Torricelli's Lies Continue -- And WORSEN

(HAMILTON, SEPTEMBER 27) – Forrester for Senate campaign manager Bill Pascoe – responding to Robert Torricelli’s increasingly desperate fabrications – today issued the following statement:

“It’s clear we’re no longer running against Robert Torricelli. We’re now running against Tommy Flanagan and Joe Isuzu, two characters well known for just plain making things up out of whole cloth.

“Yesterday, Mr. Torricelli had the gall to suggest that release of the prosecutors’ memo in the Chang case ‘vindicated’ him – even though the prosecutors said Mr. Chang ‘provided credible information regarding [Torricelli].’ The prosecutors also wrote that Mr. Chang provided ‘documentary evidence that corroborated Chang’s claims and identifying witnesses who could do the same.’

“Moreover, wrote the prosecutors, ‘[T]he information concerning Chang’s cash payments to [Torricelli] was corroborated in significant respects by Audrey Yu, his former bookkeeper; the information concerning Chang’s purchases of items of value for [Torricelli] was corroborated by many vendors from whom Chang purchased these items; and the information concerning the assistance that [Torricelli] provided to Chang in connection with business projects was corroborated by several other witnesses, including several whose credibility was not in doubt.’

“The prosecutors concluded ‘the Government also found Chang’s statements concerning the conduct of [Mr. Torricelli] to be credible in most material respects.’

“Today Mr. Torricelli continued his fabrications. After canceling a scheduled public event so he could avoid a general media availability, he showed up on WABC-TV in New York tonight to continue to mislead New Jersey voters. In the space of one ten-minute interview, we counted no fewer than SIXTEEN outright fabrications.

“Mr. Torricelli said tonight that ‘[O]n Friday the government, in fact the prosecutors, put out a statement saying the prosecutors were unanimous in that there was not evidence that crimes were committed in these things.’ Of course, no such thing happened. This statement is a wholesale fabrication.

“Mr. Torricelli said tonight that ‘this election can’t just be about accusations against me that are now proven to be false.’ Of course, the accusations were NOT proven to be false – in fact, they were proven to be TRUE. The Senate Ethics Committee said so. And the prosecutors’ memo indicates that the prosecutors themselves believed most of the accusations to be TRUE, and further indicates that there was separate corroborating evidence.

“Mr. Torricelli said tonight that Doug Forrester is ‘for every obstacle for the right for women to choose. Against all gun control. Against a prescription drug plan for Medicare. And for privatizing Social Security.’ Of course, not a single one of these statements is true. Doug supports a woman’s right to choose; supports current gun control laws (and, unlike Mr. Torricelli, actually cares about ENFORCING them); supports the Tri-Partisan Bill (introduced by Sens. Breaux, Jeffords, and Grassley, which establishes a prescription drug plan in Medicare); and opposes privatizing Social Security (as he pledged last week, in front of the cameras).

“Mr. Torricelli said tonight that ‘[O]n the larger accusations against me, we’ve now found that there was no credible evidence.’ Of course, this is not the case. On the ‘larger accusations’ – including his receipt of suits from Mr. Chang, his receipt of cash from Mr. Chang, and the fact that he followed Mr. Chang into a convenience store, among others – the facts say otherwise, as documented in WNBC-TV’s report last night.

“Mr. Torricelli said tonight that ‘I’m very comforted that [Mr. Chang’s] own lawyers have come forward now to say that it was not true.’ Of course, this is not true at all. Bradley Simon is Mr. Chang’s lawyer, and he has said no such thing – in fact, he has said quite the opposite. The lawyer to whom Mr. Torricelli is apparently referring, Michael Critchley, served briefly as Mr. Chang’s attorney (after being hand-picked by Mr. Torricelli himself), and was fired by Mr. Chang a long time ago, when Mr. Chang determined that Mr. Critchley was no longer representing Mr. Chang’s best interests, but was instead working on behalf of Mr. Torricelli.

“Mr. Torricelli said tonight that ‘We now have evidence, the government has made very clear, unanimously they did not think there was evidence that I did anything wrong.’ Of course, this is not the case. The Chang memo says otherwise.

“Mr. Torricelli said tonight that ‘The Senate ethics committee has found nothing else wrong.’ Of course, this is a wholesale fabrication. The Senate Ethics Committee specifically said it was ‘troubled by incongruities, inconsistencies, and conflicts’ in Mr. Torricelli’s sworn testimony, and went on to say that Mr. Torricelli’s ‘actions and failure to act led to violations of Senate rules (and related statutes).’”

“Mr. Torricelli said tonight that Doug Forrester is ‘against gun control, Medicare, and Social Security.’ Of course, nothing could be further from the truth.

“Mr. Torricelli said tonight that ‘The party has never been more united. From African-American ministers, to labor leaders, to every major leader in the business community in New Jersey is united.’ Of course, this is not the case. In fact, Mr. Torricelli is having serious trouble with the Democrat Party right now. Polls show that he is currently holding only about two-thirds of the Democrat vote in New Jersey (while Doug enjoys the support of better than 80 percent of New Jersey’s Republicans). The same polls show Doug holding the support of anywhere from 30 to 40 percent of the labor vote – and that’s no surprise, given that Doug has already won the endorsement of the statewide Fraternal Order of Police and a key Teamsters local, and is committed to working on behalf of New Jersey’s working men and women. Moreover, Doug has the endorsement of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce AND the National Federation of Independent Business, so it’s hard to see how Mr. Torricelli’s claim that ‘every major leader in the business community’ is behind his candidacy.

“Mr. Torricelli, stop trying to mislead the public. Your credibility is gone. Your desperate attempts to distract attention from your own misconduct and your continuing campaign of misinformation and deceit are getting out of hand. Perhaps you should switch to decaffeinated coffee for the next five weeks.”

This is going to get very, very ugly, very, very soon. Torricelli has absolutely nothing to lose, and has millions of dollars to spend on television trashing Forrester with outright fabrications, just like the ones documented in this press release from last night.

Forrester needs money. Just because he's a successful entrepreneur doesn't mean we should count on him to fund his entire campaign. Go to Forrester's website at www.forrester2002.com and contribute NOW!!!

You're right SoS. If we can't beat the Torch now, the Torch may with us for a long, long time. The latest poll shows he is extremely vulnerable -- 13 points down.

Contributions, whatever the amount really do make a difference. The Dems and unions and trial lawyers will spend whatever it takes to try hold on to this seat. It will be up to us to help make up the difference.

The torch wants the voters to believe that he fought in court to keep this report from becoming public knowledge, was because it vindicated him.

Do all Criminals have lawyers try to surpress stuff that shows they didn't do it? Or just the TORCH?

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