It did not take long for the NRCC to announce their support of Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman after their candidate, Dede Scozzafava, abruptly dropped out of the race. They made the announcement earlier today, with Congressman Pete Sessions (R-TX), head of the NRCC, Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) and Minority WHIP Eric Cantor (R-VA) releasing a joint statement calling on Republicans to support Hoffman in the 23rd congressional district.
Here is part of the statement (H/T to TPM):
"With Assemblywoman Scozzafava suspending her campaign, we urge voters to support Doug Hoffman's candidacy in New York's 23rd Congressional District.
"He is the only active candidate in the race who supports lower taxes, fiscal responsibility and opposes Nancy Pelosi's agenda of government-run healthcare, more government and less jobs.
"We look forward to welcoming Doug Hoffman into the House Republican Conference as we work together for the good of our nation."
But this is a different tune that the Republicans are singing. It wasn't long ago that they were defending Scozzafava and attacking Hoffman, saying he lacked "integrity" and "cross party appeal" to win.
Here are some quotes from the NRCC giving their assessment of Hoffman:
"Fortunately, the local Republican county chairs had the foresight to see that Doug Hoffman lacked the integrity and qualities needed to be elected to anything - let alone Congress," Lindsay added. [The Hill, 9/28/09]
The national GOP acknowledges Hoffman and his moneyed supporters make their job harder, but they emphasize Scozzafava is still the favorite.
Paul Lindsay, a spokesman for the NRCC, said Hoffman's political calculus doesn't add up.
"We're pleased that the Republican county chairs in New York had the foresight to not even consider Hoffman among the final three candidates, and the Washington-based endorsements and misleading political ads that are meant for his benefit will ultimately backfire on his futile sour-grapes campaign," Lindsay said. [The Hill, 10/03/09]
The National Republican Congressional Committee bristles at Mr. Hoffman's campaign, with a spokesman arguing that he's "running a smoke-and-mirrors campaign that has absolutely no path to victory and is based entirely on Washington-based endorsements that carry no weight among voters in central and northern New York."
NRCC spokesman Paul Lindsay said Mr. Hoffman doesn't even technically live in the district and also said Mr. Hoffman had promised to back the Republican candidate before withdrawing that support and deciding to run.
"At the end of the day, we could not be more pleased that Dede is the only candidate who possesses the principles and cross-party appeal that is needed to win in this swing district," Mr. Lindsay added. [Washington Times, 10/06/09]
"There is still a path to victory, and we will continue to support [Scozzafava]," NRCC spokesman Paul Lindsay said. [The Hill, 10/26/09]
Some conservatives support Scozzafava, insisting that a one-size-fits-all strategy isn't a good approach to districts such as New York 23.
"Outside endorsements will not change the fact that she's the only candidate with the cross party appeal that can win this swing district," said Paul Lindsay, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee. McClatchy, 10/30/09
Amazing what one day will do to the NRCC's approach. One day they are backing their candidate saying she can still win while standing by their past opinions of Hoffman and the next day, they are already welcoming Hoffman to the House GOP conference.
"The special election for the 23rd Congressional District is an important test leading up to the mid-term 2010 elections," Gingrich said in a statement to supporters. "Our best chance to put responsible and principled leaders in Washington starts here, with Dede Scozzafava."
There are conservatives who don't want anything to do with Scozzafava. But Republican Party leaders don't want to come off as abandoning their candidate. The problem, of course, is that the conservatives in the party are questioning why the party is backing someone who is pro-choice, pro-equality and closer to the middle than most of the party's current leadership.
It has been said that this race is a referendum on President Barack Obama. I actually think it is the opposite. It is a referendum on the Republican Party.
In NY-20, Republicans put up a fairly well known candidate (Assemblyman Jim Tedisco) who was, at the time, minority leader of the Assembly. His opponent was Scott Murphy, someone who had never served in elected office and had to build up a profile to be considered a serious candidate. With hard work, Murphy won.
There is a similar situation brewing in NY-23, although we aren't going to count our chickens before they hatch. An elected official, Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava, is running on the Republican and the Democrats put up another non-elected official in businessman Bill Owens. Scozzafava's support has been questionable and Owens has taken advantage of the conservative revolt and built up a lead in this race.
