GOP Rep. Baumgartner's Scheme to Stop Leaks Springs a Leak of Its Own
Key Takeaways
- •Rep. Michael Baumgartner (R-Wash.) warned House Republicans last week that anyone giving interviews to Punchbowl News co-founder Jake Sherman would not receive his vote in leadership elections.
- •During a closed-door House Republican Conference meeting, Baumgartner renewed his call for members to stop briefing reporters and proposed holding future meetings in a SCIF, an ultra-secure Defense Department facility where personal electronics are prohibited.
- •Word of Baumgartner's private remarks was quickly relayed to Sherman, who publicly described them on X, noting the congressman had exhorted colleagues not to leak meeting contents.
- •The Daily Beast observed that the leak of Baumgartner's own anti-leaking campaign illustrated the problem he sought to address and questioned whether secure meeting rooms would solve it.
- •Social media users and fellow journalists mocked the irony of a leak occurring about a prohibition on leaking.
A Republican congressman who lectured his colleagues about talking to a prominent Capitol Hill reporter was left red-faced after his own private remarks on the subject were leaked to that very reporter, according to a report by the Daily Beast.
Rep. Michael Baumgartner (R-Wash.) castigated fellow House Republicans last week, warning that anyone who shared information with Jake Sherman, co-founder of Punchbowl News, a Capitol Hill-focused news outlet, should not count on his backing in leadership contests.
"The slimiest member of the DC press corps who conspires with low integrity attention seekers to leak strategies being discussed in House Republican meetings is Jake Sherman," Baumgartner wrote. "To be clear — If you want my vote for leadership you will commit to no on or off record interviews with Jake Sherman for as long as he leaks our confidential team meetings. If being in 'Punchbowl' is more important than keeping the confidentiality of your colleagues not only are you unfit for leadership, you shouldn't call yourself a patriot."
"Do not call me and ask for my vote unless you are willing to make that commitment," he added.
The threats, however, appeared to gain little traction with Baumgartner's Republican colleagues. During a closed-door House Republican Conference meeting — the private forum where the conference maps out strategy and, when the time comes, picks its leadership team — he pressed members anew to stop briefing reporters, and word of that effort was promptly relayed to Sherman himself. It was an object lesson in the very problem Baumgartner was decrying: his own push for confidentiality did not stay inside the room.
"In the House Republican Conference meeting this morning, Washington State @RepBaumgartner exhorted his colleagues in the room not to leak what's going on in the meeting to reporters," Sherman posted publicly on X soon after the remarks reached him. "He recommended they hold House Republican Conference meetings in a SCIF."
The Daily Beast noted that "SCIF" is short for "sensitive compartmented information facility," a Defense Department term for an "ultra-secure room specially constructed for government officials to view sensitive information." Personal electronics are barred inside SCIFs.
"Given that Baumgartner's own colleagues appear to be leaking his remarks to Sherman, however, it's unclear whether moving the meetings to a SCIF would solve the problem," the outlet added.
Critics quickly swarmed Sherman's post with quips about the irony.
"Got to love a leak about not leaking," one X user posted.
"The Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work and then they get elected and prove it," another critic wrote, quoting writer PJ O'Rourke.
"Love that you tagged him," posted fellow reporter Igor Bobic, of the Washington Sun.
