Author Topic: McDaniel camp knew about Cochran break-in before it was public  (Read 682 times)

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Offline Formerly Once-Ler

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http://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/politics/2014/05/17/melanie-sojourner-thad-cochran-wife-break-in/9215899/

U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran's campaign is questioning how Chris McDaniel's campaign manager, state Sen. Melanie Sojourner, apparently knew about Clayton Kelly's arrest before news of him allegedly sneaking into Rose Cochran's nursing home room and taking photos broke.

RELATED: Man arrested for sneaking into Thad Cochran's wife's nursing home http://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2014/05/17/cochran-wife-nursing-home-arrest/9211639/

Cochran campaign spokesman Jordan Russell said Sojourner left a voice mail message for Cochran campaign manager Kirk Sims at about 7:45 a.m. on Saturday, offering condolences over Kelly's alleged actions and assurance McDaniel's campaign doesn't condone it. Russell said Sojourner indicated she had been concerned over the incident since Friday night.

Kelly was arrested Friday night. Police issued a press release about Kelly's arrest late Friday night, but it and early news reports did not mention Rose Cochran, only a brief statement about his charge of exploitation of a vulnerable adult.

A Clarion-Ledger article posted online at 9:24 a.m. broke the news about a connection between the arrest and the Cochrans.

McDaniel campaign spokesman Noel Fritsch, contacted at 9:47 a.m., said he knew nothing about the arrest or news. Sen. McDaniel, interviewed for an article by the Capitol Hill publication The Hill less than an hour after the Clarion-Ledger story broke, said he knew nothing about it and "I don't guess I've been up long enough to see what's happened."

Russell said "this appears to be an inconsistent story," from McDaniel and his campaign.

"I think it would be interesting to know how she would hear about it before 7:45 a.m.," Russell said.

Sojourner could not be reached for comment.

Fritsch, contacted by telephone after the Cochran campaign raised the questions, had no immediate response, and requested any such questions be emailed in writing, which they were. There was no immediate response.

Offline Formerly Once-Ler

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Re: McDaniel camp knew about Cochran break-in before it was public
« Reply #1 on: May 17, 2014, 11:32:58 pm »
http://www.breitbart.com/InstaBlog/2014/05/17/McDaniel-Supporter-Arrested-for-Sneaking-into-MS-Senator-Thad-Cochran-s-Wife-s-Nursing-Home

McDaniel Supporter Arrested for Sneaking into MS Senator Thad Cochran's Wife's Nursing Home Room
by Debra Heine 17 May 2014, 10:40 AM PDT
 
What has been described as an "ugly" primary campaign between the tea-party backed state Senator Chris McDaniel and longtime incumbent Senator Thad Cochran,  got a lot uglier yesterday when a McDaniel supporter was arrested for sneaking into Cochran's wife's nursing home room. 

The supporter, Clayton Thomas Kelly, 28, of Pearl MS, allegedly photographed Rose Cochran, who is incapacitated with progressive dementia, and bedridden. He later posted the image in a pro-Chris McDaniel video "hit piece"  on his conservative blog, taking it down after only a couple of hours.

As far as political dirty tricks go - it doesn't get much dirtier than this, via the Clarion Ledger:

    Madison Police arrested Clayton Thomas Kelly, 28, of Pearl on Friday night on a charge of exploitation of a vulnerable adult. He's being held on a $100,000 bond.

    Kelly is accused of sneaking into St. Catherine's Village in Madison, where Rose Cochran has resided since 2000, suffering from progressive dementia and now bedridden.

Cochran issued a statement, Saturday: "I have been fortunate to have a wonderful family, and like so many families, we are deeply affected by my wife's serious, long-term illness, that we consider to be a very private family matter. We will continue doing everything we can to protect my wife's safety and security."

Donald Clark, attorney for Sen. and Rose Cochran, said "we became aware of an unauthorized picture, posted on the internet, of Mrs. Cochran, taken literally in her room by her bedside at St. Catherine's," Clark said.

 "Sen. Cochran retained my law firm on this matter, and we looked at various legal options. We notified the proper authorities, which in this case is the city of Madison Police Department."

Kelly has posted numerous pieces in support of McDaniel on his blog, "Constitutional Clayton" which has only been in operation since February 16. He also operates a Youtube channel and Facebook page. His Youtube page include videos featuring  Alex Jones of Info-Wars.

Kelly met McDaniel at a meet and greet at a BBQ place near his home and posted a picture of himself with the state Senator on his blog. He appears to have also interviewed McDaniel on video.

