New RNC Chair’s Lawyer Penned Schiavo Memo

The White House just tapped Sen. Mel Martinez (R.-Fla.) to replace Ken Mehlman as the new RNC Chair. In 2005, Martinez’s general counsel admitted that he wrote the memo outlining the political advantage to Republicans from the Terry Schiavo case. (Martinez fired the lawyer after his authorship became public.)

Washington Post:

Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.), a close White House ally and a Cuban American, has agreed to become the next general chairman of the Republican National Committee, GOP officials said. The appointment comes in the wake of an election that yielded shrinking GOP support from Hispanic voters.

Martinez, a first-term senator, will remain in office and serve as the party’s chief spokesman and fundraiser heading into the 2008 elections. Mike Duncan, the RNC’s current general counsel and a former party treasurer, will manage day-to-day operations and be elected chairman in January, Republican aides said.

An official announcement is expected soon.

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Washington Post:

The legal counsel to Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) admitted yesterday that he was the author of a memo citing the political advantage to Republicans of intervening in the case of Terri Schiavo, the senator said in an interview last night.

Brian H. Darling, 39, a former lobbyist for the Alexander Strategy Group on gun rights and other issues, offered his resignation and it was immediately accepted, Martinez said.

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