Anti-Trump GOP delegates are counting on Mike Lee

Lee sits on a key panel that meets in Cleveland on Thursday and Friday to determine the rules governing the 2016 Republican convention that is set to nominate Trump for president.

The senator, a constitutionalist who inhabits the GOP’s Tea Party wing, has stubbornly refused to endorse the New York businessman, citing concerns about his policies and conduct on the campaign trail.

Lee’s lingering opposition to Trump could impact his actions on the convention rules committee, a panel of GOP convention delegates charged with setting the rules for Trump’s nomination.

Trump’s nomination appears assured by party rules binding convention delegates to the winner of their state’s primary contest. Trump’s primary victories put him well north of a clinching a majority of delegates.

But a coalition of delegates seeking to oust Trump, in coordination with an outside political group, are pushing to unbind the delegates and permit them to vote their conscience on the convention floor. It’s a long shot.

But Lee’s support for the measure in the rules committee, where his wife Sharon serves as the Utah delegation’s second member, could fuel the rebellion.

The senator is respected figure in conservative grassroots circles, and could embolden other delegates who might support the conscience clause but are afraid of bucking the Trump campaign and Republican National Committee leaders.

The senator’s opposition could similarly discourage the rebellion and reduce any impact it might have once the convention begins on Monday.

“Mike Lee is going to be influential wherever he is. He is greatly admired by conservatives,” Morton Blackwell, a delegate and rules committee member from Virginia, told reporters here following a meeting of the Republican National Committee.

Blackwell, who opposes the conscience amendment, commonly referred to as a “minority report,” said he spoke with Lee at length on Monday. He declined to reveal the details of their telephone conversation, and said Lee’s influence would depend on where the center of power lies on the rules committee.

Lee was still in Washington on Senate business late Wednesday and was unavailable for comment. His schedule prevented him from attending a rules committee orientation meeting held in Cleveland Wednesday evening.

The push to derail Trump’s nomination is being led by a coalition of grassroots delegates that calls itself “Free the Delegates.”

Their leader, Kendal Unruh, represents the Colorado delegation on the rules committee. Unruh claims to have commitments from enough rules committee members — 28 — to pass the minority report, which could force a vote on the conscience clause next week on the convention floor.

Free the Delegates is coordinating with Delegates Unbound, a 501(c)4 organization that is lobbying delegates and planning for floor action to force an unbinding of the delegates, regardless of the outcome in the rules committee.

The RNC and the Trump campaign are confident that the minority report will be defeated in the rules committee, and that a rebellion on the convention floor will be contained. But they are concerned enough that they are actively moving to keep it from spreading and getting out of control.

Lee is recognized as a threat, at least by some delegates who oppose rules changes and want to preserve a smooth nomination for Trump.

“Sen. Lee is a rule of law conservative. I hope he recognizes how important it is that we uphold both the letter and spirit of the nominating process and that each candidate agreed to upfront,” said Matt Moore, chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party and member of the rules committee.

Lee, 45, formerly clerked for Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito and in the Senate commonly focuses on constitutional issues. He tends to shy away from media coverage, at least by Capitol Hill standards, but isn’t afraid of controversy.

In the fall of 2013, he joined forces with Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who he supported in the presidential primary, to force a partial government shutdown in a bid to get President Obama to agree to defund the Affordable Care Act.

Lee was under tremendous pressure from most of his Republican colleagues to drop the effort, but he didn’t waver. That would suggest a willingness to support a rules change to unbind convention delegates, without regard pushback from Trump and the RNC, if he believes in the proposal.

Republican insiders believe that Lee has already made up his mind on the matter, and sources say he’ll reveal his position when the issue is raised for consideration in the rules committee. The panel is set to convene Thursday morning inside the convention center in downtown Cleveland.

The group “Never Trump”, a project of the Never Means Never political action committee, is seeking to encourage Lee to back the conscience clause by circulating an online petition where rank-and-file supporters can sign an open letter to the senator.

“Senator Mike Lee has made his concerns about Donald Trump clear. We urge him to stand before the Rules Committee Thursday and make the case for delegates to be allowed to vote their conscience,” reads the letter. “Tell Senator Mike Lee to stand strong before the Rules Committee and make the case on behalf of the Party and our great nation.”

Some delegates committed to Trump, or at least to preserving current rules that bind delegates to the winner of the primary and caucus in their state, downplayed Lee’s ability to pushing the conscience clause amendment over the top — if he supports it.

Bill Palatucci, a New Jersey delegate and rules committee member, compared the rebels opposed to Trump to the delegates four years ago who agitated to have Ron Paul’s name placed in nomination on the convention floor in Tampa, Fla.

They didn’t number too many and were easily shut down by the party, which acted to protect Mitt Romney’s nomination, although they did get some media attention on the floor. Palatucci is a close confidant of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who is on Trump’s vice presidential shortlist.

He doubted the breadth of Lee’s influence on a rules committee that is comprised of two delegates from each state and U.S. territory.

“I’m a Jersey guy, so I don’t know Mike Lee — so I don’t know what that means on the east coast,” Palatucci said.

Joel Gehrke contributed to this report from Washington, D.C.