Gilmore said Parrish would verify many of Waldron’s claims as they relate to Sorenson, but he wouldn’t say whether Parrish would tie Bachmann herself to the matter. As to Waldron’s other main complaints, that Bachmann’s political committees made inappropriate payments to one of her main consulting firms, Gilmore said, “To the extent any of those are reflected in the emails that are germane to what Peter Waldron has indicated ‘Witness A’ would verify, yes.”
Parrish was long part of Bachmann’s political and congressional operations, serving as her chief of staff and running several of her campaigns, including her successful run for the Iowa Straw Poll victory in 2011. Bachmann parted ways with Parrish in February 2012, and he went on to help run an unsuccessful campaign supporting a constitutional ban on gay marriage in Minnesota. He has generally refused to speak publicly about Bachmann since leaving her staff.
But Gilmore said Parrish was coming forward now to discuss the campaign’s dealings with Sorenson because the Iowa Senate Ethics Committee could otherwise soon adjourn for the year without fully vetting the allegations against him. But Parrish “has no personal or professional animosity toward Congresswoman Bachmann whatsoever,” Gilmore said.
“He does have, he believes, an obligation to tell the truth,” he said. “There is no motivation other than wanting the true facts to come to light.”
Beyond the OCE and Iowa Senate investigations, the Bachmann campaign is the subject of a lawsuit from a former staffer who said Bachmann officials stole a list of contact information from her. The Urbandale, Iowa, Police Department is also investigating the matter.
The Star Tribune reported Wednesday that investigators are also looking into whether Bachmann staffers did improper work for a book tour she undertook during her presidential campaign.
Where there’s smoke …
… there’s fire.
And there’s plenty of smoldering ruins in the aftermath of the Bachmann campaigns.
I Suspect What This is REALLY All About
is the Republican Party’s re-branding efforts.
Ms. Bachmann has been one of the loudest, most dysfunction-based “conservative” voices in the Republican Party. Strident, fact phobic, right-wing radicals such as herself are the reason the general public doesn’t want to have anything to do with anyone or anything claiming to be Republican these days.
For very understandable reasons, the leadership of the Republican Party is trying to pull the rug out from under Ms. Bachmann and move her far off to the side if not completely out of the picture.
I can’t say I blame them, nor should she be surprised that the people of her Party, being interested only in winning and thus willing to jettison anyone or anything that might be an obstacle to that one, primary goal, are willing to torpedo her career and cast her aside.
She was nothing to them but a (temporarily) useful tool.
Objectives
Greg, I doubt that your assessment is what’s going on here. If the GOP wanted to get rid of Bachmann, they could do it much more easily (and quietly) by simply reducing the contributions they make to her campaign. They could make a little contribution to her to keep her placated while publicly stating that funds are limited and they need to allocate them to the races they feel would be the most effective. That would be enough for Bachmann to get the message and find another career without all laundry hanging out in public.
The national and state GOP have already taken enough of a drumming as of late without dropping a basket of clean laundry into the mud puddle.
Sadly
the GOP can’t simply “turn off” Ms. Bachmann’s funding.
The bulk of it comes from small and large individual contributions. For an indication of the problem see data on her last campaign in 2012.
link: http://ow.ly/kcn2y
95% of the approximately 15 million dollars [sic] she raised came from individual contributions.
Nevertheless, as close as Mr. Graves came last time being at a significant financial disadvantage, there is hope that Ms. Bachmann will finally get her just deserts. [sic]
3rd party
Bachmann should start a new political party with former SC governor Mark Sanford, former Congressman Anthony Weiner and a few other wayward politicians. People get addicted to power and money don’t mind having their discredited public careers on the front page.
Politicans are like professional athletes that just don’t want to retire since they won’t know what to do with themselves. I remember a presentation by former US Senator Dave Durenburger where he commented that it took a couple of years to get used to not being a US Senator.
Oops
Where there’s smoke, there’s a file…
MIchele Bachmann scoop
I spoke to Marcus Bachmann today….I swear on my mother I did.
I told him I was Mitt Romney calling to lend support on Michele’s impending ethics probe.
Marcus said…
1. this is the way the “left” operates…they are targeting her because she is so powerful
2. He does not want Michele to run in 2014
3. She hasn’t decided on whether to run again in 2014..but will make a decision in the next two weeks.
This is a major scoop and again I really did speak with Marcus today