As U.S. Rep. Mo. Brooks (R-Huntsville) appears set to announce a campaign for U.S. Senate, a dark money group from outside of Alabama is attacking him for his opposition to then-candidate Donald Trump in the 2016 Republican presidential primary.
A shadowy group called the American Exceptionalism Institute has hired trucks emblazoned with reminders of Brooks’ 2016 criticism of Trump to drive around Huntsville in recent days as Brooks is set to announce his Senate candidacy Monday evening.
“These attacks confirm I am in the lead, which is a good thing,” Brooks told Yellowhammer News on Monday. “These groups will lie and use under-handed tactics to try to cut into my lead. It goes with the turf. They won’t succeed.”
The American Exceptionalism Institute hides its donors from the public. It was incorporated in Columbus, Ohio, in 2018.
On some official FEC documents, the American Exceptionalism Institute is listed at an address in Alexandria, Virginia.
The American Exceptionalism Institute has been linked to Columbus, Ohio lawyer James G. Ryan. Ryan has done work on behalf of numerous corporations and has ties to dozens of similar dark money groups. It is unclear what Ryan’s ties to the groups are beyond filing the paperwork to incorporate them with the relevant authorities.
The trucks hired by the group remind onlookers that Brooks said those voting for Trump in the 2016 primary “will be very regretful of voting for Donald Trump.”
An example of the trucks, procured by Politico, can be viewed here.
The comments seek to resurface Brooks’ opposition to Trump during the 2016 primary when the Alabama congressman was a staunch supporter of U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-TX) campaign.
During the primary, Brooks called Trump a “serial adulterer” and “notorious flip-flopper.” Brooks said about Trump that he would “not publicly support, or endorse with my reputation, someone who I know to have such huge character flaws and who is dishonest.”
“Let Mo Know he was Wrong!” the traveling billboard paid for by the dark money group urges the public.
Notably, Brooks became one of the most ardent supporters of President Trump after the 2016 general election. Brooks was the first and most aggressive federal elected official to insist that the U.S. Congress not certify then-former Vice-President Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election, arguing the victory was invalid.
Reporting from Politico over the weekend indicated Trump is strongly considering an endorsement of Brooks’ nascent campaign.
Brooks is being joined at an event on Monday by Stephen Miller, a longtime senior advisor to Trump and former aide to U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL).
In years past, the American Exceptionalism Institute has spent big in support of the interests of powerful Senate Republicans in Washington. It funneled $2.5 million to support U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham’s victory in 2020 and spent $200,000 with the goal of getting Republicans elected in the recent Senate races in Georgia.
The group also spent $100,000 encouraging U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) to support Gina Haspel’s nomination as director of the CIA.
“There is no question that Socialist Democrats, the Fake News Media, and weak-kneed RINO Republicans fear principled conservatives like Mo Brooks in the Senate,” Brooks said on Monday.
Another dark money group tied to James Ryan ran ads against Trump in the last days of the 2020 presidential election.
While Brooks has not officially declared his Senate candidacy, he has changed his official campaign fundraising paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to read “Mo Brooks for Senate.”
The congressman is set to be the second person to mount a campaign for the seat being vacated by U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby’s (R-AL) announced retirement in 2022. Currently, the only declared candidate is Lynda Blanchard, the Trump administration’s ambassador to Slovenia.
Brooks is set to officially announce his plans for the upcoming election cycle at an event on Monday evening in Huntsville.
Henry Thornton is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can contact him by email: [email protected] or on Twitter @HenryThornton95.
