Source: Progress Kentucky Behind Mitch McConnell Campaign Recording:
A secret recording of a campaign strategy session between U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell and his advisors was taped by leaders of the Progress Kentucky super PAC, says a longtime local Democratic operative.
Mother Jones Magazine released the tape this week. The meeting itself took place on Feb. 2.
Jacob Conway, who is on the executive committee of the Jefferson County Democratic Party, says that day, Shawn Reilly and Curtis Morrison, who founded and volunteered for Progress Kentucky, respectively, bragged to him about how they recorded the meeting.
Conway says neither the local nor the state Democratic party had any part in the incident.
This is the same Democratic PAC which ran racist ads against McConnell’s wife.
As previously discussed, the means of recording would determine whether it was illegal. The report is that they were not in the room and therefore not a party to the conversation, but eavesdropped:
Morrison and Reilly did not attend the open house, but they told Conway they arrived later and were able to hear the meeting from the hallway.
“They were in the hallway after the, I guess after the celebration and hoopla ended, apparently these people broke for lunch and had a strategy meeting, which is, in every campaign I’ve been affiliated with, makes perfect sense,” says Conway. “One of them held the elevator, the other one did the recording and they left. That was what they told to me from them directly.”
The meeting room door is next to the elevators on that floor. McConnell campaign manager Jesse Benton has told multiple media outlets the door was shut and locked on Feb. 2. But the door has a vent at the bottom and a large gap underneath.
“Apparently the gentlemen overheard the conversation and decided to record it with a phone or recording device they had in their pocket. Could’ve been an iPhone, could’ve been a Flip camera or something like that,” Conway say.
If this holds up, it is very, very big time, and on its face appears to be a violation of law.
Was illegal activity performed in the McConnell secret recording? You be the Judd.
— Ben Howe (@BenHowe) April 11, 2013
Mother Jones and David Corn better start lawyering up (which I assume they already have), because the question will become What did Mother Jones know about alleged McConnell bugging, and when did it know it?
In that prior post, I told you that the wording of Mother Jones’ denial of a “Watergate-style bugging operation” was a suspicious way of phrasing the denial. Again, if this story holds up my instincts were right, it was not a “Watergate-style bugging operation,” but it was a bugging:
That doesn’t answer all the questions. It was not “involved in the making of the tape” is not a completely denial of prior knowledge, and that it was not a “Watergate-style bugging operation” is a curious way of putting it — was it some other type of “bugging” whether or not an “operation”?
Update — Mary Katherine Ham at Hot Air has more, including the fingerpointing.
Dem Outed Liberal GroupOn McConnell Recordings For GoodOf The Party: youtu.be/KCJ5-6nFTZQ via @youtube
— Jim Treacher (@jtLOL) April 11, 2013
More — David Corn is sounding pretty confident, linking to a WaPo article discussing the First Amendment privilege for journalists to use unlawfully obtained evidence:
Re legal issues & the McConnell story, read this: m.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wem…
— David Corn (@DavidCornDC) April 11, 2013
While Corn may be off the hook if he were truly an innocent recipient, if he participated in any way in even delivery of the information to him the situation could be trickier, as the main case cited in the WaPo article indicates:
@davidcorndc conv abt lawful campn strategy like threat 2 blow up front porches in case u link? U may skate, but not journalism’s finest hr
— Legal Insurrection (@LegInsurrection) April 11, 2013
@davidcorndc did u arrange 4 audio to be delivered to U? Justice Breyer will want 2 know 532 U.S. 538
— Legal Insurrection (@LegInsurrection) April 11, 2013
I’ll reserve judgment until all the facts come out, but I did offer Corn this unsolicited advice:
@davidcorndc Pro Tip — don’t rely on WaPo 4 legal advice — and don’t tweet about it
— Legal Insurrection (@LegInsurrection) April 11, 2013
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Comments
Soon to be David Cornhole. He’ll make somebody a good wife.
