CNP Thread

The Council for National Policy (to which Kellyanne, Bannon, the DeVos family, the Mercers, Pence, Ken Blackwell, and two men whose families funded the largest voting machine vendor in the U.S.) has set a deadline of 2020 for restoring “religion and economic freedom and Judeo-Christian values” under the Constitution. . Dec 27, 2017 By Jennifer S. Cohn December 27, 2017 Citations updated July 20, 2018

2. “The Council for National Policy (CNP), is an umbrella organization and networking group for social [anti-abortion, anti-gay] conservative activists in the United States. … Nation magazine has called it a secretive organization that ‘networks wealthy right-wing donors together with top conservative operatives to plan long-term movement strategy.’” Washington Times 

3. The New York Times has called the CNP “a little known club of a few hundred of the most powerful conservatives in the country…”

THE 2004 CAMPAIGN: THE CONSERVATIVES; Club of the Most Powerful Gathers in Strictest Privacy NY Times By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK 

4. In 1981, the CNP’s first executive director told Newsweek that “One day before the end of this century, the Council will be so influential that no president, regardless of party of philosophy, will be able to ignore us or our concerns or shut us out of the highest levels of government.” via @ReaderAdrift How Dominionists Gained Control Of The Trump Campaign HuffPost Jonathon Goodman 09/01/2016 Updated September 02, 2016

5. In recent years, the CNP has kept its member lists confidential. But the Southern Poverty Law Center obtained and published one from 2014. Here is a link to the directory.  KellyAnne appears in the 2014 directory, which says that her interests include “campaign election technology.” Bannon is in the CNP directory as well. So is Wayne LaPierre of the National Rifle Association.

Presidents of the CNP

The 2014 directory shows that the Hon. Rich DeVos has been president of the CNP two times.-Becky Norton Donlop 2007-11, T. Kenneth Cribb, Jr., Donald Paul Hotel 2002-4, James C. Miller III 1998-2002, Foster Friess 1997-98, Edwin Meese III 1993-97,  Rich DeVos 1986-88, 1990-93, Judge Paul Pressier 1988-1990, Rev. Pat Robertson 1985-86, Sam Moore 1984-85, Nelson Bunker Hunt 19183-84, Tom Ellis 1982-83, Rev. Tim LaHay 1981-1982

10. Pence recently confirmed that he too is in the CNP. Pence — Constituents never forget, Governor: A Continuing Compendium Archie Strauss May 19, 2017

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11. The New Yorker says the Mercers are also in the CNP. The Reclusive Hedge-Fund Tycoon Behind the Trump Presidency How Robert Mercer exploited America’s populist insurgency. The New Yorker March 27, 2017 By Jane Mayer.   

12. The 2014 directory does not include the Koch Brothers. But according to the Huffington Post, the “the Kochs’ father, Fred Koch, had been a fundamentalist Christian co-founder of the John Birch Society, whose spin-off in 1981, which was/is the highly secretive fundamentalist Christian theocratic-aristocratic Council for National Policy, awarded his son Charles Koch their “Free Enterprise Award” in 1999.” How the Koch Brothers Orchestrated the Shutdown HuffPost  Eric Zuesse 10/28/2013 Updated January 23, 2014

13. So far, no U.S. President appears to have been a member of the CNP.

14. But “[i]n 1999, candidate George W. Bush spoke before a closed-press CNP session in San Antonio.” Inside the Council for National Policy ABC News By MARC J. AMBINDER May 2, 2002

15. And Bush’s chief political advisor, Karl Rove, made a point of courting one of the CNP’s founders, Paul Weyrich, as early as 2001 (perhaps even earlier). http://savannahnow.com/stories/081201/LOCroveap.shtml

Conservatives Savor Their Role As Insiders at the White House NY Times By ROBIN TONER [Grover Norquist’s Americans For Tax Reform & politicians:  “A good snapshot of this relationship comes every Wednesday, at 10 a.m., when Mr. Norquist convenes ”the Wednesday meeting” — an invitation-only gathering of more than 100 representatives from social, religious and economic groups in the conservative movement, as well as business and trade associations, Republican Congressional leadership offices and the major research groups on the right. These meetings, which began in 1993 to try to stop the Clinton health care initiative, are often focused these days on advancing the Bush agenda. The Bush administration has had at least one representative at every meeting.”]

16. The CNP’s 2014 vision statement lays out its goal: “A united conservative movement to assure, by 2020, policy leadership and governance that restores religious and economic freedom, a strong national defense, and Judeo-Christian values under the Constitution.”

