Here comes another weird story surrounding Michael Steele’s Republican National Committee. Three days after the RNC announced it had brought on board two new political advisers to replace outgoing political director Gentry Collins, a Steele-backing RNC voter and former head of the California GOP is claiming one of the new advisers not only isn’t working for the RNC, but isn’t even allowed to set foot in the GOP’s Washington HQ.
After we published this story about experienced Republican consultants Jon Seaton and John Peschong coming aboard as senior political advisers after Collins left, we got a strange email from Shawn Steel, a voting member of the RNC and former chief of the Republican Party in the most populous state in the union.
“Please be advised that John Peschong is not retained or involved in any manner with the contract between the RNC and Jon Seaton,” Steel wrote Friday. “Mr. Peschong had a controversial stay with RNC and as such is not welcomed to work with, contact or enter the premises of the RNC.”
A person with direct knowledge of the situation and another one at the RNC offered basically the same response when we asked about the email: uh, what?
On the record, the RNC referred TPM to the committee’s Nov. 16 release announcing the hiring of Seaton and Peschong.
“The Republican National Committee today announced that political veterans Jon Seaton and John Peschong will be joining the committee as senior political advisors,” the release read. (We weren’t the only ones to report it. The RNC release was also mentioned in the Washington Post.)
Pretty straight forward. But Steel insisted in a phone call that Peschong was not coming on board and suggested that Peschong used the fact that he works in the same firm as Seaton to ride his coattails into the RNC.
[TPM SLIDESHOW: Steele Trap: A Look At The RNC Chair’s Year]
The RNC referred TPM to the press release. The person with direct knowledge of the situation told TPM that Peschong, the former western states political director for the RNC, won’t be working at the RNC’s DC headquarters, but insisted that he is, in fact, in the paid employ of the committee as the RNC release stated.
Steel and Peschong clashed over money and national resources when Steel ran the California GOP and Peschong represented the RNC in the western U.S. It’s possible continuing resentments could have led to Steel’s email, though he continues to say he’s right and Peschong does not work at the RNC.
You might think that another reason for the minor kerfuffle is the highly contested RNC chair fight, which is expected to pit Michael Steele against any number of opponents. Another problem with the RNC political staff could potentially embarrass Steele as he — maybe — gears up to run for a second term as chair.
You’d be wrong. Shawn Steel, who is among the 168 Republicans who will vote for the next RNC chair in January, told me he’s a committed Michael Steele supporter.
It’s all very weird.
