The Associated Press reported Wednesday that federal authorities had opened a criminal investigation into allegations that Christine O’Donnell, a former candidate for the U.S. Senate from Delaware, had misused campaign contributions. The key facts went like this:
Although O’Donnell’s campaign has denied wrongdoing, she has acknowledged she paid part of her rent at times with campaign money, arguing that her house doubled as a campaign headquarters.
Federal law prohibits candidates from spending campaign money for personal benefit. FEC rules state that this prohibition applies to the use of campaign money for a candidate’s mortgage or rent “even if part of the residence is being used by the campaign,” although O’Donnell’s campaign maintained that it was told otherwise by someone at the agency.
She responded promptly with a statement claiming that the issue was not confusion over the law, but a vindictive Vice President Joe Biden, who beat O’Donnell by nearly 30 percentage points in the 2008 elections. “Given that the king of the Delaware political establishment just so happens to be the vice president of the most liberal presidential administration in U.S. history, it is no surprise that misuse and abuse of the FBI would not be off the table,” the statement read.
That’s right. She thinks Biden is sending the G-Men after a Republican candidate who has done more to help the Delaware Democratic Party than, well, just about anybody since Biden. On Good Morning America today, O’Donnell elaborated on her claim, calling the investigation a “thug politic tactic (sic).”
“We were tipped off. You don’t need an anonymous source, you don’t need a tipster, to show that this is politically motivated,” she said, when asked about Biden. “Unfortunately, I even expect more things to come, because that’s their tactic.” Here is the video:
