• Christine O'Donnell

    Christine O’Donnell: Federal Investigation of Campaign Finances an “Establishment Trick”

    December 29, 2010 /


    Red alert for the former Delaware GOP U.S. Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell.

    Defeated Tea Party candidate Christine O’Donnell, who ran for vice president Joe Biden’s former Senate seat, is reportedly under federal investigation for using campaign funds for personal expenses, the Associated Press reports.

    The criminal probe is being conducted by two federal prosecutors and two FBI agents, an anonymous source told the AP. The matter has not yet been referred to a grand jury.

    Spokespersons with the FBI in Washington and the Delaware Attorney General’s office declined to comment.

    But O’Donnell campaign spokesman Matt Moran told ABC News the wire report was the first he had heard of an alleged investigation.

    “The anonymous source seems politically-motivated and may well be tied to the ultra-liberal, George Soros-financed, former Sen. Biden staffer-run CREW [Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington] complaint,” Moran said.

    The left-leaning watchdog group filed complaints with the Delaware U.S. Attorney’s office and Federal Election Commission in September alleging the Republican candidate misused campaign funds.

    “These charges are already being addressed with the FEC,” he said. “We are confident that they will be resolved in the New Year, and put an end to the frivolous sensationalism regarding this matter.”

    Moran called the allegations surrounding O’Donnell’s campaign finances unsubstantiated and “old news,” dating primarily to her 2008 campaign for then-Sen. Joe Biden’s seat. The issue first surfaced during O’Donnell’s repeat bid for the Senate earlier this year.

    Christine O’Donnell has responded to the FLAP.

    Christine O’Donnell on Wednesday night responded to reports her campaign is being investigated, saying the issue is being drummed up by liberals in an “establishment trick” to discredit the tea party movement.

    The losing Republican Senate candidate issued a statement saying that Democrats had warned her about “phony” investigations.

    O’Donnell’s campaign manager, Matt Moran, who will have a role in O’Donnell’s new political action committee, called the Associated Press report part of “the same unsubstantiated allegations and rumors that have been circulating in the press for months.” Moran said the campaign will cooperate with any investigation if one should materialize.

    Moran also noted that Melanie Sloan of the ethics group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which first raised questions about the campaign’s spending, was once a staffer for then-Sen. Joseph Biden. O’Donnell ran against Biden in 2008, and the Senate race in 2010 was for his former seat.

    “There was no impermissible use of campaign funds. Period,” Moran said.

    The O’Donnell statement:

    “Since anonymous sources are being taken seriously, please allow me to share some tips I’ve received and keep the tipsters’ identities anonymous. We’ve been warned by multiple high-ranking Democrat insiders that the Delaware Democrat and Republican political establishment is jointly planning to pull out all the stops to ensure I would never again upset the apple cart.

    “Specifically they told me the plan was to crush me with investigations, lawsuits and false accusations so that my political reputation would become so toxic no one would ever get behind me. I was warned by numerous sources that the DE political establishment is going to use every resource available to them.

    “So given that the King of the Delaware Political Establishment just so happens to be the Vice President of the most liberal Presidential administration in U.S. history, it is no surprise that misuse and abuse of the FBI would not be off the table.  And further connecting the dots, do you think it is just a coincidence that Melanie Sloan was a senior Biden staffer just before she joined CREW and filed her complaint against me?!

    “I have faith that our supporters and the general public will see right through these thug tactics. This is simply an Establishment trick to stop the anti-establishment Tea Party movement in its tracks.

    “Heck, the Presidency is at stake in 2012.”

    It might be too early, but this FLAP smells like a dirty trick.

    Why release or “leak” that there is an investigation, rather than wait for an actual Grand Jury inquiry or that O’Donnell was called to testify before the Grand Jury.

    Slow news cycle and somebody has an axe to grind = Moonbat LEFT

  • Chris Coons,  Christine O'Donnell

    Christine O’Donnell Video: Chris Coons Has Made Some Very Anti-American Statements

    September 22, 2010 /

    Delaware GOP U.S. Senate nominee Christine O’Donnell appears on Hannity

    Yes, Democrat Chris Coons did.

    Tea Party-backed Christine O’Donnell (R) took aim at New Castle County Executive Chris Coons (D) Tuesday night during an appearance on Fox News.

