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Title: Castle wishes fraud complaint came before primary
Source:
delawareonline.com
URL Source: http://www.delawareonline.com/artic ... S02/9240353&theme=ELECTION2010
Published: Sep 24, 2010
Author: NICOLE GAUDIANO • News Journal Washingto
Post Date: 2010-09-24 05:29:02 by HOUNDDAWG
Keywords: None
Views: 71
Comments: 2
WASHINGTON -- Rep. Mike Castle suggested a Washington watchdog group may have intentionally waited until he lost the GOP Senate primary before filing a campaign finance fraud complaint against his opponent, Christine O'Donnell. Castle -- who said Wednesday he has not ruled out a write-in campaign -- called the timing of the complaint by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington "suspect" and possibly designed to help the Democratic candidate, New Castle County Executive Chris Coons. Castle was seen as the probable winner in a general-election matchup against Coons, but O'Donnell had been considered a long shot. Castle noted that CREW filed its complaint with the U.S. Attorney's Office in Delaware and the Federal Election Commission days after the Senate primary and months after The News Journal reported in March that O'Donnell was using campaign funds for personal living expenses. Castle recalled that his campaign had often made the same allegations. He also noted that CREW's executive director, Melanie Sloan, is originally from Delaware. "Are they just trying to help the Democrat get elected, and did they hold it because the Republican who, by opinion polls, etc., would be more likely to win would have been benefited if they filed it before?" he asked. "I don't know the answer to that. I'm just surmising." Sloan called the suggestion "ridiculous" and said CREW didn't pay attention to O'Donnell until Castle lost because she wasn't considered a serious candidate. She said the group became aware of allegations regarding O'Donnell's campaign spending when news outlets reported that voters had received Election Day robocalls supporting Castle that said O'Donnell had used campaign donations to pay for rent and personal expenses. "I had no idea Christine O'Donnell was doing what she was doing until, really, she won and then she became a prominent figure," Sloan said. Laughing, she added, "I guess [Castle's] upset that we didn't work hard enough to help him? I don't understand." O'Donnell told The News Journal in March that she paid half her rent with campaign donations because she also used the home as her Senate headquarters. She said then she had consulted an attorney about the arrangement. "If there is anything questionable, it is not our intent to break the law," she said. "I try to do what is right." On Thursday, Matt Moran, a spokesman for O'Donnell, said the campaign's lawyers are looking at the fraud complaint. Sloan called O'Donnell "a criminal" and alleged Monday she had misused campaign funds by converting them for personal use, lied on FEC forms and committed tax evasion. The group provided an affidavit from a former campaign aide who said O'Donnell used campaign funds for rent, meals, gas and a bowling outing. O'Donnell's campaign manager said the Coons campaign was behind the complaint. Coons' spokesman denied that. Castle said he doesn't know if the CREW complaint would have helped him if it had come out earlier. He isn't criticizing Sloan, individually, he said. But the complaint "did no more than reaffirm things we were saying or things that The News Journal had basically said." "People don't look at it from that point of view," he said of the timing of the complaint, "but I did." Sloan has worked for Democratic lawmakers in Washington, including a stint in 1993 as nominations counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee when it was chaired by Vice President Joe Biden. Before joining CREW, she served as an assistant U.S. attorney in the District of Columbia from 1998 to 2003. Sloan denied working with Coons and described CREW as a nonpartisan organization. The group's latest "Most Corrupt" members of Congress report included eight Democrats and seven Republicans. Since Castle said he has not ruled out a write-in campaign, spokeswoman Kate Dickens said, his staff has received dozens of phone calls, the majority "very encouraging." "I think he's just going to keep considering it."
