-sizing: inherit; padding: 0px; word-spacing: 3.6px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Others joining the CNP executive committee this year include <b>Jerry A. Johnson (treasurer), former president of the National Religious Broadcasters; William G. Boykin</b>, retired Army lieutenant general and executive vice president of the<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Family_Research_Council" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; background: 0px 0px; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;"> Family Research Council</a>; Chad Connelly, president of Faith Wins; and <b>Millie Hallow, managing director of executive operations at the National Rifle Association.</b></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; padding: 0px; word-spacing: 3.6px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 102);">Blackwell is also listed as president of the board of directors for CNP Action,</span> and <b>Fitton is a new director of the affiliate.</b></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; padding: 0px; word-spacing: 3.6px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Gold Circle Members list is largely similar to the September 2020 directory, with many of the new additions representing shifts from lower membership tiers. Notable new members include Ashland University President Carlos Campo; <b>Lynn Friess, widow of GOP megadonor Foster Friess; </b>and<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> Ryan Helfenbein, executive director of the Standing for Freedom Center and a vice president at Liberty University.</span></font></p><h2 style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px 0px 10px; word-spacing: 3.6px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="box-sizing: inherit;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Politicizing Covid</font></span></h2><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; box-sizing: inherit; padding: 0px; word-spacing: 3.6px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“The pandemic led to unprecedented government mandates, the erosion of civil liberties, and an outright assault on freedom,” CNP’s agenda booklet argues. “Americans have seen and experienced what unchecked government power can do, and they have had enough.”</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; box-sizing: inherit; padding: 0px; word-spacing: 3.6px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">CNP has been instrumental in the relentless push from the right to ignore public health guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) during the deadly Covid-19 pandemic. It played a leading role in the anti-lockdown coalition known as “<a href="https://www.reopenoureconomy.com/coalition" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; background: 0px 0px; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">Save Our Country</a>,” with members making up half of its <a href="https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2020/10/27/secretive-council-for-national-policy-closely-tied-to-trump/" data-wpel-link="internal" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; background: 0px 0px; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">leadership council </a>and organizing <a href="https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2020/05/15/secretive-right-wing-nonprofit-plays-role-in-covid-19-organizing/" data-wpel-link="internal" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; background: 0px 0px; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">weekly conference calls</a> to coordinate response tactics.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; padding: 0px; word-spacing: 3.6px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>In May 2020, CMD also <a href="https://apnews.com/article/health-us-news-ap-top-news-politics-virus-outbreak-4ee1a3a8d631b454f645b2a8d9597de7" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">revealed</a> that <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">CNP Action</span>, CNP’s 501(c)(4) affiliate, organized a call to discuss a plan for recruiting “extremely pro-Trump” doctors to campaign against Covid public health restrictions.</b></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; box-sizing: inherit; padding: 0px; word-spacing: 3.6px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">CNP’s February meeting featured a general session on the state of the pandemic in the U.S. led by<b> <a href="https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2021/12/22/how-the-koch-network-hijacked-the-war-on-covid/" data-wpel-link="internal" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; background: 0px 0px; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">Dr. Jay Bhattacharya</a>, a leading advocate for herd immunity who has advised Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) on his controversial anti-mask policies.</b></font></p><h2 style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px 0px 10px; word-spacing: 3.6px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="box-sizing: inherit;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Focus on Elections </font></span></h2><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; padding: 0px; word-spacing: 3.6px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Despite being a tax-exempt organization barred from engaging in electoral politics, CNP is focusing heavily on elections this year,</span> according to the agenda for its February meeting.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; padding: 0px; word-spacing: 3.6px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Dave Bossie, president of <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Citizens_United" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">Citizens United</a>, led things off at the Gold Circle Dinner with a presentation on “the most pressing political battles in DC and their impact on the Conservative Movement.</b>”</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; box-sizing: inherit; padding: 0px; word-spacing: 3.6px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A general session titled “Virginia 2021: Lessons Learned” featured Chad Connelly, founder and president of Faith Wins; Mark Campbell, campaign manager for Glenn Youngkin, the Republican who won the 2021 governor’s race in Virginia; Victoria Cobb, president of The Family Foundation of Virginia; and Chris Wilson, CEO of WPA Intelligence sharing “their analyses of the Virginia race” and “what it means for 2022.”</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; box-sizing: inherit; padding: 0px; word-spacing: 3.6px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">After not winning a statewide race in more than a decade, in 2021 Republicans in Virginia won the offices of governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general, while also recapturing the majority in the state House.