OUT OF THE SHADOWS

Leaked Membership List Shows Top Republicans in Shadowy Group With Extremists

The secretive Council for National Policy has been meeting three times a year for the past four decades.

The membership list of one of the most secretive right-wing groups in America has reportedly been leaked, and it shows a mix of mainstream Republicans and Trumpworld figures alongside fringe extremists. The influential Council for National Policy has been meeting three times a year for the past four decades, but its members are believed to be forbidden from discussing its activities or even acknowledging its existence. The Guardian reports that a leaked membership list from last September shows senior Republicans such as Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-GA,) ex-RNC Chair and Trump White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, and former Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. It also contains dozens of extremists from organizations listed as hate groups, including Tim Wildmon, the president of the anti-LGBT rights group the American Family Association, and the anti-Muslim conspiracy theorist Frank Gaffney. None of the members contacted by The Guardian responded to questions.