John Tate Pens Open Letter to RNC Chair Reince Priebus

February 1, 2013

Mr. Reince Priebus

Chairman

Republican National Committee

310 First Street, SE

Washington, DC 20003

Dear Mr. Chairman,

In January, you very correctly stated, “We would be fools not to welcome in the Liberty movement in this Party.” Those of us involved in the Liberty movement who also happen to be Republican activists appreciated and, of course, strongly agreed with this comment.

You now have a prime opportunity to back up your words with action and show liberty-minded grassroots activists that you are committed to this statement.

In a closed-door meeting last night, the outgoing Executive Committee of the Alaska Republican Party disregarded the will of Party members by voting to prevent incoming Party Chairman Russ Millette from taking his seat.

Not only was the meeting moved up a day to deny Russ a vote, but it came on the heels of state GOP officials transferring nearly $35,000 to another account so the incoming Executive Committee would virtually have to start from scratch.

The charges levied against Russ by the Alaska GOP establishment are spurious and a slap in the face to the many excited new Republicans that Russ and his supporters have been bringing into the Party.

This pattern of abuse demonstrates the precise kind of arrogance and disregard for principle that Party members decided to break away from at the ARP annual convention last April, when they duly elected Russ and other grassroots activists to take over Party leadership.

Mr. Chairman, you have the power and the responsibility to ensure these grassroots activists are not railroaded by Party insiders determined to silence their voices and continue on with the status quo.

As you well know, no other group of Americans is as enthusiastic and dedicated to advancing limited government as the Liberty movement.

Yet these actions by the Party in Alaska, along with the shameful proceedings to change the rules at the Republican National Convention and Speaker Boehner’s purge of conservatives from key committee assignments, combine to send a signal that is withering the olive branch you have extended.

I have been a lifelong Republican and come from a family of committed Party members here in Virginia. My Mom was an elected member of the county Board of Supervisors, and my Dad was one of the original members of the county Republican Party. I was a Republican candidate for Congress and have volunteered in Party activities since the age of 6.

But I refuse to sit idly by while thousands and thousands of C4L members and other liberty-minded activists, especially those young people who are getting involved in politics for the first time, are told they do not belong because of their passionate devotion to freedom.

So today, I am calling on you to intervene in Alaska before the State Central Committee meeting on February 9^th by issuing a public letter of support for Russ Millette’s chairmanship and using the full power of the RNC legal team to prevent any further wrongdoing.

If the Alaska GOP persists in their present course of action, I hope you will respond appropriately by publicly informing them you will not recognize their replacement chairman nor their national committeewoman or committeeman and stating that the RNC will neither fund nor in any other way support either the Alaska GOP or any other state GOP that insists on similar behavior.

Thank you for your consideration of these urgent matters. I anticipate your quick and decisive action to resolve these concerns.

In Liberty,

John Tate

President