Jul 20, 2009

Is John Boehner For Hire by the American Conservative Union?

On Friday, a Politico exclusive exposed a practice by the American Conservative Union (ACU) - a group with strong ties to House Minority Leader Eric Cantor and other Congressional Republicans- of demanding big time cash in exchange for their public support. Now, ACU's past praise of Representative John Boehner begs an obvious question: is Boehner for hire by the ACU?

"Considering that the ACU's backing doesn't come for free, their past praise of Representative John Boehner raises questions about what favors Boehner might have given them in exchange for their public support," said Ryan Rudominer, National Press Secretary for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. "ACU's public support begs the question of whether Representative Boehner is engaging in pay-to-play politics of the worst kind. Representative Boehner owes OH-08 voters an explanation."

• On Friday, Politico broke news of a pay-to-play scandal involving the American Conservative Union (ACU) led by Chairman David Keene.
• According to Politico: "The conservative group's remarkable demand - black-and-white proof of the longtime Washington practice known as "pay for play" - was contained in a private letter to FedEx that was provided to POLITICO. [Politico; July 17, 2009].
• In 2008, David Keene praised Lungren in a press release from the American Conservative Union, saying that his signature on a letter opposing assistance for American automakers was "courageous." [ACU Release, 12/16/08; Letter to Bush, 12/15/08]
• The ACU bills itself as "the nation's oldest and largest conservative grassroots lobbying organization" and prominently features House Minority Whip Eric Cantor on its homepage.

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