This Conservative Mega-Donor Is the World’s Most Successful E-mail Harasser

By Jonathan Strong

At 7:21 p.m. on the last night of the government shutdown, as the House was set to pass a Senate-struck deal to open the government and raise the debt ceiling, dozens of members of Congress received a threatening e-mail from someone whose name they did not know.

Accompanied with a link to a list of filing deadlines for candidates launching primary challenges against incumbent Republicans, the e-mail read: “Now let us dine on RINO flesh” — RINO being an acronym for Republican In Name Only.

Rumors flew on the House floor as lawmakers wondered who had penetrated their inboxes with such a colorful metaphor. Many members of Congress keep their e-mail addresses secret from all but a few trusted aides and colleagues. One person who received the e-mail said he had never previously received an unsolicited e-mail at his address, which he had used for years.

Who was the sender, Steven Baer?

Conversations with a number of conservatives reveal that Baer has been sending combative and colorful e-mail missives in past months to a who’s-who list of power brokers in the conservative world including David and Charles Koch, Foster Friess, Matt Kibbe, Tony Perkins, Grover Norquist, Erick Erickson, Rick Santorum, and a host of Republican congressmen.

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http://nationalreview.com/corner/361923/conservative-mega-donor-worlds-most-successful-e-mail-harasser-jonathan-strong