LaMalfa
Aanestad
Sam4Congress.com (and this photo of Sam) is now gone. I called LaMalfa’s offices in Redding and Sacramento for comment on the allegations. Spokespeople in both offices said they could not comment and referred me to a campaign office.
UPDATE: Here’s LaMalfa’s response, according to the Bee, which has weighed in: “LaMalfa consultant Dave Gilliard released this statement this afternoon via email: ‘Neither Doug LaMalfa, nor the LaMalfa campaign, had any knowledge or involvement in the construction or posting of the website in question, which just came to our attention this morning. Political satire has a long history in American politics, something that thin-skinned candidates, or those trying to hide their record, sometimes have trouble fully appreciating.’
I wonder what Barry Pruett’s fellow local “righty” blogger Russ Steele, who just proudly endorsed LaMalfa, thinks. The right seems to be “eating their own” in this campaign — redolent of the Tom McClintock-Doug Ose congressional race of 2008.
May 15, 2012
Contact: Mark Standriff, Communications 916.365.4050 x206
***For Planning Purposes Only***
AANESTAD TO HOLD PRESS CONFERENCE OUTSIDE
LaMALFA’S DISTRICT OFFICE TODAY
PENN VALLEY, CA Republican candidate for U.S. Congress Sam Aanestad
will hold a press conference Tuesday, May 15th in Redding to announce
evidence that the Doug LaMalfa for Congress campaign has violated
federal campaign election law.
Aanestad will be joined by Barry Pruett, Aanestad for Congress legal counsel.
The press conference, to be held outside Sen. LaMalfa’s district office
in Redding, will also layout specific requests for staff resignation,
removal of the illegal website, and formal apologies from Doug LaMalfa
and his campaign team.
WHO: Sam Aanestad, former state Legislator and Republican candidate for
U.S. Representatives
Barry Pruett, legal counsel, Aanestad for Congress
WHEN: Tuesday, May 15, 2012 at 1:00PM
WHERE: Outside Sen. Doug LaMalfa’s district office
2885 Churn Creek Rd, Suite C
Redding, CA 96002
WHAT: Discussing campaign finance violations by the LaMalfa for
Congress campaign.
Embargoed Until 10 a.m.
“CA CD 01 Breaking News: LaMalfa Campaign Caught Conspiring To Violate Election Law”
“(Redding, CA) – In a clear violation of federal campaign finance disclosure laws, and verified yesterday by release of official Internet registry documents, Doug LaMalfa’s congressional campaign registered and built a negative website about Sam Aanestad, then posted the site on the Internet while disclaiming its contents to link with another candidate in the race, Republican Michael Dacquisto. The website, http://www.Sam4Congress.com, violates a number of campaign finance laws, including several illegal independent expenditures and conspiracy to improperly disclaim a federal campaign website.
“The website originally posted a disclaimer that stated, “Free Thinkers for D’Acquisito.” Last week, Dacquisto angrily denied any involvement in the site and demanded its true creators take it down. The false Dacquisto site disclaimer was removed and the site now contains no official campaign disclaimer.
“To determine the source of the violation, the Aanestad campaign filed a lawsuit last week and subpoenaed records from the site host Wix.com. Yesterday morning, those records were delivered by Wix.com to the Aanestad campaign, showing the site was registered through GoDaddy.com on April 18, 2012 by LaMalfa Campaign Manager and Senate Chief of Staff Mark Spannegal, and paid for by a Golden 1 Visa Credit Card, presumably belonging to Spannegal.
“The response to the subpoena, along with captured screen shots of the original disclaimer, are all linked below in PDF form.
“This action represents an illegal failure to disclose campaign communication by the LaMalfa Congressional Committee, an illegal independent expenditure by the LaMalfa Committee on behalf of Michael Dacquisto, fraud by the LaMalfa Committee in disclaiming its own campaign communication to that of another candidate, and very possibly conspiracy by multiple individuals to willfully break federal law.”
(Photo credits: LaMalfa; Shasta Conservative and Aanestad, Hogue News)
Filed under: Uncategorized
The Redding Searchlight has now weighed in with its own version of this article: http://www.redding.com/news/2012/may/15/aanestad-calls-resignation-lamalfa-chief-staff/
O.k., is it just me or does anyone else detect the hint of Greco Roman homo-erotic elements to this story? Maybe I’m watching too many episodes of I, Claudius…
Sadly enough this is the way politics in America has always been. Look at the Jefferson/ Adams election year of 1800. I haven’t researched it but I would suspect those countries that have a two party system would have more negative campaigning. Vilify the other candidate equates to a positive in your camp.
This is why my mantra is publicly financed campaigns and instant run off voting. All this bs would end and we would have choices between candidates with ideas instead of loads of money being poured into negative campaigning. In instant run off voting you are trying to get second place votes as well as first place and it tends to tamp down the smearing of your opponent since their supporters votes might count in the next round.
I didn’t see this from Lamphier or Reed in their local races. Their campaigns were much more upbeat than what we often see in the local GOP races.
Jeff,
I will give you that the republican party has a tendency to be more ugly in their smear campaigns.
