The theme of this weekend’s summit hosted by billionaire industrialists' Charles and David Koch's Freedom Partners is channeling Victorian-era British Prime Minister William Gladstone, famous for being a populist who shared the same principles as the Kochs: limited government and reducing taxes, according to
The Washington Post.
In a letter to network donors, Charles Koch wrote that the summit, titled "Unleashing Our Free Society: A Strategy to Expand Opportunity for All Americans," will focus on raising the political network to the "next level," the Post reports.
"It was Gladstone who said, 'This, if I understand it, is one of those golden moments in our history, one of those opportunities which may come and may go, but which rarely returns,'" Charles Koch wrote. "I hope you share this same sense of urgency about our commitment to restoring freedom and opportunity for all Americans, especially the least fortunate."
The group intends to spend $889 million in the 2016 election cycle, with an emphasis on its data-driven field operation.
In addition to "conservative mega-donors and operatives," according to
Politico, attendees will include GOP presidential candidates former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, and former Hewlett-Packard chief executive Carly Fiorina, who will participate in question-and-answer sessions.
Despite a cordial professional relationship with the Kochs, fellow billionaire Donald Trump, who's leading many GOP polls, will be conspicuously absent at this weekend’s gathering, Politico reports.
Trump wasn’t invited even though his campaign submitted the required questionnaire "detailing the candidate’s policy positions and submitting it to Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce, the Koch umbrella group organizing the summit," according to Politico.
It's apparently not the first time the Koch organization has snubbed Trump.
"The Koch operation has spurned entreaties from the Trump campaign to purchase state-of-the-art data and analytics services from a Koch-backed political tech firm called i360, and also turned down a request to allow Trump to speak at an annual grass-roots summit next month in Columbus, Ohio, sponsored by the Koch-backed group Americans for Prosperity," according to Politico.
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