Free Republic

EXCLUSIVE: The head of the Republican Study Committee (RSC) has called on Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to launch an investigation into whether Russia secretly funded U.S. green groups that advocate against domestic oil and gas production. Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., led a letter to Yellen Friday that cites a 2015 Washington Free Beacon report that suggested the California-based Sea Change Foundation may allegedly be a conduit for Russian oil interests in funneling money to groups like the League of Conservation Voters (LCV), the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the Sierra Club and the Center for American Progress.

Liberty Daily posted a Climate Depot article about a congressional report in 2018 detailing “Russian attempts to influence” and fund environmental groups to oppose fracking in Europe and the U.S. The reason is obvious since Russia relies on oil and gas exports for its very survival. There is more to this story. George Soros gives to the same groups surreptitiously. We reported this in 2018 after The Daily Signal summarized the involvement of Russia and George Soros, who now has operatives employed in the White House. Russia funneled money to a corporation that funds radical environmental groups that are vehemently...

The Environmental Protection Agency has asked the Justice Department to investigate allegations that U.S. environmental groups have received covert funding from China and Russia. EPA administrator Andrew Wheeler made the request after Rep. Lance Gooden (R., Texas) alleged that left-wing environmental groups—including the Sea Change Foundation, Sunrise Movement, and Sierra Club—have functioned as conduits for "foreign influence, financial involvement, and election interference." Wheeler noted that it is not against the law for a nonprofit to take contributions from foreign entities but nonetheless asked the DOJ to look into whether the groups should register as foreign agents. "Given heightened concerns that...

House lawmakers want the Trump administration to investigate reports that a wealthy foundation used an offshore shell company to give millions of dollars to environmental activists opposed to U.S. energy development. “If you connect the dots, it is clear that Russia is funding U.S. environmental groups in an effort to suppress our domestic oil and gas industry, specifically hydraulic fracking,” Texas Republican Rep. Lamar Smith said Friday. Smith and Texas Republican Rep. Randy Weber asked Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin to investigate whether or not environmentalists were funneling money to U.S. environmental groups through a Bermuda-based shell company. Republicans are pitching...

A conservative outside group whose efforts Sen. Ted Cruz backed has called for defunding the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Cruz, an NRSC vice chairman and Texas Republican, has not rebuked the effort. This weekend, Senate Conservatives Fund launched a campaign calling on conservatives to pledge not to give any money to the NRSC in the aftermath of last week’s runoff in the Mississippi Senate race. As is typical, the NRSC backed Republican Sen. Thad Cochran, while the SCF and other outside groups backed his failed challenger, state Sen. Chris McDaniel. “The Senate Republican establishment betrayed the grassroots and recruited Democrats...

Fellow Conservatives: We have very exciting news to share with you. Not only did the grassroots in Virginia score a major victory for freedom last night by defeating House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in the Republican primary, but one of Virginia's strongest grassroots conservatives is joining our team. Starting today, Ken Cuccinelli, the former Attorney General of Virginia, will serve as the president of the Senate Conservatives Fund! If you don’t know Ken, he’s a principled fighter who is respected by the grassroots and is passionate about electing the next generation of conservative leaders. Throughout his time in public service,...

Matt Hoskins, the executive director of the Senate Conservatives Fund, announces in an email this morning that SCF is endorseing Joni Ernst in her race for Iowa's open U.S. Senate seat: Joni Ernst is a state senator and a Lt. Colonel in the Iowa Army National Guard. She's also a wife, a mom to three daughters, and a grandmother to six grandchildren. As a state senator, Joni Ernst has worked to limit government and promote economic growth. She helped pass the largest tax cut in the history of the state, which will return more than $4.4 billion in property tax...

Ann Coulter and TV host Sean Hannity clashed on Wednesday over the tactics being used by some Tea Party lawmakers in Washington. While Hannity commended lawmakers for taking a stand for their principles, Coulter suggested the movement is being hijacked by “con men” who are “tricking Americans to send them money.” Coulter also criticized Tea Party lawmakers who are focusing on “defeating establishment Republicans” instead of Democrats because the party should be united in taking back the Senate in 2014 — regardless of which Republicans get elected to office. The ultimate goal should be to repeal Obamacare, she said. “You...

First conservative icon Thomas Sowell turned on Ted Cruz, now it appears that Ann Coulter is souring on the Texas Republican as well. Sowell published two columns this week slamming Cruz for being self-serving. Coulter praised the first of Sowell’s columns in a tweet Wednesday. Later, in an appearance on Fox News’ “Hannity” Wednesday night, Coulter doubled down on her praise of Sowell’s anti-Cruz column: ”I never push anyone else’s column but mine. Today everyone has got to read Thomas Sowell’s article.” During the “Hannity” segment, Coulter attacked tea party groups for being filled with “shysters” and “conmen,” naming specifically...

