McDaniel Campaign Finally Gives Its Definitive Story On Blogger Break-In

This photo taken Feb. 25, 2014 shows Mississippi State Sen. Chris McDaniel, R-Ellisville, right, accompanied by Sen. Michael Watson, R-Pascagoula, speaking in the Senate Chambers in Jackson, Miss. Thad Cochran is en... This photo taken Feb. 25, 2014 shows Mississippi State Sen. Chris McDaniel, R-Ellisville, right, accompanied by Sen. Michael Watson, R-Pascagoula, speaking in the Senate Chambers in Jackson, Miss. Thad Cochran is engaged in his toughest campaign in a generation. The former Appropriations Committee chairman faces a June 3 primary challenge from a two-term state lawmaker. Chris McDaniel riles up tea party voters by denouncing big federal spending and portraying the 76-year-old incumbent as a Washington insider who’s lost touch with folks back home. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

After seeming to contradict itself repeatedly, Mississippi state Sen. Chris McDaniel’s campaign gave what appears to be its definitive story on how it learned about a supportive blogger who allegedly broke into the nursing home where Sen. Thad Cochran’s wife lives and photographed her.

The below story was given to the Clarion-Ledger late Saturday, explaining what McDaniel and campaign manager Melanie Sojourner knew about the break-in and when. Earlier reports had suggested that the McDaniel campaign knew details of the break-in before they became public.

The statement is via McDaniel campaign spokesman Noel Fritsch:

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.​

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: