Rep. Ben Quayle (R) came out swinging today against the Club for Growth.

In a scathing missive, he responded to club president Chris Chocola’s threat Wednesday to Republican House leaders over Quayle’s re-election race.

Chocola threatened to throw all of the group’s support behind Quayle’s primary opponent, fellow GOP Rep. David Schweikert, if leaders showed favoritism toward Quayle.

Today Quayle claimed the conservative high ground, citing the group’s scorecard and National Journal’s Member ideological ratings.

Quayle further expressed his distaste for the club’s move by using diction in the letter such as “astonishing,” “contortion,” “dictating” (root word used twice), “self-appointed,” “misplaced,” “odd” and “highly questionable.”

“I hope that the Club will maintain its vital mission, rather than seek for itself some highly questionable role as the imperious referee of Republican support in primary races,” he wrote.

He added what appeared to be a veiled threat of his own.

“And I further hope that your board will make a full inquiry as to exactly how this correspondence came about,” he concluded.

Schweikert and Quayle are battling it out for their party’s nomination in a Member-vs.-Member primary in suburban Phoenix. Roll Call rates this race as Safe Republican.