NC Dem Senate Candidate Cal Cunningham’s ‘sexting’ scandal turning into possible ‘sex’ scandal
“Texts obtained by WRAL and verified by The Associated Press suggest that North Carolina’s Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate had a sexual relationship with a woman who is not his wife….”
Control of the Senate may turn on the outcome in North Carolina, where Democrats have poured tens of millions of dollars into backing Cal Cunningham against incumbent Republican Thom Tillis.
The race was a toss up, with Cunningham possibly slightly ahead, until a ‘sexting’ scandal broke involving Cunningham having romantic text exchanges with a woman in California, Arlene Guzman Todd, who was not his wife. Cunningham expressed regret and urged the media to give his family privacy. The story was first reported by Patrick Howley of National File.
Democrats stood by their sexting man.
But that may not last. There were rumors of Cunningham’s involvement with a second woman, and now more than sexting with Guzman.
Now the Associate Press is reporting that the sexting with that second woman reflects a possible physical relationship:
A week ago, a conservative website, NationalFile.com, published text messages between Cunningham and Arlene Guzman Todd, a public relations strategist from California, that suggested a personal relationship.
The newly obtained texts provide both a more specific timeline about their relationship, which shows it was recent, as well as details that describe intimate encounters — not simply a digital exchange.
The text messages were not obtained from Guzman Todd. But the AP contacted her to confirm their authenticity. In a series of interviews late Monday as well as in the text messages, Guzman Todd described two in-person encounters with Cunningham, one in March in Los Angeles that she said did not include intimate contact and a second in July in North Carolina, where she said they were intimate.
In the text messages to her friend, Guzman Todd told her she was intimate with Cunningham in his home, which she later characterized as “weird.”
In another exchange, Guzman Todd indicated that she was frustrated by the limited attention that he showed her.
“I’m just going to send to his opponent his naked photos,” Guzman Todd wrote. “That will teach him.”
“You don’t deserve me Cal,” she said in a separate text message. She added in another, “He knows (that I) can tank his campaign.”
In a statement, Guzman Todd apologized for the “pain and embarrassment, and disrespect I’ve caused to my immediate family, loved ones, and everyone affected by this situation.”
“A few months back, I displayed a lapse in judgment by engaging in a relationship with Cal Cunningham during a period of marital separation,” Guzman Todd said. “The relationship spanned several months and consisted primarily of a series of text exchanges and an in-person encounter.” She did not elaborate, but her text messages described the intimacy.
Cunningham’s campaign declined to comment on the newly disclosed texts or on Guzman’s statement.
WRAL.com reports:
Texts obtained by WRAL and verified by The Associated Press suggest that North Carolina’s Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate had a sexual relationship with a woman who is not his wife….
“I’m sad for his wife and his teenage children,” Tillis told WRAL News on Tuesday. “Cal Cunningham owes everybody an explanation for two revelations over the past week. I think North Carolinians deserve it. He needs to stop canceling media events and campaign events and go before the people of North Carolina and give us all a thorough explanation.
Guzman Todd and Cunningham are both married. Some of the texts from Guzman Todd include disparaging comments about Cunningham’s wife and her own husband.
If it turns out that Cunningham has a ‘sex’ not merely a ‘sexting’ scandal, will Democrats stand by him? Do Democrats have a choice at this point, when their plans to create two new states, pack the Supreme Court, and eliminate the filibuster turn on their winning the North Carolina Senate seat? Yes, of course they have a choice, and we know what that choice will be.
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Rut roh….
The Kamala-Biden disease takes down another one!
When it comes to sex, even really smart people do stupid things, I do not think Cunningham is very smart.
The local news has also suggested the possibility of another woman, not named Guzman Todd. Cunningham cancelled a town hall, last night, at the last minute. He looks like he will find out what real BBQ is soon
I will say it again: this will not amount to much. Too many female voters (single and married) are convinced we are living in “The Handmaidens Tale” and will vote the straight Communist Party ticket in order to screw the hated Christianist Deplorables in Jesusland.
