begin quote from:
Colorado
Springs (CNN)House Speaker Paul Ryan is set to pitch his agenda to the
Koch brothers' powerful donor network gathered here this weekend. He's
among the Republican politicians who …
Koch brothers network rules out anti-Clinton ads
Paul Ryan's CNN town hall in 90 seconds 01:30
Story highlights
- Top Republican officials are gathered at a Koch brothers donor conference
- The Koch brothers are sitting out the presidential race
Colorado Springs (CNN)The
powerful political network helmed by Charles and David Koch is ruling
out running advertisements intended to hurt Hillary Clinton, another
sign of their insistence on avoiding the presidential race.
The
Koch network has previously said they will not back Republican
candidate Donald Trump, but on Saturday officials told reporters that
they would not run negative Clinton spots, a position taken by some
Republican groups that are uneasy with the controversial GOP
standard-bearer. The group is laser-focused on maintaining and expanding
the Senate majority -- in the midst of a $42 million television
advertising campaign focused on a half-dozen states -- and would only
use Clinton to bash Senate Democratic hopefuls.
Network
officials outlined their plans here as 400 of their donors prepared to
hear from a roster of Republican leaders. House Speaker Paul Ryan is
among the politicians who scored invites to one of the nation's most
sought-after political retreats at a lavish campus nestled in the Rocky
Mountains.
Ryan will be joined here
at the summit hosted by the Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce
alongside up-and-coming Republicans like Senators Cory Gardner of
Colorado, Tim Scott of South Carolina, and Mike Lee of Utah, Koch
spokesman James Davis said Saturday. Other speakers will include Senate
Majority Whip John Cornyn of Texas, Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin, Rep. Jason
Chaffetz of Utah and Rep. Mike Coffman of Colorado.
The
Koch network is sitting out of the presidential campaign entirely, a
blow to Trump's presidential ambitions. Trump claimed in a tweet
Saturday that he declined a meeting request from Charles and David Koch
this weekend, though Koch officials say that they were not aware of any
contact with him on Friday when both the Kochs and Trump coincidentally
were in Colorado Springs at the same time.
"Our
perspective is the same: We're focused on the Senate," Mark Holden, a
top Koch network official, told reporters. "We have no intention to go
after Donald Trump."
The Kochs are
effectively indifferent between Trump and Clinton, though several Trump
allies within the network have encouraged the billionaire donors to at
least meet with the billionaire candidate. Donors who contribute at
least $100,000 to the network are invited to hear from Charles Koch and
Republican leaders both about the Kochs' political work along with their
philanthropic and policy-focused spending.
Some
Koch donors, upset by the leadership's unwillingness to back the
Republican nominee, have called for the Freedom Partners retreat to
feature a poll to decide whether to marshal their resources toward his
White House bid. But Holden said unequivocally that a decisive survey of
that kind would not happen.
The
Kochs have assembled a political operation some consider to be on par
with the Republican National Committee, using a constellation of
nonprofit organizations to drive elections and policy fights in recent
years. They today have 1,200 paid staff members in 38 states.
Yet
their refusal to back Trump -- whose language on immigration and trade
is found to be too incendiary by the libertarian-inspired Kochs -- is a
leading reason why Trump is expected to be massively outgunned by
Clinton and her allies in the advertising wars.
The
Koch network initially said they would spend $889 million in the
lead-up to 2016, with about one-third of that figure dedicated to
political activity. Yet Koch officials have scaled back their ambitions,
with Holden saying Saturday that the sum was merely a "wish list
number."
They are now on pace to spend about $750 million, including about $250 million on politics.
About
$20 million in television has already aired, network officials said,
with another $20 million still planned for the fall. The network is
currently active in five Senate races, and is currently weighing how to
get involved in one more: Marco Rubio's reelection fight in Florida.
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