The Council for National Policy: Behind the Curtain The Council for National Policy, a highly secretive group, is a key venue where mainstream conservatives and extremists mix. SPLCenter

17. The CNP was founded in 1981 by “at least five fathers,” including “Christian activist Paul Weyrich,” billionaire Nelson Bunker Hunt, the Rev. Tim LaHaye (then head of the Moral Majority), “businessman and one-time murder suspect T. Cullen Davis,” and “wealthy John Bircher William Cies.” ABC News

Paul Weyrich, religious conservative and ex-president of Heritage Foundation, dies at 66 LA Times BY ELAINE WOO Demeber 19, 2008 [Weyrich founded the Moral Majority, the Heritage Foundation, and the Free Congress Foundation] [CNP founder Weyrich co-founded ALEC SPLCenter]

19. Weyrich coined the term “Moral Majority” and is considered by many to be the “Father of the Modern Conservative Movement.”

A Father of Modern Conservative Movement Washington Post By Patricia Sullivan December 19, 2008

20. Here is an infamous 1980 video of Paul Weyrich where he says “I don’t want everybody to vote.” YouTube 

21. Here is a Paul Weyrich article where he calls for a Constitutional Convention to re-write the U.S. Constitution.

Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing A Conservative’s Lament Sweet Liberty By: Paul M. Weyrich The Washington Post Sunday, March 8, 1987

     The following article by Paul Weyrich — his unabashed yearning for a Parliamentary form of government for America — will not come as a surprise if the reader is aware that Weyrich was founder of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).  It has been said that ALEC was organized for conservative State Legislators as an alternative to the more liberal National Council of State Legislators (NCSL), an adjunct of the National-International Council of State Governments.  Suffice it to say that ALEC has been, since its inception, one of the most rabid proponents and effective lobbyist for a state-driven Constitutional Convention call.  If American’s are to survive as a free people, we must understand the myriad non-governmental organizations, such as the CSG, NCSL, and NGA.  “A Conservative’s Lament After Iran, We Need to Change Our System and Grand Strategy”

22. Here is a guerrilla tactics manual from Weyrich’s Free Congress Foundation, which states in part that, “We will not try to reform the existing institutions. We only intend to weaken them, and eventually destroy them. *** We will maintain a constant barrage of criticism against the Left. We will attack the very legitimacy of the Left. We will not give them a moment’s rest. * * * We will use guerrilla tactics to undermine the legitimacy of the dominant regime.”

Center for Cultural Conservatism The Integration of Theory and practice: A Program for the New Traditionalist Movement

“Our movement will be entirely destructive, and entirely constructive. We will not try to reform the existing institutions. We only intend to weaken them, and eventually destroy them. We will endeavor to knock our opponents off-balance and unsettle them at every opportunity. All of our constructive energies will be dedicated to the creation of our own institutions.

We will maintain a constant barrage of criticism against the Left. We will attack the very legitimacy of the Left. We will not give them a moment’s rest. We will endeavor to prove that the Left does not deserve to hold sway over the heart and mind of a single American. We will offer constant reminders that there is an alternative, there is a better way. When people have had enough of the sickness and decay of today’s American culture, they will be embraced by and welcomed into the New Traditionalist movement. The rejection of the existing society by the people will thus be accomplished by pushing them and pulling them simultaneously.

We will use guerrilla tactics to undermine the legitimacy of the dominant regime. We will take advantage of every available opportunity to spread the idea that there is something fundamentally wrong with the existing state of affairs. For example, we could have every member of the movement put a bumper sticker on his car that says something to the effect of “Public Education is Rotten; Homeschool Your Kids.” This will change nobody’s mind immediately; no one will choose to stop sending his children to public schools immediately after seeing such a bumper sticker; but it will raise awareness and consciousness that there is a problem. Most of all, it will contribute to a vague sense of uneasiness and dissatisfaction with existing society. We need this if we hope to start picking people off and bringing them over to our side. We need to break down before we can build up. We must first clear away the flotsam of a decayed culture.”

23. Weyrich was an early proponent of forging close ties between the GOP and Russia.

24. In 1991, Weyrich spoke at the inauguration of “Russia House, a … go-between for Russian and U.S. businesses … said to be the first of its kind….”