    O’Donnell referenced an article Coons wrote in college in which he referred to himself as “a bearded Marxist.”

    Prompted by host Sean Hannity about Coons’ years-old comment from Coons, she said, “if the media is going to attack me for statements I made in my 20s, that’s fair game. He made some very anti-American statements, apologizing for America and calling himself a bearded Marxist.”

    Coons said earlier Tuesday on CNN that the reference was made in jest, calling it “a tongue-in-cheek reference to how Republicans on campus” viewed his transformation from a Young Republican to a Democrat.

    Right, Chris.

    Christine O’Donnell has a long way to go in this race. Can she overcome her youthful indiscretions/nuttiness with Bill Mahr?

    The voters of Delaware will decide and Democrat Chris Coons is certainly not a compelling candidate. So, she has a shot.

  • Christine O'Donnell,  Day By Day,  Karl Rove

    Day By Day September 21, 2010 – Civil

    September 21, 2010 /

    Day By Day by Chris Muir

    American voters, whether they be in Delaware  or in other states, do not like national political pundits telling them what to do. Suffice to say the verdict on Christine O’Donnell will be decided at the polls in November.

    Karl Rove has had his say and O’Donnell promptly raised over $2 Million.

    Now, talk about coordination of message.

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    The Day By Day Archive

  • Christine O'Donnell,  Mike Castle

    DE-Sen: Why Mike Castle Lost to Christine O’Donnell

    September 15, 2010 /

    Delaware’s Mike Castle

    Fred Barnes has it ONLY partly right.

    But the real reason (despite Christine O’Donnell’s obvious flaws) is that Mike Caste runs as a Republican and votes like a Democrat. He was too damn LEFT for Delaware Republicans who are tired of the BS spin and want their POLS to vote as they warrant – not as they promise with Washington based campaigns run by Karl Rove, et. al..

  • Chris Coons,  Christine O'Donnell

    DE-Sen Poll Watch: Chris Coons 50% Vs. Christine O’Donnell 34%

    September 15, 2010 /
    The Republican nominee for the Delaware Senate seat fired back at Karl Rove today for what she called “un-factual” accusations about her record.

    Newly nominated Delaware Republican Christine O’Donnell has her work cut out for herself.

    Republicans more than likely cost themselves a Senate seat last night. Chris Coons begins the general election in Delaware with a 50-34 lead over Christine O’Donnell. Mike Castle would have led Coons by a 45-35 margin.

    While O’Donnell may have ingratiated herself to Delaware’s small group of registered Republicans over the last month she’s turned off everyone else. An August Daily Kos/PPP poll in Delaware found her favorability rating at 23/33. It’s now 29/50.

    If Castle had won he would have received more Democratic support than any other Republican Senate candidate in the country. Now our polling suggests with O’Donnell’s victory that Coons will win more Republicans than any other Democratic Senate candidate in the country. That’s because of a general unwillingness to support O’Donnell from Castle’s moderate base- folks from the centrist wing of the GOP are planning to support Coons 54-31. Overall he takes a full 25% of the GOP vote while also largely consolidating the Democratic base for a 72-13 lead on that front. He also has a narrow 42-36 advantage with independents, a group Democrats are losing with most everywhere else.

    Only 31% of voters in the state think O’Donnell’s fit to hold public office while 49% think that she is not. Even with Republicans in the state less than half at 48% believe that she is. That may seem inconsistent with her victory last night but keep in mind that our general election poll includes GOP voters who were not planning to vote in yesterday’s primary. Only 33% of independents and 16% of Democrats believe O’Donnell’s fit.

    Granted this is from a Democratic pollster and it may be an early outlier. But, you can understand why the NRSC will NOT throw any money into this race – at least initially.

    Defeating Harry Reid and Barbara Boxer are REALLY more important anyway. And, the races there are much closer – both within the margin of error.

    Update:

    Guess the NRSC is already making nice with the O’Donnell Campaign.

    Seeking to avoid further internal strife, top Senate Republicans on Wednesday offered an olive branch to tea-party favorite Christine O’Donnell in Delaware’s Senate race, promising her financial support if she can prove she’s a viable candidate.

    A day after seeing Republican Rep. Mike Castle stunned by O’Donnell in the Delaware Senate primary, Republicans in Washington wanted to make clear they weren’t planning on completely abandoning her unlikely candidacy.