Ads keep showing up in my Facebook feed by a group called the Republican Accountability PAC. That sounds like a group I would support–hold wishy-washy Republicans accountable for their votes and replace them with conservatives. However, that is the exact opposite of what this group does.
An article from January 2021 posted at Open secrets is my source for the following information:
A new anti-Trump group helmed by Republicans announced Tuesday that it would raise $50 million to encourage lawmakers to break with President Donald Trump. Behind the project is Defending Democracy Together, one of the top-spending “dark money” groups in the 2020 election cycle.
The new effort — the Republican Accountability Project — promises to use its cash to “ensure that ample resources are available for those principled Republicans who do the right thing and hold Trump accountable for inciting an attack on the U.S. Capitol.”
The campaign joins another never-Trump Republican group, super PAC The Lincoln Project, in its efforts to sway Republican who might otherwise hesitate to break from the president in order to avoid alienating Trump voters in their home states and districts. The Republican Accountability Project’s website offers scant detail about how lawmakers will be selected to benefit from the campaign, but promises to back “credible primary challengers” against “Republican members of Congress who have enabled or capitulated to Trump and Trumpism.”
The group promises Republicans who vote to impeach that it will provide them with political protection against primary challenges from Trump loyalists. The president’s campaign has raised $200 million since the election, which he could use against incumbent members of Congress who speak out against him.
Open secrets also details the groups’ spending:
Targeted Candidates, 2022 Cycle
Outside Spending: Independent Expenditures, Electioneering Communication & Communication Costs by Targeted Candidate as of May 31, 2023:
Grand Total: $5,161,032
Total For Democrats: $639,718
Total Against Democrats: $0
Total For Republicans: $0
Total Against Republicans: $4,521,314
William Kristol is a founding director of Defending Democracy Together and chairman of the board for the Republican Accountability Project.
That tells you all you need to know.
