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MDE IN THE NEWS: CITY PAGES SPECULATES WHY ENTENZA HIRED SOMEONE TO INVESTIGATING HATCH
By Michael B. Brodkorb | July 13, 2006
"Entenza-Hatch: Follow the Money
The fascinating front page story in Wednesday's Star Tribune brought forth an admission by Rep. Matt Entenza that he hired a private firm to investigate the visitor's log, contractual relations, and purchasing patterns of the Attorney General's office under Mike Hatch. Given that both are from the same party, and that Entenza is now running to replace Hatch while Hatch moves on to run against Governor Tim Pawlenty, Entenza's motivation for the surreptitious investigation seems on the surface to be a real head-scratcher.
Entenza's explanation–that he wanted to "get a better understanding of how some aspects of the office worked"–was a real howler. Instead of spending hundreds, possibly thousands, of dollars to get a third party to file a Data Practices request, Entenza could have gained first-hand "understanding" of the job simply by asking Hatch directly. When it came to conveying an impression of full disclosure about what he was up to, Entenza may as well have told the Strib that the dog ate his homework.
According to minnesotademocratsexposed (or MDE), the website that back in August of last year first published rumors of Entenza investigating Hatch, Entenza's motivation was to get dirt on Hatch so that he would step aside and let Entenza run for Governor. (Yesterday, the site also pointed out that Entenza previously worked in the AG's office, making his explanation to the Strib all the more specious.) Or, as a Wednesday afternoon story in the online version of the St. Paul Pioneer Press infers, citing another aspect of the original MDE post, it could have been to strong-arm Hatch into anointing Entenza as his successor rather than Minnesota Solicitor General and close Hatch associate Lori Swanson.
But to my knowledge, nobody has yet speculated that what Entenza was really after was a way to get Hatch to stop involving himself in the operation of Medica; specifically pushing to get Medica to sever its management contract with United Health (UHC), the corporation that has made Entenza's wife fabulously wealthy; wealth that in turn has enabled Entenza to exercise enormous political leverage via campaign contributions." Source: City Pages – The Blotter, July 13, 2006
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10 Responses to “MDE IN THE NEWS: CITY PAGES SPECULATES WHY ENTENZA HIRED SOMEONE TO INVESTIGATING HATCH”
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July 13th, 2006 at 9:16 AM
I’v heard rumors that Hatch doesnt recycle. Perhaps this is what Entenza was after.
July 13th, 2006 at 11:00 AM
This theory makes sense. Money is the mother’s milk of politics, and if Matty’s supply of moolah (via his wife) runs dry because of Hatch’s invesigations, he’s out of luck.
July 13th, 2006 at 11:28 AM
Again, what is the purpose of posting this?
1) The headline emphasises that MDE got mentioned in MSM media. So, again, what is more important, the story to the ego stroke?
2) Is it really work, are you really “exposing” anything when all you do is regugitate the same stories and link to other people doing the same or just reprinting what you wrote before?
July 13th, 2006 at 11:33 AM
The story.
July 13th, 2006 at 11:45 AM
He first reported this a year ago.
July 13th, 2006 at 12:31 PM
Here’s an idea. If Entenza was doing this because he was scouting out a run for governor or AG, he would have had his campaign pick up the check for the opposition research (no politician would ever pay for this out of their own pocket). It should be easy enough to check and see if they did.
If he paid for it out of his own pocket, or his wife’s, then perhaps there’s something to the Citi Pages speculation.
July 13th, 2006 at 1:22 PM
Then why the leader “MDE in the News” …. If the first thing you say (write) is about yourself then it appears that is what is really important to you.
July 13th, 2006 at 1:34 PM
Can someone clarify this for me? All through the lefty comments on this subject, oppo research has been equated with hiring a private investigation. These, to me, are two VERY different things. Is it common for a campaign to hire PIs? Is it common to do oppo research like this on a memeber of ones own party?
July 13th, 2006 at 3:24 PM
In my opinion, it’s uncommon for a candidate to conduct opposition research on another candidate when they are not seeking the same office.
July 13th, 2006 at 4:06 PM
…and are from the same party, I might add.