Poster Comment: Actually it would have been perceived as a partisan attack and a tactical overreaction had CREW filed the complaint before the primary against a candidate that was a shocking upset and not favored to win by the "insiders", but Mr. "Do you boys come here often?" is now whining after his defeat, which is really funny! And just what is the goal of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington? The Washington Post has variously described CREW as a "liberal watchdog group",[3] "nonprofit watchdog group",[4] "advocacy group",[5] and "nonpartisan watchdog group".[6] Roll Call reported in January 2008 that CREW files most of its complaints against members of Congress, and "all but a handful... have targeted Republicans". The article stated that CREW had issued press releases against Democrats but usually had not filed complaints against them, with the exception of Senator Mary Landrieu, a conservative Democrat.[7] CREW defended itself to Roll Call: "CREW is a nonpartisan organization that targets unethical conduct," [Deputy Director Naomi] Seligman wrote... "Now that the Democrats are in power, they will have opportunities for corruption that were previously reserved to Republicans and it is likely we will see more Democratic corruption." After the article was published, CREW stated that it was "baseless" and "omitted key facts". CREW also suggested the Roll Call reporter had been prompted by a conversation with Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu, the target of a recent CREW lawsuit at the time.[8] In 2005 the "Most Corrupt" list consisted of 11 Republicans and 2 Democrats.[9][10] The September 2009 list had 7 Republicans and 8 Democrats.[11] Their 2010 list of "Corrupt Candidates" includes 9 Republicans and 3 Democrats (including fringe Democratic candidate for U. S. Senate Alvin Greene).[12] CREW filed at least one ethics complaint in 2010 against a liberal Democrat, U.S. Representative Gregory Meeks.[13] Roll Call reported that CREW investigated "groups and individuals who are the foes of CREW's donors" as well as a political opponent of one of CREW's board directors, and that CREW refused to disclose its donor list.[7] Donors to CREW include such liberal groups as George Soros' Open Society Institute, Democracy Alliance, Service Employees International Union, the Arca Foundation, and the Gill Foundation.[7][14][15] The Roll Call article also stated that the CREW mission statement had changed since 2005, when it read that CREW "differs from other good government groups in that it sues offending politicians directly" and that it "aims to counterbalance the conservative legal watchdog groups that made such a strong impact over the past decade." U.S. Senator Conrad Burns of Montana charged that CREW was "maliciously false" and "partisan hacks" in calling him corrupt in 2005. The Billings Gazette reported that CREW defended itself:[9] "We are progressive," said Naomi Seligman, the group's deputy director... "We do work within a larger progressive infrastructure." Seligman suggested her group is the progressive counterweight to Judicial Watch, a group from the right that calls itself "a non-profit, public interest law firm dedicated to fighting government corruption"... "We've gone after a fair number of Democrats, even in this study," Seligman said, [and Burns] "should be answering the charges, not slinging charges." Melanie Sloan serves as CREW's Executive Director. Prior to starting CREW in 2003, she served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the District of Columbia, after having worked for Congressional Democrats John Conyers, Charles Schumer, and Joseph Biden.[16] As a lawyer she represents Valerie Plame in her lawsuit against former Bush administration official for their alleged role in the public disclosure of her classified CIA status.[17][18]__wiki And I see this: Melanie (Sloan) "gives us the top 25 most corrupt official(s) in the Bush Administration." It seems to me that CREW disdains any member who lines his/her pockets by helping corporate lobbyists, but they have no problem with rich, power hungry DEMS like the now deceased Ted Kennedy.
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#1. To: HOUNDDAWG (#0)
(Edited)
I don't have much sympathy for the Teas - war pigs disgust me - but I care even less for the establishment's anointed marionettes who seem to believe that they are entitled to their 'seats' and can't stand losing: Castle, Murkowski, Lieberman. By the way, anyone who runs for office OUTSIDE of one of the two parties would be fine with me if he/she didn't immediately align with one of the 2 parties when elected - Lieberman would be one such slime.
By the way, anyone who runs for office OUTSIDE of one of the two parties would be fine with me if he/she didn't immediately align with one of the 2 parties when elected - Lieberman would be one such slime. The incumbent mentality is a sense of entitlement like no other. It doesn't matter what the fickle voters want because Lieberman believes he has too much experience to be replaced.
#2. To: Aragorn (#1)
I don't have much sympathy for the Teas - war pigs disgust me - but I care even less for the establishment's anointed marionettes who seem to believe that they are entitled to their 'seats' and can't stand losing: Castle, Murkowski, Lieberman.
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