UNTANGLING THE MAGA REBELLION NETWORK
A continuing essay series examining the conflation of politics and religion.
The Pyramid of Far-Right Radicalization" from part of a presentation by Dr. Michael Loadenthal for the University of Dayton's Human Rights Center.
“Michael Loadenthal, a researcher from the University of Cincinnati who spoke at the November 2021 seminar, presented the “Pyramid” — which also lumped Breitbart News, PragerU, Turning Point USA, the Christian Broadcasting Network, the American Conservative Union and the nonpartisan outlet Quillette with far-right, radical groups.”12
Networking Spotlight: Conservative Partnership Institute (CPI)
Online Resource Introduction: Exposed by CMD (The Center for Media and Democracy) About the Center for Media and Democracy
As many of my readers know when I announced the new feature piece sub-series UNTANGLING THE MAGA REBELLION NETWORK I closed with an update on the Project 2025 advisory board membership numbers. As I had then noted the “coalition partners,” as they are referred to in Heritage Foundation literature, had grown to an impressive eighty-two (82) organizations, that was just three nights ago, as of today that number has grown by three (3) more members and now stands at eighty-five (85) coalition partners total.
This committed group of activist movement-conservatism organizations had its initial formation in conjunction with the Heritage Foundation’s press release announcement of the formation of Project 2025’s advisory board. Contained in that announcement were the names of the first twenty-one (21) organizations to join together in partnership with the aims, goals, and purposes of Project 2025.3 The CPI was one of the original twenty-one founding advisory board members. That announcement was published on June 24, 2022 and since that date this coalition has increased by an alarming 64 additional partners (I say “alarming” because each of these organizations operates either at a state, federal, or both, level of activity, and in many cases either directly influences, shapes, or otherwise crafts policies that fully support conservative agendas, while also exerting far reaching influence and messaging over potentially millions of average citizen voters, as well as many conservative politicians and judges who help direct the functioning operation of American government systems.) If this rate continues it is conceivable that Project 2025 will have as many as one-hundred-fifty (150) partner-organizations, or more, by the time of the 2024 national elections cycle, to help it achieve its plans for the penultimate goal of a conservative take over of the White House which will then lead the way to the ultimate accomplishment of a complete control of the Federal Government, all in alignment with a Christian Nationalist Conservatism, that is one-hundred percent (100%) contrary to a reasonable, pragmatic, and historically accurate interpretive understanding of the founding of America as an independent country of individual self-governing citizens free from the dictates of the governing principles inherent in an oligarchic ruling class.456
So with those thoughts in mind for the duration of this sub-series of featured focuses let us start with a look at what I have come to think of as one of the most important organizations in the efforts to subvert our liberal democracy.
“The stage is set. Washington is ready for a conservative comeback. CPI Partners are making it happen.”7
As can be seen from the above quote the Conservative Partnership Institute (CPI) makes a bold statement. When I read statements such as this one, out of the three elements it contains my immediate attention goes to “the stage is set” and I wonder what exactly does this mean.
Perhaps the most compelling reason for my choice of starting with the CPI is the fact that of all the organizations involved with Project 2025 the CPI appears to have the strongest connection of all, in terms of activity and direct support, to Congress, most visibly within the House Freedom Caucus. As I have mentioned in one of my previous essays titled The Dissident-Conservative Rebellion in the House of Congress “the Freedom Caucus wasted no time whatsoever in asserting itself as the de facto first on the beach assault team fighting to create a beachhead for a MAGA counter-revolution.”8 Now going back to the question of my opening statement as to what exactly does it mean that “the stage is set” from an acting perspective the members of the Freedom Caucus are clearly and obviously actors on the scale of a grand stage, but in reality it is more accurate to say that they are agents in place wherein the stage in question is a stage of development. Development of what you ask? Why the development of the plans of Project 2025!
These actor-agents are actively engaged in open combat with traditional Republicans and liberal Democrats, albeit this is a bloodless battle, it is nonetheless a fight for control of all things administrative and bureaucratic, that is to say in MAGA speak “the deep state” “the swamp” or my personal favorite “the permanent political class.”9 From my perspective the House Freedom Caucus, at this time, represents the front line of the battle for the installation of Project 2025’s objectives which is as I have mentioned elsewhere “the preparation of a ready-made administration of vetted, preferred, committed, conservative individuals to get right into the work of creating conservative policies; policies that have as an ultimate objective the removing of as many possible liberal/democratic individuals and policies from their current positions or places anywhere within the federal government.”10
Like all plays, plots, and ploys significant planning must be employed in order for any plans to have any hope of success. Project 2025 is a massive venture with a vision for employing tens of thousands of persons in its pursuit of reforming American Government systems into a conservative dystopia. But it cannot happen overnight and contrary to most peoples’ knowledge this vision has already now been under development for several decades.