This isn't about Obama. This is about the Republicans. They have work to do and they are throwing their candidate under the bus.
Earlier this week, I wrote about the NRCC posting a story on their website from Human Events that labeled Republican candidate Dede Scozzafava as "too liberal" and questioned her ties to ACORN because of past endorsements by the Working Families Party. If you go to the page on the NRCC website where the story was posted, it has since been removed.
Today, the NRCC posted a this story from The Hill on their website. The piece describes Doug Hoffman, the Conservative Party candidate, and his labeling of Republican candidate Scozzafava as "liberal."
Conservative Party special election candidate Doug Hoffman is up with an ad in the race for former Rep. John McHugh's (R-N.Y.) seat, and it takes square aim at the GOP nominee.
Hoffman, who has garnered plenty of attention as a little-'c' conservative alternative to centrist GOP Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava, uses the ad to push Scozzafava to the left.
The ad features a series of costumed characters and suggests Scozzafava is trying to hide her real ideology. The last costume features a suit and a Ronald Reagan mask.
"Pretending can't make you a Reagan Republican," the narrator says.
Look for Hoffman and Democratic nominee Bill Owens to continue to focus their message squarely on Scozzafava, who enters the race as the frontrunner.
The NRCC posted this story on their website. However, as you will notice if you follow the link, they have since taken the story down.
It makes you wonder where the NRCC stands. Do they support Scozzafava, who is the Republican in this race? Or do they support Hoffman because he is the conservative (ideology, not party) in the race?
It raises this question again: Do the Republicans support the Republican Party or do they support the conservative ideology? Would they rather go for ideology or the win for their party?
I know that there are progressive Democrats who would put their ideology first. But they would never put a Democrat in danger of losing to a Republican. The Republicans are throwing their candidate under the bus in the name of the conservative movement.
One of the common critiques of the Republican Party is that they have gotten away from Republicans like Barry Goldwater or even Ronald Reagan. Instead of being for the Republican Party, they are instead a front for the conservative movement. It has worked in the past, but it only works so long and so often. With such a focus on conservatism (especially neo-conservatism), you are going to alienate certain moderates that consider themselves Republicans but aren't welcomed into a party whose leaders only want conservatives.
The NRCC has posted a story from Human Events on its website that reads, "Scozzafava Too Liberal for New York Conservatives." The piece highlights conservative outrage over Republican nominee Dede Scozzafava running on the Working Families Party line in the past, or as the piece called the WFP, "a wholly-owned subsidiary of ACORN."
Now, with the special election for McHugh's seat likely to be held November 3, will Scozzafava become the first Republican U.S. House hopeful to run with the ballot line of the Working Families Party -- whose co-founders include veteran leftist organizers Dan Cantor and Bob Master, the United Auto Workers and ACORN?
When I mentioned the endorsement of the WFP in the House race, Scozzafava spokesman Matt Burns told me "there has been no discussion of this." Asked about the party's ties to ACORN, Burns said that had Scozzafava been in Congress during the vote last week, "she would have voted to defund ACORN." He added that she has "straight As" from the National Rifle Association and voted against Democratic Gov. David Paterson's "bloated" budget this year (Burns conceded there were other issues on which the Republican has problems with conservatives in her party: she is pro-abortion, voted for gay marriage and, while not endorsing the controversial "card check" provision in the Employee Free Choice Act, she does support "reform in workers' ability to organize" -- a stand not too different from that of AFL-CIO President Rich Trumka when he said he could support EFCA without card check).
Regarding Scozzafava's ties to the WFP and the recent attacks from Hoffman and the Conservative Party, Burns and other Republicans in upstate New York reminded me that this is a "first," that since 1998, more than eighty Republican candidates have sought office running with both the Conservative and WFP ballot lines.
"Yes, and when I have learned about candidates who have the Conservative Party endorsement and then allow themselves to be corrupted by accepting the Working Families endorsement, I try to strip them of our ballot line," New York Conservative Party Chairman Mike Long told me, "Running with the WFP and our line is totally unacceptable."
...
Given the Working Families Party's ties to ACORN and the furor over tax dollars to the community action colossus, it will be interesting to watch whether Dede Scozzafava pursues their endorsement once again.
