Mark Williams, a former chairman of the Tea Party Express who sparked headlines when he wrote a racist parody on his personal blog, told the organization he was leaving in order to "free the tea party movement from any more distraction based on my personal comments or blogs."

Williams stepped down from his role as chairman about a month ago, but had offered to remain available as spokesman if the organization needed him. His blog post touched off a media firestorm and the Tea Party Federation, an umbrella organization of tea party groups, ejected the Tea Party Express from its membership.

The Tea Party Federation is supporting Fairbanks attorney Joe Miller in his run against U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski. The organization's leadership, which has pledged to spend "hundreds of thousands of dollars" to get Miller elected, is in Alaska this week.

In a press release sent out Friday morning, the Murkowski campaign called for Miller to reject William's statements.

"Miller should do the right thing and tell this group he doesn't agree with such comments and won't accept money from the organization as long as it defends racist views," Murkowski spokesman Steve Wackowski said in the press release. "You can't reject the comments and still take their money."

Here's Williams' letter to the Tea Party Express explaining his reasons for leaving. In 403 words he touches on "domestic enemies," Ronald Reagan, and "this nation's slide towards socialism."

"I feel compelled to separate myself from any further involvement with the Tea Party Express so that I can pursue other interests and to free the tea party movement from any more distraction based on my personal comments or blogs.

The media coverage over a recent satirical posting on my personal MarkTalk.com blog risks injuring the Tea Party Express, the tea party movement as a whole, and the people in this movement who I respect and admire so much. It has become increasingly unacceptable that the media and our domestic enemies continue to anoint me as the official voice of a massively diverse and broad-based movement.

This nation is in crisis, and beyond the struggling economy and suffocating deficits, is what I consider to be the most troubling development recently: this nation's slide towards socialism and abandonment to the fundamental Constitutional principles that have made America great. I do not wish to be used as ammunition against our own cause so to that end I am removing myself from the equation and severing ties to the Tea Party Express.

Ronald Reagan so correctly and eloquently explained that America is truly mankind's best hope for freedom. Our respect for the individual rights and freedoms is unmatched around the globe yet our politicians in Washington seem determined to change this legacy of freedom. We are in a war for the future of this country and the Left and their allies in the news media have decided to use my personal comments and views as a weapon to injure the tea party movement and conservative activists. I will simply not allow them to do this.

I have so much respect and admiration for all of you at the Tea Party Express and the tea party activists I have gotten to know and work with across this great nation. I am going to continue to fight on the side of liberty but it is clear that doing so with any affiliation with the Tea Party Express is not the best way to do so.

I do however fully intend to continue to fight in the spirit of and for the causes of the Tea Party Movement.

We have a lot of work to do between now and November and I know that the Tea Party Express will continue to serve as a leading voice for the millions of Americans who are determined to take their country back."