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| Cruz-Trump rally highlights push against Iran deal – with help from Sheldon Adelson | Cruz-Trump rally highlights push against Iran deal – with help from Sheldon Adelson |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz’s rally against the Iran nuclear deal on Wednesday – whose guest star will be his rival Donald Trump – is the tip of an iceberg of campaigning and fundraising to thwart the deal by non-profits funded partly by casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson, conservative groups and other GOP candidates such as Marco Rubio. | Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz’s rally against the Iran nuclear deal on Wednesday – whose guest star will be his rival Donald Trump – is the tip of an iceberg of campaigning and fundraising to thwart the deal by non-profits funded partly by casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson, conservative groups and other GOP candidates such as Marco Rubio. |
| These drives to block the nuclear accord on Capitol Hill are going strong, even though the White House has locked up enough Democratic Senate supporters to ensure it has the votes to sustain a veto from Barack Obama of any resolution of disapproval that anti-deal congresspeople do manage to pass. And some of these groups are readying drives for more sanctions against Tehran to replace ones set to expire as part of the nuclear deal. | These drives to block the nuclear accord on Capitol Hill are going strong, even though the White House has locked up enough Democratic Senate supporters to ensure it has the votes to sustain a veto from Barack Obama of any resolution of disapproval that anti-deal congresspeople do manage to pass. And some of these groups are readying drives for more sanctions against Tehran to replace ones set to expire as part of the nuclear deal. |
| Over the summer, Texas senator Cruz helped forge a coalition of staunchly pro-Israel and conservative groups which has worked aggressively to build backing for congressional resolutions opposing the nuclear deal, a top Obama administration priority. And a non-profit group set up by allies of Senator Rubio of Florida has spent about $4.5m on an ad blitz in which Rubio blasts the nuclear deal, and may spend more, a spokesman for the group said. | Over the summer, Texas senator Cruz helped forge a coalition of staunchly pro-Israel and conservative groups which has worked aggressively to build backing for congressional resolutions opposing the nuclear deal, a top Obama administration priority. And a non-profit group set up by allies of Senator Rubio of Florida has spent about $4.5m on an ad blitz in which Rubio blasts the nuclear deal, and may spend more, a spokesman for the group said. |
| The high-stakes fight could also yield political dividends for GOP presidential candidates, say Republican operatives and other conservatives. | The high-stakes fight could also yield political dividends for GOP presidential candidates, say Republican operatives and other conservatives. |
| “Aggressively fighting the Iran deal benefits you with activists, and has a not-so-small side benefit of pleasing one of the GOP’s most generous donors,” one veteran GOP operative said, referring to mega-donor Adelson, a staunch opponent of the deal. | “Aggressively fighting the Iran deal benefits you with activists, and has a not-so-small side benefit of pleasing one of the GOP’s most generous donors,” one veteran GOP operative said, referring to mega-donor Adelson, a staunch opponent of the deal. |
| Mort Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), a group which historically has been heavily funded by Adelson and is co-sponsoring Wednesday’s rally, praised Cruz as a “man who tells the truth” about the Iran nuclear deal, and said that “inadvertently this could benefit his appeal to some donors”. | |
| The lobbying battle royale has pitted Republicans, conservative groups and some Democrats, who argue the nuclear agreement is not strong enough and poses a serious threat to the security of Israel and the United States, against the administration and a growing number of Democratic allies who insist it will significantly diminish the Iranian nuclear threat for at least a decade. | The lobbying battle royale has pitted Republicans, conservative groups and some Democrats, who argue the nuclear agreement is not strong enough and poses a serious threat to the security of Israel and the United States, against the administration and a growing number of Democratic allies who insist it will significantly diminish the Iranian nuclear threat for at least a decade. |
| Rubio and Cruz are among several candidates vying intensely for Adelson’s financial backing. A close ally of the Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, and an implacable foe of the Iran deal, Adelson has poured millions of dollars into a few of the big ad efforts under way by outside groups, according to three conservatives with ties to the Las Vegas mogul. Adelson, who in 2013 suggested dropping a nuclear bomb in the Iranian desert as a warning to Tehran against building nuclear weapons, has also made personal calls to some Democratic senators to urge them to oppose the deal, sources say. | |