While I would love to see the Working Families Party endorse someone else, I don't really see why the NRCC would endorse this piece by posting it on their website nor do I see the logic of Republicans jumping on board with this. The Working Families Party is a ballot line. If Scozzafava has it, that means no one else has it. She gets the votes on that line. Who wouldn't want that?
But this willingness to essentially throw their candidate under the bus could come back to bite the Republicans. They are already facing heat from conservatives for backing Scozzafava and the Conservative Party in New York has gone with their own candidate, Doug Hoffman. There are duels going on between conservatives and conservative Republicans. Some Republicans support Scozzafava, but others are siding with Hoffman based on ideology. If that holds up heading into this election, it could be trouble for both.
I'd like to preface this with an anecdote. Earlier this year, I and a couple friends were on our way to Saratoga Springs to attend the New York State Democratic Rural Conference. It's a roughly five hour drive from Wyoming County to Saratoga Springs, so one of the ways we amused ourselves was keeping eyes open for other vehicles sporting Democratic stickers on the way. It was just after we'd passed Rochester that we noticed another vehicle in traffic near us, a little American-made sedan bearing a bumpersticker supporting now-Congressman Eric Massa. A short while later we happened to run across the same car at one of the Thruway's rest stops. As we went in to get coffee we ran into the car's occupant, who happened to be Congressman Eric Massa.
I say this mostly to give you the up close and personal view of how hard Eric Massa works, whether that's hauling across the state in his no-frills ride, holding town hall meetings every weekend all across his district, or his roughly three year personal campaign to win the district in the first place. He's helped lead the fight for single-payer healthcare and better support for veterans. The residents of the New York 29th are lucky to have him.
As some people reading this may be aware, Massa won last year by a razor-thin margin--just 2%, or 5,330 votes, against a Republican who was best known for having threatened to kill his wife with a shotgun during a dinner party.
No, that's not a joke.
Now, because of the narrow margin last year Massa is one of the Republicans' top targets for 2010. That's why the Congressman is looking to the same core group of rural Democrats and netroots activists that helped him to victory before. If Congressman Massa can put in a good fundraising quarter, it will help back down the Republicans who want to target him next year, and secure this seat for strong Democrat who's not afraid to call out the party of Bush and Limbaugh. Can you help him keep doing his work with a contribution of $10 or $20?
I mentioned yesterday in my interview with Congressman Eric Massa that he was attacked by the Republicans for voting against our troops and veterans.
I was able to obtain a copy of the mailer that was sent to residents of the 29th congressional district by the NRCC. The mailer features Abraham Lincoln's likeness and a quote from Lincoln that reads, "To care for him who shall have born the battle and for his widow and for his orphan."
Here is the rest of the mailer:
The NRCC attacked Massa for voting against all of these items, yet they did not specify what bill. All they would refer to the legislation as is a "bi-partisan bill" and claiming that Massa sided with "special interest extremists" instead of our troops.
The bill that the Republicans are attacking Massa over is the Iraq War supplemental that was passed in mid-May. The bill passed with bi-partisan support - it was a 368 to 60 vote - and when he voted against the bill, Massa explained why.
"I will not have my vote held hostage by line items to fund military projects while at the same time funding the UN. These are two very different issues and I will not vote to combine them. While I did support several line items in the bill, there were a few specifics which deeply troubled me. For example, during the recession, I cannot support sending $836 million to fund the United Nations, $109 to train and equip Palestinian security forces and up the to $429.5 million in foreign aid to Pakistan.
"For over four years prior to being elected to Congress, I promised to vote against any additional funding for the Iraq war without a clear and immediate plan of withdrawal," said Congressman Eric Massa. "Regardless of which party is in power, I could not in good conscience vote for any additional Iraq war funding. The Iraqi people want us to leave and I think we should begin redeploying American troops out of Iraq immediately. I've always promised to stand up to my party when I disagree with them, but yesterday I had to stand up to both political parties."
It is shameful that the party who had Walter Reed happen under their watch and other failings now is trying to take the high ground when it comes to who is voting for or against our troops. The Republicans who came up with this mailer probably didn't serve their country. Eric Massa did for 24 years. There are plenty of veterans who are currently serving in Congress who deserve our respect. They don't deserve attacks and claims that they are against our troops and veterans.
