Trump Camp Will File RNC Complaint Over Delegates, Not A Lawsuit

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An adviser to Donald Trump’s campaign on Wednesday clarified that the campaign will file a complaint with the Republican National Committee (RNC) over the selection of delegates in the Louisiana primary, not a lawsuit, as Trump suggested in a Sunday tweet.

Trump’s lawsuit threat followed a report that Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) could gain up to 10 unbound delegates from the Louisiana primary, five of which were previously committed to Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) before he dropped out of the presidential race. Trump won the primary, but could end up with fewer delegates than Cruz. Delegates supporting Cruz have also secured five of Louisiana’s six slots on the rules committee for the Republican convention.

Barry Bennett, an adviser to Trump focused on the delegate process, told MSNBC on Monday evening that the Trump campaign was not invited to a meeting in Louisiana about how the delegates would be selected.

“Well the problem we’re having here is that there was a secret meeting in Louisiana of the convention delegation, and apparently all of the invitations for our delegates must have gotten lost in the mail,” he said. “We are moving forward with a complaint to decertify these delegates.”

Bennet told MSNBC that this RNC complaint is the lawsuit Trump referenced.

“It’s not something you file with the court, it’s something you file inside the party. But it’s a decertification so that these delegates and these rules committee members and folks don’t get seated,” he said.

He confirmed to the New York Times that the campaign will file a complaint protesting delegate allocation ahead of the July Republican National Convention.

Bennett later told CBS News that a representative from the Trump campaign was present at the Louisiana delegate meeting in question after Jason Dore, the chairman of the Louisiana Republican party, told CBS that both of Trump’s state chairs were present at the meeting. Bennett told CBS that the Trump campaign was not notified of the meeting in an appropriate manner.

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