Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) on Friday threw cold water on a super-PAC raising funds to “draft” him into the presidential race.
“The Speaker has not, and does not, explicitly or implicitly, authorize, endorse or otherwise approve of the organization’s formation or activities, and he is not involved with the organization in any way,” said Timothy E. Kronquist, whose firm is representing Ryan, in a letter to the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
{mosads}“Speaker Ryan has repeatedly announced publicly that he is not running for president in 2016. It is the Speaker’s sincere hope that donors and supporters are not confused by, or misled into supporting, this organization.”
Reports emerged late Thursday evening that the “Committee to Draft Speaker Ryan” had filed official paperwork with the FEC. Agency records listed David Satterfield as the organization’s founder but gave no further details about its mission or purpose.
The group also has a website available at draftspeakerryan.com. On Friday, it showed pictures of Ryan and presented a registration form for supporters to provide their name, state and email address.
“Paid for by Committee to Draft Speaker Ryan,” the page said. “Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.”
Satterfield’s LinkedIn profile lists him as a former treasurer for Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter, who served first as a Republican and later as Democrat before his death four years ago.
The Sunlight Foundation reported in 2012 that Satterfield operated a super-PAC with ties to Republican mega-donor Sheldon Adelson.
That super-PAC, “Republicans for a Prosperous America,” raised nearly $1.7 million in a single day, using most of its funds for advertisements criticizing President Obama in Jewish communities in Las Vegas and Miami.
The Draft Ryan super-PAC’s creation comes amid a Republican civil war over GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump, and whether to accept him as the party’s standard-bearer.
Ryan on Thursday said he had laughed off an apparent threat from Trump earlier in the week.
Trump vowed on Tuesday that the Speaker, just four months into his new role, would pay a “big price” if they didn’t get along.