The Republicans have tried over the last few years to label Democrats as the anti-troop party. Look at how that's worked out for them. Labeling other Americans as against our troops is despicable. No one is more patriotic than the other. So let's quit this game of trying to get a leg up on who loves their country more.
Massa had his reasoning (which I agree with) for voting against this legislation. This wasn't about our troops. This was about funding the war efforts abroad, which included funds that Massa did not agree with. In his statement, he made that clear.
Massa did say that there were plenty of good programs in the bill, but that he could not vote for a bill like this with so much spending in it without a full exit strategy. Essentially for Massa, if there is no exit strategy, he's voting against it.
So Liz, being the dogged reporter that she is, actually started making phone calls to inquire as to just why Roger Stone showed up in NY-20 in the midst of a fiercely contested and oh so close recount and just who he is working for. She didn't have much luck. Also, her inquiry seems to have struck a nerve. Stone insists he has "no formal role" in the recount and that assertions otherwise are "left-wing blog crap" from "paranoid" liberals.
"My parents still live in Northern Westchester." Stone wrote. "I visited them at the end of last week and then drove up to the Albany area to see some friends...I certainly have no formal role in the recount. I have many friends of long standing who are involved."
That's pretty much all I could get out of him after trying to reach him on several occasions.
He declined to say much more, and also declined to respond to any of the postings at TAP, which he referred to as "left-wing blog crap," adding in vintage Stone style: "Liberals are paranoid."
He also confirms, much as I suspected, that his buddy Michael Caputo in along for the ride, though he insists Caputo is only in New York to "revive his father's insurance business in Buffalo." Caputo is apparently doing all the reviving from Halfmoon. Or something.
Irene Jay Liu at CapCon goes a bit further and asks both the Tedisco campaign and the NRCC if Stone may be in the district at their behest. Both camps deny it and I'm pretty sure at least one of them is being, shall we say, less than truthful. She even gets a dig in at those of us who pay attention to such goings on as chasing a "white whale" in Stone. But, whatever.
Roger Stone, controversial GOP political consultant and white whale of sorts for New York's liberal bloggers, has been spotted in Upstate New York.
More specifically, the liberal "The Albany Project" alleges that Stone was spotted at the campaign headquarters of GOP 20th congressional candidate Jim Tedisco, which has pro-Murphy blog commenters all in a tizzy.
The Tedisco campaign says, unequivocally, that Stone has no involvement in the campaign. From Tedisco campaign spokesman Tyler Brown via email:
We've had no contact with Mr. Stone and he is not affiliated with the campaign in any capacity.
(He is not a volunteer and he is not on loan from the campaign committees).
Stone has not been retained as a consultant for the campaign by the National Republican Congressional Committee, said spokesman Paul Lindsay.
Let's make this simple. This is Roger Stone and (most likely) his pal Michael Caputo:
This picture was taken minutes after they left Tedisco's HQ. Period. Stone and Caputo may indeed not be technically working for the Tedisco campaign or the NRCC, but for the Tedisco campaign to claim that they have had "no contact" with Stone is simply not true. They know it. Stone knows it. Now you know it.
I have no idea who is paying for Stone's services up in the 20th, but someone is, and I can guarantee you that Stone and Caputo are not on the ground up there for the weather and they don't work for free.
It would be especially ironic if they were working for the NRCC, given that the NRCC blasted their list hours after the polls closed in NY-20 screaming, "Don't let them pull a Franken!" and steal this election. Then again, screaming "don't let them steal it!" whilst sending their chief election skullduggerer into the fight would be oh so poetic and par for the course these days.
On the same day that independent polling shows Jim Tedisco's once healthy lead has become a 4 point deficit, the NRCC has slammed the panic button hard. How can you tell? Because their latest ad is one full minute of 9/11 and Osama Bin laden. For real:
Nothing spells flopsweat more than dragging up Osama Bin Laden in the closing days of a campaign. It's quite obvious they are freaking the hell out.
Things are really beginning to heat up in the NY-20 special election. Three new polls show a race that is essentially tied. One of those polls, poll commissioned by the NRCC even shows a slight Murphy lead.
