No It Wasn’t Me, And Frankly, the Idea Is Insulting
Just so that is out of the way. For those who find themselves coming to this blog recently due to the MNGOP Chairman’s race and my involvement in it, I don’t think there is any blogger, Republican, or conservative who dispises the Star tribune’s news coverage more than me. If you doubt that, go read through my archives or work on KvM. I despise them as an institution of news.
BUT!
Just because something appears in the Strib does not mean that the information that spurred the story are at face value, false. Just because things show up at inopportune times, is not an excuse to ignore the facts of the case at hand.
AND!
I did not leak the memo to the Strib, so the calls going around saying it was me, are flat out false, a lie, and shameful behavior of Republicans.
I did have the memo. Some unknown source sent it to me a while ago, and urged me to look into it. I knew how terribly bad this would be for the party as a whole, and tried to get ahold of the memo’s author. When i couldn’t, I went through a few back channels to see if the memo was legit. I was told it was, but the issues inside were dealt with properly. (the May email memo referred to in the story)
So for all of you out there who think I want to destroy the party I have a question for you, “Why didn’t I just post the memo, and unleash the bombshell for myself, to get the traffic and attention some of you seem to think I crave?”
Answer: Because I knew this was bad bad stuff that would damage far more people than just Carey. The Executive Committee would also have been dragged into this, as would the party as a whole. I do not want to destroy the party, I want it to be better.
Some unknown person sent the memo to me, and I alerted the people I thought could deal with it, delicately, as it was a scandalous issue. I did not, nor would I want to hand ammo over to the Strib.
And, as for the content of the memo and story, I had nothing to do with the memo’s generation. And in fact, the original author still stands by what he wrote. These things did happen, and proof of that can be how Carey said that the issues have been dealt with properly and that he asked for an audit from the Executive Committee. (What were the results of that audit? Will they be presented on Saturday to the Central Committee?) Carey is not disputing the finacial related issues, hence, we’d have to be fools to buy that this is just a manufactured Strib attack. There is at the least, a grain of truth to them.
In my eyes, someone who was treasurer of the MNGOP for 8 years should know how to avoid these issues even being a possibility. Remember that Carey was the MNGOP’s Treasurer before he was Chair. He should have known better, if you ask my humble opinion. These practices should never have happened in the Republican party, under any leader, let alone someone who had 8 years of experience handling the party’s finances.
Plus!
What should provide enough evidence that I wasn’t the Strib’s source was that the immigration/bribe stuff was new to me. I had never heard of that, and neither had anyone else who had mentioned their own knowledge of the financial memo to me the last week or two.
So, maybe the same person who sent me the financial memo also sent it to the Strib. I think the best way to find out for sure is to ask the Strib and the reporters involved if I was the source. I can tell you again that I wasn’t, but I will also ask for a response from them, so the nasty phone calls going out telling Delegates it was me with Repya’s blessing will hopefully stop and the MNGOP leadership election can get back on the road to the issues.
It is really sad to know that there are Republicans calling around to Delegates telling them that I was the source, er leaker to the Strib when they haven’t even tried to confirm their suspicions. They want me to be the leaker because then that discredits the story they think. It is sad to know that my fellow Republicans are trying to destroy my reputation again, just to protect the power they hold.
This is supposed to be a party of the activists. We are supposed to be the party of honesty and accountability. We are supposed to be the ethical party who is not power hungry, but stands for the little guy.
Well, here we have shocking news that we have lapses in those standards, and what do the people surrounding Carey, the guy responsible for seeing that the MNGOP run a tight ship, do? Attack anyone who disagrees that Ron Carey is not the perfect Chair, and lash out with false attacks and attempt to shift blame to innocent parties.
Well, after all the stories that have come to light over the last months, by many many Republicans other than just me, and even unknown sources, we need to seriously question whether or not Ron Carey’s 2 years as Party Chair have or have not helped Republicans in this state. Because his supporters would have you believe everything is better than ever in the MNGOP.
MN House? Worse than before Carey
MN Senate? Worse than before Carey
Constitutional Offices? Worse than before Carey
Lost both a US Senate race and GOP held US House Seat under his watch
Seen evidence of mismanagement at Party HQ
And seen what seems to me to be even more discontent amongst the Party base and activists than when he first took over as Chair in 2005.