RUSSIA HOUSE, TRADING IN ITS NAME Washington Post By Sarah Booth Conroy October 27, 1991 “The mayor of Moscow and dissidents from the old Soviet system last week raised the flag of the Russian Republic on a beaux-arts house at 1800 Connecticut Ave. The stars are Russia House President Edward Lozansky, a onetime math teacher and physicist, and Tatiana Yershov Lozansky, a chemist and daughter of a Soviet general. The lovers braved her family and the Soviet system to marry in 1970. Lozansky immigrated to the United States in 1976. ‘); At the inauguration of Russia House, furnished only with a lectern and radio and television microphones for the ceremony, Paul Weyrich, head of a group called Free Congress, said, “When we first went to the Soviet Union we were considered foolish. But democracy is real. The change is real. That night in the gold-and-white pilastered reception room of the Soviet Embassy, Ambassador Viktor Komplektov entertained a remarkably diverse group: American businessmen hoping to prospect for gold in Russia; Sens. Claiborne Pell and Richard Lugar; a few ambassadors from neighboring countries, including Norway’s Kjeld Vibe; Allen Weinstein, president of the Center for Democracy; and of course Popov and the Lozanskys. Meanwhile, Weinstein said the American Club of Moscow — a cultural and information center — has been opened by the Center for Democracy in the Prospect Mira house, formerly the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs headquarters.”

25. Weyrich was also a member of the Kriegel Institute for Freedom and Democracy in Russia. In 2000, he attended the World Russia Forum, with then Senator Sessions and Senator Grassley (among others). [domain expired] http://thegopwatchdog.com/from-russia-with-love/

26. Weyrich “bemoaned the Bush/Cheney administration’s failure to draw closer to Russia…” Right Web 

27. Another prominent early member of the CNP was GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who later served time for corruption involving his lobbying work and for defrauding the former owner of a fleet of casino boats.

Jack_Abramoff:_Republican_Activism SourceWatch [“Abramoff … became a member of the Council for National Policy in 1984…” — Citation added 7/20/18]

Watch Unto Prayer Database [Citation added 7/20/18]

28. Abramoff’s ties to Russia appear to have been even more substantial than Weyrich’s:

Abramoff Ties to Russians Probed By Michael Kranish The Boston Globe  Thursday February 23, 2006 US inquiry widens to…

“Abramoff’s work on Russian affairs began in the mid-1990s, according to J. Michael Waller, the former editor of a Washington-based newsletter, Russia Reform Monitor. Waller said he was contacted by two Abramoff associates in 1997, and was asked to help organize Abramoff’s trip with [Tom] DeLay to Russia. “I was told by two of Abramoff’s colleagues that he wanted to represent the Russian government,” Waller said. He said Abramoff’s colleagues explained that Abramoff was working for Naftasib, the Russian energy company, and that “if he performed well on Naftasib then the Russian government would retain him.”

That made Waller uncomfortable, he added, because he had read Russian documents that said Naftasib supplied oil to the Russian military, so he declined to help Abramoff plan the trip. “I was concerned that Abramoff was going to become an agent of influence for the Russian government and that he would mask that relationship,” Waller said.

Confirmations in E-mails

E-mails released in the course of a Senate investigation into Abramoff confirm that he had Russian clients. In one, he mentions receiving payments from unnamed Russians. In another, he wrote that he was surprised that unnamed Russians often came to the United States and visited his luxury suite at FedExField, the Washington Redskins’ stadium.

”The Russians, oddly, came quite a bit,” Abramoff wrote. ”Weird.”

One reason may be that the Russians helped pay for the suite through a now-defunct Abramoff-related nonprofit group called the US Family Network.

That group, established by an Abramoff colleague, was supposed to provide money to evangelical Christian charities. But much of its money went to other Abramoff’s friends, and some of it went to pay for Abramoff’s luxury suite at FedExField, according to the group’s former president, a church pastor in Frederick, Md., named Christopher Geeslin.

Geeslin said he was told by the group’s founder that Russian investors gave $1 million to US Family Network, a link first reported by The Washington Post last year. At first, Geeslin said, he could not believe the Russians would want to donate $1 million. Then, he said, he learned that Abramoff was escorting them to Capitol Hill. ”The Russians came over and Abramoff was ushering them around town,” Geeslin said. ”I said: ‘Man, this is true. It is just incredible.’

‘A shell operation’

Geeslin, who said Abramoff personally thanked him for paying for the FedExField suite, said he now feels ”duped” into heading the US Family Network. ”We had no idea it was just a shell operation for Abramoff,” Geeslin said, referring to himself and other volunteer board members. He said he thought the money would be used for evangelical purposes. ”We were stupid enough to believe everything,” he said.

The Russians, Koulakovsky and Nevskaya, did not reply to a request for comment. Ellen Levinson, who is registered to lobby for Naftasib in Washington, declined to comment.”