Three Polls Show NY-20 a Toss Up
In addition to the RNC poll we mentioned earlier that shows Jim Tedisco (R) leading Scott Murphy (D) by three points in the NY-20 special election next week, Political Wire now has confirmation that a NRCC poll actually shows Murphy leading by two points.
Tedisco's own internal polling shows him leading by just one point.
The national GOP, particularly the NRCC, are hoping to make the March 31st special election in the 20th a statement race. They are pouring in big money from DC.
Republicans are pouring money into the March 31 special election to fill New York's 20th Congressional District seat in an effort to reverse the momentum Democrats gained in last year's presidential and congressional elections.
More than half the independent expenditures made so far have been by the National Republican Congressional Committee, which has spent $343,902 to run two television ads attacking Democratic candidate Scott Murphy.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has spent less than half of that - $156,764 - on two TV ads attacking Republican candidate Jim Tedisco.
"The numbers show that the Republicans have a lot more at stake here than do the Democrats," said Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the nonpartisan Rothenberg Political Report. "The fact of the matter is that this is seen as a Republican-leaning seat that the Democrats held for a couple of cycles and that Obama won."
There just isn't any way they are going to allow Tedisco to any such thing. The National GOP just has far too much riding on this race, stuff that has next to nothing to do with Jim Tedisco or upstate or New York. They are hoping to arrest their steep slide towards irrelevance right here in New York. I say we send them packing.
Uh oh, time to hit the panic button at camp Tedisco apparently. Tedisco has just announced that he will be running the campaign himself. From Albany. And get lost, DC types. This is good stuff.
Now, I'm not sure how much I actually believe that the folks at the RNC and NRCC are really going to let Tedisco run his campaign himself. They simply have far too much invested in this race, especially Michael Steele.
But one thing is for certain. They are most definitely feeling the heat. So much so that they are willing to pull a stunt like this.
It's time to separate "the real Jim Tedisco" from the partisan negativity his own national party has portrayed in the campaign so far, Republican and Conservative congressional candidate James Tedisco said.
Reacting to his Democratic opponent's surge in the polls, Tedisco said Thursday he's taking control of the content of his advertising from the National Republican Congressional Committee.
"I'm taking over and we're going to run a campaign that relates to the people of the 20th Congressional District," he said.
The first depiction of "the real Jim" will air in a new television commercial set to debut this evening, he said.
...
Tedisco said he going forward the content of his ads will be more positive with him making the decisions instead of the national party.
This is hilarious, if not completely pathetic. It seems that the NRCC, because they have nothing better to do and things are going so swimmingly for them, has decided to attack 18 freshman Dems, including Dan Maffei and Eric Massa, for, uh, not being Blue Dogs. No, really.
The National Republican Campaign Committee on Thursday went on the attack against 18 freshman Democrats who it said weren't fiscally conservative enough to earn stripes as "Blue Dog" Democrats.
The only problem was the Blue Dogs said those 18 didn't ask to be a part of the group, which is the most fiscally conservative coalition within the Democratic caucus.
That didn't stop the NRCC, which blasted press releases to the hometowns of 18 vulnerable freshman, targeting their votes in favor of the $787 billion economic stimulus bill and the $410 billion omnibus spending measure as running counter to their campaign claims to help restore fiscal responsibility to Washington.
...
"The new membership list of the Blue Dog Coalition for the 111th Congress was released, but self-proclaimed "fiscal conservative" Rep. Harry Teague's name was noticeably absent," a version of the release read. "Despite Teague's rhetoric that he would be a good steward of the taxpayers' dollars in Congress, did the Blue Dog Coalition see Teague's claims as nothing more than empty rhetoric?"
Democrats charged Republicans with trying to score a cheap political point.
"This is yet another fabricated press release sent out by the Republicans who are looking to attack fiscally responsible, commonsense Democrats in the House," said Blue Dog spokeswoman Kristen Hawn. "It is shameless political ploy that has no basis in truth."
File this under "O RLY?" It seems the sad-sack dreamers at the NRCC have already started to circulating their, ahem, rather ambitious "target" list for 2010. That list includes five New Yorkers, including all three freshmen.
It makes some sense to me that they'd think they might have a shot at taking back NY-29. It's a pretty red district. Massa is smart and tireless. They'll make a run at him, but they ain't gonna out-hustle the guy.