What follows now are several excerpts from today’s featured online resource Exposed by CMD (The Center for Media and Democracy) these excerpts from two of their exposes both have focuses on the Conservative Partnership Institute (CPI). The center for Media and Democracy is an excellent online resource in the war against the far-right wing of conservatism. I strongly encourage anyone who wants to be fully informed about the on-goings of the various battle-fronts of the cold civil war to bookmark and consult the CMD website for genuinely accurate and relevant information pertaining to all things connected to Project 2025, MAGA, Trumpian, and far-right wing efforts to overturn American Democracy.
One article focuses specifically on the CPI as the “MAGA Group Grooms Members of Congress and Their Staff for America First Movement.” The second article focuses on “Who’s Bankrolling the Shutdown Showdown?” and the “the CPI–Freedom Caucus Pipeline.” Links to both articles can be found below in notes number 11 and12.
From the first article about the MAGA group and its grooming efforts:
House Freedom Caucus members are an exclusively select group in the context of CPI.
The only congresspeople invited to the conference were members of the far-right House Freedom Caucus, which was chaired by Meadows until he left to serve as Trump’s chief of staff in March 2020. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), a 2024 presidential hopeful and a founding member of the Freedom Caucus in 2015, delivered the keynote address. [note 11]
Jim DeMint has been a key player and played an important role in connecting Donald Trump to the Heritage Foundation, creating the earliest truly organized beginnings of Project 2025 to be born in its current incarnation. For those of you who are interested in following the money trails sing hallelujah for the work of defenders of Democracy like the CMD and its experienced researchers and writers.
Jim DeMint, a former congressman and senator from South Carolina, founded CPI in 2017 “to be a bulwark against the Swamp and a support system for conservatives looking to do the right thing.”
Its two largest known financial backers are Richard Uihlein, a GOP megadonor and cofounder of Uline shipping and packaging company, and Donald Trump. Uihlein’s family foundation contributed $2.25 million (2018–20) to CPI and Trump’s Save America PACs gave $1 million (2021). The next largest identifiable CPI donor is the family foundation of the late casino mogul Stanley E. Fulton, which contributed $500,000 (2019). [note 11]
The hub of conservative insurrectionist activity.
Since the violence at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, CPI has become a hub for insurrectionists and election deniers. The group made Meadows a senior partner and brought in [Cleta] Mitchell to lead its lead its “Election Integrity Network” network, organizing local GOP activists to engage in the election process based on the lie that the 2020 election was stolen. [note 11]
Cleta Mitchell has been in the thick of this den of vipers since the early 2000s, and as you will learn many of the advisory board member organizations are children of the CPI; apparently conservative non-profit organizations frequently enjoy incestuous relations, as can be discovered throughout many of the various Project coalition partnerships.
So far, [Cleta] Mitchell has led partisan voter suppression and election subversion events in nine states with fellow Big Lie proponents and election fraud conspiracists like Meadows, DeSantis, Mike Gableman, Arizona Senate President and ALEC National Chair Karen Fann (R), and many others with the goal of subverting the electoral system.
CPI has also launched a number of spin-offs to further right-wing causes, including the American Accountability Foundation (AAF), America First Legal, Center for Renewing America, American Cornerstone Institute, American Moment, and the State Freedom Caucus Network. [note 11]
Almost every component of the conservative war efforts against liberal democracy are done in-house as much as is possible.
In addition to staffers from CPI, AAF, and Heritage, others from the right-wing Capital Research Center, the Republican Study Committee, and Compass Legal also led training sessions. CPI launched Compass Legal to take “care of things like legal filings” and help nonprofits “to comply with federal tax law so they can keep their nonprofit status,” according to its 2021 Annual Report. [note 11]
The secretive, shadowy, surreptitious Council for National Policy (CNP) is probably the oldest and largest of all the organizations involved in this war on liberal America.
Another version of the training agenda obtained by CMD shows that Judicial Watch‘s Tom Fitton was “invited” to discuss the “Oversight Agenda for the 118th Congress.” Fitton is also the 2022 president of the Council for National Policy (CNP), a secretive Christian Right group, CMD reported.
Like the organizations involved in the oversight training, CNP is fully aligned with the Republican Party and was deeply tied to the Trump administration and the violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. [note 11]
If you have been wondering why there is such a surreal and puzzling disconnect between the reality of the Biden Administration’s excellent economic recovery and investment in America efforts and the average Americans’ misconception, misinformation, and misperception of the message of Bidenomics, look no further than the vast far-right wing messaging systems.
