After a secret recording emerged of Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s campaign aides discussing opposition research on Tuesday, Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS), chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, issued a stament calling for major Democratic groups and leaders to denounce the “Watergate-era tactics.”
“Secret recordings, private conversations leaked, reports of bugs–these Watergate-era tactics have no place in our campaigns,” Moran said in a statement. “I am glad to read Senator McConnell’s campaign is working with the Department of Justice and the FBI to find answers, but as the investigation continues, I am calling upon the Democratic National Committee, the DSCC, Kentucky Democratic State Party and left-leaning 501(C)(3) and (4) organizations like Mother Jones, Think Progress, American Bridge, Organizing For Action, and any other relevant political organizations to state for the record that they had nothing to do with these illegal acts, denounce them, and make clear they have no place in our political debate.”
McConnell’s campaign has petitioned the FBI to investigate how a secret tape, obtained by Mother Jones, was made of senior aides in February discussing opposition research on Ashley Judd, then a prospective challenger in the Kentucky Senate race.
Full statement below:
“Secret recordings, private conversations leaked, reports of bugs–these Watergate-era tactics have no place in our campaigns. I am glad to read Senator McConnell’s campaign is working with the Department of Justice and the FBI to find answers, but as the investigation continues, I am calling upon the Democratic National Committee, the DSCC, Kentucky Democratic State Party and left-leaning 501(C)(3) and (4) organizations like Mother Jones, Think Progress, American Bridge, Organizing For Action, and any other relevant political organizations to state for the record that they had nothing to do with these illegal acts, denounce them, and make clear they have no place in our political debate.
“This weekend we saw Senator Menendez, who is currently under FBI investigation and Senate ethics investigation, solicit funds for Senator Shaheen. In Kentucky, a Democrat SuperPAC first sunk so low as to make racist attacks against Senator McConnell’s wife, and now there is another FBI investigation into leaked tapes and bugging. This ‘anything to win: laws and rules be damned’ mentality has to stop. I hope that Leaders Reid and Schumer will join me in condemning these tactics.”