To take back NY-13, they'd have to, ya know, actually find a candidate, something that turned into quite a soap opera last summer for them. And I don't think they are going to have a realistic shot at Maffei, even as a frosh.
They damn near picked off Arcuri in NY-24 last year, but I don't think that they'll catch him napping again, not to mention D-trip.
Gillibrand has proven to be one hell of a fundraiser and has worked her tail off to seal the deal with her district. She isn't going to be beaten anytime soon. I'm also pretty sure that they won't be lucky enough to find another self funding gazillionaire moron to take her on. Running a credible challenge to Gillibrand is going to cost money. Will they have it? I have my doubts. Even if they do have the moolah, I find it hard to believe they'd dump it into NY-20.
What's interesting to me is who didn't make their list. It seems that the NRCC won't be taking another shot at John Hall in NY-19.
Sorry, Mr. Lalor.
Oh, and I have a feeling that much of their effort in New York just might be sunk into defending NY-3.
Over the last few weeks we've heard all manner of thoroughly ugly and completely baseless crap from Republicans across the country. We've heard that Congressional Dems as well as Barack Obama himself were potentially "anti-American" from first class wingnut Michelle Bachman. We've heard from wingnut Rep Robin Hayes that Democrats "Liberals hate America-people who work hard, achieve, love God. We've heard how much Sarah Palin likes to appear in the "Pro America" parts of the nation.
Now we get to see and hear "Shotgun" Randy Kuhl (R-Hair Club for Men) say on camera that he "firmly believes" that Democrats want the American People to suffer and to hurt." No, really. Here's the exact quote:
I firmly believe the Democratic majority wants the American public to suffer and to hurt so that they can make some political gains at election time, and I think that's wrong.
Excuse me, Randy? Did you really just say that? The tape doesn't lie, I guess.
I have just about enough of this crap from GOP dweebs nationwide, but this addition to their 2008 Hall of Shame is simply beyond the pale.
I understand that Randy is polling well behind progressive Eric Massa and that desperate times call for desperate measures and all, but this is ridiculous.
Randy Kuhl has long been an embarrassment to New York State as well as his own party. He's now crossed a line that he can't uncross.
They say that Walter Mondale was told in the waning weeks of the '84 campaign, when it was perfectly obvious that he was about to get crushed, that he should campaign the way he wanted his grandchildren to remember him.
I have to say that Randy's grandchildren may look back upon the fact that Randy once drunkenly pulled not one, but twoshotguns on their grandma as not exactly his lowest point.
It is going to be so nice to see Kuhl tossed out on his ass. Good riddance.
Wow. You can smell the desperation a mile away with this one. There is stretching the truth and then there's is just flat out making crap up. The NRCC's new ad in NY-29 is one busload of crap just dying for a fact check. The gist of this new ad is that challenger Eric Massa wants to raise taxes so that he can give free health care to scary brown people. Seriously. Check it out:
What's interesting about this claim, especially since I've never heard Massa say anything that could possibly be construed as advocating any such thing, is the citation provided in the ad. The ad makes a number of completely BS claims and provides citations for two of them. The first citation is from a questionnaire of some sort from the Progressive Democrats of Genesee Valley. The second, the one is supposed to piss people off the most, the bit about giving free health care to illegal immigrants, is much more interesting - and completely absurd.
Now, if the NRCC or the Kuhl campaign wants to produce quotes from Massa saying that he wants to give free health care to brown people from the OTH or the Toledo Blade, I suggest they do so. I'm pretty damn sure no such quotes exist. But, why on earth are they citing a bill in a Congress in which Massa does not serve? NY-29 is represented in the 100th Congress by one "Shotgun" Randy Kuhl (R-Hair Club for Men). Why is the NRCC attempting to tar Massa with a bill on which he could not vote for or against? Is it just to have some tiny type at the bottom of the screen when they make such a transparently BS claim?
Or are they simply, as someone recently described them, "poo-flinging howler monkeys" that are furiously flinging crap, true or not, in hopes that something sticks?
