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SENIOR ROWLEY STAFFER CAUGHT IN DIRTY TRICK; DOUBLE-AGENT PLOT EXPOSED BY KLINE CAMPAIGN
By Michael B. Brodkorb | August 9, 2006
This material is from a press release sent out by Congressman Kline's campaign.
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Congressman John Kline’s re-election campaign today sent a letter to Coleen Rowley exposing a dirty trick by one of her senior staffers in which he tried to infiltrate the Kline Campaign and trap Kline’s Congressional employees into accepting illegal campaign contributions.
This action is similar to a widely reported incident earlier this year in Kentucky’s Third Congressional District where a volunteer for John Yarmuth (D-KY) entered the office of incumbent Congresswoman Anne Northup (R-KY) under similar false pretenses. After that dirty trick was exposed (http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/14746903.htm), the Yarmuth campaign apologized and "quickly cut ties" to the volunteer.
See the attached letter [letter below] by Diana Bratlie, the Kline volunteer who exposed Bailey’s dirty trick, for more details.
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August 9, 2006
Mrs. Coleen Rowley
C/o Rowley for Congress
305 Water Street
Northfield, MN 55057
Dear Mrs. Rowley,
In a recent letter to Congressman Kline, you criticized his staff and volunteers for writing letters to the editor and participating on non-campaign websites. You allege that these actions are “dirty tricks” and “crossing the line.”
Criticizing staffers by name for the same behavior as your own staff and volunteers seems a strange and unusual campaign tactic. However, since you have introduced the actions of staff as an issue in this campaign, I would like to discuss the highly unethical actions of one of your senior staffers.
In a deliberate attempt to misrepresent himself, your Research and Communications Director, David Bailey, entered John Kline’s Congressional District Office and tried to make an anonymous cash contribution to Congressman Kline’s campaign. He did not give his name or identify himself as a supporter of your campaign for Congress.
When Mr. Bailey was told that it was illegal for the Congressional Office to take donations, he was directed to the Kline campaign office, where I happened to be volunteering that day. He said that a friend had gotten "a letter from John that described how Rowley had said some bad things about him [Congressman Kline]."
Clearly trying to hide his identity as one of your strongest supporters, Mr. Bailey told me that he would like to volunteer for our campaign and requested to be placed on our mailing lists. Mr. Bailey then opened his wallet and began to withdraw cash to make a campaign donation in order to imbed himself in our campaign. I informed him we did not accept cash donations at which time he hastily left the office.
The attempt by Mr. Bailey to become a "double-agent" and spy on our campaign represents yet another low point for your campaign. It is outrageous that a senior member of your staff used false pretenses and deception to misrepresent himself and try to trap a Congressional employee into committing an illegal act.
You harshly criticize the Kline staff and volunteers for participating in routine campaign activities, such as writing letters to the editor and posting comments on websites. Yet you willingly employ staffers who engage in Nixonian double-agent spy tactics. Perhaps you have one set of rules for you and your staff and another set of rules for everyone else.
Given your previous campaign actions such as approving the placement on your campaign website of a doctored photo of Congressman Kline in a Nazi uniform and using incorrect quotes to falsely attack Congressman Kline’s character, it should come as no surprise that a member of your staff would consider this dirty trick an appropriate campaign tactic.
This type of unethical behavior has no place in a serious Congressional campaign. Perhaps that is why it is becoming increasingly clearer to voters of our district that you are not a serious candidate.
Sincerely,
Diana Bratlie
Volunteer – Kline for Congress
Topics: Uncategorized | 41 Comments »
41 Responses to “SENIOR ROWLEY STAFFER CAUGHT IN DIRTY TRICK; DOUBLE-AGENT PLOT EXPOSED BY KLINE CAMPAIGN”
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August 9th, 2006 at 11:34 am
Who’s to know if it really was Mr. Bailey? I bet Bailey wasn’t actually there, but instead left home early because he was feeling ill, then when he felt better mowed his lawn and took his wife to dinner.
August 9th, 2006 at 11:58 am
This is a much bigger deal than just a dirty trick.
There were a lot of changes to election law around 1972. Mr. Bailey may have made a very serious mistake.
August 9th, 2006 at 12:21 pm
Ditto Devon Holstad. Where’s the photo or video of this happening? I don’t trust Diana Bratlie as a credible source on anything. Too much history there.
August 9th, 2006 at 12:25 pm
Wow. This should get some play, I’d guess. Pretty amazing stuff, if it pans out.
Reminds me just a bit of what happened in Milwaukee. Of course, that never made any headlines, did it?
August 9th, 2006 at 12:39 pm
Given Rowley’s apparent chances, maybe he really DID want to buy his way in, quickly.
Sinking ships, rats, whatever . . . . .