How can anyone possibly say that Carey’s reign as Chair has been a success?
So, in the end, No I was not the source from the Strib, and I wish they hadn’t have gotten that memo. I wish we didn’t have to worry about who knew what dirty secrets we had. We shouldn’t have to, we’re the Republicans, not the Democrats. We shouldn’t have dirty secrets and internal smear campaigns.
Democrats attack their own, and engage in the politics of personal destruction.
There’s been a lot of talk about Reagan the last week, and his 11th commandment. He must be spinning in his grave watching what the Minnesota Republican Party leadership is doing this week to their own activists, just to save their own hides.
I don’t want this party destroyed. I want it better.
Sphere: Related Content
FOUL!…
I find it curious that the same people behind the attack letter on Joe Repya, the same people behind calls pushing delegates to vote for Col. Repya for Vice Chair (and not the seat he is running for) are crying FOUL over a leak of internal emails to……
No worries on the audit, Andy. An employee benefit plan audit, for a new client of this size, should take no longer than a month to plan, do field work, and report, even if issues are found. Thus, I’m sure that Carey was proactive on obtaining audit services back when he received the memo and the results will be available.
Andy: Who is lying?
“and the lies and or spin revolving around it…â€
I know that National Committeeman Brian Sullivan and National Committeewoman Evie Axdahl sent out an email about the Star Tribune’s story. I hope you are not suggestion their email contained lies.
There is a huge difference between letter and calls inside the party and sending information to both an outsider and an enemy.
The calls internally can be weighed by delegates and others who know campaigns for what they are and the only one possible hurt are internal candidates.
The information leaked to the press hurts not just candidates but also the entire party and our officials. That is a much bigger deal.
And I agree with Michael – Andy who are you accusing of lying – Brian and Evie?
The first leaks (autism center) came from Repya’s BPOU, is these are also from that source that would be a big deal – so I am curious who Andy is accusing of lying.
Before I answer that, I demand to know if they were referring to me in their email. They obviously had someone in mind when they signed their names to that. People are deducing it was me, if that was their intent, well… We need to know who the Carey campaign is officially blaming for this with their official emails.
their silence is speaking volumes, as are their surrogates.
No, I didn’t leak the memo.
I never have denied having the memo. But I flat out deny the allegation that I leaked it to the Strib. And the fact that it seems someone told Sullivan and Axdahl that I had it, and that ended up being blasted around to Delegates, and is being used to smear me with phone calls to Delegates, is a complete breech of trust.
You need to wake up to the fact that a lot of people had this memo. I was not the only one. Someone sent it to me. Got that? Someone else had it first, and shopped it to me to expose the scandals at HQ. I didn’t do it, and reached out to a few people I could trust to see if it was true. Turns out it was, but I still didn’t post it (or leak it to the Strib) because I knew it would expose major weaknesses for the party.
As for the people making the phone calls saying it was me, yes, those people and the people who ordered them to make those calls are lying, or spreading a lie. I see little difference, but I suppose some people sleep well at night knowing they didn’t originate the lie.
So, the callers are for sure liars or part of a lie. As for this email from the Committeeman and woman, we need to know who they are accusing of the leak. They opened the door to a serious charge here. Who are they blaming?
Andy:
I’ll ask again:
“and the lies and or spin revolving around it…â€
Who is lying? Also, does your name appear in the email? Because I’ve read it ten-times and I can’t find your name.
I’m looking for a source for this statement:
“And the fact that it seems someone told Sullivan and Axdahl that I had it, and that ended up being blasted around to Delegates, and is being used to smear me with phone calls to Delegates…”
Notice you used the word “fact”.
As an alternate delegate, I have some questions that I would like answered.
Why are others defending Mr. Carey, and he is not?
Was the theft of the documents referenced to in the campaign chairs letter; been reported to the Police? What was the outcome of the investigation?
If this was taken care of internally as the campaign chairs stated, why the fuss?
Mr. Carey gave a response to the press about this issue in the article.
I don’t think anyone is saying the documents were stolen and this type of leaking is usually not criminal.
Others are speaking privately to the delegates and alternates about the underlying concern.
That someone is willing to do anything to hurt Carey regardless of if it hurts the party.
If someone had sent this info to delegates as a concern, it would not be as big an issue.