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; box-sizing: inherit; padding: 0px; word-spacing: 3.6px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Former Virginia Secretary of Natural Resources Becky Norton Dunlop, a past president of CNP,</b> joined the four “Lessons Learned” panelists for a CNP Action session “to chart the course to success nationwide in November.”</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; padding: 0px; word-spacing: 3.6px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In his capacity as CNP Action chairman, Blackwell also hosted “Candidate Introductions” for attendees. While candidates were not listed on the program, CMD obtained a <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/21409774-drew-montez-clark-campaign-flyer-distributed-at-council-for-national-policy-february-2022-meeting" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">flier</a> for<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> Drew Montez Clark, a Republican candidate for Florida’s 25<span style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 0; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; top: -0.5em;">th</span> district seat in the U.S. House, that was circulated at the meeting.</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; padding: 0px; word-spacing: 3.6px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Clark<a href="https://www.naplesnews.com/story/news/local/2021/01/06/dc-capitol-riot-trump-supporters-swfl-tear-gassed/6572792002/" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;"> reportedly</a> co-organized two buses carrying 100 Floridians to the Jan. 6 rally in DC that led to the violent insurrection at the Capitol. He also <a href="https://www.tcpalm.com/story/news/politics/2021/04/20/rep-marjorie-taylor-greene-headlining-america-first-rally-indian-river-county/7292260002/" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">spoke</a> at a far-right “America First” rally in April 2021 headlined by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA).</font></p><h2 style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px 0px 10px; word-spacing: 3.6px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="box-sizing: inherit;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Supreme Court Takes Center Stage</font></span></h2><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; box-sizing: inherit; padding: 0px; word-spacing: 3.6px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“This term of the Supreme Court could be one of the most consequential ever, and CNP Members have been central to some of the landmark cases being decided,” the CNP’s February meeting program notes. Speakers at a general session on the subject included <b>Alan Sears, founder of the Christian right litigation powerhouse <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Alliance_Defending_Freedom" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; background: 0px 0px; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">Alliance Defending Freedom</a>; S</b>usan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser; and First Liberty President Kelly Shackelford.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; box-sizing: inherit; padding: 0px; word-spacing: 3.6px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“CNP has been strategizing to dominate the Supreme Court for decades,” CNP expert Anne Nelson <a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-amy-coney-barrett-elections-us-supreme-court-courts-800810431929326355c9ef0a78bfee40" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; background: 0px 0px; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">told</a> the Associated Press in Oct 2020. “They have worked through the Federalist Society, the Heritage Foundation, and the National Rifle Association, all run by members of the CNP.”</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; box-sizing: inherit; padding: 0px; word-spacing: 3.6px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Dannenfelser </b>was among 14 other CNP members to attend the Sept. 26, 2020, Rose Garden ceremony at the White House where Amy Coney Barrett accepted the nomination for the Supreme Court, solidifying the far-right’s hold on the nation’s highest court.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; box-sizing: inherit; padding: 0px; word-spacing: 3.6px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The agenda notes that Dannenfelser “will provide an update on the <i style="box-sizing: inherit;">Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization</i> case that could result in completely gutting or overturning <i style="box-sizing: inherit;">Roe v. Wade</i>,” the 1973 Supreme Court decision guaranteeing women in America the constitutional right to an abortion.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; padding: 0px; word-spacing: 3.6px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Mississippi’s Speaker of the House Phillip Gunn (R-Miss.), the 2020 chair of the <a href="https://www.alecexposed.org/" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">American Legislative Exchange Council</a> (ALEC), touted the <i style="box-sizing: inherit;">Dobbs v. Jackson </i>case and its prospects for leading to a decision to overturn <i style="box-sizing: inherit;">Roe v. Wade</i> during a panel at the CNP</span> meeting last May, CMD <a href="https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2021/10/04/alec-leaders-boast-about-anti-abortion-anti-trans-bills/" data-wpel-link="internal" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">reported</a>.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; box-sizing: inherit; padding: 0px; word-spacing: 3.6px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“We think that’s going to be a landmark case. All of us know that the United States Supreme Court composition has changed… in a way that is more pro-life,” Gunn <a href="https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2021/10/04/alec-leaders-boast-about-anti-abortion-anti-trans-bills/" data-wpel-link="internal" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; background: 0px 0px; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">told</a> meeting attendees last spring. “They say that Amy Coney Barrett is one of the most active, pro-life people in America, so we believe that she brings a new dynamic to that court. We think our case, our law that we passed in 2018, will be transformative in the arena in abortion. We’re proud of that.”</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; box-sizing: inherit; padding: 0px; word-spacing: 3.6px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Dannenfelser then led a CNP Action panel “on how the Conservative Movement can be best equipped for the impending Supreme Court decision on <i style="box-sizing: inherit;">Dobbs”</i> and to “strategize on messaging, state legislation, and more with attendees.”