News · Press Release

The Chickens Have Come to Roost: Staffer Scott Taylor Initially Failed to Fire Indicted

Creekmore Peabody Indicted on Two Counts of Election Fraud in Ongoing Petition-Gate Case

Last year, then-Congressman Scott Taylor, promised to hold staffers involved in the planning and execution of a scheme to submit forged petition signatures accountable.

“You have my word that if anyone in my campaign did anything that was wrong, that was illegal, that was inappropriate or something like that, I would fire them in a second,” Taylor said in a Facebook Live broadcast to his supporters on Aug. 6.

Taylor said he would not spare even his “closest advisers, who I wouldn’t want to fire, but I would.”

The only problem? Taylor appears to have slow-walked the firing of Lauren Creekmore Peabody, who was indicted on two felony counts Monday.

Taylor, who still refuses to take responsibility for the actions that took place in his Congressional office and by his campaign staff, was initially called out at the end of August for not firing Creekmore Peabody and again in mid-October for paying legal fees and staffers involved in the scandal.

Creekmore Peabody was still a paid staffer weeks before Election Day.

Which begs the question, given the seriousness of the accusations leveled against the Creekmore Peabody at the time, why’d it take so long to boot her from the staff?

“Staffers involved in the planning and execution of this nefarious scheme remained employed by the campaign despite promises from Scott Taylor that he would purge his campaign of anyone who was involved in any illegal or inappropriate activity,” said DCCC Spokesperson Christine Bennett. “With this week’s indictment news, folks are again wondering why Taylor took so long to keep his promises and hold his staff accountable.”

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