What is of concern is that someone within the party sent to the Strib documents which are damaging to the Party..
The stribe doesn’t care about the facts and most people reading the paper will only see Republicans and financial problems and never look and see what the real resolution was.
So yes as with the Autism Center, the issue reported by the Strib is resolved, but what is not resolved is that someone is so consumed with damaging the current Chair that they do not mind damaging the party, its members and its candidates.
And the question is, was the source for this info the same folks from Repya’s BPOU that shopped the Autism story to the strib or is this another group.
As Brian stated in his letter, someone inside the party is working with the Stribe to hurt the party and that should concern a lot of people.
The word “stolen” is used in the email.
Why don’t you keep this story alive until the CC meeting and see how well it works out Mr. Carey.
“There is a huge difference between letter and calls inside the party and sending information to both an outsider and an enemy.
The calls internally can be weighed by delegates and others who know campaigns for what they are and the only one possible hurt are internal candidates.”
Either action is slimy Sam. This is no way to run a campaign.
LL
Matt – I’ll try to answer based on nothing more than a common sense.
“Why are others defending Mr. Carey, and he is not?”
The allegations made are criminal in nature. IF there is any investigation, the Chairman would be wise to keep his mouth shut as anything he says can and will be used against him.
“Was the theft of the documents referenced to in the campaign chairs letter; been reported to the Police? What was the outcome of the investigation?”
As I understand it, this was not a “theft” issue – it was a leak. There is a difference.
“If this was taken care of internally as the campaign chairs stated, why the fuss?”
Anything to make the Republicans look bad is the Star Tribune’s motto!
Just my 2 cents!
LL
“And the question is, was the source for this info the same folks from Repya’s BPOU that shopped the Autism story to the strib or is this another group.”
Sam – while I am not at liberty to name names, I can positively assure you that the Autism story did not generate from Repya’s BPOU. One of the officials who brought their concerns forward was from inside the 494/694 loop.
LL
Michael, perhaps you (or somebody else) could help clarify a few points:
1) From the article: ‘”We’ve looked at all the issues that he raised, and where there was corrective action required, we took corrective action,” Carey said.’ Is this an accurate quote? If so, what action was taken, in regards to which issues? When was action taken?
2) From the article: “Carey said Friday that he has asked the committee for permission to commission an external audit.” When did Carey pose this request to the committee? Was it before or after the 15 Feb. memo? Before or after the 16 Jan. e-mail? Before or after it was known the reporters had knowledge of this ’story’?
3) Has the audit been approved? Conducted? What were the findings in relation to the allegations in the memo?
4) From the article: “Carey, who’s running for reelection this week as party chairman, blamed the leak of Tostenson’s memo on political enemies within the Republican Party who are out to get him on the eve of the Republican state central committee meeting.” Which political enemies are being pointed at here? Is there a fact and source available for this comment?
5) From the Sullivan/Axdahl letter: “In the meantime, we wanted to express our disgust with the Star Tribune for spreading such baseless allegations.” and “As with any Star Tribune story about conservative Republicans, the story is short on facts and the truth is missing in action.” The article states: “Party records show that money was withheld for employee retirement plans from September 2005 through May 2006, but Federal Election Commission (FEC) records reflect no deposits into the accounts during that period. In June 2006, the party made two makeup payments totaling $12,243 into the accounts.” I looked at http://www.fec.gov and the statement from the article appears to be correct. Why is this referred to as a baseless allegation, then?
6) From the article: ‘”There seemed to be some gray areas as to what was the requirement,” Carey said.’ What are the gray areas being referenced? A more detailed explanation would put this to rest.
7) From the article: ‘”We investigated what the requirements were and made sure we were immediately in full compliance with that,” he said.’ What are the requirements the GOP is required to follow?
9) From the article: ‘Carey said “We feel like we’re compliant with FEC regulations.” The FEC, he said, has “… brought nothing to our attention that we are out of compliance in this area.”‘ Would the FEC know if they were not in compliance regarding unreported overdue bills?
10) From the Sullivan/Axdahl letter: “We are certain Ron and the Party will provide a point by point response to these baseless charges in the near future.” When will such a response be released? Will people outside the Party hierarchy be told as well?
