May 8, 2014 email received from
Curly Haugland, National Committeeman for North Dakota


Dear RNC Member:
 
Re:   Binding Added to Rules by Fraud
 
The Binding Discussion has recently led to the shocking discovery that the word "binding" was added to the Rules of the Republican Party through deliberate acts of fraud and deceit.
 
Shocking, to say the least!
 
A page by page review of all of the proceedings since the 2004 National Convention, which led to the adoption of a rules change to add the words "select, allocate and bind" to what was then Rule 15, "Election of Delegates and Alternate Delegates", reveals that, in fact, there was virtually NO discussion of the impact that adding these words to the Rules of the Republican Party would have on the presidential nomination process.
 
In fact, this change was introduced by the RNC Counsel's Office staff member Jennifer Sheehan.
 
Sheehan Bind Amendment
 
This rules change was presented as a "clarification" of the rules as stated in the purpose for the recommended amendment, "The purpose of this amendment is to clarify the current Rules related to the delegate selection process.  The intent of this language is currently included in the Rules, but this additional language makes the interpretation consistent for all circumstances."
 
As you can see, the proposed amendment added the words "select" and "allocate" throughout the rules where, previously, only the word "elect" appeared in connection with the election of delegates to the national convention.
 
2008 Rules Transcript Sheehan & Lord
 
The transcript of the final meeting of the RNC Rules Committee on August 27, 2008 provides insight into the deception involved when Ms. Sheehan introduced the amendment stating, "The last amendment, it applies to throughout the rules the definition of "elect", "select", and/or "allocate." It just allows the clarification that that applies across the board during the delegate selection process."
 
The deception becomes immediately apparent when, in discussion of the proposed amendment, Nancy Lord of Utah asked "...can you clarify for me whether or not the word "allocate" refers to the binding of delegates"?  Ms. Sheehan's prompt response was, simply, "Yes".
 
Ms. Lord then moved to add the word "bind" to Sheehan's amendment and the amended motion passed on a voice vote.
 
This all took place in the final minutes of the final meeting of the RNC Rules Committee meeting held the day before the full membership of the RNC met and approved the rules changes recommended by the RNC Rules Committee.
 
This action was fraudulent because:
 
A.      Counsel's office clearly knew the word "allocate" was a synonym for "bind".
 
B.      The copy of the complete Rules of the Republican Party that was presented to the full RNC for approval contained only the addition of the words "select" and "allocate"; not "bind", which the record clearly shows was part of the motion that passed the Rules Committee the day before.  Thus, the full RNC has never approved that addition of the word "bind" to the Rules of the Republican Party.
 
2004 Rules - Revised Submitted to RNC Aug 28, 2008
 
C.      The members of the Convention Rules Committee were also deceived by RNC Counsel when, in the opening moments of the Committee work on August 29, 2008,  Delegate Chris Callaghan from New York asked of Counsel, "Could Counsel ...go through the new...copy and...tell us how it's different from the ...copy we had previously received?"  "Can we just get an update on the changes that occurred with the past week or so?"  In response, Mr. Josefiak replied that..."there were a series of very minor technical amendments...and then...a couple of substantive amendments...Oh, and the other one was...a change in the date so that you could no longer, as a State, select, elect, or bind delegates prior to...". Seriously?  Mr. Josefiak actually used the words "select", and "bind" as though they had always been part of the rules, and did not tell the committee, even in answer to a direct question that should have caused him to disclose the fact, that "bind" was first introduced to the Rules of the Republican Party at the RNC Rules Committee meeting on August 27, two days earlier.  The addition of the single word, "bind", is easily the most substantive change in the Rules of the Republican Party since Lincoln, and the Convention Rules Committee was deceived by its own staff in recommending it.
 
RNC Convention Rules Committee Aug 29, 2008
 
D.      This major change in the rules was proposed by the RNC Counsel's Office disguised as a "clarification".  Since the Counsel's office serves only as staff to the Rules Committee and is completely without authority to participate in rulemaking, it is fair to assume that these changes were offered on behalf of Rules Committee Chairman, David Norcross.
 
E.       The words "select", "allocate", and "bind" were added by this amendment to the word "elect" wherever it appeared in the rules relating to the election of delegates to the Republican National Convention.  According the Black's Law Dictionary, "The word "elected", in its ordinary signification...cannot be held the synonym of any other mode of filling a position."  The words "select", "allocate", and "bind" are in no way similar in meaning to the word "elect" and were added intentionally to codify customary practices of "selecting" delegates, instead of electing them.
 
F.       "Binding" delegates to the results of primary elections is the only way primary proponents can preserve the "value" of primaries and justify the huge amounts of money invested in attempts to "win" primaries.  This primary money has a large constituency of big money donors and campaign consultants that have become dependent on primaries as a way to exert undue influence, in the case of donors; and accrue tremendous wealth, in the case of campaign consultants.  Members of the RNC who are also members of the National Presidential Caucus have been directly involved in subtle rules changes to empower primaries at the expense of convention delegates.
 
National Presidential Caucus Participants
 
G.     "Binding" delegates was, and is, in direct conflict with Rules 37 and 38 which prohibit binding. According to Robert's Rules of Order, a motion which conflicts with an existing rule is an improper motion, and is null and void.
 
Thus, a major fraud was perpetrated on the Republican National Committee, and subsequently, on the entire Republican National Conventions of 2008 and 2012.
 
 
Sincerely,
 
Curly Haugland,
National Committeeman North Dakota
Member RNC Rules Committee