The Other McCain

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MELTDOWN: Wisconsin GOP Chair’s RNC Bid Destroyed by Stimulus Scandal

Posted on | December 15, 2010 | 11 Comments

Wisconsin Republican Party chairman Reince Priebus was, until tonight, a contender to replace Michael Steele as chairman for the Republican National Committee. But Priebus’s evident involvement in soliciting federal stimulus funds for his law firm’s clients emerged Tuesday as a scandal that will likely destroy whatever chance he had, as Dan Riehl explains at Big Government:

Reince Priebus is currently being touted as a front-runner to replace current RNC Chair Michael Steele. But Priebus’ leading role among a select group of high-powered Wisconsin attorneys targeting clients to assist them in maximizing stimulus dollars, at the same time the anti-stimulus RNC employed him as interim general counsel, raises some troubling questions, not just for Preibus, but for the Republican Party as a whole.

Go read the whole thing, including Dan’s links indicating that Priebus attempted to flush the evidence down the Internet memory hole. In fact, when contacted by Tim Mak of Frum Forum, Priebus denied working on the “Stimulus Legislation Team” at his Milwaukee firm, Michael Best & Friedrich LLP — but Mak produces abundant evidence contradicting that denial.

In a year when the Tea Party movement has made opposition to the Obama administration’s stimulus spending a key issue for Republicans, Priebus would obviously be hurt by this revelation. But the apparent effort to to hide the contradictory online evidence raises even more serious issues.

Exactly how this story was made public the same day both by a conservative like Dan Riehl and by the “centrist” GOP site Frum Forum . . . well, I don’t know the answer to that question. At a minimum, we can conclude that some Republicans aren’t members of the Reince Priebus Fan Club.

UPDATE: “I Did Not Have Sex With That Stimulus Package.”

Man, that’s cold. Maybe you see why I always say I’d never want Dan Reihl mad at me. Maybe you don’t want Dan as your friend, but you sure don’t want him to be your enemy. He’s from Jersey, you know.

UPDATE II: Now a Memeorandum thread.

UPDATE III: “Is it just me, or does ‘Reince Priebus’ sound like a character in the Star Wars prequels?“

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Category: Dan Riehl, Michael Steele, Republicans, Wisconsin

Comments

  • Pingback: Spartanburg Tea Party | Wisconsin GOP Chair’s RNC Bid Destroyed by Stimulus Scandal

  • Attorney

    I don’t know Priebus from Adam or anything about his political views, but this is beyond stupid. All the web pages and documents cited are generated by the firm’s marketing department. Any partner whose clients would be remotely in a position to benefit from stimulus money would automatically be placed on the Stimulus Package committee, probably without being asked or even informed. That’s how the firm generates business.

    Priebus appears to be a construction litigator. He would not handle stimulus work. At most if the firm helped one of his clients he may have opened the file as the originating attorney, then passed it off to the government contracts group.

    This is a non-issue.

  • Pingback: The American Spectator : AmSpecBlog : Who Torpedoed Steele's RNC Rival Reince Priebus

  • Anonymous

    Don’t they call that a conflict of interest?

  • Anonymous

    Don’t they call that a conflict of interest?

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1385852725 Richard Mcenroe

    All the dumb bastard had to do was tell the truth. Hell, it could have been a strength: “This is what you have to do to do business in Barack Obama’s America! I know this because this is what my clients were forced to do to survive!”

    But nope…

  • Robbyahm

    Hey Stacy, how about Ann Wagner I just emailed my local Ala. GOP organization about endorsing her.
    A successful Business woman, US ambassador to Luxembourg, and former Missouri GOP chairwoman. She delivered Missouri’s electoral college votes not once but twice to GWB and helped Roy Blunt to a landslide victory. Not bad of a resume.
    Im pretty sure she’s more conservative than Steele, Priebus and/or Maria Cino combined (and thats saying something).

  • Rkeberlein

    It appears that someone doesn’t want Priebus to become the Chair. Looks like politcs as usual. Great article. If you get a chance check out my blog at: http://kenoshacountyteaparty.wordpress.com/

  • http://twitter.com/Keberlein Randy Keberlein

    Priebus dead in the water in GOP Chair Race? Checkout this article.

  • Pingback: Reince ‘Shovel Ready’ Priebus and his Supporters Still Digging Holes | Conservatives for America

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