How to Win the Messaging War
Another CPI spinoff known as the Revere Project has scheduled communication trainings for “Capitol Hill communicators” this month and next, and in January 2023.
The four-week digital communications training in September and October aims to “give participants the strategy and tactics to level up their member’s social media presence.” The January communications training for congressional staffers will cover “crisis comms” and “how to proactively win the messaging war,” among other topics. [note 11]
I wonder what the 2022 numbers were and what will the 2023 numbers be as we enter into the 2024 national election cycle.
In its 2021 annual review, CPI touts that it trained “49 members of Congress and 246 congressional staff from 132 congressional offices” last year. This year it appears to be on track to influence several hundred more conservative acolytes. [note 11]
The second article, published this past September, discusses who is providing funding for the Freedom Caucus’ efforts to shut down the government unless their demands are met is a must read piece and is an excellent adjunct to the first article, and while it is shorter than the first article it is full of details; and like all articles produced by Exposed by CMD is profusely sourced with links embedded throughout the writings.
Who is actually creating/demanding these conservative policies?
Recent demands from members of the House Freedom Caucus over budget talks have been spawned by right-wing think tanks and operatives attempting to clothe culture war priorities in financial finery. Caucus members are claiming that they will oppose any short-term continuing budget resolutions unless their demands for addressing “wokeness” in the military, “weaponization” of the Department of Justice and FBI, and building a border wall are met. [note 12]
The network of conservative non-profit organizations is the modern day equivalent of James Bond’s enemy organization SPECTRE.
Although these groups’ arguments focus on reigning in government spending, their demands have hardly anything to do with the federal budget since they’re all based on culture war priorities. [note 12]
Apparently Christian nationalists’ are prepared to spend some BIG money to shut it all down in an effort to take control of America.
Funding the Shutdown
Each of the following 15 funders has contributed more than $1 million to the groups pushing for a government shutdown at the end of this month. In roughly 10 years, these groups have provided over $64 million to the organizations attempting to force a shutdown. [note 12]
As you can see from the excellent work of Exposed by CMD We the People are confronted with a determined ideological enemy. Be sure to add the online resource introduced to you today as part of your armaments locker as a valuable weapon for the defense of a liberal Democracy against the epistemic (knowledge) war that is tearing our country apart.
Robert J. Rei, November 21, 2023
"There's only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that's your own self." -Aldous Huxley
“DHS funded college program linking Fox News, NRA, RNC to neo-Nazis” Josh Christenson, May 25, 2023, New York Post, https://nypost.com/2023/05/25/dhs-funded-college-program-tying-fox-nra-rnc-to-neo-nazis/ Retrieved November 22, 2023
“Preventing and responding to political violence, extremism and hate in Ohio” Human Rights Center, University of Dayton, Tuesday November 16, 2021 9AM - 4PM EST, https://udayton.edu/artssciences/ctr/hrc/calendar/extremism-roundtable.php Retrieved November 22, 2023
"2025 Presidential Transition Project Forms Advisory Board With Leading Conservative Partners” The Heritage Foundation, Press Release, June 24, 2022, https://www.heritage.org/press/2025-presidential-transition-project-forms-advisory-board-leading-conservative-partners Retrieved November 22, 2023
I have intentionally opted to use the term “country” as opposed to the term “nation” specifically because a significant part of the underlying problems currently driving the obvious disunity in American views of polity reside in the conflicting uses of the two terms in question. MAGA conceptual ideas of American polity are driven by a near constant messaging emphasis on America as a “nation” that is/was culturally homogeneous by way of the erroneous, incorrect, and mistaken notion of the country as a Biblical Christian Society, whereas a modern liberal consensus understanding of America as a “country” rests firmly upon the founding of a new polity that elevated a multi-cultural democratic diversity of individuals who rejected British monarchical rule over the colonists of whom the then growing majority of the populace had been born and raised on the new continent; A new continent whose peoples had come to realize the grand ideals in the conception and implementation of the Magna Carta, during the course of the immediately preceding centuries, empowered them to reject the religiously supported practices of birth-right rulership that for centuries had disempowered them. Today’s MAGA rebellion movement is an attempt by extremely (obscenely) wealthy parties to maintain/regain unfettered control of the national economy in order to continue the spirit of greed in support of the ultimate bigotry of dominionist ideologically philosophized theologies; as represented by Christian nationalism.
