Friday, January 24, 2014

CAUGHT ON TAPE: Top Rand Paul Staffer Doug Stafford Managing Illegal Iowa Campaign Op

Lee Stranahan reports:
A secretly recorded audio conversation from 2010 shows National Right to Work Vice President Doug Stafford managing the vast illegal campaign operation that took place in multiple states over a period of years. The recording was made by whistleblower and former NRTW employee Dennis Fusaro, who was ostensibly in charge of Iowa during 2010.

Stafford is a key staffer for Sen. Rand Paul. He was an advisor to Paul during 2010, while at the same time working as a V.P. for National Right to Work. Currently, Doug Stafford is the head of Rand Paul’s Rand PAC and is calling the shots in the run-up to Paul’s potential Presidential run.

The 20+ minute audio speaks for itself but here are some highlights to note.

Key NRTW staffers mentioned throughout are Dimitri Kesari and Jerad Gamble, who ran the day-to-day operations of the illegal writing, printing and mailing program.

  • At 1:30, Stafford says that ‘a large portion of the Mail Operation will be moving with Dimitri to Indiana.’
  • At 2:00, Stafford says ‘four years of election cycles of having Dimitri and his guys run the mail shop, shows me that that’s who needs to be running the mail shop.’
  • At 3:25 mentions ‘as per Mark’s direction’ moving people to Indiana. This appears to indicate that NRTW President Mark Mix was aware of the mail operation.
  • At 6:40, Stafford asks about the status of the candidate mailings.
  • At 10:10, Stafford says “We’re seriously sending out 2,000,000 pieces of mail.” It’s unclear whether this refers to legal activity, such as surveys or the direct campaign activity.
  • At 12:00, Stafford and Fusaro discuss enticing candidates to join the NRTW mail program.
  • At 13:00 Stafford discusses how the house Republicans in Iowa didn’t like the NRTW mail program and how candidates who used the NRTW program were ‘bucking the party.”
  • At 16:30, Stafford discusses the decision to move the secret printing operation from Iowa to Indiana.
  • 17:50, Stafford discusses how postage will be handled for six candidates; they will pay for postage since it’s third class mail.
The full audio can be heard here.

Stranahan also tweeted:



4 comments:

  1. I keep seeing these updates to this whole (or multiple?) scandal(s) but never see or hear anything about it anywhere other than here. Do you think they (the media/ultra neocons/libs) are aware and just saving these revalations for the real campaign for maximum damage?

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  2. Well, as long as that recording didn't take place in a "two-party" state, that recording is damning evidence.

    Regardless of the legality, in the court of public opinion, it's still damning.

    Assuming Rand ditches him immediately, it will actually be good for him. Imagine if that came out during a campaign...!

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  3. Stranahan says that the recording speaks for itself. However, it is never specified anywhere what constitutes the allegedly illegal activity. What precisely, is being alleged here? This is the problem that I have with Stranahan. His hype to fact ratio is very high. What are the facts? What are the laws?

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  4. Reminds me of this scene in the movie Get Smart...

    Maxwell Smart: I have obtained a snippet, at great risk to a bus boy in Balad.
    [Men start speaking in Punjab on a recording which Max is translating]
    Maxwell Smart: "Aftab, how is your coffee?"
    Maxwell Smart: "Good, Dalip, it's decaf. How is yours?"
    Maxwell Smart: "It is good, also. How is your muffin?"
    Maxwell Smart: Powerful stuff
    The Chief: So "muffin", then, is a code word?"

    Illegal campaign shenanigans? Really? How about taking a look at the Establishment machines of Pelosi and Boner? I'm sure they don't engage in illegal campaign tactics. Not these paragons of purity. Just as I'm sure every vote gets counted correctly in this so-called "democracy"... lol. Election laws are written to bamboozle Boobus Americanus and deep-six boat rockers. Apparently, Rand is being deep-sixed.

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