</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; box-sizing: inherit; padding: 0px; word-spacing: 3.6px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">One of the panelists,<b> Mike Thompson, is a senior vice president with CRC Advisors. Leonard Leo, </b>who played an integral role in Trump’s effort to pack the federal judiciary with right-wing judges, founded <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=CRC_Advisors" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; background: 0px 0px; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">CRC Advisors</a> in 2020 with Greg Mueller to “<a href="https://www.axios.com/leonard-leo-crc-advisors-federalist-society-50d4d844-19a3-4eab-af2b-7b74f1617d1c.html" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; background: 0px 0px; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">funnel big money and expertise across the conservative movement</a>.” As of September 2020, Leo was a<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Council_for_National_Policy#Board_of_Governors_Members" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; background: 0px 0px; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;"> Board of Governors member</a> of CNP....</font></p><h2 style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px 0px 10px; word-spacing: 3.6px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="box-sizing: inherit;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Pushing Back Against China, the Left, and a “Woke” Military </font></span></h2><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; word-spacing: 3.6px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Placing China “at the heart of the greatest challenges facing the United States in recent years”—from Covid to currency manipulation, climate policies, and “undue influence over American corporations”—<i style="box-sizing: inherit;">Economic War Room</i> host Kevin Freeman led a discussion titled “The 21<span style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 0; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; top: -0.5em;">st</span>: An American or Chinese Century?”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; word-spacing: 3.6px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Freeman was joined in the panel by Beau Brunson, <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Consumers%27_Research" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; background: 0px 0px; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none;">Consumers’ Research</a> Director of Policy and Regulatory Affairs. Consumers’ Research has committed millions in dark money to fight environmental, social, and corporate governance concerns (ESG) and “woke” capitalism, where BlackRock has emerged as a top target of its <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220210005695/en/New-website-WhoIsLarryFink.com-Launched-by-Consumers" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; background: 0px 0px; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none;">campaign</a> for its “hypocritical” investments in China.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; word-spacing: 3.6px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">CMD recently <a href="https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2022/02/16/republican-group-of-state-financial-officers-takes-on-woke-capitalism/" data-wpel-link="internal" style="box-sizing: inherit; background: 0px 0px; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none;">exposed</a> Consumers’ Research as one of the largest sponsors of the State Financial Officers Foundation, a group of Republican treasurers, auditors, and staff from 16 states, which has also prioritized fighting the ESG movement and “woke” capitalism.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; word-spacing: 3.6px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Also on the panel were Pete Hoekstra, former ambassador to the Netherlands under Trump, and <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Steven_J.Milloy" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; background: 0px 0px; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none;">Steve Milloy</a>, a FoxNews contributor and paid advocate for Phillip Morris, ExxonMobil, and other corporations.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; word-spacing: 3.6px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The three also participated in a CNP Action panel on “Countering China,” where they collectively worked “on ways to combat the increasing and pervasive threat China poses to the United States and American life.”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; word-spacing: 3.6px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Leading an CNP Action panel discussion on </span><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">“Defunding the Left,</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">”</span><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=The_Buckeye_Institute" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none;"> <b>Buckeye Institute</b></a><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">President and CEO Robert Alt facilitated a tutorial on how to c</span><b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">ut off contributions to “left-wing causes” by targeting public employee unions, trial lawyers, and investment management firms.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> </span></b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">O.H. Skinner, executive director of Alliance for Consumers, and Bridgett Wagner, vice president of policy promotion at the Heritage Foundation, </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">joined the discussion.</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; word-spacing: 3.6px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">New CNP Executive Member Boykin led a panel discussion focused on the question: “Can a Woke Military Address Future Threats?” with Mike Berry, First Liberty’s general counsel, and Keith Kellogg, retired Army lieutenant general and co-chair of AFPI’s Center for American Security. The three talked about “extreme policies [that] have been implemented through the Department of Defense” and “how woke ideologies have influenced our armed services.”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; word-spacing: 3.6px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Two other CNP meetings are scheduled for this year, May 18–20 in McLean, VA, and September 15–17 in Frisco, TX.</font></p></div><div><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">===</font></p></div>