“Nations, States and Nation-States” International Studies, Department of Political Science, College of Humanities & Social Sciences, Utah State University, undated, https://chass.usu.edu/international-studies/aggies-go/nation-states Retrieved November 22, 2023
“Nation or Country?” Faith Pirlo, December 30, 2022, Voice of America (VOA), Learning English, https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/nation-vs-country/6896623.html Retrieved November 22, 2023
“Annual Partners Conference 2022 The Conservative Partnership Institute’s 5th Annual Partners Conference” Conservative Partnership Institute (CPI), event announcement for September 19-20, 2022, https://www.cpi.org/apc2022/ Retrieved November 22, 2023
As noted in the mentioned previous essay-“Overturning the existing post-American order, and re-establishing America’s ancient principles in practice, is a sort of counter-revolution, and the only road forward.” This quote with its idea of “counter-revolution” originated from an essay titled ““Conservatism” is no Longer Enough” by Glenn Ellmers (Claremont Institute’s Salvatori Research Fellow), published online March 24, 2021, by The American Mind (A publication of the Claremont Institute), https://americanmind.org/salvo/why-the-claremont-institute-is-not-conservative-and-you-shouldnt-be-either/ (Retrieved November 11, 2023) and is quoted and briefly disccused in my previous essay: https://robertjrei.substack.com/p/the-dissident-conservative-rebellion
"Project 2025” (Commentary|Conservatism) Spencer Chretien, (“Spencer is Associate Director of the 2025 Presidential Transition Project at The Heritage Foundation.”) (“This piece originally appeared in The American Conservative”) January 31, 2023, https://www.heritage.org/conservatism/commentary/project-2025 Retrieved November 10, 2023
See my previous report that presents some enlightening excerpts regarding challenges with which Project 2025 is actually confronted- https://robertjrei.substack.com/p/republicans-still-dont-like-the-idea
“MAGA Group Grooms Members of Congress and Their Staff for America First Movement” David Armiak, September 13, 2022, Exposed by CMD, https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2022/09/13/maga-group-grooms-members-of-congress-and-their-staff-for-america-first-movement/ Retrieved November 22, 2023
“Who’s Bankrolling the Shutdown Showdown?” Juliana Broad, September 21, 2023, Exposed by CMD, https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2023/09/21/whos-bankrolling-the-shutdown-showdown/ Retrieved November 22, 2023
I had intended to highlight two separate mechanisms of retribution: bludgeoning and money. While coupled within Project 2025 I see them as independent agents.
TFG uses White Nationalist and Dominionist action as tools to literally bludgeon, physically and rhetorically, opponents into submission. MTG’s prodominionist speeches and the 1/6 Proud Boys actions are but two egregious examples. His “political speech” defenses in his court cases are another example. A nuanced imitation of innocence by a dripping fanged growling wolf who is masquerading as a duck isn’t free speech. It’s fear inspiring intimidation hiding behind legal hair splitting, and wrong.
Massive corporate sponsor money is a political tool only enabled via Citizens United and the nondisclosed PACS that arose in its wake. The 85 or so entities sponsoring Project 2025 are all supported by undisclosed donations from oligarchs and corporate America, as are the PACS supporting GOP paleoconservative politicians. Merely looking at the cash flows into PACS following Citizens is sufficient evidence. Worse is that political “leaders” are selected purely by their ability to raise money from corporate and “individual” supporters. Dig into how Representatives spend their time after Gingrich changed the “leadership rules.” Maybe 20% of their time is spent in phone bank call centers speaking with contributors, and not on actual legislative business. McCarthy and Pelosi did not become “leaders” by doing great works. They merely raised more money by making promises that, as “leaders” they may or may not be able to keep. Citizens United merely broke the dam and flooded the political valleys with vast new sources of money.
I suspect that most Americans don’t think deeply about most things. They are too busy just trying to survive each day and have no energy to spend otherwise. Change is difficult for most of them and following a charismatic social personality who appears to care about them is far easier than intellectually deciding a path to follow that they can’t or won’t discuss with their family, friends or neighbors at dinner for fear of offending someone’s cherished beliefs, be they religious or (outdated) political internalizations.
Somehow your excellent work needs to be condensed into “elevator pitch” digestible bites that the public cans grab on the fly.
Yabut... I’m thinking they are afraid of becoming targets, directly via White Nationalist and Dominionist threats and indirectly by corporate advertisers pulling ads. NYT, NPR and WAPO have the staffing and intensity to pursue this. But, post Citizens United and the Gingrich fund raising Congressional seniority system, corporate money is insidiously and secretly dominating everything political, including the far right power pyramid folks in your article. Daylight is the cure.