MS Attorney General Investigating Charles Johnson Over Vote Buying Report

Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood speaks before the Mississippi Economic Council's annual Hobnob, a casual gathering where industry leaders, their staffs, election running incumbents, their opponents and lobbyist... Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood speaks before the Mississippi Economic Council's annual Hobnob, a casual gathering where industry leaders, their staffs, election running incumbents, their opponents and lobbyists eat fried catfish and mingle Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2012 in Jackson, Miss. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood (D) said his office is investigating whether Charles Johnson paid a man to falsely accuse Sen. Thad Cochran’s (R-MS) re-election campaign of creating a vote-buying scheme to get Democrats and African Americans to vote for him over state Sen. Chris McDaniel in the runoff of the Mississippi Republican primary for United States Senate.

Hood, in an interview with The Clarion Ledger on Wednesday, said his office had already talked to the man, Stevie Fielder, who “admitted he got paid $2,000 to lie.”

“We haven’t seen the source of the funds yet and I don’t know if that blogger actually has them but we’ll find out someday I suppose,” Hood said.

Hood said he didn’t know his name. When the Clarion-Ledger asked if he was referring to Johnson, Hood said he thought that was him.

Fielder was the primary source in a report by Johnson that said Cochran’s campaign promised to pay African-Americans $15 a pop to vote for Cochran in the runoff election. Fielder, at first, said he helped the Cochran campaign with that plan. But then Fielder changed his story and said he did not help the Cochran campaign but was approached about it.

According to Hood, Fielder said he was paid $2,000 to lie about saying that the Cochran campaign asked him to help buy votes for Cochran. Fielder denied to the attorney general’s office that he was approached about doing that and did not do it.

Watch Hood’s comments below:

Latest Livewire
Comments
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Associate Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: