Media Matters senior fellow Eric Boehlert said on Thursday that a group of  former Navy SEALS “don’t have guts” after the special forces operators launched a media campaign condemning the  Obama administration’s national security leaks.

“#kindalame former Navy SEALs don’t have guts to admit they’re  running a GOP, anti-Obama campaign; http://nyti.ms/N2nYYj ” Boehlert wrote on Twitter Thursday morning.

The group Boehlert lashed out at is called the Special Operations OPSEC  Education Fund and it’s composed of former U.S. intelligence and specials  forces operators. They describe themselves as non-partisan and finger the  current president as an example of a politician who uses national security  secrets for political gain.

“STOP the politicians, President Obama and others, from politically  capitalizing on US national security operations and secrets!” reads the  organization’s website.

Scott Taylor is a former Navy SEAL of eight and a half years, and was a 2010  GOP candidate for Congress. He is now a member of the Special Operations OPSEC  Education Fund.

Taylor responded to Boehlert’s tweet in a phone interview with The Daily  Caller and said that his group of special forces operators is “clearly not  gutless.”

“We’re clearly not gutless. We’re in the public right now, completely out  there,” Taylor said.

“Everything’s out there. It’s interesting how the left is trying to  frame this as a partisan issue. I don’t care what party people are from  within our group,” Taylor said. “This issue is about national security  leaks.”

“I wonder how many of this guy’s close friends he’s buried,” he added,  referring to Boehlert.

Taylor told TheDC that his group also contains liberal members who are  concerned with national security leaks, one of whom is preparing to speak out in  public. “The reason why we’re standing up right now is to ensure the protection  of future operations and our brothers and sisters who are forward right  now.”

Taylor also responded to a claim by an anonymous Obama campaign spokesman who said Wednesday, “No one in this group is  in a position to speak with any authority on these issues and on what impact  these leaks might have.”

“This is the group, the very group that would have the  most authority  and knowledge about the impact of leaks,” Taylor told TheDC. “I can tell you,  the vast majority [of active special forces operators] support this  message.”

Boehlert accusing Navy SEALs of being gutless has inflamed conservatives  online, who view Boehlert as the face of liberal smears emanating from Media  Matters for America.

“Boehlert is such a straight up Obama boot licker that he actually smears  former Navy SEALs who don’t like the fact that President Obama’s administration  is leaking sensitive information that could put current SEALs in danger,” reads  a reaction post on The Right Sphere, a conservative  blog.

Sonny Bunch, managing editor for the Washington Free Beacon, wrote on Twitter, ”Dear God: All I ask before I die is  that you let me witness Eric Boehlert call a Navy SEAL a coward to his  face.”

There is some irony in Boehlert accusing a political group of hiding its  affinity for, or opposition to, a particular candidate.

Media Matters, as a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization, is forbidden from  explicitly endorsing or opposing a candidate for elected office. But as TheDC  has previously reported, the group has steadily expanded  its support of Obama as he mounts up his 2012 re-election campaign.

A spokeswoman for Media Matters did not respond to a request for comment for  this report.