Irish leader fundraising for Tea Party?

Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny attended a Washington fundraiser this month for Tea Party Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.), The Irish Times reported Saturday.

The March 13 gathering, which was also attended by House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), was held at an unnamed Irish pub on the first day of Kenny’s D.C. visit to mark St. Patrick’s Day, the paper reported.

{mosads}Although Kenny did not speak at the event, invitations distributed by the Gula Graham Group, a GOP firm, indicated that he was the headline guest, the Times said.  

The notices also invited guests to send contributions for “Mulvaney for Congress” to the Gula Graham Group, the paper reported.

A Kenny spokesperson told the Times that the Irish leader had no interest in Mulvaney’s reelection push, but attended the event in order to lobby Republicans on immigration reform legislation that Kenny has endorsed as helping Irish immigrants living in the U.S. illegally.

The conservative Mulvaney, a second-term Tea Party favorite who often clashes with his own leadership, was one of 11 Republicans who declined to support Boehner for Speaker at the start of this Congress. 

In November, he faces Tom Adams, a Democratic town councilman, who filed on Friday to contest the seat. Mulvaney is the heavy favorite in the deeply conservative district.