DeMint Loyalists Brace for Heritage ‘Bloodletting’

Source: Daily Beast | May 2, 2017 | Lachlan Markay, Asawin Suebsaeng

The right-wing think tank is in throes of a hostile takeover—including a purge of loyalists to leader Jim DeMint. No one is sure who will take the helm or what will happen next.

A group of staffers loyal to embattled Heritage Foundation president Jim DeMint plan to leave the organization in anticipation of an imminent resignation—or ouster—of DeMint on Tuesday, capping a vicious “power struggle” that has roiled the flagship conservative think tank.

Three sources with knowledge of the situation said five staffers had already pledged to leave if DeMint was removed this week, and that the eventual number could be as high as 15 to 30. One senior staffer, vice president of research James Wallner, was put on “administrative leave” on Monday, and led out of the building in what one Heritage staffer described as a “perp walk.”

Another source described the ongoing internal drama at Heritage, which played out leading up to a Tuesday board meeting, as a “bloodletting”—and that the initial failure of Trumpcare was the last straw in sparking the civil conflict within Heritage flooding into full public view.

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But the organization didn’t give its staff much else to go on, leaving them wondering about the fate of their own employer. “No one knows who’s in charge, not even the people who work here,” one source said.

Heritage’s board convened at 9:30 on Tuesday morning, with a scheduled vote on its leadership change at 10:30. According to one Heritage source, that vote was abruptly delayed on Tuesday morning until the afternoon, leaving DeMint, who was seen sitting with his wife awaiting his fate, in a temporary limbo. Sources described the atmosphere at the meeting as tense and accusatorial, with members unable to reach a consensus on the group’s future.

Some members of the board had already met in DeMint’s absence at a dinner the night before, two sources said.

The two main Heritage factions, represented by DeMint and Needham, have effectively warred since Politico reported late last week that DeMint, a former tea-party senator, would be stepping down after four years at the group’s helm. Two of the staffers who spoke with The Daily Beast said they believed Needham leaked the news in an effort to undermine DeMint, who planned to keep his move under wraps until Heritage found a replacement, and to convince recalcitrant board members that his ouster was a foregone conclusion.

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