The Hill News

Prominent Republican strategist Ed Gillespie accused Democrats of "political vigilantism" for their efforts to target GOP-allied groups.

Gillespie, a former Republican National Committee (RNC) chairman and former adviser to President George W. Bush, struck back at President Obama for having accused the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and American Crossroads, a group affiliated with Gillespie and Bush political guru Karl Rove, of possibly accepting foreign money to spend in the election â€" an illegal practice which both groups have denied.

"The fate awaiting Democrats in November is a result of their dismal economic record and their arrogance," Gillespie wrote in an op-ed to be published in Tuesday's Washington ! Post. "One reason voters are deserting President Obama in droves is because of fears of unfettered, invasive government power â€" fears that will only be reinforced by the Democrats' new political vigilantism."

The administration and top Democrats have been publicly sparring with the Chamber, American Crossroads, and Rove and Gillespie over the weekend after having ratcheted up their rhetoric toward the Republican-leaning groups last week.

The Democrats had pounced on a report on a liberal blog suggesting that the groups might have spent foreign money to influence the election. After a New York Times report over the weekend, the administration has somewhat softened its rhetoric toward the groups, but still complain that Republicans have benefited from more corporate spending freed up by a Supreme Court ruling earlier this year.

Gillespie accused Obama and Democrats of hypocrisy on campaign spending, noting the way the pa! rty had benefited from undocumented spending by liberal groups! in 2010 , and in past election cycles.

"In the West Wing, apparently, the American principle is that you're guilty until proven innocent, and our highest elected and appointed officials are there to hurl the charges," he wrote. "It is telling that this White House equates ads that threaten its hold on power as a threat to democracy. They're not actually one and the same."