Tornado Alley (PROG)

[StephanieVanbryce]

Republicans Gather In Secret Meeting With Blackwater Chief Erik Prince

Lawmakers set to meet Blackwater's Erik Prince at ‘special' RSC meeting

The following memo was sent to members of the Republican Study Committee (RSC) for a Wednesday meeting.

"All RSC Members are encouraged to join Rep. [Patrick] McHenry [R-N.C.] in welcoming Blackwater's Erik Prince to a Special RSC Members' meeting ... As you may know, Mr. Erik Prince, founder and CEO of Blackwater USA, testified before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in October. His company has been under intense scrutiny by Congress, government agencies, and the media regarding contracts and actions in Iraq. Not only has Mr. Prince personally been targeted by partisan warfare repeatedly over the past months, but the use of contracting throughout the government has been under attack by this Congress."

(snip)

The event appears to be exclusive.

The Republican Study Committee, specifically McHenry, Reps. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) and Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), initiated this special meeting because "some of our members thought it would be good to be exposed directly to the issues involving Blackwater instead of reading about them second- and third-hand in the newspaper," said a GOP aide.

The aide added that Prince would fly into Washington specifically for this meeting.

Weirdness. This came from The Hill website, but before I could link it, the link disappeared. It is confirmed here at The Politico. Maybe someone isn't happy this became public? No matter, it's a waste of time since the GOP will become even more irrelevant in the House after the '08 elections.
http://www.politico.com/blogs/anneschroeder/1207/Blackwater_CEO_in_the_House.html

http://cliffschecter.bravenewfilms.org/blog/20648-gop-lawmakers-in-closed-meeting-with-blackwater-s-erik-prince