Rush Limbaugh’s recent assertion that Politico is the “go-to inside the Beltway publication for Republican establishment leaks” is proving true again.
In a featured story that relied upon an anonymous “Republican staffer familiar with the meeting,” Politico reported:
Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise, the No. 3 House Republican, is laying plans to boot lawmakers from the leadership’s elite vote-counting team if they oppose party-line procedural motions. That might sound like insignificant inside baseball, but it’s a critical development — and yet another sign that top Republicans are looking to ostracize troublemakers in the Capitol.
On his nationally syndicated radio show last week, Limbaugh predicted stories like this would continue to flow from Politico during the current session of Congress:
The reason I cite The Politico is, remember, The Politico I have deduced is the go-to inside-the-Beltway publication for Republican establishment leaks.
If the Republican establishment is gonna leak and if they want to get some news out, I have discovered The Politico is where they go.
The establishment newspaper based its story on two sources: the anonymous “Republican staffer familiar with the meeting” who told Politico “[p]art of being on the whip team is abiding by the rules of the club.”
Politico’s other source, the only one who went on-the-record, was Moira Smith, “a spokesperson for Scalise’s office.” She told Politico “[we] talk about organizational issues within the whip team.”