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Let’s uproot the pernicious, unproven claim that Ted Cruz attacked Donald Trump’s wife
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/03/27/lets-uproot-the-pernicious-unproven-claim-that-ted-cruz-attacked-donald-trumps-wife/ ^ | March 27, 2016 | Philip Bump

Posted on 03/27/2016 1:35:16 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum

There is no evidence that Ted Cruz attacked Donald Trump's wife.

In a normal election year, this statement would be relatively uncontroversial. After all, it's true. Yes, there was an ad that ran in Utah, suggesting that because she had posed for provocative modeling photos, she was somehow unfit to be first lady. But, no, that ad was not from the Cruz campaign. It was from the Make America Awesome super PAC, a group that raises and spends money without input from any candidate, including Cruz.

How do I know that? Well, I know that if such a political action committee were to coordinate with Cruz -- say, by running an ad at his behest -- it would be a federal crime. I know a presidential candidate purposefully violating federal law is almost certainly not worth the risk. I know that Cruz was going to win Utah anyway, by a wide margin, so violating federal law to win with 70 percent of the vote versus 65 percent is a particularly dumb idea.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Editorial; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: demagogicparty; districtofcolumbia; lol; memebuilding; partisanmediashill; partisanmediashills; philipbump; washingtoncompost; washingtonpost
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To: Kenny

“Trump said it’s Cruz campaign that purchased rights to photo then gave to super pac. “

I thought it was GQ that verified that the Cruz campaign bought the photo...?


61 posted on 03/27/2016 6:35:42 PM PDT by JPJones
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To: RFEngineer
I don’t know if Cruz coordinated or not. It’s not yet clear whether Cruz’s campaign purchased the image, and gave it to the PAC, or whether the PAC acquired it separately itself. That leads to questions of coordination.

It will never be clear as long as serial posters keep saying it has not been made clear.

62 posted on 03/27/2016 6:47:11 PM PDT by itsahoot (Trump is a fumble mouthed blowhard that can't finish a sentence, but he will finish a term.)
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To: nopardons

Having been an adult at the time, I had a pretty good idea what Watergate was all about. You don’t know me, so don’t presume to think you know what I know.

For your information, Watergate was a burglary. Nixon covered up the burglary. He got caught. He was hounded from office.


63 posted on 03/27/2016 6:49:16 PM PDT by NTHockey (Rules of engagement #1: Take no prisoners. And to the NSA trolls, FU)
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To: Kenny

Yes. And we know Trump always tells the unvarnished truth, adhering scrupulously to the facts in every detail.


64 posted on 03/27/2016 6:50:13 PM PDT by Roses0508
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To: keving

Cruz didn’t reject this AD until used for Utah.
********************************************
Candidates have no control of the content of ads done by Super PACs. If their own campaigns do ads, the ads always say something like... “I’m Joe Blow and I approve this ad.”


65 posted on 03/27/2016 7:42:12 PM PDT by octex
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Trump said today that he heard that the Cruz campaign purchased the rights to the picture of Melania. If the PAC didn’t purchase the rights then apparently they were in violation of copyright laws. If the Cruz campaign transferred the rights they bought to the PAC then there goes the Pollyanna idea that there is no coordination between candidates and PACS.


66 posted on 03/27/2016 7:45:32 PM PDT by DouglasKC
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To: BlueNgold

No. The claim that Roe purchased the rights to the photo have appeared in some third-rate blogs or Twitter, but nothing remotely reliable.


67 posted on 03/27/2016 7:47:34 PM PDT by Bruce Campbells Chin
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To: E. Pluribus Unum
The attack on Melania was telegraphed here: A Ted Cruz supporter said during an interview on Fox Business Network that it's "critically important" that Republican voters consider that Donald Trump's wife Melania is foreign-born and has "posed nude" in a magazine. On Tuesday, Cruz supporter Andrea McWilliams, a Texas-based lobbyist, told Fox anchor Neil Cavuto that in light of former first lady Nancy Reagan's death this week, "we should be looking at the first lady candidates, instead of just talking about the men."