The sweetest part of this whole thing is the fact the tape was a waste of pixels from the start. Corn hoped to cash in his 47% fame and spin a sow’s ear into scandal. HAHA he got his scandal 😛
If this holds up, it is very, very big time, and on its face appears to be a violation of law.
So what if it is? Who’s going to pursue it…..the media? LOL
Popcorn…!!!
I don’t want to see that video. Nor do I want to know why they’re called “progress KY”. There are just some gutters even I won’t slide into.
You ‘orrible…
I hate to say it, but conservatives are just SO naive – they think everyone else plays by Marquess of Queensberry rules like they do. When I was on the board of a local Tea Party group, I set up all the members with encrypted email accounts for discussing sensitive information. They refused to use it because it was “too complicated” (like entering a passphrase before sending or receiving email is complicated???). They preferred to used their Google accounts and Apple “cloud” instead. Then they wondered why the opposition always seemed to know what they were planning. Babes in Toyland…
1. Progress Kentucky Behind Mitch McConnell Campaign Recording
And who, pray, is behind Progress Kentucky? Inquiring minds want to know.
A reasonable starting point is the people who loudly declaim that they never heard of Progress Kentucky. Progress Kentucky, what’s that?
But I suspect there are others in the shadows who are not drawing attention to themselves.
2. That said, McConnell should win handily, unless the GOP is more screwed up than even I think it is.
3. That said, this incident illustrates how steadily and systematically the Left is pursuing power.
Two points, sadly.
1) Exactly who is going to pursue the prosecution? Yeah, there are state misdemeanor charges. Which will get unsupervised probation if the charges are not just dropped. The Federal charges [felony] will not be touched, because no US Attorney will file charges in the bugging of a Republican.
2)
Yeah, but that leaves McConnell as leader of the opposition in the Senate. A very mixed blessing.
Subotai Bahadur
Eavesdropping is a felony in KY.
And high-capacity magazines are illegal in DC.
“The only reason that I came forward with what I knew was I was trying to protect the Democratic party.”
***And I have NEVER worked with Mr. Progress KY before on any stage…***
They are SOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooooooo totally not connected…
HA!
Linked! That is a bombshell!
Having listened to the conversation, I’m surprised that it came from the hallway. I wonder if they just made this story up to protect themselves.
However, and I hate pointing this out, Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 526.020 says that conversations that can be heard through walls and heating systems aren’t protected.
If their story stands up, they aren’t guilty of anything except being arses.
The statute doesn’t say that, here’s the link, http://162.114.4.13/KRS/526-00/020.PDF. That’s an interpretation of the statute.
Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 526.010: It is a felony to overhear or record, through use of an electronic or mechanical device, a wire or oral communication without the consent of at least one party to that communication. Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 526.020.
Anyone who inadvertently hears a conversation transmitted through a wireless telephone on a radio receiver does not violate the eavesdropping statute, but if that same conversation is recorded or passed on to others without the consent of a party to the original conversation, a violation occurs. Ky. Att’y Gen. Op. 84-310 (1984).
Divulging information obtained through illegal eavesdropping is a separate crime, punishable as a misdemeanor. Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 526.060.
Is this one of the myriad Soros propaganda outlets?
On Megan Kelly, the Democrat was supposing they recorded though a vent, iirc. She had a rep from the McConnell team that was actually on the recording, saying the FBI was getting security tapes of the hallways, so they’d have clear evidence of these guys being there. He said they (FBI) might have something to announce soon, and that they (McConnell team) would cooperate in full prosecution of the law.
Seems clear prosecution would include the eavesdroppers AND those that published the recording, since it appears obvious there was no permission, and the discussion was behind closed doors. It seems doubtful the “spies” should have even been in the building at all. If they went with intent to infiltrate and spy, that would surely enhance the charges?
There’s the question I’ve been asking: what were Shawn Reilly and Curtis Morrison doing in the building?
