Ted Cruz has long been an ally of Ginni Thomas' strategy group known as Groundswell, and the way this vote came into being proves it.
In an article for RH Reality Check, I lay out the steps the Groundswell group uses to coordinate messaging, action, and ultimately, the Congressional action leading to Monday's vote on a defunding bill.
The key link to Groundswell in this particular scenario is Austin Ruse, who was first out with the story for Breitbart News. Ruse was an active participant in Groundswell's '30-Front War' and is the current President of C-FAM, a conservative Catholic action group. He has also been one of the most vocal pushers of David Daleiden and the Center for Medical Progress' edited videos.
Groundswell is now two years old, having cut its teeth on the fight against Common Core and the 2014 elections. Its members are just now hitting their stride and the evidence can be seen in the latest series of Planned Parenthood videos, which were carefully timed and coordinated for maximum political gain.
Here’s a look at the timeline and principal players. To determine the rollout, I used archived pages from the aggregation site Memeorandum and checked hourly snapshots to see how the story spread.
On July 14, Lila Rose’s Live Action News posted the press release and video from the so-called Center for Medical Progress. One of the first to pick up the story in less than an hour from its release was Austin Ruse, for Breitbart News. Ruse is a member of Groundswell, as is Breitbart’s managing editor, Stephen Bannon.
The Daily Caller was next, where Ginni Thomas serves as a contributor. Thomas was one of the key drivers of messaging and issues inside the Groundswell group, assigning key phrases and terms to group members to use for action and articles.
By the way, this group did not disperse in 2013 after David Corn exposed them. They're still operational, and Ginni Thomas is still a key player. They just went farther underground, but they're still fighting that 30-front war.
Here is a recent comment on the "Refugee Resettlement Watch" Wordpress blog from Paul Teller, Ted Cruz staffer and former staffer to Steve Scalise and the Republican Study Committee, all of whom were key Groundswell participants. Note the names in the header and subsequent emails, including the reference to GRDSWL, which is their new group, I'm sure.
This is high-level coordination with all branches of government. As we prepare for the abortion arguments at the Supreme Court this fall, everyone should wonder why Clarence Thomas has not been recused from hearing them.
Read the full article on how deep the coordination goes.
