NEWS
November 3, 2010 | By Michael A. Memoli, Tribune Washington Bureau
Michael Steele, a lightning rod for criticism during his chairmanship of the Republican National Committee, on Wednesday sought to claim a measure of credit for the party's titanic congressional wins Tuesday. The former Maryland lieutenant governor told reporters on a conference call that his unorthodox approach to running the committee, often criticized, proved enormously successful. "My goal from the very, very beginning was to devolve activity away from Washington, D.C., away from the Republican National Committee, and put it in the hands of the states," he said.
NATIONAL
July 2, 2010 | By Michael Memoli, Tribune Washington Bureau
Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele is facing a new test of his leadership over comments he made that appear to question America's military effort in Afghanistan. Video footage that emerged Friday shows Steele referring to the conflict as "a war of Obama's choosing" and implying that the effort is doomed to fail. "If he's such a student of history," Steele said, referring to President Obama, "has he not understood that, you know, that's the one thing you don't do, is engage in a land war in Afghanistan?
NATIONAL
January 15, 2011 | By Paul West, Washington Bureau
Michael Steele's troubled reign as Republican national chairman came to an abrupt end Friday when party leaders rejected him in favor of a former sidekick, Wisconsin party Chairman Reince R. Priebus. Priebus was instrumental in Steele's ascent to the top job two years ago and led his transition team. He was rewarded with the post of general counsel of the Republican National Committee, but he broke with Steele after the November election, saying the party organization had become dysfunctional and had lost the confidence of its major donors.
NEWS
November 24, 2010 | By Tom Hamburger, Tribune Washington Bureau
Former Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman, who led the American Action Network, an independent group that spent $25 million on behalf of Republican candidates this year, said Wednesday that he would be interested in chairing the Republican National Committee only if the current chairman, Michael Steele, chooses not to seek a second term. "I am not here to do any battles with our chairman; he is a friend," Coleman said in a C-SPAN interview to be broadcast Sunday. If Steele decides to retire from the post, Coleman said "I would say with humility if there was an opportunity to help the party I would do that.
NATIONAL
February 9, 2009 | Paul West
Republican National Committee Chairman Michael S. Steele said Sunday that he would provide records from his 2006 U.S. Senate campaign to the FBI in an effort to speed an apparent investigation into allegations of improper campaign spending. Steele confirmed that his sister was recently contacted by FBI agents looking into allegations that his campaign paid a company she owned more than $37,000 in 2007 for campaign work that was never performed.
NATIONAL
July 4, 2010 | By Richard A. Serrano, Los Angeles Times
Three top GOP senators on Sunday sharply criticized the chairman of the Republican National Committee, increasing the pressure on him to step down for his recent remarks that the war in Afghanistan was "a lost cause." The Republican senators, led by John McCain of Arizona, the party's presidential nominee in 2008, stopped short of calling for his resignation. But collectively their comments on the Sunday-morning TV talk shows signal a unified agreement that many in the GOP leadership no longer support the embattled chairman.