August 9th, 2006 at 12:46 pm
(MDE, can I second a request/suggestion I saw earlier, that you imbed your homepage URL in your logo at the top, so that we can look at or make comments, and then easily get back to the home page with one click?)
August 9th, 2006 at 12:49 pm
this letter doesn’t seem to mention when the alleged event happened. Was this yesterday? Last week? Last month? Last year?
August 9th, 2006 at 1:43 pm
If true, this should be documented and publicized and Bailey fired and prosecuted.
That being said, if there were no witnesses other than Ms. Bratlie and no paper trail, this would be difficult to verify, much less prove.
August 9th, 2006 at 1:48 pm
You do realize that if the letter writer is wrong, she and Kline will be sued for big bucks, and Kline’s reign will be over. I suggest that you not rejoice too quickly.
August 9th, 2006 at 1:58 pm
Now boys……you don’t suppose that maybe, JUST MAYBE Ms. Bratlie knew Mr. Bailey from the campaign trail????? I mean really – if your campaign staff doesn’t know their counterparts, then you really are running a very poor campaign indeed.
I agree with rew – I would like to know (for reference more than anything else) when this happened. One can assume that it happened recently, based on the date of the letter (after all what would be the reason of just writing now about something that happened 2-3 months ago) however assumptions are dangerous things.
Regarding the link back to the home page….you already have it….it’s called a “BACK” button…
August 9th, 2006 at 2:09 pm
The other witness would be the staffer in congressional office where he attempted to make the donation first and was directed to the campaign office.
I thought you were done with this site Geo? I guess it’s tough for junkies to avoid the good stuff.
August 9th, 2006 at 2:31 pm
Seems to me this is all thought police. If he didn’t give money to anyone, all you have is a case of someone suggesting they might do something illegal. Last time I checked, finding someing guilty of inent to break the law is rather tough.
And asking to get on a mailing list for the opponent is nothing all that new or shocking. Candidates who DON’T do this deserve to lose.
It is with no great surprise that I, yet again, announce MDE has again managed to make a mountain out of a parking lot (because to start from a molehill would imply there was even something there in the first place).
August 9th, 2006 at 2:49 pm
Roving Reporter, you would defend the Devil himself if he were a Democrat (and he probably is).
Kidding aside, I love how Geo has been attacking Kline for being corrupt while his candidate continues her sleazy campaign tactics.
August 9th, 2006 at 2:56 pm
Yes PJ, it was getting a little boring so I wandered. Came back for this one, but I don’t think this one will have much for legs. It is really strange there are no dates given — I guess if you’re making a charge like this and name a date and find out the guy was out of state or in a room full of people across town when it was supposed to have happened, it pretty much takes the wind out of it.
Looks like one of those — was Michael Bordkorb at the DFL Feminist Caucus thingy or not things.
This race must be tightening up nicely for the Congressman’s attack dog (and I say that affectionately) to go into such a frothy attack without the basic facts such as a day and time.
I also note that she closes by saying that Rowley isn’t a “serious” candidate. That’s very close to what the Congressman said in the ThisWeek article Michael posted this week.
Is he trying to weasel out of debating her with these comments? Please note that the word “weasel” is being used as a verb here, and not to describe the Congressman — I know most of you understand that but Diana Bratlie lurks here, and her command of the language hasn’t proven to be precise.
Well, thanks for the little mid-day pick-me-up! Hope the Congressman finds the guts to face Rowley in a debate. But I doubt it.
August 9th, 2006 at 2:58 pm
“It is with no great surprise that I, yet again, announce MDE has again managed to make a mountain out of a parking lot (because to start from a molehill would imply there was even something there in the first place).”
Hey Roving Reporter — I’m jealous, that was a good one!
August 9th, 2006 at 3:02 pm
Strangely enough, Diana Bratlie seems to be the same person whose name appeared connected to a diatribe against Teresa Daly 9-21-04 on this same blog. At the time, she was a Kline for Congress campaign coordinator. she seems to have a knack for digging up the dirt on Kline’s opponents. She is listed as a volunteer, yet each cycle she gets over $3,000 in reimbursed expenses. Seems to be much more than your average volunteer….Loyalist to the core…
August 9th, 2006 at 3:04 pm
If this is all fabricated, and I suspect that it is, Bratlie and Kline will be toast when the Strib and PioPress get hold of these dirty tricks. Reminds me of a Nixon tactic. If she can’t prove this, Bailey will end up with her house, car, savings and any other assests. She made a direct accusation, not mere name calling, and her liabilty is huge if this is a lie. If it’s spin, I would not want to be in her shoes. I’d love to be the attorney that will end up owning one third of everything she owns.
August 9th, 2006 at 3:06 pm
[...] This incident just became more serious. Please read the below from U.S Code: Title 2,441h. [...]
