Oh what a tangled web they weave

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and senior Republican officials are calling out a GOP firm that worked on a seven-figure ad campaign lashing Rand Paul over his foreign policy views. 

The problem? The firm’s co-founder is also working for a McConnell-backed super PAC that’s defending the GOP Senate majority in 2016, when Paul is also on the Senate ballot in Kentucky.

Last month, the Republican firm Black Rock Group was hired to do communications work for the Foundation for a Secure and Prosperous America, which bombarded Paul with a $1 million ad campaign calling him “dangerous” because of his positions on Iran. But Black Rock’s co-founder, Carl Forti, also works as the political director for American Crossroads, which has formed the Senate Leadership Fund, a McConnell-backed super PAC.

The awkward situation of Forti’s firm being paid to promote a political attack on Paul — while also trying to keep GOP senators like Paul in office — has prompted strong reactions in GOP circles.

“Leader McConnell was of course not aware of this activity,” said Brian McGuire, a top aide to McConnell, a fellow Kentucky Republican. “But those involved should know that in his view it’s completely unacceptable, and that no consultant who makes a living attacking members of his conference who are running for reelection should expect to do any business with the party committees.”

A senior official with the National Republican Senatorial Committee also had tough words. “What advisers do on the presidential level is their business, but if it starts affecting a 2016 Senate race, that is when we will have an issue.”