"If Donald trump is elected, Mrs. Trump will be the first first lady that has ever posed nude; the first first lady that's the third wife [of the president]; and the first foreign-born first lady in this century." She said, "by contrast," Cruz's wife Heidi would be "the first pro-life first lady."

68 posted on 03/27/2016 7:51:46 PM PDT by af_vet_1981 (The bus came by and I got on, That's when it all began.)
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To: JPJones
I thought it was GQ that verified that the Cruz campaign bought the photo...?

Probably true, Trump just said it was his understanding, not who verified.

69 posted on 03/27/2016 8:51:18 PM PDT by Kenny (e)
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To: MamaTexan

It’s one of those rare moments where a white man may actually get away with breaking a law!

From where I’m sitting, it looks like our DOJ couldn’t care less what laws our ‘betters’ break, after all, we are no longer equal in the eyes of the law. Sigh


70 posted on 03/27/2016 11:25:47 PM PDT by AllAmericanGirl44 ("You see you don't have to live like a refugee" Tom Petty or obama?)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Trump: Cruz’s campaign bought rights to GQ photo
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3414491/posts
Hill | Rebecca Savransky

Trump is saying it. So it’s no longer a rumor but an issue.


71 posted on 03/28/2016 3:34:42 AM PDT by Arthur Wildfire! March (Obama giving away the internet: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3407691/posts)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

There is evidence


72 posted on 03/28/2016 4:24:42 AM PDT by xzins (Retired Army Chaplain and Proud of It! Prayer for Victory is the ONLY way to support the troops!)
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To: freeandfreezing
Only a true main stream media liberal elitist would think that the American public is dumb enough to not understand how people of like political opinions can coordinate their activities without crossing the legal boundary of "directing" or "controlling".

So you, too, are troubled by Roger Stone's connection to the National Enquirer story.

73 posted on 03/28/2016 7:36:18 AM PDT by the808bass ( I am the rodeo clown for your pain.)
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To: Arthur Wildfire! March

No. It’s still a rumor.

A person saying they heard something is the very definition of a rumor.


74 posted on 03/28/2016 7:36:18 AM PDT by the808bass ( I am the rodeo clown for your pain.)
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To: the808bass
So you, too, are troubled by Roger Stone's connection to the National Enquirer story.

Not as much as I am troubled by the possibility, certainly more than zero, that one of our top conservative Republican candidates will implode due to their inability to control their impulses.

I doubt that the National Enquirer will go out on a limb for anybody. They have a long history of doing this kind of investigative reporting, and usually have evidence to back up allegations they make regarding living people. I hope in this case they are wrong.

75 posted on 03/28/2016 4:05:23 PM PDT by freeandfreezing
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To: freeandfreezing
Enquirer will go out on a limb for anybody. They have a long history of doing this kind of investigative reporting, and usually have evidence to back up allegations they make regarding living people. I hope in this case they are wrong.

No, they don't. There's no specific allegations in the story either. There's nothing actionable because they make no claims. They simply say "people are talking about this" and "detectives are investigating." At no point do they say "Ted Cruz had five affairs." Because that would get them sued.

None of that bothers you. And you're ready to believe something that hasn't even been alleged because of some devotion to an opposing candidate who has admitted to the same behavior that's being alleged of Cruz. It's all odd.

76 posted on 03/28/2016 4:56:38 PM PDT by the808bass ( I am the rodeo clown for your pain.)
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To: DannyTN

I read it is not a Cruz PAC. Is it against the rules to coordinate with a not your PAC?


77 posted on 03/28/2016 5:12:48 PM PDT by jospehm20
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To: jospehm20

Coordinating with a PAC is against the rules.

But if Trump is right that Cruz’s campaign manager bought the rights and then transferred them to the PAC, then there is a clear case of Cruz violating the rules. Should be pretty easy to verify. I hope someone looks into it.


78 posted on 03/28/2016 5:18:07 PM PDT by DannyTN
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