Cold cash, together with control of institutions, is what makes the Establishment the Establishment. But in the current Republican civil war, the insurgents have secured their own money pipelines, and they control their own institutions – which means the GOP leadership and its allies in the business lobby have a hard fight in front of them. The firing and hiring of conservative staffer Paul Teller makes it clear that the anti-establishment has built its own establishment. Teller was a House staffer for more than a decade, and was longtime executive director of the conservative Republican Study Committee. The RSC always...

If you have not heard, the National Republican Senatorial Committee has attacked nationally syndicated conservative radio host and best selling author Mark Levin. They publicly attacked Mark Levin because the Jim DeMint created Senate Conservatives Fund (“SCF”) gives out copies of Mark Levin’s book. The NRSC alleges a quid pro quo relationship to help drive up the popularity of Levin’s book. The book was published in 2009 before SCF was a significant force and had already become a best seller before SCF gave out copies. This attack follows the National Republican Senatorial Committee (“NRSC”) attacking conservative businesses and threatening to...

The communications director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) tried to smear conservative talk radio host Mark Levin Thursday by alleging that outside groups spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to make his book a best-seller, which they did not. Levin responded by saying he would hold Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and NRSC Chairman Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) personally responsible for the 'intimidation tactics.'

Conservative talk-radio host Mark Levin is defending himself against charges that he engaged in a quid-pro-quo transaction with the Senate Conservatives Fund, promoting the right-wing group after it spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on his book. Since Sept. 10, SCF has spent $427,000 on copies of Levin's "Liberty and Tyranny," according to Federal Election Committee filings. Those books were given to donors who provided $25 or more to the group. In that time, Levin has frequently promoted the SCF on his show and on his Facebook page. "Senate Conservatives Fund is dedicated to electing true conservatives to the Senate!"...

The leader of the Senate Conservatives Fund has become a controversial figure among Republicans for his willingness to back primary candidates against sitting GOP senators in the name of building a more conservative coalition. Matt Hoskins took over the fundraising operations for the group from former South Carolina GOP Sen. Jim DeMint when he left the Senate in 2012 to head up the conservative Heritage Foundation. Hoskins does most of his business from San Diego County, where he moved a few years ago to be closer to family. . . . . In this year's midterm elections, the Senate Conservatives...

Using a special method of fundraising that permits moving large amounts of funds to a candidate, a federal PAC has collected and forwarded more than $500,000 in earmarked contributions for five conservative Senate and House candidates. The Senate Conservatives Fund, a federal PAC that already gives contributions and makes independent expenditures for federal candidates, has reported collecting and forwarding $541,565 in earmarked contributions since May. During November they reported forwarding $201,460 to candidates. The PAC was founded by former Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., and seeks to elect conservative candidates, but does not support liberal Republicans, and is not affiliated with...

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) defended his condemnation of the Senate Conservatives Fund on Tuesday and stressed that despite his disputes with the organization he remains a fan of the tea party movement at large. “Let me make it clear: I’m a big fan of the tea party movement. It’s been extremely important in helping us regain the House and do well in the Senate in 2010,” McConnell told Fox News’s Neil Cavuto.

Matt Hoskins is the executive director of the Senate Conservatives Fund, an outside group that has made waves with its willingness to endorse against sitting Republican senators. Prior to his work at SCF, Hoskins served as a top aide to then-South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint. Given how much animosity SCF is generating among establishment Republicans, we reached out to Hoskins to chat about the incoming his group is facing, what it means and how he envisions SCF’s role in future elections. Our conversation, conducted via e-mail, is below and has been edited only for grammar. FIX: Mitch McConnell told the...

The National Republican Senatorial Committee is taking an unusually aggressive posture toward one of its conservative antagonists, putting out word that GOP groups shouldn't hire a consulting firm that works with the Senate Conservatives Fund. The New York Times's Jonathan Martin reports: Even more striking, a senior official at the committee called individual Republican Senate campaigns and other party organizations this week and urged them not to hire the firm, Jamestown Associates, in an effort to punish them for working for the Senate Conservatives Fund, a group founded by Jim DeMint, then a South Carolina senator, that is trying to...

For the last year, the left has engaged in an organized campaign to drive Rush Limbaugh off the air. Knowing they cannot go after Rush Limbaugh directly, the left has launched repeated boycotts against any advertisers who dare advertise while Rush Limbaugh is on. Consequently, some advertisers decided to stop advertising at all on political talk radio, depriving the genre as a whole of resources. And it still hasn’t hurt Rush Limbaugh. Mitch McConnell has decided to embrace the same strategy in his war against the Senate Conservatives Fund. He can’t attack the Jim DeMint created Senate Conservatives Fund outright,...

The National Republican Senatorial Committee is punishing a Republican advertising firm for its work with the Senate Conservatives Fund, a conservative group that has fostered controversy within the Republican Party by challenging some GOP incumbents. The firm Jamestown Associates has worked for the SCF on many of its attack ads — and will no longer receive business from the NRSC as a result, the committee confirmed Friday. The move marks the opening salvo in a power struggle that has been brewing behind the scenes between the national Republican establishment and the SCF, which was founded by then-Sen. Jim DeMint of...