The alleged theft from Walsh's PAC occurred when it was largely dormant. The committee didn't raise a cent in 2007 while only spending a total of $32,000. The revised accounting after the addition of Ward's misappropriation meant the committee ended the year in the red, reporting a cash balance of negative $1,400. Last month, Walsh donated $5,000 from his regular campaign committee to his PAC to cover the loss. Walsh's office did not return a call seeking comment before this item was posted*, and Ward's attorney declined to comment (as he has since the scandal broke).
While COLDPAC has not reported spending any money on lawyers or accountants as a result of Ward's actions, the NRCC hasn't been so lucky. The committee's latest FEC report shows that it has now spent upwards of $140,000 dealing with the scandal, including $28,500 to the law firm Covington & Burling and another $116,000 to the accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.
*UPDATE 2:36 PM: Walsh's office has responded. "Obviously Mr. Walsh is very angry. He feels he and his supporters were taken advantage of by this guy," said spokesman Dan Gage, adding that the information about COLDPAC had been forwarded to "law enforcement authorities."
Walsh's PAC,according to a chart provided by the Washington Post, was taken for $20,000. The amount that Ward is said to have stolen could be well over $1 million.
Kirsten Gillibrand (NY-20) is making a habit of ignoring her duties in Washington and New York and apparently thinks that leading the Democrat class of 2006 in travel expenses and cozying up to special interests is the formula for re-election. According to FEC reports, Gillibrand, who spent time last May pandering to a surrender-loving audience at a fundraiser in France, racked up nearly $44,000 in campaign travel costs in 2007, more than any other House Democrat freshman.
On top of spending valuable time snubbing her duties in Congress, Gillibrand has proved herself quite worthy at breaking promises by accepting large donations from special interest groups:
Gillibrand raised a total of $704,784.04 from political action committees representing a host of special interests - from labor unions and trial lawyers to pharmaceutical companies and the defense industry. (Majority Accountability Project, 4/15/08)
Gillibrand's filing was one of the best among New York representatives and one of the best in the country. And yes, she has received a total of $800,284.04 from PACs this cycle. But she has also received $2,318,876.61 from individuals this cycle.
Also, one thing to note here. The Maven wrote here at TAP back in early December that Gillibrand was pregnant and due in May.
That tells me that she is at least eight months pregnant. I don't know much about being pregnant, but something tells me that at eight months you probably shouldn't be running around Washington D.C. and making multiple plane trips between D.C. and the 20th congressional district. Within the next month, Gillibrand will give birth to her second child.
So what do the Republicans do? They attack her for not being around Washington enough, claiming that she's running around to fundraisers with special interests.
Actually, I think she is putting her feet up and resting. At least, that is what Democratic moms do.
The National Republican Congressional Committee acknowledged today that former treasurer Christopher Ward transferred money from NRCC accounts to his own bank accounts, among other findings.
National Republican Congressional Committee officials acknowledged publicly today that they have found discrepancies in their books of more than a million dollars and evidence that the NRCC's former treasurer, Christopher Ward, made "several hundred thousand dollars" worth of unauthorized wire transfers out of the committee that appear to have ended up in Ward's own bank accounts.
The NRCC launched an internal probe and contacted the FBI in January after learning that Ward "apparently fabricated and submitted 2006 financial statements to the NRCC's bank," according to a memo issued by the committee today. Some details of the probe have been reported previously, but today's memo and press briefing by a lawyer retained by the committee marked the fullest public accounting so far of the unfolding scandal.
...
The NRCC has found that the amount of cash on hand it reported to the Federal Election Commission at the end of 2006 was approximately $990,000 more than the committee actually had in the bank. The total the NRCC reported in the bank to the FEC as of Jan. 31, 2008, was $740,000 more than the actual amount, and the committee has discovered that it owes $200,000 more on its outstanding line of credit than it has reported to the FEC.
A couple of things here. First, Ward robbed them blind. The amounts being discussed here are enormous. Also, you would think that the leaders of this committee (Tom Reynolds, anyone?) would know if these amounts of money were being ripped off.
UPDATE: I wonder if the Republicans will force Joe Lieberman to return the money Spitzer gave to him. Spitzer contributed $2,000 to Lieberman in 2003, and $14,700 in 2006. I don't believe he should. But the GOP wants to play this "Spitzer's sleazy money' game.
