Daniel Halper
The Weekly Standard
4/10/2013
Mother Jones, the liberal magazine that somehow obtained audio of a private Mitch McConnell campaign meeting, now wonders whether the top Republican in the Senate is breaking the law. The direct accusation is that Senate staffers did work to help McConnell’s reelection, which if done on official time, could be a violation of the law.
“Did Mitch McConnell Use Senate Employees for Oppo Research on Ashley Judd?,” a headline on the magazine’s website reads.
The story begins:
A secret recording of Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and aides discussing in February how they might attack actor/activist Ashley Judd, then a potential 2014 challenger to McConnell, attracted widespread attention after Mother Jones published it Tuesday morning. Much of the news coverage focused on the McConnell team’s comments about Judd’s religious views and her mental-health history. But the tape might raise ethics questions for McConnell and his staff.
Senate ethics rules prohibit Senate employees from participating in political activities while on government time. But the tape indicates that several of McConnell’s legislative aides, whose salaries are paid by the taxpayer, were involved with producing the oppo research on Judd that was discussed at the February 2 meeting.
The key quotation from the “secret tape” is an unnamed campaign official saying this, according to Mother Jones‘s transcription…
The article continues, with audio, at The Weekly Standard.
Related: LIARS! Mother Jones Edited McConnell Transcript To Make It Seem Campaign Research Done on Govt. Time
HYPOCRISY: Mother Jones Writer Behind McConnell Bugging Railed Against Bush Wiretapping
Update: David Corn and Mother Jones find themselves with another audio scoop
Byron York: ‘Media Bias’ Keeping Reporters From Covering McConnell Bugging Story
Update 2: Clarice Feldman says David Corn is a partisan hypocrite. From 2007: David Corn: Dramatic Testimony: Did the White House Break the Law?
At Instapundit: JAMES TARANTO: Slinging Mud at Ashley Judd: A leftist magazine exposes a Hollywood actress as troubled and strange.
…Judd isn’t just eccentric, according to Corn, but has a history of mental illness, including suicidal ideation while in the sixth grade and a 42-day hospitalization for clinical depression as an adult.
But the Corn exposé is bizarre in its own way. For one thing, it doesn’t actually reveal anything new about Judd. While the facts Corn presents about her may come as news to a low-information entertainment consumer such as this columnist, they were already on the record. The quotes above come from a public speech, and the information about her medical history is from a memoir she published in 2011…
Update 3: David Corn On Progress Kentucky Allegations: ‘Can’t Say Much Now’
Mother Jones’ David Corn said Thursday that he has no comment on the report that two members of the group Progress Kentucky were behind the recordings of the secret meeting involving Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and campaign aides.
“I don’t comment on confidential sources,” Corn told TPM in an email. “Can’t say much now.”…
The Vast Left-Wing Conspiracy: From Zero to Smearing Mitch McConnell In 60 Seconds a “must read” at t Riehl World View
…Within a span of six hours, Democrat-aligned PPP releases a Kentucky Senate Poll: McConnell remains extremely unpopular, Democrat-aligned Majority PAC released a micro-site attacking GOP Senate Leader McConnell and ABC bites: Democrats Call Mitch McConnell ‘Washington’s Top Roadblock’. Meanwhile, Mother Jones posted a story featuring what appears to be illegally obtained audio … by whomever recorded it. There may be more to report on that front going forward.
Then, within hours of the Mother Jones story going public, DSCC Executive Director Guy Cecil was tweeting about what are now known to be false allegations based upon an inaccurate transcript: “How many McConnell Senate staffers participated in gathering opposition research on Democrats? Was this part of their day-to-work?”…
CAJ note: David Corn’s trifecta: Valerie Plame, Mitt Romney, Mitch McConnell
