RNC member Bruce Ash rebuked the Never Trump movement in his party. | Getty RNC member accuses party leaders of undermining Trump The member says never-Trump Republicans have friends in high places, opening the door to unseating the presumptive nominee at the convention.

An influential Republican National Committee official is rebuking his own party, accusing it of empowering anti-Donald Trump figures to play key roles at this summer’s convention — and, potentially, to dislodge Trump.

In a three-page letter sent to fellow RNC members, Bruce Ash, an Arizona Republican who oversees the committee’s permanent Rules Committee, laces into the organization for appointing establishment-minded figures who, he says, could overturn Trump’s nomination at the convention. Ash’s letter comes amid an intensifying push by anti-Trump delegates to implement a “conscience clause” on the first ballot that would allow delegates to unbind themselves from voting for Trump — thereby freeing themselves to throw their support to a “white knight” candidate who would take the nomination instead.


Specifically, Ash points to the RNC’s appointments of committee members Ron Kaufman and Enid Mickelson (both of whom are close allies of Trump nemesis Mitt Romney) to oversee the convention’s Rules Committee. He also calls out the RNC for assigning establishment stalwart Haley Barbour to run the convention’s Permanent Organization Committee. (Kaufman, Mickelson and Barbour did not immediately respond to requests for comment.)

“I stand by my analysis because I have concerns about the appointees who have worked with Romney in the past and despite well intentioned assurances, might possibly work to deny [Trump] the nomination he has earned. I am a member of the convention rules committee and am entitled to my opinion,” writes Ash.

He adds that he finds it “quite remarkable that the RNC might actually be leaning toward a vote to essentially invoke” a rule that would “reverse the results of the primary contests and unbind our delegates.”

Ash goes on to suggest that the Trump campaign cut an ill-conceived deal with the RNC in hopes of fostering a relationship with the committee. In recent weeks, there have been tensions between the two sides.

“I’m sure Mr. Trump and [campaign chairman] Paul Manafort agreed to the appointments because they sought reconciliation and a merger with the RNC. If this was part of the bargain then they had to deal with it. However, it does not mean it was smart to sign off on this arrangement unless there are boundaries how we guarantee there will not be rules changes at convention rules which affect who our presumptive nominee is in 2016 after he received nearly 14,000,000 votes.”

“You might not agree with my words but you surely cannot fault my desire to stand up for millions of GOP voters who cast their vote for Donald Trump,” Ash adds.

Passing any unbinding rule remains unlikely. To do so, it must be approved by a majority of the 112-member Rules Committee and then win a majority of support among the convention’s 2,472 delegates.

Neither Ash nor an RNC spokesperson responded to a request for comment.

The Arizona Republican concludes the letter by writing: “We at the RNC must stand by our presumptive nominee’s side and defend against all who would threaten our legitimacy as a national party.”

Earlier this week, the Daily Caller published an item recounting Ash’s appearance on a radio program in which he excoriated top Trump aides for allowing the Kaufman, Mickelson, and Barbour appointments to go through. Trump’s aides, Ash said, were “asleep at the switch.”



