Posted on 10/17/2018 8:43:40 PM PDT by yesthatjallen
Sen. Claire McCaskill's (D-Mo.) campaign is asking her Senate race opponent, Attorney General Josh Hawley (R), to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate whether a right-wing group violated state laws in secretly recording and publishing a video from inside the senator's campaign headquarters.
KMBC News in Missouri reported that McCaskill intends to pursue legal action after the conservative group Project Veritas secretly recorded staffers talking about how they handle Planned Parenthood donations.
McCaskill's campaign did not comment Wednesday night on the possibility of legal action, but pointed to a statement criticizing Hawley for his inaction after the video was released.
"Josh Hawley’s responsibility as the Attorney General of Missouri is to protect Missourians from fraud. Rather than doing his job and investigating this very serious situation, Hawley has been embracing, celebrating and promoting this clear case of fraudulent activity designed to hurt his political opponent," McCaskill's campaign manager, David Kirby, said in a statement.
Kirby asked Hawley to appoint a special prosecutor to look into whether Project Veritas violated the state's Merchandising Practices Act, which prohibits deceptive business practices.
Project Veritas founder James O'Keefe has denied coordinating with the Hawley campaign on the video, and said in a statement to The Hill that McCaskill's response shows "her lack of integrity and honesty."
"Rather than addressing the serious falsehoods exposed by Project Veritas Action, Senator McCaskill has accused her opponent Josh Hawley of compromising his ethics by engaging with our organization," O'Keefe said. "This is obviously unsubstantiated and patently false."
Project Veritas is known for recording government employees without their knowledge and edit their responses selectively, usually in an effort to expose perceived bias.
In the video of McCaskill's campaign staffers, they appear to discuss donations to the incumbent's campaign from Planned Parenthood being hidden in order to avoid alienating pro-life Democrats in the state.
Kirby has said Planned Parenthood donated $5,000 to McCaskill, and that the contribution was reported.
McCaskill is one of the most vulnerable Senate Democrats up for re-election. She is locked in a tight race with Hawley in a state that President Trump won by nearly 20 percentage points.
Nonpartisan political handicapper, The Cook Political Report, has rated the race a "toss-up." A RealClearPolitics average of polling gives Hawley a slight edge of less than one percentage point.
so much praise when Borat Cohen does it and the MSM reports it for profit.
They do not “selectively edit” these videos when compared to the MSMedia.
This "selectively editing" nonsense is a meme Planned Parenthood tried to start when they got caught on film by Project Veritas trying to sell baby parts. In response Veritas released the entire unedited video and it showed the released excerpts were not deceptive and were consistent with the entire encounter.
Undercover reports used to be a staple of journalism when there were functioning journalists and not as automatons reading from a DNC talking point sheet.
This old bat wants censorship. PV has been through this process many times and they knows all the legal requirements necessary for recording conversations.
But shooting GOP congressmen is perfectly fine with her I guess....
Another fake news story bite.
Veritas makes the raw video available.
(On the other hand, how would anybody "edit" responses "non-selectively"? The whole point of editing is to "select")
Is it really smart of her to be highlighting a video that probably got really poor coverage? It seems now the media HAS to mention what is on the videos -- although this particular story tries it's best to spin it in her favor.
She wants to try to move the topic from the unsavory facts the video revealed to legalities about how the video was made. THAT is what her GOP opponent should drive home.
You are a public figure sweetie. Too bad so sad.
Next.
5.56mm
Exactamundo
She wants to try to move the topic from the unsavory facts the video revealed to legalities about how the video was made. THAT is what her GOP opponent should drive home.
You mean like this? (from the article)
Hawley, in response, called McCaskill’s claims “absurd.”
“That’s absurd and she knows it. Senator McCaskill can’t fool Missouri anymore. The truth about her partisanship and party-line liberalism is revealed more every day,” Hawley said in a statement to The Hill. “After completely dismissing rural Missourians by saying she can ‘give up’ on their votes, this new footage shows she just isn’t being honest with us and is rejecting our values.”
In a pair of tweets sent Wednesday afternoon following a campaign press call, Hawley criticized McCaskill for “politicizing the legal process” for reelection.
“Let’s review last 24 hrs. 1) @clairecmc & staff caught on tape telling the truth 2) McCaskill accuses ME of fraud 3) McCaskill demands Missouri give her special prosecutor to investigate her truth telling,” Hawley tweeted. “Senator, accusing people of crimes is a serious thing. If you have evidence of a crime, please come forward with it immediately. Otherwise, please stop politicizing the legal process for your reelection.”
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