Now the Sac Bee has weighed in:
http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2012/05/sam-aanestad-campaign-says-doug-lamalfa-aide-is-behind-attack-website.html#more
From the way the Bee story reads, looks like the LaMalfa campaign is hanging Mark Spannegal out to dry. What remains to be seen is if Spannegal was truly a rogue, or he acted at the direction of LaMalfa or his paid staff. Sounds like Spannegal was only on contract, which also needs to be closely examined.
I predict if Spannegal gets fired, and LaMalfa apologizes, this will just be a tempest in a teapot.
I like LaMalfa a heck of a lot more than I do Aanestad, who has not been a good representative for Nevada County. I got to know LaMalfa a little bit when the Yuba Express went to the State Capitol in February to deliver petitions to save the South Yuba River State Park. I respected his approach with the kids.
Have you seen our local Nate Beason negative ads that are in the same typeface and color as his campaign signs reading, “Aren’t two terms enough?” (or something to that effect)?
It is cowardice when candidates focus on negative campaigning. State your positions, ideas, and compare them to your opponents. This might not be the “winning” formula currently but it should be. It really boils down to voters thinking for themselves instead of being told if they do not vote for the lesser of two evils they are voting for more evil.
Elections are the people’s way of controlling our government but when elections are distorted from outside funding the constituents of that office no longer are truly being represented. Governor Scott Walker is a perfect example- over 70% of his funding in the June 5th recall election comes from out of state. How can this be good representative government? It is special interest vs. special interests and the constituents become the victims of the results. This is where voting for the lesser of two evils is the wrong way of looking at it. Neither choice has the interests of the population as a whole but the interests of their party and the parties puppet masters. Make no mistake about it, candidates from the big two are running to represent their party leadership and the special interests that own them not the needs of the constituents.
As a candidate they need to communicate their positions on the key issues and what they will go fight for when representing their constituents. Once an elected official is in office they need to listen to their constituents and compromise on their behalf.
Beason’s recent positions regarding the HEW sale and MMJ show me enough that I would not care to vote for him again. But with the negative ads against him, I am not sure I want to support the only alternative. Anyone out there want to run as a write-in?
Brad,
Al Bulf.
http://yubanet.com/regional/Al-Bulf-throws-his-hat-in-the-ring-for-Nevada-County-Supervisor.php#.T7Qrb7-xr-k
He is an out of the box kind of thinker that I’m pretty sure would have come down on the correct side of the issue in your examples.
Sorry Ben, Al might have had a chance back when the Hoover Dam was commissioned. That was a time when big ideas and big thinking reigned. But now America is in contraction, and our shrunken imaginations have paralyzed the body politic. We can’t even pay the day-to-day bills. A failed nation state in crisis.
Michael,
Yep, that about sums it up but the pendulum is due to swing back and people like Al and his big ideas will be embraced once again. What I have told my own kids and many of my teams is that the ultimate goal is rarely achieved but it was everything in between that will be remembered. Look at all the great things that happened due to the space program. Getting to the moon was the goal and we actually achieved it but it was all the technology that was created in between the “crazy” idea and actually getting a human being to step foot on the moon that have affected our lives. Nate Beason was the leading candidate for my vote, barely. But after the marijuana ordinance rush he has lost that edge for my vote.
First and foremost, if federal campaign laws have been violated, the responsible party should be prosecuted. If LaMalfa knew about it in advance, or condoned it after the fact, he should take action against Mr. Spanaagel, and accept responsibility and apologize.
Now on to the real problem….the abysmal, dysfunctional, uncivil, anti-intellectual, emotionally driven, cutthroat nature of our current political climate and who is responsible for it.
Republican primary races, in California and the nation, have become a barbaric, take no prisoners exercise in purging the ideologically impure. Anyone who even hints of being able to work across the aisle, or even engage in civil conversation with, the other side is being killed, by a party so bent on having its way that it has forgotten the basic tenants of American democracy. I would go so far as to say that their behavior is a risk to American democratic principles, and is actually a sure eventual path to civil conflict if not abated by the people, by rejecting their political tactics.
And our local Yahoo, successionist, brick wall conservatives are right in the center of the movement to punish, purge and vilify anyone within his party who thinks differently.
This is ironic, since being an elected Republican in California state office today is a virtual guarantee that they, their opinions, their ideas, and your contributions to solutions, will be back benched and ignored. Californis Republicans are so out of step with the bulk of the people that Democrats can marginalize them at will, because Democratic constituencies just can’t identify with them. The Republican stance on immigration, women’s rights, and social issues make them almost untouchable. And our democracy suffers from not being able to embrace and adopt many of those Republican solutions. Many Republican solutions on things like pension reform, multi-year budgeting, and pay-as-you go just can’t get traction because of institutional resistance to empowering the ideas of the Republican minority, which is a serious failing on the part of the Democrats
Consider this–at a time when Europe teeters on the brink of financial stagnation if not recession and turmoil, when the hard fought but weak economic recovery in the US is coming, when China is engaging in a second stimulus to prop up its economy, when global credit markets are still weak, and we need serious compromise–Republican candidates who reject compromise are being advanced in leadership. And the Republican speaker of the house is saying he will hold the American economy hostage in order to cut funding for everything BUT defense These are the people who want you to think they are ‘the adults in the room’– the very ones who are stomping their feet and saying my way or the highway.
This is not how the American system of government was designed to or intended to work.