RNC Head Counsel Charlie Spies Out After Only Two Months

Two months ago an experienced GOP lawyer with actual credentials was hired on as Head Counsel for the Republican National Committee. Charlies Spies thought he had Trump’s backing. It sure seemed that way and I’m sure he looked forward to handling the legal niceties of the transition takeover of the RNC by Trump, and of course helping them navigate the election stuff to follow. Now? He’s out on his a$$. Fired.  Ok, technically he resigned but it was one of those let someone save a little face by resigning instead of being fired type of things.

Multiple outlets have reported on it starting yesterday evening.  His ouster is being (uncharacteristically) soft-peddled but he was fired.  As reported by The Hill the then respected Spies was hired in preparation for a (ahem) leadership transition. As in Trump swallowing the GOP whole and for starters installing daughter-in-law Lara Trump (anything to get her to stop making country song recordings!) and close campaign confidant Michael Whatley as co-chairs. Their job would be to conduct a purge “radical overhaul” of the entire RNC operation.  As for Spies back a couple of months ago? Per The Hill:

Chair Michael Whatley said at the time that Spies and fellow counsel Christina Bobb would be focused on efforts to ensure election security.

“The RNC’s new posture as it relates to this litigation will be an aggressive, proactive effort to ensure that it will be easy to vote and hard to cheat,” he wrote in a letter to members obtained by The Hill.

Alas, for Spies there was a not so little problem. (Lara) Trump’s and Whatley’s mandate was to purge the RNC of any hint of disloyalty to the Mango Messiah. And Spies had a big (for Trumpy types and Trump  himself) a big spot on his record. He’s publicly rejected Trump’s election fraud claims! One has to wonder given he and Trump had disagreements on the subject how the hell he ever got hired on to such a huge job at the RNC in the first place. Well, unless Trump wanted to publicly yank his chain some. That’s just the kind of thing an a-hole like Trump would do now that I think about it.

I’d like to note that I’ve included a rather staid account of this hiring/firing of Spies. While a scan of articles on the matter adopt a similar tone to The Hill article I’ve cited a more biting bit of commentary can be found in Meaww.  Their headline includes a quote from one of the numerous tweets embedded where one user responded with the suggestion what Spies really said was he wasn’t going to go “Running this circus.”  That seems more likely to me than the more polite versions of the bland pronouncements of going separate ways.

The Meaww article does actually provide some reasoning as to why Spies was hired in the first place despite the friction with Trump over the 2020 election results:

A campaign official previously described him as “the best at what he does, knows the FEC loopholes better than anyone” but a “gun for hire.” And despite his reputation as a skilled legal strategist, Spies reportedly clashed with Trump and was not a supporter of the former president.

Before his role at the RNC, Spies had an illustrious career, including working for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis during the GOP primary. He is renowned for his work in expanding the use of super PACs following the landmark Citizens United decision.

Notably, he spearheaded Right to Rise, the super PAC used by Jeb Bush during the 2016 election cycle, raising a staggering $100 million before Bush formally announced his candidacy.

To put it bluntly, at least some people on Trump’s campaign team that he sometimes listens to convinced him he/the RNC needed someone like Spies. And they do. Not just for election law expertise but for fundraising. Trump hates it but there’s a part of him that knows he needs at least some people who actually know sh*t and since he’s major screwed if he doesn’t get elected Spies is exactly the type of lawyer he needs heavily involved in things. Still, the whole thing is a combination head-scratcher and case of whiplash. He’s in. He’s out. He’s in sometimes when we need actual expertise. I’d encourage you to check out the link to the Meaww article. It’s quite the read.

For now it seems that Spies is still gung-ho to get Trump elected. Perhaps he’s dreaming of bigly legal fees for his firm for consulting work. I wonder if he’s got the guts to demand payment up front because if he doesn’t he won’t see a dime for all the billable hours and resources his firm will put in!  But it explains both why he was allowed to resign and the RNC said nice things about him. Both sides save a little face, at least on the Republican side of things. And with most of the mainstream media which is all too eager to normalize Trump so it will be a close election.

However, I think what’s going on is chaos. And that the chaos will get worse. Keep an eye out for this guy’s name in the months ahead because if he/his firm put in major work for the RNC and don’t get paid this could blow up into something pretty embarrassing for Team Trump.