Image

Noel Fritsch, communications director for McDaniel, told the Clarion-Ledger that "the campaign was not involved in the video Kelly did, and Kelly doesn't work for the campaign."

"Absolutely -- I've never even heard his name," Fritsch insisted.

Scott Brewster, coalition director for McDaniel's campaign, gave the Clarion Ledger a rather confused answer when asked if he was aware of the video.

"I do remember when it came out," Brewster said. "I think people made some phone calls (to have it removed). I didn't personally -- nobody personally talked to (Kelly). I don't know if anybody made phone calls about it. I'm not sure. Just, I remember all of a sudden it was gone."

As it stands, there is no reason to believe there was any coordination between McDaniel's campaign, and Clayton Kelly. His computer has been confiscated as part of it's ongoing investigation.



Offline Formerly Once-Ler

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Re: McDaniel camp knew about Cochran break-in before it was public
« Reply #2 on: May 17, 2014, 11:35:14 pm »
 Chris McDaniel Campaign (@CMforUSSenate) makes 2nd statement on arrest - now blaming ‘liberal media’
http://yallpolitics.com/index.php/yp/post/37884/

McDaniel Campaign Issues Statement on Outrageous Accusations

Noel Fritch, spokesman for the Chris McDaniel campaign, issued the following statement:

"The McDaniel campaign found out about the break in when a local political blog posted about it at 11:40 p.m. last night. Senator McDaniel has denounced the break-in and called Senator Cochran to extend his condolences. It is unconscionable for the Cochran campaign and the liberal media to use the act of a sick individual to lob despicable accusations.”


Chris McDaniel Campaign Release
5/17/14

Offline alicewonders

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Re: McDaniel camp knew about Cochran break-in before it was public
« Reply #3 on: May 17, 2014, 11:37:59 pm »
I don't understand the political motivation for taking a picture of a disabled woman in a nursing home.  What was this supposed to accomplish? 

 
Don't tread on me.   8888madkitty

We told you Trump would win - bigly!

Offline Formerly Once-Ler

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Re: McDaniel camp knew about Cochran break-in before it was public
« Reply #4 on: May 17, 2014, 11:56:20 pm »
I don't understand the political motivation for taking a picture of a disabled woman in a nursing home.  What was this supposed to accomplish? 

From http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/thad-cochrun-wife-blogger-break-in
Quote

A Mississippi political blogger has been arrested for allegedly sneaking into the nursing home where Sen. Thad Cochran's wife resides and taking her picture for an online video, the Clarion-Ledger reported Saturday.

The blogger, Clayton Thomas Kelly, 28, was charged with exploitation of a vulnerable adult. The video, described as a "hit piece" to the newspaper by its sources, was allegedly critical of Cochran (R-MS) and supportive of his GOP primary challenger, State Sen. Chris McDaniel.

It was posted on April 26 and included a picture of Rose Cochran, who suffers from dementia and moved into the nursing home in 2000. It has since been taken down, according to the Clarion-Ledger.

It looks to me like Kelly was trying to show Cochran wasn't taking care of his own wife and therefore can't take care of MS.  But since the blogpost was taken down I can only go on the description "hit piece."

Offline alicewonders

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Re: McDaniel camp knew about Cochran break-in before it was public
« Reply #5 on: May 18, 2014, 12:16:56 am »
From http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/thad-cochrun-wife-blogger-break-in
It looks to me like Kelly was trying to show Cochran wasn't taking care of his own wife and therefore can't take care of MS.  But since the blogpost was taken down I can only go on the description "hit piece."

What a horrible thing to do!  This Kelly guy sounds like a complete and absolute nut.  As the daughter of a woman living in a nursing home suffering from late stage dementia - this is abhorrent to me!  There is no way anyone can take care of a person in this condition who needs 24/7 care and is unable to do anything for herself.  I can't imagine someone exploiting my mother in such a way.  I hope they throw the book at this guy - and I think he needs to undergo a psychiatric evaluation himself. 

Don't tread on me.   8888madkitty

We told you Trump would win - bigly!

Offline Formerly Once-Ler

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Re: McDaniel camp knew about Cochran break-in before it was public
« Reply #6 on: May 18, 2014, 04:35:21 am »
http://practicalpoliticking.com/2014/05/17/chris-mcdaniel-and-clayton-kelly-coincidence-or-collusion/

Chris McDaniel and Clayton Kelly: Coincidence or Collusion?
Tom Dougherty / 54 mins ago

Glaring evidence of the increasing hostility in the Mississippi GOP primary, between Sen. Thad Cochran and his challenger, state Sen. Chris McDaniel, came to light Saturday on the heels of the arrest of Clayton Kelly, a blogger and McDaniel supporter.

