Author: pyeager

Brant Clifton at The Daily Haymaker

Hasan Harnett’s lynch mob has been using alleged “hacking” and alleged fundraising incompetence as their motivation for ending the current state party chairman’s reign early.  Apparently, from today’s Wall Street Journal, the mob is backing off the hacking B.S. and is running with the fundraising incompetence angle.

We decided to do some digging to see how well this fundraising incompetence allegation stands up — or doesn’t.  If you troll on over to the FEC database, you can find month-by-month filings from the NC GOP going back YEARS.

To be fair, we compared Harnett against three previous chairmen for the first nine months of their chairmanships.   Linda Daves was elected to a full term as chairman in June 2007.  According to FEC records — from July 1 2007 to March 1 2008 —  the NCGOP had receipts totaling $753,044.80.

Robin Hayes served from June 2011 to June 2013. According to FEC filings — from July 2011 to March 1 2012 — the NCGOP had receipts totaling $595,588.31.

Claude Pope served as NCGOP chairman from June 2013 to June 2015.  According to the party’s FEC filings – from July 1 2013 to March 1 2014 – the NCGOP had receipts totaling $791,161.07.  

Hasan Harnett was elected chairman in June 2015.  He’s been locked out of the headquarters building, his party email, and party fundraising databases on-and-off since that time. He’s also had to deal with the rise of affiliated committees and donors being told to sit on their hands.  According to FEC filings — from July 1 2015 to March 1 2016 – the NCGOP had receipts totaling $658,783.67.

So, let’s recap.  The allegedly incompetent NCGOP chairman has presided over a party that has taken in more than it did under Robin Hayes during the same time period, and is not far off from the marks set by Linda Daves and Claude Pope.  I don’t remember anyone in authority calling for Robin Hayes’s head over “fundraising incompetence.”

Also, of note — Pope took a six-figure salary. (Also, to my knowledge, Neither Hayes, Pope, nor Daves were harassed daily by people who are supposed to be their teammates nor locked out of the office, email, or files.  Pope, Hayes, and Daves also didn’t have to deal with funds being diverted to affiliated committees and super PACs.)    Harnett is not taking a salary.

NCGOP $$$ intake under Harnett beats Hayes (not far from Daves, Pope)

Brant Clifton at The Daily Haymaker

Jim Womack is a widely-respected Republican leader.  He’s a military veteran, and has been a Lee County commissioner and an appointee in the McCrory administration.  He serves on the state GOP executive committee and is a member of the party’s resolutions committee.

In an email to his county party chairman and county executive committee, Womack minced no words in discussing the turmoil surrounding the state central committee and state party chairman Hasan Harnett:

[…] I keep hearing that all then dirty little details about Hasan’s actions will be forthcoming from the state GOP, but after a week or more nothing has been provided. This note and powerpoint from Hasan are pretty damning towards the Central Committee. I will again make a call for the resignation of everyone involved in Hasan’s email being cut off at our district convention, and at the next state meeting or convention. In fact, I will be drafting a resolution demanding those resignations to present on the floor at the state convention. It is high time the Central Committee took a hard look at their over-reach and in failing to meet the will of the Executive Committee.

Hasan was duly elected by the rank and file. It is completely inappropriate and a slap in the face to the state GOP for this underhanded and non-transparent behavior to have taken place. Woodhouse needs to go, right along with anyone who had a role in any false allegations against Hasan and in his email being shut down without his consent.[…]

Here’s the powerpointWomack references in his note.

For what it’s worth, it’s good to see a grownup trying to provide some leadership in this situation.  Where the heck are the governor, lieutenant governor, and US senators — the top of the GOP ticket in November? 

Some may dismiss all of this as too inside-baseball.  But the candidates need to be aware that this nonsense at the state party is leaving a bad taste in the mouths of a whole lot of folks they’re going to need to put out their campaign signs, canvass door-to-door, and work the polls for November. 

Updated March 27, 2016 8:48 p.m. ET

RALEIGH, N. C.—An outsider who was elected chairman of North Carolina’s Republican Party against the wishes of its leaders is in a feud with party brass—a fight that mirrors tensions in the national GOP and is hampering party activity in this swing state during an election year.

