House Majority Whip Steve Scalise Spoke at White Supremacist Conference in 2002

House Majority Whip Rep. Steve Scalise gave a speech at a white supremacist convention in 2002, embroiling the Republican Party in a fresh controversy before the newly elected Congress has even sat for the first time.

The Washington Post reports that the Louisiana Republican gave a speech to the European-American Unity and Rights Organization, known as EURO. EURO was founded by David Duke, a well known white supremacist and former member of the Louisiana House of Representatives.

The Post reports that Scalise spoke about "slush funds" where millions of tax dollars were wasted because of corruption. The Post is thin on details about what the speech was about, but says that the speech took place in May 2002.

A post on the white supremacist website Stormfront seems to imply Scalise suggested that corruption occurred within in the "Housing and Urban Development Fund," to leave white people at a disadvantage. That post is dated May 23, 2002, and mentions Steve Scalise explicitly by name.

Scalise's campaign says that he was so young and inexperienced at the time that he did not properly vet the group to which he was speaking. The Scalise camp says that they do not have any transcripts or records of Scalise's exact speech. They also claim that Scalise does not share any of the racist views held by the group.

The Post casts doubt on Scalise's claim he did not know the group's ideology by noting the event was the focus of a number of news pieces at the time. A visiting Little League Baseball team did not stay at the hotel for fear of the group, and the hotel where the event was being held made pains to distance itself from EURO as well.

The timing of the news could not be worse for the Republican Party as they have recently taken power and are in the midst of a concerted effort to woo minority voters such as Hispanics and African-Americans.