Thad Cochran’s campaign knew for weeks about blogger videotaping his wife, but didn’t tell cops

Hot Air ^ | May 19, 2014

[SoConPubbie]

The NRSC spent a chunk of the weekend pounding Chris McDaniel’s campaign because some people there knew three weeks ago about Cochran’s wife being secretly videotaped in a nursing home but said nothing until the story finally broke on Saturday. Read Ed’s post this morning for the details on that. There’s no evidence that McDaniel’s campaign was involved in the harassment — on the contrary, his campaign manager denounced it in a staff e-mail as soon as she heard of it — but after the news about it broke on Saturday, they claimed incorrectly that they’d never heard of the clip before. Cochran fans wanted to know: Why the cover-up? Why sit on information about Cochran’s wife being harassed and then pretend you knew nothing? You should have taken it to the police immediately and told the truth.

Good questions. And not just for McDaniel’s campaign.

Sen. Thad Cochran’s (R-Miss.) legal team apparently held onto information concerning a man’s taping of the senator’s bedridden wife for as many as two weeks before turning it over to the police.

Cochran’s campaign spokesman, Jordan Russell, told The Hill Monday that the campaign was made aware of a video allegedly taken by local political blogger Clayton Kelly of Cochran’s infirm wife on the day it was posted, April 26. He said the campaign conducted its own investigation of the video before alerting Cochran to it and deciding to bring it to an attorney…

“We were made aware of [the video] that morning because people were emailing us saying, ‘Did you see this?’” Russell told The Hill. “We conducted our own review for a few days and then went to Sen. Cochran about it, and that was when the decision was made to turn it over to the attorneys.”…

It’s unclear why Cochran’s attorney, Don Clark, held the information for two weeks before alerting police. Clark did not respond to a request for comment.

They investigated for a few days, got the green light from Cochran to go to their lawyers, and then the lawyers … sat on it. How come? Did they have a legal reason to do so or was this a matter of waiting until we were a bit closer to the June 3rd primary before pushing this to the media? If Team Cochran had gone to the cops at the start of May, the political mudslinging at McDaniel would have played out during the first half of the month, giving him time to recover. By waiting until late May, voter perceptions can be shaped with less time for repairs– even though, as noted above, there’s no evidence at all that McDaniel’s team was complicit in the videotaping.

Also, why would they have conducted their own investigation before telling Cochran what happened? He deserved to know ASAP, if only to make sure his wife had extra security around to keep creepers from peeping through her windows.

By the way, not one but two new polls from outside groups show McDaniel with a small lead over Cochran. The establishment/tea party Armageddon that everyone was hoping for in Kentucky is going to end up fizzling tomorrow night, but Mississippi might end up filling the gap.

[SoConPubbie]

	"If we must have an enemy at the head of Government, let it be one whom we can oppose, and for whom we are not responsible, who will not involve our party in the disgrace of his foolish and bad measures." - Alexander Hamilton "We don't intend to turn the Republican Party over to the traitors in the battle just ended. We will have no more of those candidates who are pledged to the same goals as our opposition and who seek our support. Turning the Party over to the so-called moderates wouldn’t make any sense at all." -- President Ronald Reagan "A thing moderately good is not so good as it ought to be. Moderation in temper is always a virtue; but moderation in principle is always a vice." - Thomas Paine 1792 "It does not take a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men." - Samuel Adams "If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen." - Samuel Adams

[SoConPubbie]

Shortened title per F.R. rules.

Actual title:

“Revealed: Thad Cochran’s campaign knew for weeks about blogger videotaping his wife, but didn’t tell cops”

[citizen]

They played it real slick hehehe

[yldstrk]

they had their playbook all together to blame the other candidate even though he had nothing to do with it

I despise politicians, they are so dishonest

[House Atreides]

“...I despise politicians, they are so dishonest”
*********************************************************************

Well, Thad Cochran and his RINO/corrupt supporters certainly fit the bill. Time for his highly paid retirement to commence.

[Enterprise]

I guess part of this is the difference in how one is treated depends on the D or R after the name.

If this had been Newt Gingrich's wife, and it was revealed that he had traveled extensively with a personal assistant on the taxpayer dollar, and listed her home as his address, would the press be sympathetic to Newtie boy?

[boycott]

Appears Thad and his pals were willing to use his poor wife for their own political gain. That’s pathetic and pretty much what I have grown to expect of politicians.

[centurion316]

I guess part of this is the difference in how one is treated depends on the D or R after the name.

Thad Cochran is a member of the Republican Party, is the Republican Senator from Mississippi, is supported by the National Republican Senatorial Reelection Committee, and is running for reelection in the Republican primary. I know that his political and personal behavior, his ethical lapses, the behavior of his campaign, and the attitude of his camp toward the citizens of Mississippi would lead one to believe that he has to be a liberal Democrat of the first order, but he is not. He is an absentee Senator who believes that he has a seat for life that entitles him to whatever lifestyle he chooses to lead.

Of course all of this is well known to prominent political people in Mississippi and in the Republican Party who profess to being conservatives. Why do these people continue to support him? The answer is that it is in their personal best interests to do so and is how corruption comes to be imbedded in our political system and to grow out of control.

[SoConPubbie]

I know that his political and personal behavior, his ethical lapses, the behavior of his campaign, and the attitude of his camp toward the citizens of Mississippi would lead one to believe that he has to be a liberal Democrat of the first order,

Actually, for me, it's his voting record.

When averaging his conservative rating across the conservative rating groups he comes out around 54%.

That's not a conservative, Hell, he's not even a Republican.

He's a pretender.

[drunknsage]

I provide IT support for a series of nursing homes and skilled living facilities. One does not simply walk in and start filming someone. You cannot walk in without first signing in and if you don’t have family or a reason to be there you aren’t allowed in. In TX, the facilities are heavily regulated by the state. There are nurses and CNA’s constantly making rounds and the entrances and exits are monitored. Again, you can’t just walk in unless this facility is lousy.

[Enterprise]

Mea culpa. Thank you. Because of the way he has been comporting himself, I didn’t pay attention to the fact that he is a Republican. Early morning coffee deprivation lapse.

[gbscott1954]

I was at a church gathering last night. I live in the Columbus, MS area. I asked everyone if they were voting for Cochran. I did not get a single one saying they were voting for him! In fact, most were very adamant in saying that he had been in office too long. These are prime GOP primary voters who ALWAYS vote! I am convinced that Cochran is in big trouble. While this is not scientific I think it is significant that all were going to vote for McDaniel and all were dead set against Cochran.

[SoConPubbie]

I was at a church gathering last night. I live in the Columbus, MS area. I asked everyone if they were voting for Cochran. I did not get a single one saying they were voting for him! In fact, most were very adamant in saying that he had been in office too long. These are prime GOP primary voters who ALWAYS vote! I am convinced that Cochran is in big trouble. While this is not scientific I think it is significant that all were going to vote for McDaniel and all were dead set against Cochran.

Great News!

I'm not a resident of Mississippi. I am a Californian.

But if I were, I'd be doing everything in my power to both convince people to vote against the Crony-Capitalist Cochran and drag them to the polls to vote.