At around noon on Dec. 2, Sens. Tom Coburn (R., Okla.) and Tim Crapo (R., Idaho) announced their intentions to vote in favor of the final recommendations put forward by President Obama’s deficit commission.

Hours later, Americans for Tax Reform came out swinging, denouncing Coburn and Crapo for supporting a “massive tax hike,” and that in doing so, “admitted they lied about taxes to get elected,” in the words of Ryan Ellis, ATR’s tax policy director, via Twitter. (Both were reelected last month, each receiving more than 70 percent of the vote).

Coburn, Crapo and retiring GOP Sen. Judd Gregg (N.H.), who also backed the commission’s plan, signed ATR’s Taxpayer Protection Pledge to oppose “any and all tax increases.” Many conservatives have argued that the plan constitutes a huge tax increase, with some disagreement over the exact amount. ATR said it’s a $1.3 trillion tax hike over 10 years. Rep. Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) said it’s $2 trillion. Brian Riedl of the Heritage Foundation said $3.3 trillion.

Apostasy! Ellis cried, and promptly authored a letter to the three senators urging them to oppose Simpson-Bowles. “This report shifts the debate from where it properly should be—spending—and onto deficit reduction, and thereby tax increases,” Ellis wrote. “I urge you to support a plan that is tax-revenue neutral.”

Conservative bloggers pushed the story — it being odd that a prominent fiscal hawk like Coburn, of all people, was the target of ATR’s scorn. NRO’s own Kevin Williamson, who has sparred with Ellis in the past, commented here. Coburn spokesman John Hart issued a sharply-worded response. Coburn told NRO’s Bob Costa that he “rejects” the idea that special interest groups like ATR would have much influence on the debate, that his primary obligation was serving the country as a whole.

This week, Dick Morris got involved, penning a pieced titled “3 GOP Senators Betray Us!” And Ellis posted “The Two Faces of Tom Coburn” on ATR’s website, accusing the Senator of blatant hypocrisy on taxes. “Nobody ever said Senator Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) wasn’t a complex man,” Ellis wrote. “In fact, he’s so complex he managed to run in 2010 on one tax platform, and then completely and utterly abandon that position on taxes less than a month later.”

Many attributed the apparent feud to ATR president Grover Norquist. Indeed, most headlines read “Coburn vs. Norquist,” or some variant thereof. But when I spoke to Norquist on Monday, he had only positive things to say about Coburn and Crapo. In fact, Norquist said he had spoken privately with both Senators and was satisfied that their support for Simpson-Bowles did not constitute a violation of ATR tax pledge. Senate aides confirmed the conversations. “I don’t believe either of those gentlemen want to vote for tax increases [on the Senate floor]” Norquist said, adding: “Gregg might agree to tax increase, I don’t care, he’s leaving.”

He did, however, have plenty of criticism for the commissions plan, particularly what he said was a misguided emphasis on reducing the deficit. He wished the commission had focused exclusively on cutting spending, because spending is the real problem, and then Democrats wouldn’t have been able to advocate raising taxes under the guise of deficit reduction. “Why would we walk away from an election where everyone said spend less…into a zone where Democrats can play equally well, which is the deficit zone,” he said.

“Coburn’s been a hero on spending,” Norquist said, and that’s the area Republicans should emphasize going forward. “The best thing we can do is not spend the money that Obama plans to spend.” Ultimately, he thought Republicans should be satisfied with plan, at least in terms of the numerous Democratic concessions on areas like entitlement spending and tax reform. Which sounds awfully similar to the argument the Coburn and Crapo had been making. Coburn said he supported the plan to advance the conversation, and told NRO that a lot of good could come of the comission’s work, perhaps even a deal with the White House on Social Security. But that didn’t mean he would vote for the plan if it came before the Senate in its current form.

So, conservative crisis averted? Perhaps. Ellis … One senior Senate aide familiar with situation told NRO the whole thing was rather bizarre. “Who’s in charge over there [at ATR]?” the aide said.