| Both Rubio and Cruz have had multiple meetings in the last year with Adelson, a sometimes mercurial donor, who gave close to $150m in 2012 to numerous Super Pacs and “dark money” non-profits in an attempt to oust Obama and help congressional Republicans. Boasting strong pro-Israel and hawkish credentials, Rubio and Cruz are said to be near the top of the list of those candidates Adelson is considering backing with his big checkbook, a decision that will probably turn on the candidates’ ideological bona fides coupled with an assessment of their electability. | Both Rubio and Cruz have had multiple meetings in the last year with Adelson, a sometimes mercurial donor, who gave close to $150m in 2012 to numerous Super Pacs and “dark money” non-profits in an attempt to oust Obama and help congressional Republicans. Boasting strong pro-Israel and hawkish credentials, Rubio and Cruz are said to be near the top of the list of those candidates Adelson is considering backing with his big checkbook, a decision that will probably turn on the candidates’ ideological bona fides coupled with an assessment of their electability. |
| The topic of Wednesday’s Cruz-orchestrated rally was broached in a late July meeting in the senator’s office that drew a couple of dozen conservative groups. The three event co-sponsors – the Tea Party Patriots, the Center for Security Policy and the ZOA – were in attendance. | The topic of Wednesday’s Cruz-orchestrated rally was broached in a late July meeting in the senator’s office that drew a couple of dozen conservative groups. The three event co-sponsors – the Tea Party Patriots, the Center for Security Policy and the ZOA – were in attendance. |
| Klein, of the ZOA, lauded Cruz for inviting Trump because “his participation substantially increases the publicity and visibility of the Iran nuclear deal, which is a catastrophe”. | Klein, of the ZOA, lauded Cruz for inviting Trump because “his participation substantially increases the publicity and visibility of the Iran nuclear deal, which is a catastrophe”. |
| This Thursday, as Congress is poised to vote on the deal, Klein will lead a lobbying blitz with some 70 of his board members and donors targeting at least 50 members of Congress, including those who appear undecided and some backers of the accord. (Klein added that his group would keep pressing Capitol Hill for a resolution that would back Israel and other countries “in taking any steps they deem necessary to protect themselves against Tehran” and other measures.) | This Thursday, as Congress is poised to vote on the deal, Klein will lead a lobbying blitz with some 70 of his board members and donors targeting at least 50 members of Congress, including those who appear undecided and some backers of the accord. (Klein added that his group would keep pressing Capitol Hill for a resolution that would back Israel and other countries “in taking any steps they deem necessary to protect themselves against Tehran” and other measures.) |
| Meanwhile, the Conservative Solutions Project, a non-profit group run by allies of Rubio, has featured the Florida senator’s words and image in its $4.5m anti-nuclear deal ad blitz which has run on cable, radio and the internet. Jeff Sadosky, a spokesman for the group, said in an email: “We’re prepped to continue advertising throughout the time that Congress is considering the President’s dangerous Iran treaty.” | |
| Adelson has given – or pledged – a seven-figure check to the pro-Rubio group, say three sources familiar with the casino mogul’s donations. The Rubio-allied group, which reported raising almost $16m in the first half of 2015, isn’t required to publicly disclose its donors under IRS rules. Sadosky declined to comment on whether Adelson has donated to the project. | Adelson has given – or pledged – a seven-figure check to the pro-Rubio group, say three sources familiar with the casino mogul’s donations. The Rubio-allied group, which reported raising almost $16m in the first half of 2015, isn’t required to publicly disclose its donors under IRS rules. Sadosky declined to comment on whether Adelson has donated to the project. |
| Rubio recently said: “There’s nothing about this [Iran agreement] that’s binding on the next administration.” | Rubio recently said: “There’s nothing about this [Iran agreement] that’s binding on the next administration.” |
| The non-profit American Security Initiative, which was founded earlier this year by former senator Norm Coleman of Minnesota, an Adelson ally, and three other ex-senators, including onetime Democrat Joe Lieberman, has also spent big money fighting the deal. The group says it has spent almost $10m running hard-hitting ads against the deal – including a late August blitz aimed at six Democratic senators. Conservative sources say that the Coleman group has received seven-figure support from Adelson. | The non-profit American Security Initiative, which was founded earlier this year by former senator Norm Coleman of Minnesota, an Adelson ally, and three other ex-senators, including onetime Democrat Joe Lieberman, has also spent big money fighting the deal. The group says it has spent almost $10m running hard-hitting ads against the deal – including a late August blitz aimed at six Democratic senators. Conservative sources say that the Coleman group has received seven-figure support from Adelson. |
| Coleman declined comment on its donors, but said in a phone interview that the goal “has been to alert both Members and the American public” about what the group deems the deal’s risks. | Coleman declined comment on its donors, but said in a phone interview that the goal “has been to alert both Members and the American public” about what the group deems the deal’s risks. |
| (Coleman and Adelson are also board members of the Republican Jewish Coalition, a conservative pro-Israel group that receives hefty funding from Adelson and has mounted a lobbying and ad effort against the nuclear accord.) | (Coleman and Adelson are also board members of the Republican Jewish Coalition, a conservative pro-Israel group that receives hefty funding from Adelson and has mounted a lobbying and ad effort against the nuclear accord.) |
| An Adelson spokesman declined to respond to questions for this piece. | An Adelson spokesman declined to respond to questions for this piece. |