11) From the Sullivan/Axdahl letter: “The reality that the Star Tribune failed to report is that Ron quickly and effectively dealt with each legitimate issue brought to his attention, even though most of the alleged issues predated his becoming chairman or simply had no merit once investigated.” Which issues were dealt with and which had no merit? How were the issues dealt with? When were the issues dealt with?
12) From the Sullivan/Axdahl memo: “We cannot let the most liberal newspaper in America determine who our state Party chairman is.” I just wanted to say that I agree with this statement.
ll – You are wrong
There are multiple media sources who are not afraid to name names and put the source of someone shopping the Autism story to Tim Wilkins who is a friend of Repya and a member of the his BPOU.
Hey Sam, do you know who was Chair of that BPOU up until March this year?
Yep, Michael Brodkorb.
I doubt he cares to see his BPOU dragged into this.
As for naming Mr. Wilkins, you might want to be careful. I hear he works for some one pretty darn important in the state, and teh Republican party.
Once again, Carey’s defenders are trying to defend him by smearing Republicans. They aren’t really defending Carey at all. Nope, tear the others down to make their guy look better. Yep, they borrowed a play book. The DFL’s. That is what they do.
Oh and Sam, I thought Carey said it was the Strib and Hatch that ran that story as an attack? Now you are blaming a well respected Republican.
Willing to do or say anything to win?
(no need to answer, it is clear as day.)
Speaking of Brodkord you still haven’t answered either of his questions?
And it’s not my story, it is reported in dozen of places.
And you are correct, it does appear that some are willing to do anything to win.
Including tearing down the party in the press.
And Joe’s latest press release continue the harm.
I have spoken and traded emails with a couple of people who have read these comments. They confirmed to me that there are supporters of Chairman Carey who have come out and said that they were told that AAA leaked the story to the Trib that he “cerrtainly played a role” in the Star Tribune story and that AAA had shopped the story around.
And no Michael, the people that I spoke to do not want to speak to anyone connected with the Carey campaign on this. Part of the reason that they came to me was because they knew that I had the integrity to not name names per their request.
As I said last night and again this morning, the actions of Chairman Carey’s supporters in the last 36 hours are indeed shameful. It also reflects QUITE POORLY on your candidate.
I think that is something that both sides need to be mindful of. Your actions reflect on your candidate. Will they reflect good or will they reflect ill? It’s YOUR CHOICE!
LL
“There are multiple media sources who are not afraid to name names and put the source of someone shopping the Autism story to Tim Wilkins who is a friend of Repya and a member of the his BPOU.”
Your sources can make baseless accusations all they want, but Mr. Wilkens was, as were all parties involved in the lawsuit bound by the mediated settlement that precluded comment on the story. If Mr. Wilkins were indeed the source he could have found himself a guest in one of the nations finest penal institutions.
Anyone shopping the story to Mr. Wilkins would have gotten an “I can’t talk about it” in response as the parties that I spoke to did when they were asked about the story.
LL
Sam/Michael…some quotes from the Sullivan/Axdahl letter…..
“In a desperate last minute attempt to the alter the race for state Party chairman, the ultra-liberal Star Tribune has launched yet another baseless, politically motivated attack on Republican Party of Minnesota Chairman Ron Carey. Working hand in hand with Ron’s Republican political opponents, the Star Tribune has thrown a Hail Mary pass to try and smear our chairman once again.”
Gee – I wonder who those opponents are…..
“Just days before these confidential, internal party documents appeared mysteriously under the door of the Star Tribune, a known Republican opponent of Ron’s was boasting that he was in possession of these confidential documents and anxious to get them public. ”
I would say that the intimation was pretty clear – a known Republican operative with ties to the Repya campaign…..
I can certainly see why AAA might think that the letter was referring to him…
LL
[...] as I can tell they don’t name names in the letter Andy Aplikowski just wanted to let you know he is insulted, absolutely insulted that anyone would think after months of railing against the current RPM administration, hitching [...]
Wow. Go out of town for a few days and look at what you miss. I came back to more scandal, yelling and whining, and the most ridiculous campaign letter I’ve ever seen in my mailbox. If you got it, you’ll know what I mean. I guess when the party’s in disarray, what Reagan advised is keep your mouth shut, and bury your head in the sand. Sheesh! That letter was such a stretch, the author MUST have pulled something.