Hang it around their necks: McCain camp was pushing Ashley Todd story
When John Cole asked this question yesterday:
Am I wrong? Did I miss the McCain team pushing this story? Because I do not remember anything from them on it.
I reported in his comments (hung up in his pesky spam filter—damn you, Balloon Juice!) that in early reports on the Ashley Todd hoax I had seen a clear indication that the McCain camp had been pushing the story, but it looked like the original online articles I had seen had been rewritten (I went through my Firefox history to make sure). Well, via BJ, I see that Talking Points Memo dug up exactly what I was looking for:
John McCain’s Pennsylvania communications director told reporters in the state an incendiary version of the hoax story about the attack on a McCain volunteer well before the facts of the case were known or established—and even told reporters outright that the “B” carved into the victim’s cheek stood for “Barack,” according to multiple sources familiar with the discussions.
And this is the excised text I had read early in the evening on Thursday:
Everyone repeat along with me ... hang it around their necks.
SIDE NOTE: I’m taking a pass on feeling sorry for Ashley Todd due to her alleged history of mental illness because from what I can tell that info came solely from Ashley Todd, who lied horribly about more things than I can count over the last few days. This could just be a contemptible racist asshole’s attempt to court the sympathy vote and take off some of the heat (the media seems to be buying it), so count this skeptic out for the moment.
UPDATE: The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has a lot more on this story…
“The backwards ‘B’ was the obvious thing to us when we first saw her. Something just didn’t seem right,” Assistant Chief Bryant said. “And, first of all, with our local robbers, they take the money [and flee]. They’re in and out. They’re not stopping to do artwork.” [...]
Once she had told the story to police, “she told lie after lie and the situation compounded to where we are right now,” said Lt. Kraus. He added that Ms. Todd showed no remorse for her actions but was angry with the media, saying they blew the story out of proportion. [...]
In March, Ms. Todd was asked to leave a grass-roots group of Ron Paul supporters in Brazos County, Texas, group leader Dustan Costine said. He said Ms. Todd posed as a supporter of former Arkansas governor and presidential candidate Mike Huckabee and called the local Republican committee seeking information about its campaign strategies.
“She would call the opposing campaign and pretend she was on their campaign to get information,” Mr. Costine said last night. “We had to remove her because of the tactics she displayed. After that we had nothing to do with her.”
About a month earlier, he said, Ms. Todd sent an e-mail to the Ron Paul group saying her tires were slashed and that campaign paraphernalia had been stolen from her car because she supported Mr. Paul. [...]
Mr. Garcia, 32, a first-year student at the University of Pittsburgh law school who also is from Texas, met Ms. Todd in May at a gathering of young Republicans in their hometown of College Station. On Wednesday night, she came back to his house, bruised and battered, and told him of the attack. He contacted police.
Mr. Garcia said his immediate response was to tend to the wound on her cheek. A police officer arrived, and Ms. Todd became belligerent when the officer asked where the mugging happened.
“I don’t know!” she told him, using an expletive, Mr. Garcia said. “I’m not from here.” [...]
Mr. Garcia took the widely published picture of Ms. Todd with her injuries. He said he took several photographs with a digital camera to document what had happened. He said he only gave copies of the photos to police and Ms. Todd’s employer, the College Republicans. One photo appeared on The Drudge Report on Thursday, setting off a storm of media attention.
UPDATE: Okay, maybe she is mentally ill...
Costine said Todd had talked of running for Texas governor in 2006 as a write-in candidate. She said she had been undergoing treatment for cancer, had lost her hair and often wore a wig. Still, he said, she constantly smoked.
Regardless, the McCain campaign’s potential involvement in pushing this bogus, incendiary story before all of the facts were in is the real story going forward.
MORE: Josh Marshall wants to hang it around their necks.
Posted by Kevin K. on 10/25/08 at 08:05 AM • Permalink
Categories: News • Politics • Election '08 • St. McSame • Barack Obama • Nutters • Sarah Palin • Our Stupid Media • Skull Hampers •
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