Not if he is brought up on charges.
I wouldn’t count on that. Communist privilege.
As a sign of the utter state of collapse of justice, consider the fact that a grand jury indicted the McCloskeys today.
Given that he is a Democrat, as long as the species was human and the circumstances were not forcible, I don’t think any part of his constituency gives a flying.
But I liked this part:
“In the text messages to her friend, Guzman Todd told her she was intimate with Cunningham in his home, which she later characterized as “weird.”
Can’t help but wonder if she means his home, or their intimacy?
http://ace.mu.nu/archives/390684.php
The McCloskeys are also being indicted for the tampering with evidence that prosecutors have already admitted to.
It’s an old saying, a prosecutor has the power to get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich.
Charges of what? Adultery is not a crime.
Military Charges.
It is under the UCMJ
Slim possibility, although alienation of affection is still illegal in North Carolina.
Various reports have this clone in Reserve as a JAG. That would make him an officer. The first woman named is married. Another report is that her husband is enlisted. Even in the Reserve component, officers sniffing around enlisted quarters is a Very Bad Thing, and, I gather, actionable.
Anybody know if these two facts are correct?
I have a friend in a Guard unit who got his company earlier than expected because his actual got a corporal pregnant. Big trouble.
I am not convinced a reserve member conduct outside periods of duty would fall under UCMJ. Maybe though. If so likely it would be a General Officer Letter of Reprimand placed in the ‘open’ file; meaning it would be viable by promotion boards.
Following that would be his performance evaluation. Lots of nasty phrases ‘displayed zero concern for welfare of fellow Soldiers’; ‘frequently abuses his position for personal satisfaction’; spectacular failure to live the Army values’.
That’s if they wanted to simply kill his career and let him resign. If not they could charge as well, no double jeopardy, the others are administrative actions.
All conduct, on or off duty, can “reflect discredit upon the service” or be “conduct unbecoming an officer”.
Also just for added information, although it happen very rarely, us retired types can also be brought up on charges for offenses committed after retirement.
gospace,
For active duty absolutely. For any reserve member on AD orders absolutely. For any reserve member during a paid training period absolutely.
A reserve member on a random Tuesday when not on orders? No, probably not. Maybe but, maybe not.
Only retired personnel who receive retirement pay could conceivably be charged under UCMJ. The ruling from a couple of years ago was for a Navy retiree who was still in the ‘Fleet Reserve’ category. The court held that his acceptance of retirement pay was enough of a nexus to bring him under UCMJ.
To answer the question ‘who is retired but doesn’t draw retirement pay?’ Disability retiree who waive retirement pay in order to draw VA instead. My VA disability is slightly more than my normal retirement amount and is not taxable.
No UCMJ for me thanks very much.
Further to CommoChief’s comment, a drill weekend for a reservist consists of four, four hour training periods. four hours on Saturday morning, four hours Saturday afternoon, then the same on Sunday.
A reservist would only be subject to prosecution under the UCMJ during a drill weekend if he/she committed a crime while being paid to drill.
So if Ms. Gutzman-Todd dropped by the base legal building between eight and noon or one to five when good ol’ LCOL Cal Cunningham was supposed to be drilling for the Army, and they found an empty office and Cal decided to do a little freelance drilling w/Mx. Gutzman-Todd on the sofa, then he’d be subject to prosecution for adultery under the UCMJ.
But if Cal and Arlene (I think that’s her name) can hold off until Cal is between paid drill periods, or wait until he’s done with the afternoon drill period, then he’s not under the jurisdiction of the UCMJ.
Such as the mysteries of the naval/military legal system, a reservist is legally “in the line of duty” from the moment they leave home for the drill weekend until they return home at the endo of it.
In my case before I retired I would drive to JRB Fort Worth as it was known then on Friday evening, check into the BOQ, then check out and return home following the final drill period.
