RNC set for war on impeachment; Gowdy 'psyched'

FPI / October 15, 2019

The Republican National Committee (RNC) has already raised $2.3 million for the fight against Democrats’ efforts to impeach President Donald Trump that are using secret hearings, closed to Republicans.

Republican Party leaders told Washington Examiner columnist Paul Bedard that they plan to spend the funds in part to pressure over 30 House Democrats in key districts that are at least somewhat favorable to the president.

Meanwhile, former South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy is set to join Trump’s impeachment war room, where he will be teamed again with his Washington “brother,” acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney.

The Examiner’s Bedard noted that the “Horsemen of South Carolina are riding again.”

Gowdy and Mulvaney “are sympatico, they speak the same language,” said a top official.

Bedard noted: “When they served together in Congress, Mulvaney and Gowdy were part of what GQ dubbed the ‘Horsemen of South Carolina.’ West Wing insiders said they are ‘psyched’ about the teaming of the high-energy and combative duo.”

The RNC will also run ads encouraging Trump supporters to demand that Democrats halt the impeachment plans, largely overseen by Rep. Adam Schiff, that critics say are being held in secret.

“Democrats are hiding their baseless impeachment ‘hearings’ behind closed doors, but they can’t hide from their constituents. Our grassroots army has made their voices heard back in the district and will keep the pressure on House Democrats as they return to D.C.,” RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel told Bedard.

“It’s time for Democrat representatives to ‘Stop the Madness’ and start working on the will of their constituents,” McDaniel said.

The RNC, Bedard wrote, “is likely to back up the White House impeachment war room and those of Trump support groups including the Trump Impeachment Defense Task Force.”

The RNC said its plan is aimed at “taking the GOP impeachment response directly to voters and pressuring over 30 House Democrats while they’re back in D.C.” After a Columbus Day recess, Congress returns this week.

The effort will include daily text messages, phone calls, and online ads with the “Stop the Madness” theme and urgings to call Democrats.

The ads will target voters in Atlanta, Georgia, Phoenix, Arizona, Des Moines, Iowa, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Chicago, Illinois, Bangor, Maine, Portland, Maine, Lansing and Detroit, Michigan, Twin Cities, Minnesota, Fargo, Minnesota, Boston, Massachusetts, Manchester, New Hampshire, and markets including New York, Philadelphia, Albuquerque, Las Vegas, Albany and Syracuse, New York, Oklahoma City, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Scranton, Ohio, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Charleston, South Carolina, Salt Lake City, Utah, Norfolk/Virginia Beach and Richmond, Virginia, and La Crosse, Wisconsin.

Texts will include urgings to “Call your representative — tell them it’s time to stop the madness.”

Bedard noted that the RNC is also targeting users of Hulu, YouTube, and Connected TV. And it is running an ad on Facebook encouraging voters to sign a petition to “Take a Stand” against impeachment.

As for Schiff, a Republican Capitol Hill staffer told The Washington Times that the California Democrat’s technique is to pile witness upon witness — some he calls “foundational” witnesses — in hopes of finding anything detrimental to Trump. Schiff has turned to Ukraine, the staffer noted, because that Russia conspiracies that he has pursued haven’t materialized.

Trump tweeted last week: “How many people can [Democrats] talk to? We had a simple conversation. The whistleblower, who seems to be a Democrat that’s involved with a lot of people, gave a false interpretation of the conversation. So I don’t know why they’d be calling [Energy Secretary] Rick Perry. I don’t know why they’d be calling all these people. It’s a very bad situation for our country. You have to run a country. I just don’t think you can have everybody testify.”

The Republican staffer told the Washington Times: “Schiff’s M.O., both with the Russia and the Ukraine investigation, is to use some flimsy pretext, the dossier and the whistleblower complaint, to get an initial set of witness names, then use them to get more names and then to get more names. He then runs a sprawling, fishing-expedition-type investigation, hoping if he talks to enough people and gets enough documents, some malfeasance he doesn’t know about will turn up.”

Republicans, who refer to Schiff as a perpetual liar, have called on him to step down as chair of the House Intelligence Committee for uttering what the Republicans say are falsehoods and citing conspiracies that don’t exist.

Free Press International