Marc Lampkin, former general counsel to John Boehner, tells
Newsmax TV the House Speaker made "the ultimate selfless sacrifice" in resigning his powerful post in a bid to quiet the distractions of his political enemies.
"John has always said that he was going to live by his principles, conservative principles, and that he is committed to making sure that the institution of the House that the Congress works," Lampkin said to Ed Berliner, host of "The Hard Line."
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"He decided that he did not want to be a distraction to the process of governing and … all the upheaval around people who want to oust him, — kind of like the sharks who are lying in waters — was not worth it."
Lampkin said Boehner believed that to remain as the GOP's most powerful player would compromise the values he had brought the Congress over 25 years.
And he cautioned those lawmakers who believe that the Ohio Republicans bow-out is a huge victory for conservatives.
"As much as some people believe that this is a victory, I don't believe that there is at all any greater likelihood that the things, the priorities that the conservative tea partiers wanted yesterday are going to be more likely to happen tomorrow," Lampkin said.
"Because the one fact remains in place is that Barack Obama is still the president. Despite the fact we have congressional majorities in both chambers … Barack Obama has made it clear that he does not intend on giving them what they want."
Lampkin told Berliner that the "vast majority" of Republicans in the House support the speaker.
"But unfortunately, there's been a small but vocal and really obstinate minority of members who would've made a spectacle of the institution," he said.
"Imagine, you're literally days after the pope … talks about renewed civility, working together for a greater common good and you would've had a group of 30 or 40 members [saying] … 'We want to shut down the government — that despite the facts in front of us, that we're going to hold everyone else hostage.'
"John took the high road, the ultimate selfless sacrifice to say … what's important is that we govern in the way that the American people sent us here to govern and not to create a hostile atmosphere that allows us to do things like shut down the government but not responsive to what people need."
Lampkin said while the dissenters are a small group, they've had the ability to "exert a significant amount of noise."
But Boehner's departure opens the door for Democrats to wreak havoc, he believes.
"In shutting down the government, [there's] a lot of self-congratulatory activity, but at the end of the day you can't bend the will of the president of the United States. That's the unfortunate thing," he said.
Will Boehner's GOP enemies live to regret his departure?
"They may not because sometimes they're so blinded by their own white fury that I don't believe they have the understanding to understand that they made a mistake," Lampkin said.
"History will show that this was probably not a good deal for the American people and certainly not a good deal for the Republican Party or the people of the country."
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