GOP Congressman 'Furious' After He 'Accidentally' Fundraises Off His Flip-Flop On Syria
Carol Danko, a Grimm spokeswoman, blamed the fundraising email on an inadvertent, automatic inclusion by a vendor. She did not respond to inquiries about the name of the vendor.
"It was a very unfortunate error and the congressman is fuming about it," Danko said.
"The email was intended to be a message to supporters informing them of the congressman's withdrawal of support for a strike on Syria," she added in a statement. "The dollar ask was included automatically by the vendor, and was never approved by the congressman. He is furious over this inappropriate inclusion and has taken appropriate actions to ensure that this careless error never happens again."
The five-paragraph email, which was first noticed by BuzzFeed's Rosie Gray, contains two paragraphs that are comprised entirely of donation requests.
Here's the full text of the email:
Today, I decided to withdraw my support from President Obama's proposal for a military strike against Syria. I have heard from many of you in Staten Island and Brooklyn, and it is clear to me that their is strong opposition to the strike. As your voice in Washington, I will continue to listen and take a stand for you.
Will you stand with me in opposing President Obama's plan with a donation of $25 or more right now?
When President Obama first announced his plan for strikes against the Syrian government for its alleged use of chemical weapons, my first reaction as a Marine combat veteran was to support immediate, targeted strikes. I now believe that the opportunity for such action has passed.
President Obama has failed to show strength at this critical moment in time. While the debate in Congress continues, our nation's credibility grows weaker and weaker. After much deliberation and prayer, I have decided to withdraw my support. I do not feel that our country has enough to gain by moving forward with this attack.
Stand with me today with a donation of $25 or more to strongly oppose military action in Syria.
Thank you for your support,
Michael Grimm
Grimm said in a statement on Thursday that he would no longer support President Barack Obama's plan to launch limited military strikes in Syria - saying that Obama should have acted unilaterally and without Congress' approval.
"Now that the Assad regime has seen our playbook and has been given enough time to prepare and safeguard potential targets, I do not feel that we have enough to gain as a nation by moving forward with this attack on our own," Grimm said.
Grimm's fundraising page has been removed, but a cached version still exists:
