From Foreign Policy:
Recently, Heritage refused to publish two papers about the National Security Agency’s surveillance programs written by a prominent conservative attorney. Why? Because he concluded that the programs were legal and constitutional, according to sources familiar with the matter. It was a surprising move for a think tank that has supported extension of the Patriot Act — which authorizes some of NSA’s activities — and has long been associated with right-of-center positions on national security and foreign policy.
But the paper’s conclusions did not sit well with DeMint, the sources said, who worried about offending or alienating more libertarian lawmakers such Sen. Rand Paul, a DeMint ally and leadingcritic of NSA’s collection of Americans’ phone records, as well as Tea Partiers, who according to a recent poll think that government counterterrorism policies have gone “too far” in restricting civil liberties. It’s those groups that brought DeMint his greatest influence as a lawmaker and made him a national political heavyweight.