Tea Party official says article about his past is an unfair portrayal
James Ives says he’s not sure what the motivation was behind an article in the “Texas Tribune,” pointing out his association with the American Facist Party. Ives says it was 10 years ago and does not reflect his views. He says he feels the story was blown out of proportion.
“I would hate to think that one journalistic decision that I made 10 years ago,” Ives says, “is now taking precedence over what I’ve been saying and writing for the last five years with the Tea Party movement.”
Ives says he investigated the Facist group and determined it was just a few people who chatted online about government. Though he was named director of propaganda, he calls it a “paper title,” saying he never did anything in that capacity.
Though the article writer says the discovery is giving pause to conservative political interests, Ives disputes that. Ives says members of the Fort Bend County Tea Party are standing strongly behind him.
“I’m not sure if it was a hit piece,” he says, “or just a misunderstanding or just a misinterpretation of the facts – if it’s willful.
“I just don’t understand it from that side.”