Kelly was arrested on Friday night at 7:59PM CST according to Major Robert Sanders, spokesman for the Madison Police Department; he was charged with the exploitation of a vulnerable adult, a felony charge that carries a maximum penalty of ten years in prison; and remanded to the county detention center on $100,000 bail.

READ: Mississippi Blogger Arrested for Illegal Photo of Thad Cochran’s Wife

Further to his previous statement to me about the seizure of multiple electronic devices for examination of their contents, Major Sanders has also confirmed that Kelly was questioned by police investigators with regard to the alleged incident, but said that no further information regarding the interview would be forthcoming until the disposition of the investigation.

Sanders did confirm the police issued an arrest news release on Friday night at 11:17PM CST. Shortly after that release, Jackson Jambalaya reported the arrest on their website, notably without any mention of Cochran or his wife, Rose.

The first article published on Saturday that mentioned the Cochran’s was at 9:24AM CST and appeared in the Clarion-Ledger. That article was updated at 1:33PM CST to reflect questions raised by the Cochran campaign about what members of the McDaniel campaign knew about Kelly and the incident, and when.

The Hill reported in more depth on the matter late Saturday afternoon.

    Sen. Thad Cochran’s (R-Miss.) campaign is raising questions about when his primary challenger knew about the arrest of an activist who videotaped the incumbent’s bedridden wife.

    A voicemail from Sen. Chris McDaniel’s campaign manager, fellow state Sen. Melanie Sojourner (R), to Cochran manager Kirk Simms at 7:45 a.m. on Saturday expressed outrage and disgust over the actions of conservative activist Clayton Kelly, who was arrested for sneaking into Rose Cochran’s nursing home room and taking video and photos.

    According to a GOP aide who has listened to the voicemail from Sojourner to Simms, McDaniel’s manager says she was made aware of the incident late Friday evening. She emphasized that their campaign was appalled, and that McDaniel himself was disgusted by Kelly’s actions and wanted to speak to Cochran directly to express his outrage.

Responses from various members of the McDaniel campaign ranged from complete denials of any knowledge of the incident or affiliation with Kelly, to somewhat rambling and stumbling statements. One in particular, came from McDaniel coalition director, Scott Brewster with regard to a video Kelly allegedly used the photo of Cochran in and posted on his blog (now since deleted):

    “I do remember when it came out,” Brewster said. “I think people made some phone calls (to have it removed). I didn’t personally – nobody personally talked to (Kelly). I don’t know if anybody made phone calls about it. I’m not sure. Just, I remember all of a sudden it was gone.”

The conflicting statements only fueled the fire as the story went viral and appeared on many national and political media outlet websites. At issue was how did the McDaniel campaign know about the connection to Rose Cochran at 7:45AM when there was no public mention of the connection until almost two hours later.

Most recently, the Clarion-Ledger obtained an official response from the McDaniel campaign, stating:

    Noel Fritsch with the McDaniel campaign has released a statement clarifying the timeline of when the McDaniel campaign learned of the arrest and break-in:

    “Melanie noticed the political blog post at around 1:00 AM CDT Saturday and was alarmed that it was likely Ms. Cochran who had been photographed based on the preponderance of evidence, including the name of the rest home and the comments on the blog.

    “At around 7:30 AM CDT, Chris was notified only briefly of the incident and the need to personally reach out to Sen. Cochran.

    “Shortly thereafter, Melanie called Cochran campaign manager Kirk Sims to express in strongest terms the campaigns’ condemnation of the alleged crime. Alex Jaffe interviewed Chris at around 9:30 AM CDT during an event, at which time Chris had still not been fully briefed. Chris was not fully briefed until he left event around 10:30 AM CDT, at which point the campaign issued a statement at 10:49 AM CDT.”

While I seriously doubt the end of this story is anywhere in sight, there are questions that many are asking as to whether this is all a remarkable coincidence created by on overreaching blogger or was he colluding with the McDaniel campaign.

These are serious questions that deserve honest answers, but maybe the biggest for Mississippi voters is one I asked last month, which has yet to be addressed by the state senator … Chris McDaniel – What Do We Know? What Should We Know?