From the time I crossed the threshold of my house to go to drill until I crossed it again on Sunday evening I was in the line of duty. Which means if I robbed a liquor store on my way home after drilling on Sunday and I got shot by the clerk I’d be in the line of duty. Which means I’d be entitled to Navy medical care. But I couldn’t be prosecuted under the UCMJ.
So if Cal and Arlene are having a romp at her place on Saturday night, with half the drill weekend left to go, and the two middle-aged adulterers get too carried away and he suffers a penile fracture the base hospital would have to admit him for treatment.
But he’d be subject to no criminal prosecution for adultery.
Of course, during the two week active duty training period Cal would be subject to the UCMJ 24 hours a day as long as he was on active duty. Which also means if someone violates the UCMJ while on active duty but the violation isn’t discovered until months later, that individual can be (and usually is) recalled to active duty for the court martial.
When I was drilling in San Diego we had an enlisted Sailor who performed his ADT at the base in Naples, Italy. La Cosa Nostra recruited him and with his help they robbed the base exchange of electronics mostly. His cut was about $35k. He had been raised by a single mom, so when he got back he dropped his entire cut on the kitchen table and said, “Don’t ask any questions.”
Moms thinks the Navy paid him all that money for two weeks of active duty. The Sailor is all of 18. Moms is in her mid-30s and still young enough to join the reserves. And she wants to get paid! So she keeps pestering the reserve recruiter, and in her enthusiasm keeps insisting her son made $35k during a single two week ADT period. It was entirely because of moms constantly badgering people that the Navy finally put two and two together and realized junior was in on the robbery in Naples.
Since junior gave all the money to moms the judge considered that a mitigating factor when sentencing junior to prison. I knew the JAG who prosecuted that Sailor. He was forced to inform the mother that if she hadn’t repeatedly dropped the dime on her kid they never would have caught him.
R.e. retirees, I can confirm that if retired Sailors commit crimes on a Navy base they can be recalled to active duty. When I serving aboard the naval base in Yokosuka Japan someone robbed the enlisted club. That place was named Club Alliance because there was a public entrance and Japanese girls could get in without going through security at the gate. Since the girls usually showed up with a toothbrush and a change of underwear in their purses on Friday and Saturday nights that place did killer business with the Sailors over the weekend.
One Monday the base duty officer was doing the required audit and discovered the safe in the cash cage was empty. Someone had robbed the place of over $105k. It turns out that two retired Chiefs who worked for Morale, Welfare, and Recreation on base had committed the crime. Then fled to the Philippines.
You can do a lot of living with $105k in the P.I. Not these two, though. Much to their surprise within days they were back in Japan, and back in uniform, for the court martial.
Arminius,
Nice write up and explanation about the differences between active and reserve component.
Once again though, retirees can only be changed for a post retirement offense under UCMJ if they meet the nexus test which the CT of Military Appeals has held to be receiving retired pay.
Thus if a retiree does not accept retirement pay they don’t meet the test and can’t be changed under UCMJ. The only sub population of retirees carved out would be disability retirees who waive DoD retirement payments to receive VA disability instead.
I am sure there is at least one person who has refused military retirement payments for other reasons but I have never heard of one. Maybe someone trying to avoid alimony out of spite?
I knew one First Class Petty Officer who may have refused retirement pay. He made it to 20 but he never made Chief. He was a decent petty officer but he had his issues. So he decided to retire at 20 (not sure if he had a choice) and when he found out what his retirement pay was going to be he blew up. He considered it an insult.
It turns out his father-in-law owned his own company and I believe the guy went to work for him. If he made enough on the outside he may have refused the pay just because the Navy offended him.