29. The CNP has extended its tendrils not only to Russia, but also to America’s largest voting machine vendors.

30. As of 2010, the two largest voting machine vendors in the United States were Election Systems & Software (ES&S) & Diebold Election Systems (later renamed Premier Election Systems). FEDS MOVE TO BREAK VOTING-MACHINE MONOPOLY Wired  March 8, 2010. “Even before the sale, ES&S, based in Omaha, Nebraska, was the nation’s largest voting-machine maker, with machines being used in 43 states. ES&S systems were “utilized in counting approximately 50 percent of the votes in the last four major U.S. elections,” according to the company’s website. The company also created statewide voter registration systems used in California, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, and New Mexico.

Its acquisition of Premier, the second-largest voting machine maker with equipment used in 33 states, gave it a near monopoly on election gear and would have had the company providing 70 percent of voting equipment int the country. Premier was a division of Diebold, Inc, which is based in Canton, Oh. Although there’s no evidence that e-voting machines have ever been rigged, the political partisanship of voting company owners has only added to concerns about the systems. Howard Ahmanson Jr., a right-wing Christian fundamentalist millionaire tased in California, bankrolled the founders of ES&S. Ahmanson, heir to the Home Savings of America fortune, no longer holds a stake in ES&S.”

[“Ahmanson … was a member of the Council for National Policy in 1984–85, 1988….”  StateMaster— Citation added 7/20/18]

Ahmanson is a board member of the John M. Perkins Foundation and (along with his wife) the Claremont Institute. He was a member of the Council for National Policy in 1984-85, 1988 and sat on its Board of Governors in 1996 and 1998. He has written articles appearing in The Los Angeles Times, Philanthropy, Religion and Liberty, and other publications.

TIME Magazine named the Ahmanson first in their 2005 list of the 25 Most Influential Evangelicals in America, classifying them as “the financiers.”

www.wikidoc.org/index.php/Howard_Ahmanson,_Jr. [“Ahmanson … was a member of the Council for National Policy in 1984–85, 1988 and sat on its Board of Governors in 1996 and 1998…” — Citation added 7/20/18]

 Jack Abramhoff – CNP Membership Roster (1984-85. The International Freedom Foundation (IFF), an organization founded by “conservative” activist, Jack Abramhoff, was recently exposed by senior South African military personnel as a cut-out of the South African military and Special Branch. IFF functioned as a propaganda arm for South African STRATCOM (strategic communications) counter-insurgency operations directed against the African National Congress and the trade union confederation.” Watch Unto Prayer [A Small Circle of Friends] “/ End

 CONTINUE Jennifer Cohn THREAD: Jack Abramoff

108. Each of these poll-defying Republican victories has furthered the goals of the CNP.

109. If you still think those goals are unrealistic, think again.

110. The CNP is virulently anti-LGBT, & 150 members signed a letter early this year urging Trump to sign an anti-LGBTQ executive order.

Conservatives Call on Trump to Protect Religious Liberty Todd Starnes March 1, 2017

Secretive Council for National Policy Pushing Trump to Sign ‘Religious Liberty’ Order Alternet  Legal experts said the executive order was of “sweeping” and “staggering” scope.

111. Several months later, the Trump administration argued that federal law doesn’t protect gay employees.

Trump Administration Argues Federal Civil Rights Law Does Not Protect Gay Employees Slate On Wednesday, the Department of Justice filed an amicus brief in the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals,

112. And in July 2017, Trump tweeted that transgender people are no longer welcome in the military.”/Jenny Cohn

Thread Continues on the CNP GOALS & TRUMP ADMINISTRATION Page

  • Jack Abramoff , convicted lobbyist, brought Christian Coalition’s Ralph Reed, Rep. Robert Ney, House Maj. Tom DeLay, Rev. Louis P. Sheldon (Traditional Values Coalition), Grover Norquist and more into his corrupt schemes of conspiracy and money laundering to sway legislation, and who, with Paul Weyrich, (Founder of CNP, Moral Majority, Free Congress Foundation, ALEC, and the
  • Heritage Foundation took the Republicans and
  • Religious Right to Russia; and
  • Dominionism, the extreme, intolerant and elitist version of Christianity backed by financier Howard Ahmanson Jr.’s
  • ES&S & Diebold Electronic Voting with its history of throwing elections and
  • Voting Machine Issues to elect Republicans and use
  • Lobbyists funded by
  • GOP Donors  like the
  • Koch Brothers and
  • Mercers (who dominate the Executive Branch and Cabinet) to pass favorable legislation including the
  • Constitutional Convention of States which would remove the separation of church and state and install a Christian government. The
  • Judicial Branch has been a focus, and many judges have been appointed by Leonard Leo of the
  • Federalist Society, associated with the
  • Claremont Institute