by Julia Johnson, Politics Reporter
A group of Democratic and Republican operatives intent on preventing a second Trump administration is turning its attention to the No Labels party, which could still nominate a candidate, adding more chaos to the 2024 mix.
No Labels has left the door open to nominating a centrist candidate in 2024, especially if former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden are the two major party nominees, which is looking increasingly likely. The bipartisan group of opponents promised to use its sprawling networks and connections to make anyone running under the No Labels banner unpalatable to voters.
“Through every channel we have, to their donors, their friends, the press, everyone, everyone, should send the message: If you have one fingernail clipping of a skeleton in your closet, we will find it,” one person reportedly said on the call. “If you think you were vetted when you ran for governor, you’re insane. That was nothing. We are going to come at you with every gun we can possibly find. We did not do that with Jill Stein or Gary Johnson — we should have — and we will not make that mistake again.”
The call, led by Democratic organizations Third Way and MoveOn, detailed plans to undermine No Labels, according to a recording obtained by Semafor. Other participating organizations included End Citizens United, the Lincoln Project, American Bridge, Public Citizen, and Reproductive Freedom for All. Individual call attendees included a group of anti-Trump Democrats and Republicans such as strategist Sarah Longwell and Bill Kristol, Biden campaign surrogate former Alabama Sen. Doug Jones, and a representative for Democratic billionaire Reid Hoffman, Dmitri Mehlhorn.
Hoffman recently made headlines after donating to the campaign of one of Trump’s primary opponents, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley.
During the call that lasted over an hour, the groups reportedly stressed their goal of remaining covert in attempts to sabotage No Labels’s plans. Third Way co-founder Matt Bennett specifically requested that attendees keep the call confidential, something apparently defied by at least one listener.
The groups discussed a variety of ways to attack No Labels, including forcing the group to divulge donors through court action, conducting opposition research on possible candidates and involved parties, and warning donors about the consequences of possible contributions to its efforts.
Some of the possible No Labels candidates the groups raised alarms over were Govs. Chris Sununu (R-NH) and Doug Burgum (R-ND), former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan and Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, and former Reps. Liz Cheney and Will Hurd.
Representatives for Sununu, Burgum, Cheney, and Hogan did not provide comment to the Washington Examiner.
Of Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), who has been the subject of much presidential speculation, Bennett claimed he had “a lot of information from a lot of very credible people that that is not happening.” However, Semafor reported that a source close to Manchin said it was “bulls***” that the centrist lawmaker had made a decision.
One tactic of the groups is to send a notice to donors, threatening the consequences of involvement with No Labels.
“What we want to do with donors is continue to build the idea in the minds of the political elites and the people that they talk to that this is a road to nowhere, that if you get involved with this, you are throwing, you’re really risking your entire reputation and your legacy,” according to Bennett.
“It’s a very, very bad investment,” he emphasized.
Mehlhorn, the representative for powerful Democratic donor Hoffman, claimed No Labels founder Nancy Jacobson had reached out to him several times. She apparently asked that the emails be kept “confidential.”
“Reid and I never agreed to that, so every time she said everything, I forwarded it on everybody I knew. Eventually, she figured that out and stopped engaging,” he told the call.
End Citizens United outlined its plan to attack the party from another angle: the courts. Specifically, the group believes forcing No Labels to reveal the donors funding its efforts would be “a huge hit to their entire operation.”
A member of Public Citizen accused No Labels of “masquerading as a (c)(4) when it’s putting out there that it’s a political party,” referring to the group’s tax status.
“Obviously, not only not disclosing donors, but not following contribution limits, not registering with the FEC as what they really are. So all things that democracy groups care about a lot,” the speaker said.
The groups are also working on collecting damaging information about those who could become involved with a No Labels bid. “We’re looking at any and all ways to connect to the press and center these messages, both on the record, off the record, both formally and informally,” one said on the call.
In a statement, No Labels chief strategist Ryan Clancy said, “This is why the public is so desperate for another choice in this election in the first place.”
“Here you have these partisan operatives scheming and plotting behind closed doors to prevent a choice that most Americans so clearly want. And instead of dealing with the real problem, which is that they are closing ranks behind a candidate who may not be able to win in 2024, they’re turning their fire on No Labels, which happens to be the only ones who are listening to what voters actually want.”