Chairman Hasan Harnett was barred from party headquarters in Raleigh last week and cut off from GOP email and other accounts after pushing to reduce the cost of a ticket to the party’s May 6-7 convention to zero from $90.

Mr. Harnett, the state party’s first black chairman, said the convention fee amounts to a “poll tax,” and that he was trying to fulfill his campaign promise to make party involvement more attractive. “This is a fight for the movement that’s going on all over this nation,” he said. “People are sick and tired of being bullied by the small few who control everything.”

The North Carolina GOP’s central committee censured Mr. Harnett on March 20, citing eight “gross violations” of party rules, including advertising unauthorized fees for the convention, and wasting staff and volunteer time. The committee is circulating a petition that is a procedural step toward Mr. Harnett’s removal.

“His actions have effectively frozen the party,” said Matthew Arnold, GOP chairman of the 4th congressional district in central North Carolina, who voted to censure Mr. Harnett.

Mr. Arnold said he voted for Mr. Harnett for chairman last June over a better-known candidate endorsed by Gov. Pat McCrory and U.S. Sens. Richard Burr and Thom Tillis. Since then, he said, “it’s been one disappointment after another.”

Party leaders say Mr. Harnett, a motivational speaker and a former Democrat, has failed in the traditional chief duty of the chairman—to raise money. On his own, Mr. Harnett raised $37,000, which they say covers roughly one month of the party’s operating budget and nowhere near the costs of holding a convention or mounting a unified campaign in presidential, gubernatorial and U.S. Senate races in November.

Mr. Harnett said he raised considerably more than $37,000, if contributions raised by staff members are included. He said he has been given little autonomy and scant access to resources like party records, which set him up to fail.

It isn’t clear that the move to oust Mr. Harnett will succeed, as it will require a series of votes among hundreds of party leaders over the next month, Mr. Arnold said.

“Things are always a gamble,” Mr. Arnold said. “But we want to make sure people understand where we are.”

Mr. Harnett said he wouldn’t go quietly, even though he knows the fight is ugly. “Who likes to see Republicans eat their own?” he said.

The tension in North Carolina between the party’s establishment and grass-roots activists mirrors a dynamic at the national level that has propelled businessman Donald Trump and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz to the top of the GOP primary heap ahead of more mainstream candidates, said Michael Bitzer, a political scientist at Catawba College in Salisbury, N.C.

The fight matters, Mr. Bitzer said, since North Carolina is a Republican-leaning swing state that was carried by two points by Mitt Romney in 2012 and by less than one point by then-Sen. Barack Obama in 2008. “If Republicans don’t win North Carolina, how does the Republican ticket win the White House?” he said. “If you’re facing a competitive environment, public spats are not what you want,” he said.

Party leaders are hoping to force Mr. Harnett out before May’s state convention, which has outsize significance this year because of the selection of delegates to this summer’s national GOP convention in Cleveland. Mr. Trump won the largest number of delegates in North Carolina’s primary in March, with Mr. Cruz coming in second. It is possible that delegates to the national convention could ultimately choose the nominee if Mr. Trump, the front-runner, fails to win enough delegates to clinch the nomination outright.

Some North Carolina GOP leaders say they had to censure Mr. Harnett now to avoid confusion over the way the state convention is run. If the process of selecting delegates for the national convention is compromised, they say, the legitimacy of the state’s delegation could be challenged.

A party spokesman, Scott Cumbie, said Sunday that the censure was the result of performance issues, and not related to the timing of the convention.

Mr. Harnett cites the importance of the national convention as one reason he is fighting to stay. The North Carolina GOP needs to send delegates who will stay loyal to Messrs. Trump and Cruz in the event of a contested convention where other names could emerge, he said. If the state convention is dominated by the traditional wing of the party, voters who chose Messrs. Trump and Cruz could “be disenfranchised by people who represent something totally different,” he said.

Many Republicans see the party infighting as an esoteric issue, and say the rank-and-file members are clearly enthusiastic about November based on the record primary turnout. Allies of Messrs. McCrory and Burr say the race is a distraction, but not a hindrance.

