Report: Tea Party Campaign Knew Details About Nursing Home Break-In
DYLAN SCOTT – MAY 17, 2014, 3:48 PM EDT
The Clarion-Ledger is reporting that State Sen. Chris McDaniel's campaign knew details about the break-in at the nursing home where Sen. Thad Cochran's wife lives before they were public.
Clayton Thomas Kelly, the political blogger supportive of McDaniel who is accused of sneaking into the nursing home and photographing Cochran's wife, had "no relationship" with the campaign, according to McDaniel's campaign staff.
But according to the Clarion-Ledger, McDaniel's campaign manager, State Sen. Melanie Sojourner, called Cochran's campaign manager on Saturday morning at 7:45 a.m. to offer her condolences about the break-in -- about 90 minutes before the connection to the Cochrans became public.
Kelly had been arrested Friday, the Clarion-Ledger reported, but the initial reports did not mention Cochran's wife, Rose, who has dementia and lives in a nursing home. That connection became known on Saturday morning when the Clarion-Ledger published a story -- and after Sojourner made her call.
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http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/mcdaniel-campaign-knew-more-cochran-break-in-report
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McDaniel Campaign Denies It Knew Details About Blogger Break-In Early
DANIEL STRAUSS – MAY 17, 2014, 5:29 PM EDT
State Sen. Chris McDaniel's Senate campaign is saying that it learned late last night that a blogger was arrested for breaking into the nursing home where Sen. Thad Cochran's wife lives.
"The McDaniel campaign found out about the break in when a local political blog posted about it at 11:40 p.m. last night," McDaniel spokesman Noel Fritsch said in a statement Saturday afternoon. "Senator McDaniel has denounced the break-in and called Senator Cochran to extend his condolences. It is unconscionable for the Cochran campaign and the liberal media to use the act of a sick individual to lob despicable accusations."
Fritsch's statement follows a Clarion-Ledger's report that McDaniel's campaign manager, state Sen. Melanie Sojourner (R), was aware of details about the break-in by blogger Clayton Thomas Kelly before they had been publicized by the newspaper and had called Cochran's campaign about the incident.
The blog that the McDaniel campaign is apparently referring to is Jackson Jumbalaya, which had reported on Kelly's arrest. But an update to the blog post there said the Clarion-Ledger had beaten Jackson Jumbalaya to identifying Rose Cochran, Thad Cochran's wife, as the target of the break-in. The Clarion-Ledger report identifying Cochran was published Saturday morning.
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http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/chris-mcdaniel-melanie-sojourner-clayton-kelly-jackson-jumbalaya
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McDaniel Campaign Contradicts Itself On Blogger Break-In
DANIEL STRAUSS – MAY 17, 2014, 7:07 PM EDT
By Saturday evening, the timeline of events around when Mississippi state Sen. Chris McDaniel (R) and his campaign were made aware of a blogger breaking into the nursing home where the wife of Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS) lives haven't gotten any clearer.
McDaniel's campaign manager, Mississippi state Sen. Melanie Sojourner (R), reportedly called the Cochran campaign Saturday morning to express outrage that blogger Clayton Thomas Kelly broke into the nursing home to photograph Cochran's wife, Rose.
The call reportedly happened on Saturday morning at 7:45 a.m. ET. That is before the Cochran connection was made public by the Clarion-Ledger of Mississippi. A Republican aide who listened to the voicemail Sojourner left for Cochran campaign manager Kirk Simms told The Hill that Sojourner said she found out about the break-in on Friday. According to The Hill, Sojourner said she and McDaniel himself strongly disapproved of Kelly's actions.
The problem is, as the Clarion-Ledger notes, that contradicts other statements by the McDaniel campaign about when they found out about the break-in. When The Hill caught up with McDaniel himself on Saturday morning, about an hour after the Clarion-Ledger published its initial report, McDaniel said he had not heard about Kelly's arrest.
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http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/chris-mcdaniel-break-in-clayton-kelly-rose-cochran-statements
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McDaniel Campaign Finally Gives Its Definitive Story On Blogger Break-In
DYLAN SCOTT – MAY 17, 2014, 10:22 PM EDT
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The statement is via McDaniel campaign spokesman Noel Fritsch:
Melanie noticed the political blog post at around 1:00 AM CDT Saturday and was alarmed that it was likely Ms. Cochran who had been photographed based on the preponderance of evidence, including the name of the rest home and the comments on the blog.
At around 7:30 AM CDT, Chris was notified only briefly of the incident and the need to personally reach out to Sen. Cochran.
Shortly thereafter, Melanie called Cochran campaign manager Kirk Sims to express in strongest terms the campaigns' condemnation of the alleged crime. Alex Jaffe interviewed Chris at around 9:30 AM CDT during an event, at which time Chris had still not been fully briefed. Chris was not fully briefed until he left event around 10:30 AM CDT, at which point the campaign issued a statement at 10:49 AM CDT.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/mcdaniel-story-cochran-break-in-blogger
= new reply since forum marked as read
See my post below.
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