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| Abbreviation | CNP |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1981 |
| Type | Public policythink tank |
| Website | cfnp |
TheCouncil for National Policy (CNP) is an umbrella organization and networking group that advocates for conservative andRepublican Party initiatives in the United States. It was launched in 1981 during theReagan administration byTim LaHaye and theChristian right, to "bring more focus and force to conservative advocacy".[1][2][3] The membership list for September 2020 was later leaked, showing that members included prominent Republicans and conservatives. Members are instructed not to reveal their membership or even name the group.[4]
The CNP has been described byThe New York Times as "a little-known club of a few hundred of the most powerful conservatives in the country", who meet three times yearly behind closed doors at undisclosed locations for a confidential conference.[5]Max Blumenthal has called it a secretive organization that "networks wealthy right-wing donors together with top conservative operatives to plan long-term movement strategy".[6]
About the CNP,Marc Ambinder ofABC News said: "The group wants to be the conservative version of theCouncil on Foreign Relations." The CNP was founded in 1981. Among its founding members were: Tim LaHaye, then the head of theMoral Majority,Nelson Bunker Hunt,T. Cullen Davis, William Cies,Howard Phillips,[7] andPaul Weyrich.[8]
Members of the CNP have included GeneralJohn Singlaub, shipping magnateJ. Peter Grace,Edwin Feulner ofThe Heritage Foundation, Rev.Pat Robertson of theChristian Broadcasting Network,Jerry Falwell, U.S. SenatorTrent Lott,Southern Baptist Convention activists and retiredTexas Court of Appeals JudgePaul Pressler, lawyer andpaleoconservative activistMichael Peroutka,[9] ReverendPaige Patterson,[10] SenatorDon Nickles, former United States Attorneys GeneralEdwin Meese andJohn Ashcroft, gun-rights activistLarry Pratt, ColonelOliver North,Steve Bannon,Kellyanne Conway, philanthropist Elsa Prince (mother ofBlackwater founder and former CEOErik Prince and Trump Administration Secretary of EducationBetsy Devos),Leonard Leo,Virginia Thomas (wife of Supreme Court JusticeClarence Thomas).[1] Former California State Assemblyman Steve Baldwin was CNP's executive director from 2000 to 2008.[11] Conservative attorneyCleta Mitchell sits on the board of governors for the organization.[12]
Membership is by invitation only. The organization's membership list is considered "strictly confidential". Guests may attend "only with the unanimous approval of the executive committee." Members are instructed not to refer to the organization by name to protect against leaks.[5]The New York Times political writer David D. Kirkpatrick suggested that the organization's secrecy since its founding was intended to insulate it "from what its members considered the liberal bias of the news media."[2] CNP's meetings are closed to the general public to allow for a free-flowing exchange of ideas. The group meets three times per year.[13] This policy is said to be similar to the long-held policy of the Council on Foreign Relations, to which the CNP has at times been compared. CNP's 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status was revoked by theIRS in 1992 on grounds that it was not an organization run for the public benefit. The group successfully challenged this ruling in federal court.[citation needed]
While those involved in the organization are almost entirely from the United States, their organizations and influence cover the globe, both religiously and politically. Members include corporate executives,[14] legislators,[14] former high ranking government officers,[14] leaders of 'think tanks'[14] dedicated to molding society and those whom many view as "Christian leadership".[14]
In May 2016, theSouthern Poverty Law Center released a leaked copy of the membership directory for 2014.[15]
A membership list for September 2020, leaked a year later, includedJerome Corsi,Michael Farris,Brigitte Gabriel,Frank Gaffney,Charlie Kirk,Tony Perkins, andMathew Staver.[4][16]
Leading members of the CNP voted in a meeting at the Grand America Hotel inSalt Lake City, on September 29, 2007, to consider launching athird party candidate if the 2008 Republican nominee werepro-choice. (The candidacy of former New York City MayorRudy Giuliani, who held liberal opinions on social issues such as abortion, gay rights and gun ownership, had disturbed theChristian right.) The CNP's statement read, "If the Republican Party nominates a pro-abortion candidate, we will consider running a third-party candidate." Attending the meeting were notable social conservatives, includingJames Dobson,Richard Viguerie,Tony Perkins andMorton Blackwell.[17][18]
CNP has membership links to theCommittee for the Free World, whose many other members included, among others, some members of theUnification Church of the United States, some Republican Party leaders, andcounter-revolutionaries in Latin America, particularly during the 1980s.[19]Midge Decter served as Executive Director of its committee.[20][21][22] Other members includedJeane Kirkpatrick,Leszek Kołakowski,Irving Kristol,Melvin J. Lasky,Seymour M. Lipset,Donald Rumsfeld,Tom Stoppard andGeorge Will.Eugene V. Rostow, then serving as Director of theArms Control and Disarmament Agency under PresidentRonald Reagan, was a speaker at a CFW event onPoland.[23]
In his June 1997 speech at a CNP meeting in Montreal, Quebec, then president of theNational Citizens' Coalition,Stephen Harper—who later served as theprime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015—said that the American "conservative movement, is a light and an inspiration to people [of Canada] and across the world."[24]
In 1999, a speech given to the CNP by Republican candidateGeorge W. Bush is credited with helping him gain the support of conservatives in his successful bid for theUnited States Presidency in 2000. The content of the speech has never been released by the CNP or by Bush.[8]
In February 2007, the organization planned to be involved in the 2008 presidential election campaign and actively sought candidate that would represent their views.U.S. Vice PresidentDick Cheney[25] and former Massachusetts governorMitt Romney[26] spoke at a four-day conference that the council held inSalt Lake City, Utah, during the last week of September 2007. The Council for National Policy scheduled a conference in late October 2007; other than Giuliani, most Republican presidential candidates pledged to appear.[17]
On August 21, 2020,U.S. PresidentDonald Trump attended a CNP meeting where he gave a speech.[27]
In an October 14, 2020,Washington Post article, which described the CNP as a "little-known group that has served for decades as a hub for a nationwide network of conservative activists and the donors who support them", one of the attendees of the August 2020 meeting in Arlington, warned of plans by Democrats to "steal this election". He said that, "if they get away with that, what happens? Democracy is finished because they usher in totalitarianism."[1]
CNP was founded in 1981 by Southern Baptist pastor Tim LaHaye, author ofThe Battle for the Mind (1980) and theLeft Behind series of books. Other early participants have includedW. Cleon Skousen, atheologian withinthe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and founder of theFreemen Institute;Paul Weyrich;Phyllis Schlafly;Robert Grant;Howard Phillips, a former Republican affiliated with theConstitution Party;Richard Viguerie, the direct-mail specialist; andMorton Blackwell, aLouisiana andVirginia activist who is considered a specialist on the rules of the Republican Party.[28][29][30]
The council's first executive director wasWoody Jenkins; later, Morton Blackwell and Bob Reccord served in this role. Organization presidents have includedNelson Bunker Hunt ofDallas, Amway co-founderRichard DeVos ofMichigan,Pat Robertson ofVirginia Beach, retired JudgePaul Pressler ofHouston, former Reagan Cabinet secretariesEdwin Meese andDonald Hodel, former Reagan advisor and President of theIntercollegiate Studies InstituteKenneth Cribb,Family Research Council presidentTony Perkins, and current President (as of 2014)Stuart Epperson, founder of theSalem Media Group.[30][31][32][33]
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