“We have no concerns about the party’s ability to work through its current issues and still be in place to play a major role in supporting all the party’s nominees,” said Chris LaCivita, chief strategist for Mr. McCrory.

Harnett allies say traditional GOP leaders in North Carolina are tone-deaf. “The grass-roots, Tea Party conservatives in the state are really, really angry,” said Eric Haynes of Clayton, N.C. “I feel like they don’t want us in the Republican Party.”

Write to Valerie Bauerlein at valerie.bauerlein@wsj.com

http://www.wsj.com/articles/republican-party-rift-in-north-carolina-mirrors-feud-at-national-level-1459111188

Note:  This is a post from the Webmaster, not Chairman Harnett

In the recent censure of the duly elected Chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party, did the Central Committee follow the rules?

You decide.

This discussion will examine the applicable rules in light of the NCGOP Central Committee’s “No Confidence, Censure and Restriction of NCGOP Chairman” document released on March 20, 2016.  The first paragraph of that document states:

The North Carolina Republican Party (NCGOP) Central Committee, in its duties to oversee the day to day management of the Party and to protect the Party’s integrity, passed a formal resolution of no confidence in NCGOP Chairman Hasan Harnett.

Let’s examine the relevant rules.

NCGOP Plan of Organization (PoO)

The Plan of Organization or PoO is NCGOP’s constitution and bylaws, setting forth in black and white how that Party’s business is to be conducted.  A new plan (which might be just like the old plan) is adopted each year at the State Convention.  In evaluating this controversy, it is a useful reference.

When reviewing the PoO for sections relevant to this issue, we first encounter paragraph 5.b on page 21, which says:

b. Procedure for removal of any Member or Officer is defined in Article VII A.7 The decision of the State Executive Committee shall be final.

Now the astute reader will notice that the above paragraph refers to the State Executive Committee, not the Central Committee.  Keep in mind that there has been no request or recommendation from the Executive Committee on this matter.  It is also relevant that the PoO defines the Executive Committee, not the Central Committee as having:

supreme management of all affairs of the Party within the State.  It may delegate such duties as it deems proper
to the State Central Committee.

(Section 2 – Powers and Duties of Committee, page 19)

Was the action of censuring the Chairman delegated to the Central Committee?

The reader may also note that the citation refers to removal rather than censure.  The PoO mentions no procedure for censure.  Hold that thought, as we’ll discuss situations not explicitly covered by the PoO in a moment.

So, what does Article VII A.7 say?  It’s on page 24.  The relevant paragraph a.1 says:

a. Any Member of a Committee organized under this Plan may be removed either:

1. By a 2/3’s vote of the respective Committee after being furnished with notice of the charges against him, signed by the lesser of (i) 50 Members or (i) one-third of the Members of the respective Committee. Any Republican against whom charges are brought shall be furnished with 2 weeks notice of
said charges and be given an opportunity to present a defense. Removal by a vote of the respective Committee shall be confined to gross inefficiency, Party disloyalty (as defined herein) or failure to comply with the County, District, or State Party Plans of Organization.

Does the procedure defined above apply to removal of the chairman?  The author finds that unclear.  If it is assumed to apply, then we must ask:

• Was a notice of charges against the Chairman served?
• If so, was such notice served with 2 weeks notice?
• Did the charges therein fit those specified above?
• Was the Chairman given an opportunity to present a defense?

If the answer to any of the above questions is “no”, then the actions of the Central Committee were not compliant with the PoO.

The author finds the above citations to be the ones most relevant to the issue.  There is no language specific to censure of the Chairman, or anyone else for that matter.

So, if there are no provision of the PoO that specifically apply, what do we do?  Fortunately, the Plan of Organization spells that out for us.  Paragraph VII.C.2 on page 30 says:

2. Parliamentary Authority
The current edition of Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised shall govern all proceedings, except when inconsistent with this State Plan of Organization or Convention Rules properly adopted.

Note that the above citation says “all proceedings”.  As it does not say “convention proceedings” or “county executive committee meetings”, it clearly applies to all proceedings, which would include those of the Central Committee.