Freshman Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand (NY-20) and her Democrat colleagues ran a campaign centered on ethics and a promise to change "politics as usual," but now it appears that she has been running with the wrong crowd. This afternoon, Gillibrand finds herself in a quandary as New York's top official, Democrat Governor Eliot Spitzer, admitted to being involved in an illegal prostitution ring, according to the New York Times.
Rep. Gillibrand now finds herself ensnared in this heated story as New York voters are wondering whether or not she will stand with the Governor or give back the thousands in campaign cash she accepted from him. To date, Gillibrand has accepted $5,000 in campaign contributions from Eliot Spitzer and telling from the picture below, it appears she was happy to be affiliated with him.
"Kirsten Gillibrand should put personal party loyalty aside and do the right thing by giving back campaign contributions she took from Eliot Spitzer," said NRCC Spokesman Ken Spain. "Candidates like Gillibrand can't run under the theme of 'change' on the one hand while defending the politics of corruption on the other."
The question is simple, will Freshman Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand live up to her promise of holding elected officials to a higher standard or will she run and hide from her campaign promises once again?
Each article features said representatives or candidates standing side-by-side with Spitzer, as if somehow they were best buds.
Gee, I didn't know the Republicans were so, well, squeaky clean. I don't hear Tom Reynolds coming out of the woodwork yet. Of course, between Rick Renzi, David Vitter, Randy "Duke" Cunningham, Mark Foley, Ted Stevens, Tom DeLay, Bob Ney, John Dolittle, Curt Weldon, Jack Abramoff, etc., the Republicans have a class of their own.
In today's New York Times more details have emerged in the National Republican Congressional Committee financial scandal that has led an FBI investigation as well as criticism of key leaders, including Rep. Tom Reynolds.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars are missing and presumed stolen from the chief fund-raising arm of House Republicans, according to party officials who described the findings of emergency internal audits.
The financial records of the group, the National Republican Congressional Committee, may also have been falsified for several years, Republican officials said. The campaign committees of several Republican lawmakers may also have been victims of a scam that is now under criminal investigation by the F.B.I.
The audits were ordered after the abrupt departure several weeks ago of Christopher J. Ward, who had been treasurer of the committee. Lawmakers said that Mr. Ward, who served a similar role for dozens of individual members of Congress and their political committees, is the focus of the F.B.I.'s criminal investigation.
...
Mr. Ward was named treasurer of the national Republican committee five years ago by Representative Thomas M. Reynolds of New York, who stepped down as the committee's chairman last year. Mr. Reynolds has found himself under attack on the campaign trail at home because of the reports of financial irregularities at the committee.
"Does Tom Reynolds ever accept responsibility for his poor leadership or does he just pass the buck?" asked John Gerken, campaign manager for Jon Powers, a Democrat who is challenging Mr. Reynolds.
Mr. Reynolds said in a statement that he and the national Republican committee were possible victims of "an elaborate scheme resulting in financial irregularities" by a "long-serving professional staff member," a reference to Mr. Ward. "At no time were there any red flags raised," the lawmaker said.
Kicking Ass, the official Democratic Party blog, injects their take on this.
Last month, news broke that the NRCC called the FBI on itself regarding some accounting irregularities that scared several House Republicans.
In Thursday's New York Times, more details emerged as Christopher J. Ward, the former treasurer of the NRCC for the last five years, falsified years of audits.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars are missing and presumed stolen from the chief fund-raising arm of House Republicans, according to party officials who described the findings of emergency internal audits.
Ward was brought on by Rep. Tom Reynolds (R-Clarence, N.Y.) in 2003. Rep. Reynolds addressed the unfolding scandal involving Ward in a statement. No word on if he was hiding behind children when it was issued.
Again, Reynolds was the head of the NRCC. He apparently was clueless as to what was going on because he has acted dismayed that this occurred behind his back. It's hard for me to believe that he knew nothing about this considering he was the head honcho at the NRCC. How much does this impact the NY-26 race? It certainly will question how effective of a leader Reynolds is and whether or not he can manage his own district if he can't even manage a campaign committee for the Republican Party.
In any event, the NRCC is taking a huge hit with this news. Reynolds, among other Republicans, could get dragged down by this, if they aren't being dragged down already.
