Liberal operative and Media Matters founder David Brock is seeking an additional $2 million from donors to launch a new anti-Trump project to attack Republicans heading into the midterms that will also include a news service to counter publications such as the Washington Free Beacon, according to Politico.
Brock sent an email to donors on Wednesday asking for the cash for the project that will operate from American Bridge, the Clinton loyalist's rapid response and opposition research arm, which already has been given $20 million this cycle, Politico reported.
The proposed initiative would target Steve Bannon's new political action committee, which will attempt to make the midterms an up-or-down vote on whether Trump should be impeached, and feature a digital advertising campaign targeting 70 House races this fall.
Politico writes that the "biggest plank" of Brock's new program is an online news service, called the American Ledger, that will "seek to counter conservative news outlets like the Free Beacon and Breitbart" with a goal of generating articles that will be cited in political ads.
"You notice in Republican ads across the country that there are news sites that produce stories that get cited," Brock said. "If the average congressman says he's in favor of privatizing social security, it could be a good ad even if it’s not in a paper. You need a source for the ad. They need American Ledger."
The news service sounds similar to one Brock already has in operation called Shareblue.
Brock expressed similar envy in a confidential memo obtained by the Free Beacon last year at his Florida donor retreat where he plotted how to "kick Donald Trump's ass."
"The right has done this effectively (though deceptively) for years," the memo states in its Shareblue section. "They have brought down progressive organizations and damaged Democrats. In addition, there has been an influx of Republican campaigns and candidates citing bogus news stories from online smear merchants such as the Washington Free Beacon and Breitbart in political ads and communications."
Brock went on to boast of his organization's "unprecedented access to decision-makers of every level of the Democratic establishment and progressive movement" that would be used to "tangibly damage" the Trump administration.
The American Bridge portion of the memo states that it has 146 staffers between its nonprofit and super PAC that includes a 47-person war room "to take on Donald Trump," 25 researchers, and communications team of 16 people to feed their work to the press.
Politico notes that Brock has rarely spoken publicly since his Florida retreat but has remained active.
American Bridge also received payments in June from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) for research consulting after some Democrats wanted the party to drop his organizations following Clinton's defeat.
American Bridge did not return a request for comment on the new project by press time.