Which brings us to…

Robert’s Rules of Order

Robert’s Rules of Order is the short title of a book, written by Henry Martyn Robert, that is intended to be a guide for conducting meetings and making decisions as a group.

Originally published in 1876, it has been revised regularly through the years, including two major revisions, by Robert and his successors based on feedback from users. The most recent version is the 11th Edition published in 2011 under the name Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised (abbreviated RONR).

As stated in the PoO citation above, Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised shall govern all proceedings.  So, what do Robert’s Rules say about the current controversy?

In the third paragraph of section 75, we find the following:

In either case, the committee investigates the matter and reports to the society. This report need not go into details, but should contain its recommendations as to what action the society should take, and should usually close with resolutions covering the case, so that there is no need for any one to offer any additional resolutions upon it. The ordinary resolutions, where the member is recommended to be expelled, are (1) to fix the time to which the society shall adjourn; and (2) to instruct the clerk to cite the member to appear before the society at this adjourned meeting to show cause why he should not be expelled, upon the following charges which should then be given.

and in the fifth paragraph:

The clerk should send the accused a written notice to appear before the society at the time appointed, and should at the same time furnish him with a copy of the charges. A failure to obey the summons is generally cause enough for summary expulsion.

Was the Chairman given such notice?

Was the Chairman given an opportunity to show cause?

If the answer to either question above is “no”, then the Central Committee did not comply with Robert’s Rules of Order, as required by the PoO as cited earlier.

Edit 03/26/2016 1:20 PM EDT:

Robert’s Rules also states:

A deliberative assembly has the inherent right to make and enforce its own laws and punish an offender, the extreme penalty, however, being expulsion from its own body. When expelled, if the assembly is a permanent society, it has the right, for its own protection, to give public notice that the person has ceased to be a member of that society.

But it has no right to go beyond what is necessary for self-protection and publish the charges against the member. In a case where a member of a society was expelled, and an officer of the society published, by its order, a statement of the grave charges upon which he had been found guilty, the expelled member recovered damages from the officer in a suit for libel, the court holding that the truth of the charges did not affect the case.

Clearly, someone present at the Central Committee meeting, if not the Committee itself, made the decision to “go beyond what is necessary for self-protection and publish the charges against the member”, contrary to Robert’s Rules.

(end edit)

Which brings us back to the original question:

Did the North Carolina Republican Party Central Committee follow the rules in its censure of Chairman Hasan Harnett?

You decide.

Note:  This is a post from the Webmaster, not Chairman Harnett

Did Scott Cumbie come right out and say “you don’t matter”?  No, he did not.

However, in his haste to malign Chairman Harnett, he might have inadvertently let a but too much truth seep out.  In a recent Facebook Note titled “A Resolution of No Confidence”, Cumbie said the following:

In making his case against Chairman Harnett, he likens the NCGOP Organization to a corporation, and describes the organization as follows:

In summary, if you were to compare the NCGOP organization to a corporation, this would be a rough comparison:
Executive Committee (EC) – Shareholders
Central Committee (CC) – Board of Directors
Chairman – Chairman of the Board
Vice-Chairman – Vice Chairman of the Board
Executive Director (ExDir) – President
Plan of Organization (PoO) – Constitution and By-Laws

Can the reader see what is missing from this?

THE MEMBERSHIP!

It would appear that in Cumbie’s view, (having been designated as “shareholders”) the Executive Committee “owns” NCGOP!

I don’t see how else to read it.  At best, Mr. Cumbie is misinformed regarding corporate structure.  At worst, he confirms what many of us “little people” out here in the grass roots feel – we don’t matter.

Furthermore, the astuste reader will note that Mr. Cumbie places the Central Committee above the Executive Committee.  This is contrary to the Plan of Organization, which says:

The Committee shall formulate and provide for the execution of such plans and measures as it may deem conducive to the best interests of the Republican Party. It shall approve an Auditing Committee of at least 3 Members, 1 of who shall be a Certified Public Accountant, to conduct a yearly review, as described in Article VI, Section E; adopt a budget; and have supreme management of all affairs of the Party within the State. (speaking of Executive Committee on page 19, emphasis by author)

and

It may delegate such duties as it deems proper to the State Central Committee. (ibid)

Clearly, the Plan of Organization doesn’t agree with Mr. Cumbie’s model.