It was an ‘open house’, but does the opening of a new Republican county office generally extend to inviting the folks from “Progress Kentucky”? As commenter caseym says elsewhere in this discussion, it’s a big building, but what were Reilly and Morrison doing within a hundred yards of the open house in the first place?
And why weren’t they recognized at the first moment they arrived and asked to leave?
Defending McConnell is a tough call. Obviously the people who did this need to go to jail. On the other hand, I can’t say that keeping this guy in the Senate is high on my priority list.
McConnell does not need defending, at least no more than any victim of a crime needs defending. This is about punishing the guilty and deterring future crimes.
Judging who deserves the protections afforded by existing statutes, based upon that persons perceived political value, is base, un American, and decidedly unconservative.
Huh? Did McConnell do something wrong? Sounds like you’re already responding to MSM spin.
Let’s send Corn to Saudi Arabia for some “real” justice.
To those asking about the name “Progress Kentucky”, just remember that the term “Progressive” is a euphemism for “Communist”. Thus, “Progress Kentucky” translates as “Communist Kentucky”, or simply “Kentucky Communists”.
Merriam-Webster:
If loitering outside a window is eavesdropping then so is listening at a key hole.
Green acres is the place to be
Farm living is the life for me
Land spreading out so far & wide
You can keep Louisville but give me the countryside.
All meetings should be in an undisclosed open field – especially in tornado season.
There – I have solved it.
The WaPo calls this a “hallway conversation” on the front page blurb. No doubt just and editing oversight. The story suggests it was done through the door or wall, but the blurb makes it sound like everyone was in the hallway.
Can someone tell me
1)WHY these people were in the headquarters of McConnell’s campaign
2)HOW they knew where the meeting was being held
and
3)WHY no one stopped them from recording?
1) It’s a big building with other offices.
2) There was an open house just beforehand.
3) No one expects the Spanish Inquisition.
The prof wrote, “If this holds up, it is very, very big time, and on its face appears to be a violation of law.”
But, but, but this administration has voided all respect for the rule of law so not much will come of this except maybe for the demise of another Senate seat for the GOP…
Are they really going to run ads against McConnell saying “he tried to dig up dirt against possible opponents, and we have the secretly recorded dirt to prove it!”?
Frankly these Kentucky Progressive PAC guys are so out there that it would be a good idea to fund them.
They spied on Palin. Now they are spying on McConnell. I know why they didn’t like Palin, but what threat does McConnell pose to their interests?
The fact that Mother Jones doctored the transcript of the tape betrays a wee tad o’ nervousness on their part, it would seem…
David Corn has a problem hiding behind his first amendment rights. Mother Jones was set up under a 501(c)(3) nonprofit called the Foundation for National Progress – and there are rules.
Further, we have a Mother Jones story about the “the kind of meeting that conspiratorial conservative bloggers dream about.” Illegally attending this meeting (which represents a potential coup, a usurping of federal power) were two 501(c)(3) organizations involved in the McConnell brouhaha – Mother Jones and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
I saw this article through a mention from Instapundit. It’s shows as ” Wow, bombshell in McConnell bugging case. Progress Kentucky behind the recording?”
It would only be a bombshell if the GOP hadn’t long ago self-neutered themselves and become wholly dependent on getting the right prosecutor or judge assigned to the case. Once you earn a reputation as being weak and harmless nobody need respect the rules of the game. It’s delicious irony that it is McConnell a regular RINO sell-out being targeted. He may not be the worst RINO, but he’s done little to resist The Left when it’s counted.
Why should I worry about the propriety of how McConnell is treated by The Left when he and his clown car full of RINOs routinely ignore what The Left is doing to me and my rights? He got in bed with dogs and he’s complaining about the fleas.
Most of that was blithering nonsense.
[…] stated at Legal Insurrection, “Mother Jones, who obtained and disseminated the tape as an exclusive, and David Corn […]