August 9th, 2006 at 3:26 pm
“If he didn’t give money to anyone, all you have is a case of someone suggesting they might do something illegal. Last time I checked, finding someing guilty of inent to break the law is rather tough.”
You can bet that Roving Hypocrite would be all over this had the cash donation been accepted innocently by some new low-level staffer who didn’t know the law, even if the donation had been returned immediately. Not all over the donator, though, but Kline. He’s be calling for his immediate resignation.
The fact is, there was intent to commit a crime. There was an attempt to commit the crime. Success or lack thereof doesn’t make the intent any different. There wasn’t a “suggestion” that this Bailey creep was thinking about breaking the law. He was standing in the place of the attempted crime with the full intent, wallet open, to commit it but was stopped by the Kline staffer.
Listening to Roving Hypocrite on anything legal is like listening to Al Capone for tax advice. Dangerous and stupid.
August 9th, 2006 at 3:50 pm
I have some relevant insight into this supposed dirty trick that I feel I ought to share. For the record, I am not affiliated with the Rowley Campaign and do not live in Congressman Kline’s district.
However, I do know David Bailey personally, as we work together at his full-time gig. (We are both software contractors working for the same client).
The most important thing to point out about this is that David was not working for Rowley’s campaign when it happened.
In February, David tells me, he went to Kline’s offices to try and get on their mailing lists. As a politically active voter in the district, he had sent several letters asking for information about Congressman Kline’s positions on various issues and had gotten no response, so he thought that by offering to make a campaign contribution he might be put on the campaign’s mailing list.
That was probably unwise, but it certainly wasn’t illegal or even unethical. David didn’t join Rowley’s campaign until May, 3 months later. I was at the meeting at work where the boss announced David would be changing his hours to accomodate his new part-time gig on the campaign.
So for Kline’s campaign to point fingers at the Rowley campaign and paint this incident as a case of a campaign staffer trying to join the opposing campaign as a double-agent — Well, it is disingenuous misinformation at best, and at worst is a plain-old dirty trick in its own right. He’s just a guy who tried to get on Kline’s mailing list, and later went to work for Kline’s opponent.
I fail to see how that’s a story.
August 9th, 2006 at 3:55 pm
Show me where in state law it is against the law to think about committing a crime.
It should be really easy for someone with a legal mind such as yours. I apparently am not smart enough to find it in the books anywhere. Please, show me the errors of my ways.
August 9th, 2006 at 4:13 pm
“So for Kline’s campaign to point fingers at the Rowley campaign and paint this incident as a case of a campaign staffer trying to join the opposing campaign as a double-agent — Well, it is disingenuous misinformation at best, and at worst is a plain-old dirty trick in its own right. He’s just a guy who tried to get on Kline’s mailing list, and later went to work for Kline’s opponent.”
Awww Eric — you’re taking away everyone’s fun with real facts! It was like I suspected. Much ado about nothing. Or less than nothing.
Does Diana Bratlie have ANY credibility anymore? What a juvenile prank! Hope there are not any REAL reporters that got duped — that will make it more difficult next time she cries wolf!
Guess now we know why the complaint came from a “volunteer” not the Congressman himself. Hey, does anybody know what kind of letterhead this thing was on? Was it on campaign letterhead or letterhead from the Congressional Office? I think that’s a legitimate question to ask after all the raking -over-the-coals Michael gave Hatch!
August 9th, 2006 at 4:16 pm
Roving, I don’t think I’d start lecturing any of us about your legal opinions after an ALJ ruled against your ass this week.
There are many crimes where the crime is in the intent not a separate act. For example, attempted bribery. If you go to someone with a pile of money and say you say you’ll give them money if they vote a certain way (ala Jack Murtha and ABSCAM) and the person doesn’t take the money from you — you are still guilty of attempted bribery even though the person didn’t actually take a cent.
August 9th, 2006 at 4:25 pm
Roving, in the immortal words of Sideshow Bob Terwilliger, “I am currently incarcerated for a crime I did not committ. Attempted Murder, what does that really mean anyway!?”
August 9th, 2006 at 4:25 pm
Nice call on the timing, Rew.
August 9th, 2006 at 4:54 pm
Bailey was a volunteer for the Rowley campaign during the time in question.
“I began this site in October 2005 as a Rowley supporter and sometime volunteer.” —
http://theklinerecord.blogspot.com/
August 9th, 2006 at 5:24 pm
Hey, “sometime volunteer” is a long way off from “senior campaign staffer.” If, as a supporter of a candidate, A man wants to get on the other candidate’s mailing list and is willing to make a donation to do it, there isn’t anything wrong with that. You certainly don’t have to identify yourself as a “supporter” of the other party, and you wouldn’t need to identify yourself as “sometime volunteer” unless you were acting under the campaign’s direction at the time. I’ve never worked on a campaign, but I thought volunteers were pretty much just a pool of free labor to stuff envelopes and knock on doors.
