Republican Group Admits 'Inappropriate Emails' to Influence 'Undecideds' on Boehner Bill

The Republican Study Committee said Wednesday it is treating as an "internal matter" the release of an "inappropriate email" earlier this week by a staff aide to outside groups identifying members who are "undecided" about House Speaker John Boehner's deficit-reduction plan.

The email was alluded to by numerous speakers attending Wednesday's House Republican Conference meeting, though a source in the room told Fox News there "wasn't exactly a chant" of complaints.

Brian Straessle, spokesman for the RSC, the bloc of the most conservative House Republicans, told Fox News that the staffer identified members of Congress "he believed" were undecided about Boehner's proposal to reduce the debt while increasing the debt ceiling. Straessle said neither Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio nor anyone else authorized the email and it was "clearly inappropriate."

"This has never been -- and never will be -- the way we do business at the RSC. We apologize to everyone affected, and we have already taken steps to ensure that it never happens again -- either by this staffer or any other RSC staffer," he said.

The RSC would not say the name of the aide or whether he was disciplined or fired.