You can find Cumbie’s entire missive here.

From Brant Clifton at The Daily Haymaker:

I actually got an email today from someone (1) attacking me for NOT covering the ”internal lunacy” at NCGOP, and (2) wondering where The Haymaker’s coverage has been on all of this.  Seriously. 

Well, we were the first and – I think — only media source to tell you about the gathering of the lynch mob on Palm Sunday.    The conspirators leaked a crazy story to state-run media about Hasan “The Hacker”.   They couldn’t possibly move forward with that crazy story, could they?  Well, they DID:

From: North Carolina Republican Party
To: Interested Parties
Date: 3/20/16
RE: No Confidence, Censure and Restriction of NCGOP Chairman

_____________________________________________________________

The North Carolina Republican Party (NCGOP) Central Committee, in its duties to oversee the day to day management of the Party and to protect the Party’s integrity, passed a formal resolution of no confidence in NCGOP Chairman Hasan Harnett. Further, the Central Committee censured him forrecent actions and placed severe emergency restrictions on his duties, pending a full review of charges of gross inefficiency by the NCGOP Executive Committee.

The Central Committee expressed extreme concerns about Mr. Harnett’s actions to change prices to the upcoming convention without regard to the financial health of the party, which according to the Central Committee, has suffered greatly under Mr. Harnett’s tenure because he has fallen well short of his own fundraising goals and promises.

Harnett was censured for actions deemed harmful to the North Carolina Republican Party including making false and malicious statements about other Republicans and staff.

In adopting A Resolution of No Confidence, Censure and Restriction, the committee reviewed what it believes to be gross violations of the Party’s rules (Plan of Organization), including the following:

1. The refusal to timely authorize the staff to send an official Call to the NCGOP Convention even after assuring NCGOP General Counsel he would do so, thereby requiring a duplication of the notice, a “gross inefficiency.”
2. The usurpation of the power vested in the Central Committee of the NCGOP by unilaterally announcing an unapproved fee structure for the 2016 NCGOP Convention causing great confusion and consternation among delegates concerning the price of the convention.
3. The sending of a Call to Convention to various Republicans, including to some members of the NCGOP Executive Committee, that stated fees at variance with the action of the Central and Executive Committees of the NCGOP, which undermined the authority of these Committees and created confusion among delegates to the 2016 NCGOP Convention.
4. The wasting of staff and volunteer time by prolonged inaction and unilateral action at variance with the Plan of Organization of the NCGOP and in opposition to the decisions of the Executive and Central Committees of the NCGOP.
5. The posting or allowing to be posted on public blogs articles regarding the internal affairs of the NCGOP in a way that discredits the NCGOP and misrepresents facts and the NCGOP Plan of Organization.
6. The scheduling for hearing of Petitions before the Executive Committee to remove the Party leaders without following the clear process outlined in the NCGOP Plan or Organization. The Petitions were never properly vetted to determine that they could be placed on an agenda.
7. The taking of action which caused concern and expense regarding the security of the NCGOP computer systems and fundraising apparatus. These actions are not only “gross inefficiency,” but also have very serious implications.
8. The unilateral taking of personnel actions not delegated to the Chairman under the Plan of Organization. The creation of an uncertain and disrespectful environment which resulted in the loss of staff and morale.

The Central Committee passed this resolution with overwhelming support with only two members in opposition.

— end memo —

Has pettiness ever been so blatant and in-your-face?  (Probably not since junior high.) 

I know.  “Central Committee” harkens back to a similarly named body in the Soviet Communist Party.  What THIS group did to Hasan Harnett harkens back to the kangaroo court trials that were so common in the Soviet era. 

What is this really all about?  You know, there is always an ulterior motive to everything done by political types in the big city of Raleigh.

