Vice chairman of NPC Republicans asked to resign

The vice chairman of the Nez Perce County Republican Central Committee has been asked to resign after he wrote a letter to the editor critical of former President Donald Trump.

Central Committee Chairman Jim Evans asked Vice Chairman Eric Peterson to resign on Saturday, the same day Peterson’s letter ran on the opinion page of the Lewiston Tribune.

The letter accuses Trump of supporting efforts to intimidate and harass election workers, suggesting that’s what led to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot that left five people dead and others injured.

Impeaching Trump, Peterson said, would send “a clear message that the constitutions of our nation and states and our rule of law have meaning and teeth.”

In the last paragraph of the letter, he clearly indicated that “this is my opinion. I do not speak for the party.” However, he also signed the letter as “vice chairman and former chairman” of the county central committee.

By doing so, Evans said, Peterson essentially tried to speak for the central committee — something he did not have the authority to do.

“You publicly submitted (a) letter to the editor representing the Nez Perce County Republican Central Committee by signing your name as vice chair,” Evans said in a letter asking for Peterson’s resignation. “This is NOT a position of the Nez Perce County Republican Central Committee. It hasn’t been voted on as a position, and it wasn’t the general opinion of the committee.”

If Peterson doesn’t voluntarily resign, the letter says a special meeting will be called to remove him from office. It also asks Peterson to immediately resign his position as an elected GOP precinct captain.

Details of the dispute — including copies of both letters, as well as comments from local party members — are posted on the committee’s Facebook page, www.facebook.com/NezPerceCountyRepublicans.

When contacted by the Lewiston Tribune, Evans said a special meeting of the central committee officers and precinct captains has been called. He declined to provide further details or to discuss the dispute at this time.

Peterson said he knew the letter to the editor would incense some Republicans. However, he likened the party’s relationship with Trump today to the moral challenges it faced during the McCarthy era, when rabid allegations of disloyalty and communist sympathies destroyed lives and careers.

“My dad was active at the University of Idaho Law School during the McCarthy era,” Peterson said. “We had a lot of discussions about that. He stood up locally and denounced it. He paid a hard price, but believed he was right.”

Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results represent a similar choice between right and wrong, he said.

“It’s so sad to me, as a rule of law person. I couldn’t sit by quietly and not say anything,” Peterson said. “I want to be able to say to my grandkids, ‘I knew the difference and spoke up and accepted the consequences.’ ”

That said, he also questions whether the central committee has the legal authority to remove him as vice chair.

The committee bylaws posted on the Idaho GOP website indicate an officer “serves at the pleasure of the central committee.” However, that clause goes on to talk about people who are “unwilling or unable” to perform their duties. It doesn’t address the removal of someone who remain willing and able.

“It takes a two-thirds vote, and it has to be for cause,” Peterson said. “They’re probably going to say the issue is me putting my office (in the letter to the editor), but I did that because I wanted to show I was actively engaged. The letter was my personal opinion. If they try to remove me for cause, I’ll file for wrongful removal in district court.”

Peterson wrote a follow-up letter to the editor offering his apologies for not clarifying sooner in the first letter that the views expressed were his own.

“In hindsight, it would have been better placed as a disclaimer at the start of the letter,” he said.

A copy of the second letter is posted on the committee’s Facebook page. It will also run in the Tribune.

Comments on the Facebook page offered both support and condemnation for Peterson.

Bill Hobbs wrote that, “if his position in (the central committee) wasn’t listed, there wouldn’t have been an issue.”

Rebecca Crea said by admitting he’s a RINO (Republican in Name Only), Peterson further damned himself.

“(It’s) another reason to get rid of him,” she said. “Haven’t we tried to get the RINOs out of the party for years.”

In a reply to Crea’s post, Peterson acknowledged that he’s a rhino, but not a RINO.

“I have tough skin and a horn,” he said.

Mike Menegas said any talk about removing Peterson from office “is ridiculous.”

“Get over ourselves, already,” he wrote. “His letter was an opinion that was expressly stated to be limited to his personal opinion.”

Gabe Iacoboni also encouraged people to take a step back.

“Take it from this young republican,” he said. “Bloodletting isn’t going to make our party any better. Opinions are opinions. ... Let it flipping go Committee.”

Spence may be contacted at bspence@lmtribune.com or (208) 791-9168.