I wasn’t of course disputing the fact that a retiree has to receive retirement pay from a armed service to be subject to the UCMJ. On the other hand I don’t know anybody who has refused to accept retirement pay due to concerns about the UCMJ. Most retirees do subject themselves to the UCMJ. It isn’t a concern for any of them, though, myself included. You’d really have to go out of your way to subject yourself to it, like those two retired Chiefs who robbed the Yokosuka E-club. And considering how stunned they were to find themselves going to court martial the UCMJ hadn’t been a concern for them although theirs was the very rare case it should have been.
The closest active duty base near me is Fort Hood. That’s two and a half hours away from central Dallas. I don’t plan on spending much if any time there. Why would I go there? Make a five hour round trip and spend $15 on gas just to get tax-free liquor from the package store?
I’ll take the retirement pay safe in the knowledge I’ll spend the rest of my life at least 160 miles away from the nearest possible UCMJ violation.
I wasn’t clear. I meant to say that the vast majority of retirees do accept retired pay from one of armed forces, and thus POTENTIALLY subject themselves to prosecution under the UCMJ.
But in reality it’s difficult to put yourself in a position where that would actually happen. You’d have to work at it.
Reservists have an easier time falling afoul of the UCMJ. It’s still not an easy thing to accomplish, though. Candidate Cal just might have made the cut, though.
Yeah, other than those declining retirement in order to receive VA instead which is a condition for receiving VA, I am hard pressed to understand why anyone would. As.you say no one would do so to avoid UCMJ, financially it doesn’t make sense.
I had one Staff Sergeant working for me who hated his ex and was going to simply decline the retirement out of spite. No retirement means no claim by the ex. I managed to talk him out of it. His ex was probably the most vile person I ever encountered so I saw his point but …
She was a ‘count the months till ten years pass’ and I can claim part of his retirement as a marital asset type. She wouldn’t/didn’t work, always creating drama, treated him and their kids like crap.
1) Marital infidelity by a male Democrat is considered by them to be proof of virility.
2) An officer committing adultery with the wife of an enlisted man is not considered really actionable. Nor is any other act barred by military regulation if the officer committing the violation is related to a Democrat. See Hunter Biden.
3) The media will do their best to cover it up.
Subotai Bahadur
Wrong on #2, but I get your drift on Biden. Cal Cunningham ain’t Hunter Biden and he can’t mess with enlisted men’s wives.
If you are a Dem, this is bad. Very bad. Liberal local tv station WRAL even admitted the texts indicated, let me put this kindly, that Cal fornicated in the marital bed at CAL’S House. Tarheel Kate can back me up on this: WRAL is unashamedly Liberal in its bias. I swear, the local anchor looked like he had been crying for 45 minutes until he could compose himself enough to report on the monkey biz. (Ironically, the anchor had to do a public mea culpa as he was caught enjoying some horizontal refreshment with someone other than his wife.)
I fully expect Lt. Col. Cal to meet with the good and large right Reverend Barbour to publicly seek his forgiveness.
Oh, one more thing. The story about the second woman are gaining traction as well. Gotta run. Popcorn popper is almost finished.
Is this a surprise to anyone?
I thought that a digital exchange was a form of intimate encounter.
If your name is Joe Biden.
That’s probably the only thing digital means to Joe.
If the dems are going to pack the court then Trump should do it while he has the chance.
For all my regrets and disappointments, I thank my lucky stars that I am very happy with the simple things in life.
No mistresses or such for me. To sacrifice one’s family for that? No, thank you.
Cal Cunningham sounds like a porn star name
Bong chicky bong bong…
Shot, meet chaser:
https://wr.al/1J4v1
Dear aspiring politicians,
It is 2020 and the digital age. If you are fooling around or have fooled around and there is a digital bread crumb trail, someone will find it. Don’t bother to run for office. It will be found, it will be shared. Gone are the days where it’s a PI taking grainy long lens shots. Your fancy iPhone has all that’s needed to show off your fun. Do your families and your neighbors a favor and either keep it zipped or don’t run
Probably should have put a /s in there.
Subotai Bahadur