Let’s take the lynch mob’s numbered points one-by-one:

1.  The story I got about the convention call was that Dallas Woodhouse — as per SOP — refused to comply with the chairman’s directives, so the chairman went forward with it himself.
2.  I spoke to one NCGOP muckety-muck who has been part of the anti-Hasan cabal.  His brain was stuck on the whole lowering-of-the-convention-fees thing.  “If he lowers the fees, more people will come!” this imbecile sputtered to me. Really?  Isn’t that what we’re told the GOP wants?  No, not this group.  They’ve been Republicans since the days when the NC House GOP caucus wastwo-members strong and the GOP’s congressional representation was restricted to Greensboro and Charlotte. They’ve been the go-to people for the RNC and the presidential campaigns for decades.  They are NOT interested in giving that up to this grassroots rabble trying to breach the fortress walls and “make changes.”
3. See my take on #2.
4. “The wasting of time” ???? Seriously?   If we’re punishing people for THAT, then the casualty list will pile up and include many past convention leaders and inhabitants of the legislative complex.  Give me a freakin’ break. 
5. Posting or allowing the posting of stuff about the internal affairs of the NCGOP?  I guess that stuff you guys leaked to state-run mediadoesn’t count, huh? 
6. THIS is about the efforts to remove David Lewis and Dallas Woodhouse from their positions.  Lewis has backed ObamaCare and solar subsidies — in direct violation of the party platform.  And he is our rep to the national party.  He’s also facing allegations he took money from folks with direct interest in legislation passing through his committee.  *And here we are in a huff about what Hasan has said on Facebook.*   Dallas had the notorious TV interview where he appeared to be under the influence of adult beverages.  Go ahead.  Google “Dallas Woodhouse drunk” and see what you get.)   He failed to live up to fundraising promises made during his job interview.  He has been the subject of questions regarding his stewardship of Carolina Rising, and got caught telling bald-faced lies about a TV reporter who had the gumption to tell the truth on Tim Moore.  *And we’re worried about Hasan on Facebook.*
7. See #1. This was really about more of the same described there.
8. The chairman creating a “disrespectful environment”?  How can someone function when they get hired as boss, but are saddled with employees who can, with impunity, go over the boss’s head and tell said boss to POUND SAND?  

Overshadowing this is some complaining about Harnett not meeting fundraising goals — after only NINE MONTHS.  Well, the legislature created those affiliated committees which take “donations” without involving the party.

Insiders tell me that Robin Hayes and Claude Pope regularly had to go to big donors to get help paying the light bills at HQ and meeting payroll. I am told the last decent fundraiser to hold the job was Tom Fetzer.

And the fundraising Dallas Woodhouse is credited with?  It had more to dowith a half dozen legislators taking money out of the party account a few months after Harnett was elected, and returning it a few months into Dallas’s term as executive director.

Here is the list of the lynch mob members.   There are more grounds to fire THEM and Dallas Woodhouse than there are against Hasan Harnett.  (Watch out vice-chairman Nix.  You’re next.) 

I stopped giving a flip about the GOP a looooooooong time ago.  I am all about freedom from government tyranny and the preservation of what is so good about this state and this country. If you still care about the NCGOP,  you need to storm the barricades and get rid of all of these lowlifes.  These parasites are aiding and abetting the corruption and bureaucratic over-step that are  making it harder and harder to make a living and raise a family in this great state and country.

I don’t know Hasan Harnett. He seems like a pretty good guy.  He may not have been the perfect choice for the job.  But the establishment, who backed his opponent Craig Collins, has had the long knives out since the last votes were counted in June.  Hasan was elected by the people. And he doesn’t deserve the harassment he’s been subjected to since Day One. 

View the original article here.

(from The Daily Haymaker)
It appears that several members of the NCGOP Central Committee and various other muckety-mucks got together for a group text session:

The content of the text screenshots we received indicate that executive director Dallas Woodhouse is much more than an innocent bystander in the whole effort to fire party chairman Hasan Harnett:

I did too.  It’s pretty accurate.  It looks like Dallas’s co-conspirator, 9th district GOP chairman John Steward, is being manhandled by auto-correct.  “Dance” — I am going to wager — should be “Dallas.” “State” — I think — should be “date”.  Or perhaps Steward could be functionally illiterate.  (I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt.) 

Read more here