If he’d actually been campaign STAFF at the time, then yes, it would be unethical. But as it stands, the only thing he did wrong was to go to the Kline’s congressional district office instead of the Kline’s campaign office. I sure wouldn’t have known any better.
And what is up with the claim that he tried to make an “anonymous” cash donation? If he asked to be placed on the campaign mailing list, it hardly sounds to me like he was trying to remain anonymous.
August 9th, 2006 at 5:26 pm
Eric, thank you for the revelation. I’ll through a few bucks into the sue Bratlie’s ass fund.
August 9th, 2006 at 5:33 pm
Hey, I just found out that David has posted his own response to this on Rowley’s campaign blog.
Obviously you can all make up your own minds about whose account is truthful — I won’t deny that my opinion on it is heavily informed by knowing David personally, but regardless you should read his side of the story for yourselves.
http://www.coleenrowley.com/blog/blog.php?bid=21
August 9th, 2006 at 6:08 pm
[...] Minnesota Democrat Exposer Michael Brodkorb has a new “scoop” (It’s almost as good as this one.) Congressman John Kline’s re-election campaign today sent a letter to Coleen Rowley exposing a dirty trick by one of her senior staffers in which he tried to infiltrate the Kline Campaign and trap Kline’s Congressional employees into accepting illegal campaign contributions. You can read the full text of the letter, which apparently was also delivered to MDE, by clicking on the above link. [...]
August 9th, 2006 at 6:18 pm
Even those of us who do not know David personally know him from his previous writings. And more importantly, we know Diana Bratlie from hers.
Google her and see how she is trying to protect every Minnesotan’s right to vote (not).
August 9th, 2006 at 6:22 pm
I just wanted to make it clear that at the time of the incident, Bailey was working for the Rowley campaign as a volunteer. He currently is a paid staffer.
You stated that he joined the campaign three months later, but that is not quite true. That’s when he started getting paid.
August 9th, 2006 at 7:03 pm
Actually, he is still NOT getting paid. He joined the staff in May by taking an official position as Research and Communications Director, but his work on the campaign continues to be unpaid.
August 9th, 2006 at 7:31 pm
Thanks for the correction.
August 9th, 2006 at 8:35 pm
Yes, it appears there is nothing to the Kline attack.
http://www.coleenrowley.com/blog/blog.php?bid=21
But, more importantly, here’s Rowley’s stand on Iraq:
// We MUST change Bush’s disastrous course! We must stop blindly following this administration and act on the advice of a growing number of non-partisan experts, including our most astute Mid-East scholars and retired military officials, who have developed consensus around a plan for orderly, phased withdrawal from Iraq and redeployment of American forces accompanied by certain steps. //
http://www.coleenrowley.com/issues_pages/issues_2_iraq.php
August 9th, 2006 at 9:52 pm
Bush lied people died blah blah blah blah blah. Brian has no credibility here — he doesn’t even admit that there are Islamic terrorists. He probably thinks 9/11 was an inside job too.
August 9th, 2006 at 11:27 pm
I don’t believe that a few terrorists justify bombing another country’s civilians with napalm.
I don’t believe that 9-11 had anything to do with Iraq.
I don’t believe that we can do much more in Iraq, and it’s time to get our boys out.
I believe that terrorism is a law enforcement problem, and the sooner we turn to building and strengthening our worldwide law enforcement networks, the better.
But Chris would rather spin that into “has no credibility”. I guess that the 60% of America that think we should get out of Iraq also have no credibility with Chris.
August 9th, 2006 at 11:29 pm
So who’s more likely to get us out of Iraq, Kline or Rowley?
I’d say it’s Rowley, by a long shot.
August 10th, 2006 at 12:24 am
I think the real issue is this: Just what exactly has John Kline done since he went to Congress, and why is he afraid to run on that? I’ve written many, many letters to Congressman Kline asking for his stand on issues, and to date have received only one reply: He is opposed to flag burning. Oooooooh! What a brave and courageous stand that was!
August 10th, 2006 at 8:50 am
Brian, you denied the existence of Islamic terrorists. Ask the British today whether Islamic terrorists exist. Thank God we have someone who will fight the terrorists instead of letting them get away with continuing to blow up our country.
By the way, the very security measures that Brian has claimed Bush should be impeached for are the ones that helped round up the 21 terrorists in London.
August 10th, 2006 at 1:40 pm
By the way, Brian — it’s Hezbollah who is intentionally killing civilians in the Middle East, not the U.S. Also, did you not read the newspaper about the terrorist plot uncovered today? Once again, you are the premier glittering jewel of colossal ignorance in the state.