O’Malley campaign cuts ties with Va. chairman after arrest on child porn charges

[n2doc]

Source: Washington Post

Democratic presidential hopeful Martin O’Malley has parted ways with the chairman of his campaign in Virginia following the man’s arrest this week on child pornography charges, an O’Malley aide said Friday.

Michael C. Teegarden, a Richmond-area businessman, was arrested Thursday on two felony counts and is accused of having been involved in online trading of digital child pornography, according to The Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Haley Morris, a spokeswoman for O’Malley, the former Maryland governor, said Teegarden had been serving in a volunteer capacity and that the campaign “severed all ties with him immediately.”

"We're horrified by these allegations, and if he is found guilty he should be punished to the full extent of the law,” Morris said.

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Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/10/10/omalley-severs-ties-with-campaigns-va-chairman-following-arrest-on-child-porn-charges/

[msrizzo]

1. Really feel bad for O'Malley on this.

I'm not supporting him for president, but I think he is a really good guy and I'm sure this must be just horrifying to him.

[Demeter]

2. Way to pick 'em, O'Malley

Put you in charge of the White House? No way.

[ejbr]

5. How was he supposed to know?

[Demeter]

6. You do know what a background check is?

and one has to be suspicious when a busy businessman goes out of his way to make time for such a nothing candidate....

[ejbr]

11. and if this perversion began AFTER he was checked?

Would it still be something to condemn O'Malley for?

[MADem]

16. That would seem to be highly unlikely. Anything is possible, but that kind of thing is usually

long-term and deep-seated...it isn't caught, like a cold.

It's likely this guy has gotten away with it down the years, but who knows if there are children out there who are his victims?

[ejbr]

17. True ...just thinking aloud n/t

[frylock]

18. What do you think a routine background check entails?

Was their a previous conviction that would've turned up?

[Trajan]

22. I think you are wrong on this

There is no way anybody could have known this ...

O'Malley is a decent Democrat. He deserves at least a little respect .... He is not my first choice, but he is a winner as far as I'm concerned ...

[navarth]

26. +1

[LisaL]

25. But if hadn't been caught, background check isn't going to turn anything.

[magical thyme]

27. if he didn't have a record, what would a background check turn up?

I don't see how O'Malley can be blamed for this. He did the right thing when the guy was caught.

[snooper2]

30. Keep it classy LOL- we know it's hard but TRY TRY TRY!

[Cirque du So-What]

7. I wondered that too

If there's some way to identify child-porn aficionados before they're outed, shouldn't that info be shared universally as a public service?

[ejbr]

9. +1 n/t

[yeoman6987]

8. Oh please. If this was anybody else everyone would be slamming the heck out of them

No excuses. O'Malley screwed up and owns it. At least he did the right thing and severed ties.

[ejbr]

12. If it was anybody else, I would still ask the question n/t

[yeoman6987]

13. So if it was trump or Rubio, you'd just ask the question? Hmmmm.

[ejbr]

14. Okay; fair point

Maybe I couldn't care that they were being labasted, but I would still wonder to myself how it would be their fault.

[yeoman6987]

15. Let's put it this way, I wish it was trump or Rubio that this happened to

Luckily this won't hurt O'Malley at all. The debate is key to his success.

[MADem]

19. Given that O'M hasn't gotten ANY traction, even this event will be a blip to everyone save the

highly interested five percent, and the somewhat interested ten percent of voters at this stage.

No one is paying attention. It will be used as a "Waah Waah Judgment!" slam IF he gets any traction, but given that he jettisoned the guy he should be able to survive it should he catch on with the voters.

[FrodosPet]

28. Gov O'Malley should have put a keylogger on the guy's computer

And perhaps wiretapped him as well.

You just can't be too careful about who is working for or supporting you when you run for office.

[dembotoz]

31. no way in hell someone is gonna put that on my puter.....

if i wanted 1984 i would join the teaparty

[jberryhill]

3. Sounds like the guy should have more than just his ties cut

[Cirque du So-What]

4. 'Relatively hip dad'

[hedgehog]

10. Warning: GD-P vitriol is spreading to LBN on this thread.

[Plucketeer]

20. I like O'malley

I can see myself supporting him if Bernie wasn't running. But Bernie IS running and I'm supporting him. I've been selling personal stuff on ebay so that I can keep sending money to Sander's campaign. Who here knows my seller handle on ebay? If you don't, then without a search of my computer (to ferret out my ebay seller name) you have no idea just what I am selling so as to send funds to Bernie's campaign. I assure you that I'm not selling stuff that would raise anyones eyebrows in alarm.
AND - if I were selling stuff on the "dark web" - for the same purpose of providing money to Sanders campaign - who would know what it was I might be selling there (which I'm not on the Dark Web in any case anyway)?
So - as indefensible as this cretin's pursuits are - how is it he's supposed to be outed by O'malley's machine without someone taking his computers and scouring them to bring his dirty side to light? Whaddya think - he's got signs on his front door that say "Get your kidde porn here!"

Gotta be tough - living in a world that's strictly black or white. O'malley's got like what - One percent following? Just imagine the vast sums of cash he commands to hire security specialists to vet everyone who so much as sticks an O'malley for President sign out on their front lawn!

The guy did a wrong thing and O'malley did the right thing. Case closed. No reason to be sniffing about O'malley's camp for lingering malodorous aires.

[EEO]

21. That's pretty bad press.

[NCjack]

23. Looks like a reasonable progression to me. Michael Teegarden, trader of online

child pornography, becomes a volunteer in O'Malley's campaign in VA. Then Teegarden is arrested this week, and O'Malley cuts all ties with him. (Good.) If Teegarden had not volunteered, perhaps no one would have informed on him, assuming there is an informer. Guys like Teegarden aren't easy to detect -- they don't wear big "CP" badges in public. For me, this doesn't reflect badly on O'Malley. (Disclosure: I'm still committed to Bernie in the primary, but if he falls out, I will support O'Malley. He really is a good guy.)

[LiberalLovinLug]

24. You gotta know that the GOP

are digging through any and all campaign workers for every Democrat looking for anything. I'm sure they have friends in the NSA.

[Aerows]

29. This guy volunteered

may have thought that he would be shielded by O'Malley, and was instead cut loose the second the allegations surfaced.

What the heck else do you want O'Malley to do? As little as I want Hillary Clinton to win the Primary, I certainly wouldn't ding her for letting an alleged child pornographer go.

It's only a problem when candidates try to cover this type of thing up. It's rather strange and "fortuitous", in my opinion, for anyone to try to hitch this to O'Malley and his campaign right before the debate.

All KINDS of interesting mud is being thrown at Sanders and O'Malley before this debate. I'm sure that is just a coincidence, though. It's not like anyone *at all* has predicted that both gentlemen will do very well.