Trump Campaign Hires Citizens United President David Bossie As Deputy Campaign Manager

“Bossie, The Veteran Conservative Operative Who Has Investigated The Clintons For More Than Two Decades, Has Been Named Donald Trump’s Deputy Campaign Manager.” According to a report from The Washington Post, former president of the conservative group Citizens United David Bossie “has been named Donald Trump’s deputy campaign manager”:

David N. Bossie, the veteran conservative operative who has investigated the Clintons for more than two decades, has been named Donald Trump’s deputy campaign manager.



The Republican presidential nominee revealed his hire in a phone call with The Washington Post.



“A friend of mine for many years,” Trump said, speaking from his office in New York. “Solid. Smart. Loves politics, knows how to win.”



Bossie participated Thursday in strategy sessions at Trump Tower in New York where he was introduced to campaign aides and Trump associates, according to Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway.



Conway said Bossie would be assisting her with managing day-to-day operations and with strategic planning.



“He's a battle-tested warrior and a brilliant strategist,” Conway said. “He's a nuts-and-bolts tactician as well, who's going to help us fully integrate our ground game and data operations, and help with overall strategy as my deputy.”



Bossie will also work on crafting attacks against Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, mining past controversies involving her and former president Bill Clinton, and cultivating Trump’s bond with conservative activists.



The addition of Bossie, who first gained notice in the 1990s as the Republican congressional staffer who aggressively delved into the Clintons’ finances and dealings, is the latest sign that the Trump campaign’s new leadership team is embracing right-wing figures whose ties to the party’s elected leadership have been tenuous or even hostile. [The Washington Post, 9/1/16]

Bossie Has Made A Career Out Of “Filthy Campaign Tactics” And Clinton Smears

In 1998, Bossie Was Forced To Resign From Role As Top Investigator On House Government And Reform Committee For Allegedly Releasing Selectively Edited Transcripts. Bossie resigned from his position as top investigator on the House Government and Reform Committee for his alleged role in releasing selectively edited transcripts and video of prison conversations by Clinton confidant Webster Hubbell. The transcripts and video, whose editing was overseen by Bossie, removed exculpatory statements from Hubbell that downplayed alleged wrongdoing by Hillary Clinton at their former law firm. Then-Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich responded to Bossie’s actions by telling then-House Government and Oversight Committee chair Dan Burton, “I'm embarrassed for you, I'm embarrassed for myself, and I'm embarrassed for the conference at the circus that went on at your committee.” [Media Matters, 6/10/14]

George H.W. Bush Condemned Bossie For “Filthy Campaign Tactics” Used Against The Clintons During The 1992 Presidential Campaign. In a 2004 article in Salon written by Eric Boehlert, then-President George H.W. Bush condemned Bossie and Citizens United for what he called “filthy campaign tactics” against the Clintons during the 1992 presidential campaign. Bush eventually “filed an FEC complaint against Bossie’s group after it produced a TV ad inviting voters to call a hotline to hear (almost certainly doctored) tape-recorded conversations between Clinton and Gennifer Flowers.” From the 2004 article:

Bossie joined Citizens United in 1992 as its director of political affairs, which he quickly transformed into a full-time job of hounding the Clintons. The group was essentially a two-man operation. Four years earlier Citizens United had produced the infamous race-baiting Willie Horton ad. “That spot was, is, will ever after be a nightmare,” GOP strategist Mary Matalin once told the Chicago Tribune.



In fact, in 1992, Bush’s father condemned Bossie and Brown’s gutter practices, telling reporters: “We will do whatever we can to stop any filthy campaign tactics.” During that same campaign, George W. Bush, on his father’s behalf, even sent out a letter to 85,000 Republican contributors encouraging them not to contribute to Brown and Bossie’s effort.

[...]

Also in 1992, President George H.W. Bush, repudiating Bossie’s tactics, filed an FEC complaint against Bossie’s group after it produced a TV ad inviting voters to call a hot line to hear (almost certainly doctored) tape-recorded conversations between Clinton and Gennifer Flowers. [Salon, 7/20/04]

Bossie Once Baselessly Alleged “A Young Pregnant Woman Named Susan Coleman Had Committed Suicide In 1977 After Having An Affair With” Bill Clinton. In 1992, “Bossie set out to prove that a young pregnant woman named Susan Coleman had committed suicide in 1977 after having an affair with Clinton.” According to Salon, “Coleman’s mother told CBS that Bossie hounded her relentlessly with his false story, even following her to an Army hospital in Georgia, where she was visiting her husband, in recovery from a stroke. Bossie and another man ‘burst into the sick man’s room and began questioning the shaken mother about her daughter’s suicide’”:

That same year, Bossie set out to prove that a young pregnant woman named Susan Coleman had committed suicide in 1977 after having an affair with Clinton. Coleman’s mother told CBS that Bossie hounded her relentlessly with his false story, even following her to an Army hospital in Georgia, where she was visiting her husband, in recovery from a stroke. Bossie and another man “burst into the sick man’s room and began questioning the shaken mother about her daughter’s suicide,” CBS reported. [Salon, 7/20/04]

Bossie Blamed The 2008 Financial Crisis On “60s Hippies” Who Became “Yuppies Of The 80s” Then Became “Barons Of The 2000s.” In 2010, Bossie said, “The people who were the 60’s hippies, the people at Woodstock in the 60’s, who became the yuppies of the 80’s, and really the barons of the 2000’s” were to blame for the 2008 financial crisis:

DAVID BOSSIE: The greatest generation, the World War II generation, it would never dawn on them to take the type of risk that these people did. The people who were the 60’s hippies, the people at Woodstock in the 60’s, who became the yuppies of the 80’s, and really the barons of the 2000’s, and really are the leaders around the country who helped cause this. It really is a remarkable thing. [Fox News, Hannity, 2/23/10]

Salon: Bossie’s Citizens United Produced A 2008 Anti-Clinton Film Titled “Hillary: The Movie,” “Which The FEC Ruled Was Not A Movie At All But Rather A 90-Minute Campaign Commercial.” Bossie’s group Citizens United produced a film in 2008 called “Hillary: the Movie,” about now-Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, but “the FEC ruled was not a movie at all but rather a 90-minute campaign commercial that was ‘susceptible of no other interpretation than to inform the electorate that Senator Clinton is unfit for office, that the United States would be a dangerous place in a President Hillary Clinton world, and that viewers should vote against her.’” [Salon, 10/28/14]

Chicago Tribune: Bossie “Harvests Tales Of Alleged Wrongdoings From A Network Of Clinton Enemies, Then Peddles Them To Capitol Hill And Media Contacts.” A 1994 Chicago Tribune profile reported that Bossie was part of the campaign to use the Whitewater controversy to attack President Bill Clinton, pointing out that he “harvests tales of alleged wrongdoings from a network of Clinton enemies, then peddles them to Capitol Hill and media contacts in hopes of prompting scandalous stories.” [Chicago Tribune, 3/27/94]