Campaign 2010

Oct 12, 2010

NRCC Admits They Do Not Vet Their Candidates they Choose to Support

At this morning’s National Journal Midterm Cram Session, NRCC Executive Director Guy Harrison admitted that the NRCC does not vet the candidates they choose to support.  Harrison said, “I hate the words national Republican establishment. We’re not the Democrats. We’re not the Democrats. We don’t vet our candidates and pick out our candidates like the Democrats do.” House Republicans have recruited, endorsed and donated hefty sums of money to candidates with disturbing backgrounds, legal problems, and extreme views.

What else don’t Republican Leaders know about their candidates?

A sample of some endorsed candidates that the NRCC did not investigate follows:

TROUBLED REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES

Rich Iott (OH-09)

  • Rich Iott Dressed Up as Nazi War Reenactor. Rich Iott, Republican nominee, Tea Party favorite, and NRCC Contender, for years donned a German Waffen SS uniform and participated in Nazi re-enactments. Iott was involved with a group that calls itself Wiking, whose members are devoted to re-enacting the exploits of an actual Nazi division, the 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking.  [The Atlantic, 10/08/10]

Allen West (FL-22)

  • Allen West Made Anti-Semitic and Homophobic Statements, Encouraged Supporters to Take Up Arms. Allen West has a long record of making anti-Semitic and homophobic statements, frequently uses Nazi and Hitler references in speeches, and even made threats to his opponent and encouraged his supporters to take up arms. [Broward New Times, 5/18/10; YouTube; American Freedom Tour at the Revolution, Fort Lauderdale Florida, 10/21/09; Palm Beach Post, 4/11/10; YouTube; West event at Pompano Civic Association, 9/21/10]

Tom Ganley (OH-13)

  • NRCC Ganley Sued for Attempted Rape and Sexual Assault. Last week we learned that a woman has filed a suit against Ganley for sexual assault and attempted rape. Ganley allegedly met with the woman, who was interested in volunteering for his U.S. Senate campaign and talking about her car payments, when he propositioned and sexually assaulted her in his private office. [Plain Dealer, 9/30/10; WKYC – (NBC) – Cleveland, OH, 10/1/10]

Jeff Perry (MA-10)

  • As a Wareham police sergeant in the early 1990’s, Jeff Perry had a role in two disturbing strip search scandals that involved teenage girls. According to the Boston Globe, “In one case, Perry was the supervisor at the scene when the officer stuck his hand in a 14-year-old girl’s underwear, ostensibly searching for drugs. In the other, Perry accompanied the same officer to the house of a 16-year-old girl to tell her parents that she had voluntarily pulled down her pants to show she did not have any drugs.” [Boston Globe, 5/15/10]

Brad Zaun (IA-03)

  • Zaun Ordered to Stay Away. In 2001, Zaun had to be told by West Des Moines police to stay away from a former girlfriend who had accused him of harassing her. The woman called police to complain that Zaun showed up in the early morning hours and pounded on her windows. “Brad yelled from outside calling her slut and other names,” the police report states. [Des Moines Register, 8/19/10]

David Rivera (FL-25)

  • NRCC Young Gun David Rivera Drove a Truck Off the Road and then Caught Lying About It. In August, CBS4’s investigative team reported on a 2002 incident where Rivera allegedly drove a truck off the road that contained mailers produced by his opponent. Rivera’s version of the story, told to CBS4, did not match up with the incident report or the truck driver’s and printing company’s stories. [CBS4, 8/17/10]

Tom Marino (PA-10)

  • Marino Served as Reference for a Convicted Felon…Tom Marino long held that he had permission from the Department of Justice to serve as a reference for DeNaples’ slot-machine casino application.  Marino’s reference came while the attorney’s office was investigating DeNaples, possibly as part of an investigation into organized crime. [Pocono Record, 10/01/10]
  • Marino Admitted He Never Had Permission. This week Marino admitted that he never had permission to serve as a reference for DeNaples after an FBI source said they had no paperwork to substantiate the allegations. [Scranton Times-Tribune, 9/29/10] 

Jim Renacci (OH-16)

  • Renacci Placed Profits Before Safety. In 2001, a woman died in a nursing home operated by Renacci after another patient with a history of verbal and physical abuse attacked her. The woman died two days later. In a deposition, the nursing home administrator testified that the center did not have sufficient trained staff to control aggressive patients but that Renacci opposed any attempt to remove those patients because it would adversely affect the income of the center. [Stark County Clerk of Courts, 2001CV00598]
  • Renacci Sheltered $14 Million from Taxes. In 2006, Renacci was assessed nearly $1.4 million in unpaid state taxes, interest and fees after trying to shelter some $14 million in income. For years, Renacci fought the assessment after ignoring warnings from the Tax Commissioner of Ohio that it would impose fraud penalties on taxpayers who did not file amended returns and pay the taxes due. Politifact.com found “mostly true” the statements that Renacci “cheated on his income taxes” and was a “deadbeat.” [Associated Press, 4/13/10; Politifact.com, 8/27/10]

Dan Benishek (MI-01)

  • Benishek Underestimated His Income To Lower Child-Support Payments. Court records from Dickinson County show that Benishek underestimated his income by $100,000 during legal arguments over child support with his ex-wife. When Benishek requested lowering his child-support payments by $2,550 per month, he owned four homes and three vehicles and had an estimated income of $250,000 per year. His ex-wife, a registered nurse, was making $23,000 a year.
  • Judge: “Extremely Significant” Discrepancy. In 1995, a circuit court judge determined that Benishek failed to claim $100,000 income from a land management and marketing firm and called the discrepancy “extremely significant.” [Michigan Messenger, 9/27/10]

Scott DesJarlais (TN-04)

  • DesJarlais’ Violent, Threatening Behavior. According to Roll Call, “Susan DesJarlais accused her former husband of “dry firing a gun outside the Plaintiff’s locked bedroom door, admission of suicidal ideation, holding a gun in his mouth for three hours, an incident of physical intimidation at the hospital; and previous threatening behavior ... i.e. shoving, tripping, pushing down, etc.”  [Roll Call, 9/16/10]

Andy Barr (KY-06)

  • Barr Convicted of False ID, Charged with Public Drinking. In 1993, Barr was charged with possession of a fake Mississippi driver’s license. In 1999, he was charged with public drinking in front a liquor store.
  • Barr Lied on State Job Application. Barr declined to explain the circumstances behind these charges and then lied on applications for state jobs, claiming he had never “been convicted of violating any law” other than “minor traffic violations.” [Lexington Herald-Leader, 4/11/10]
  • Documents Mysteriously Disappeared Under Barr. While he was counsel to Fletcher, “critical documents mysteriously disappeared” and he was cited for subverting the state’s open records law. [Roll Call, 7/30/10]

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