Source: Politics<\/p>\n
A group closely aligned with former President Donald Trump helped organize a \u201cbootcamp\u201d for GOP congressional staff this past February, training them on how to conduct aggressive oversight of the Biden administration, according to new disclosure forms filed<\/a> with the U.S. House clerk\u2019s office.<\/p>\n The sponsor, the Conservative Partnership Institute<\/a>, counts Trump\u2019s former chief of staff Mark Meadows among its leaders and has been described<\/a> as the \u201cnerve center\u201d for the MAGA movement and MAGA-aligned lawmakers. It was one of three organizations to host the gathering.<\/p>\n The two-day event, which took place on Maryland\u2019s Eastern shore, illustrates how Trump-allied activists are quietly shaping House Republicans\u2019 investigations of the Biden administration right as Trump himself mounts another White House bid. Topics discussed at the bootcamp included tutorials on obtaining records and deposing and interviewing witnesses, according to a flier in the filings.<\/p>\n Among those who briefed the congressional aides was a former Trump administration official, an energy lobbyist<\/a> and a reporter from Epoch Times, a nonprofit media company<\/a> tied to the Falun Gong Chinese spiritual community and known for its conspiratorial<\/a>, pro-Trump views.<\/p>\n Founded in 2017 and chaired by former Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), CPI is a relative newcomer in the Washington conservative advocacy ecosystem. Yet it is raising massive sums \u2014 $45 million in 2021<\/a> alone \u2014 and rapidly gaining influence, particularly with members of the Trump-friendly House Freedom Caucus. Among fellows it lists on its website<\/a> are Cleta Mitchell, one of the key attorneys who tried to help Trump overturn the 2020 election.<\/p>\n The Feb. 15-17 gathering was, according to disclosures, among roughly a dozen congressional staff trainings hosted over the past year at \u201cCamp Rydin,\u201d a 2,200-acre compound recently purchased by CPI<\/a>. Situated in Cambridge, Md., the compound is named after Mike Rydin<\/a>, a recently retired software magnate and advisory council member<\/a> to the conservative group, Turning Point USA.<\/p>\n Other gatherings there have included a congressional researcher bootcamp<\/a> in December and a legislative director retreat<\/a> in October. But experts who track such events say they\u2019ve become more regular and popular among conservative groups like CPI.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not aware of any other group that has held trainings so consistently and for such a wide range of staffers,\u201d said Brendan Fischer, deputy executive director at Documented, a nonpartisan investigative watchdog which tracks such trainings. \u201cIt really demonstrates how CPI is creating and nourishing the next generation of far-right politicos.\u201d<\/p>\n According to an itinerary for the mid-February gathering, staffers were transported to the compound from The Heritage Foundation, a long-standing conservative think tank that also sponsored the event. Once there, they were offered the opportunity to attend 10 different panel discussions<\/a>.<\/p>\n Invitees included, among others,15 staffers to Republican lawmakers who voted to overturn the results <\/a>of the 2020 election, including Reps. Andy Harris<\/a> of Maryland, Scott Perry<\/a> of Pennsylvania and Lance Gooden<\/a> of Texas. The staff, mostly legislative assistants, were invited \u201cbecause their official duties include assisting with oversight matters\u201d on a range of congressional committees, according to a disclosure form <\/a>filed by one of the other three hosts, the American Accountability Foundation. The group is a nonprofit opposition research firm formed in 2021 that\u2019s used \u201cunorthodox\u201d and \u201ccontroversial\u201d tactics to block the Biden agenda, according to Fox News<\/a>.<\/p>\n “AAF is extremely excited to be able to work with Congressional Staff to assist them in their oversight activities in this Congress,\u201d AAF chief Tom Jones, a former opposition research director for Sen. Ted Cruz<\/a>, (R-Texas) said by email. \u201cIt’s a target rich environment for oversight of the Biden Administration and whenever the Administration gets around to complying with Congress’ oversight demands, we’re going to need a cadre of young people to assist the committee’s oversight activities.\u201d<\/p>\n Heritage and CPI did not respond to requests for comment through their press offices.<\/p>\n Such training sessions are permissible under congressional ethics rules unless registered lobbyists are driving the sessions, said Richard Painter, a former ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush administration. \u201cEven if it\u2019s technically legal, it\u2019s very unseemly,\u201d he said of \u201coutside partisan groups hauling staff over to a resort with only Republicans in the room and coaching them on how to get more aggressive.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt really undermines the integrity of any investigations,\u201d said Painter.<\/p>\n Among the speakers at the mid-February retreat was Hubbel Relat, who co-led a panel on how to craft public record requests. A former Trump Interior Department deputy solicitor, Relat was probed by the agency\u2019s inspector general<\/a> over \u201calleged interference\u201d in 2019 for involvement in withholding hundreds of pages of public documents during the confirmation process for the department\u2019s secretary-nominee. During a separate panel titled \u201cOversight Shark Tank,\u201d Art Arthur, a former GOP Judiciary Committee counsel and former Pennsylvania immigration judge, spoke and participants made mock pitches for potential investigations.<\/p>\n Other speakers included Merav Ceren, a senior staff member on the House Oversight Committee; Sean Hayes, the former director of oversight for the Department of Health and Human Services; and Becca Glover, deputy chief of staff to Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin.<\/p>\n The Eastern shore compound \u2014 purchased for more than $7 million<\/a> \u2014 has been a source of interest for Democrats since it was purchased for CPI in early 2022 through an LLC<\/a>. It\u2019s been the site for numerous trainings for congressional staff and is a complement to a larger cluster of properties<\/a> which CPI purchased in the past 14 months in proximity to the U.S. Capitol. In May of last year, Camp Rydin hosted the \u201cEffective Oversight Retreat\u201d for congressional staff in anticipation that Republicans would take control of the U.S. House in November.<\/p>\n During that bootcamp, one 90-minute session<\/a> was led by Scott Gast<\/a> of Compass Legal Services, who served as a Trump representative as the former president was withholding classified documents to the National Archives. Previously a lawyer in the White House counsel\u2019s office, Gast was among a handful of representatives listed on correspondence <\/a>between the Archives and Trump\u2019s legal team. Compass Legal was also performing services for Trump\u2019s leadership PAC, Save America PAC, at the time of the retreat, according to a filing listing a $15,000 payment<\/a>.<\/p>\n Democrats have long argued that the congressional Republicans\u2019 oversight agenda is being shaped by a desire to enhance Trump\u2019s political interests. And they have pointed to CPI\u2019s growing influence in the nation\u2019s capital as evidence of it.<\/p>\n \u201cCPI says they\u2019re in DC to drain the swamp, but from here it looks more like a hostile takeover,\u201d said Kyle Herrig, executive director of the Congressional Integrity Project, which is serving as a hub<\/a> for Democrats responding to GOP investigations.<\/p>\n \u201cThe same people who worked to overturn the 2020 election now want to push more conspiracy-laden investigations on Capitol Hill and quiet the voices of hardworking, ordinary Americans,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Located blocks from the U.S. Capitol, CPI \u201cis creating the MAGA-oriented <\/a>political infrastructure that the Trump administration lacked,\u201d according to Documented. Among its core programs, according to its most recent annual report<\/a>, is \u201crecommending solid conservative candidates for staff positions.\u201d CPI claimed to be the \u201cgo-to organization\u201d offering \u201cideological vetting\u201d and staffing for congressional offices.<\/p>\n