Posted on 11/05/2007 10:58:16 AM PST by jaybeegee
From NBC's Kelly O'Donnell and Mark Murray
A longtime friend and campaign fundraiser for Fred Thompson, Philip J. Martin, has resigned his role in Thompson's campaign.
The Washington Post reported over the weekend Martin had drug-related convictions dating back to the 1970s, and more recently Martin has had issues with the IRS including tax liens.
Martin had been providing use of his aircraft for Thompson to travel, and advisers tell NBC News that Thompson is not traveling on that aircraft today.
The campaign has issued this statement form Martin: "I have decided to resign my position as Chair of 'First Day Founders' of 'The Friends of Fred Thompson.' The focus of this campaign should be on Fred Thompson's positions on the issues and his outstanding leadership ability, not on mistakes I made some 24 years ago. I deeply regret any embarrassment this has caused."
----end excerpt----
I'm glad this is being resolved this quickly. The reports of Martin's decades-old convictions first surfaced Saturday night, and now by lunch on Monday the issue has been put to bed. I think the Thompson campaign comes out of this looking pretty good and Senator Thompson didn't (at least publicly) "throw his friend under the bus." If this is any indication of how scandal would be handled in a Fred Thompson administration, I may vote twice!
(Excerpt) Read more at firstread.msnbc.msn.com ...
Yep... and Brent Wilkes was just convicted moments ago for bribing Cunningham
Wilkes also bundled more than $100,000 for George Bush and a slew of other Republicans. Will you smear all of them, or just Hunter?
My guess is Mitt’s campaign.
It was those guys who had put up the phoney Fred website.
Possibly. Double-edged sword there. If it is found out it came from Mitts camp, he’s done.
Nope...just pointing out the hypocrisy of the Hunter supporters on this matter who want to smear Fred because of this association. Maybe they should take Hunter’s own advice (in reference to Cunningham) to heart and “look beyond” the crimes...especially in this case, considering the man has paid his debt to society. But they won’t.
If you are a Democrat, you MUST be DIRTY!! It’s the LAW of the land! Sandy Burglar is a HERO in Clintonville!
Recycling last month’s smears? They have as much traction as your candidate.
Smears? ROFL. Are there any errors there? Didn’t think so.
And it is not last month’s, toots. Its from 1995 to 2003, the years when Fred actually had a record...the same one his groupies and the candidate himself hold up as stellar.
Fortunately, Duncan Hunter is more interested in saving the country than the republican party.
Oh and FYI, Hunter supported NCLB in 2001, so you can't bash Fred for that.
Thompson: Total Class in his response...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~snip~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Thompson responded the story following his appearance on Meet the Press this morning, saying Martin never told him about his criminal past and wish he had known about it earlier.
He thought it was over and done with and forgotten about I am sure, Thompson said. But of course nothing is ever over and done with and forgotten about in this business.
Martin serves as one of Thompsons four campaign co-chairman and also owns a jet which the presidential candidate frequently flies aboard. The Post reports this morning that Martin was convicted of selling 11 pounds of marijuana in 1979 and pleaded no contest to 1983 charges of cocaine-trafficking and conspiracy.
Thompson says he will discuss the news with Martin before making a final decision regarding his future role in the campaign.
He is my friend and he is gonna remain my friend, Thompson said. Now what I do about it after I talk to him with regard to the future, we will just have to see (he) is now on the front page of the Washington Post.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~snip~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
... unlike Mittster, who couldn’t have thrown Craig
under the bus any faster, condemned him more, or
backed over him more times... demonstrating how he
treats friends once they don’t serve a purpose any
more. In contrast, Fred knows how to be a friend -
despite behavior he disagreed with. The definition
of a friend and of class.
Add up those few million over the years and you will get more money wasted on boondoggle education than has been wisely spent on VTOL for the military. You might want to ask freddy why he supports the work of Benjamin Hooks. The NAACP clown that fought Clarence Thomas’ nomination, and called Thomas Sowell an ‘uncle Tom’. BTW, the VTOL program will continue. Mark my words.
To justify his overdrafts at the House Bank, Hunter pointed to a scholarship fund he had set up in 1985 to aid needy district students. Hunter said the fund, to which he has donated more than $12,000, was his way of paying for congressional perks, including the House Banks de facto overdraft protection.The scholarship fund payments brought him into moral balance on the issue, Hunter said at the time.
The rationale was widely regarded as imaginative and unconvincing.
Yeah...I know he was eventually cleared...but there shouldn't have been 399 overdrafts to begin with and he admitted he wrote the checks knowing the money wasn't there. How can anyone justify that? Not with the lame excuses he gave. Moral balance indeed. Ha!
Well, its nice that Hunter donated 12K of HIS money to scholarship funds. But that $835K of mine and your money for a racist POS to carry on his agenda at a Tennessee college really takes the cake.
And 30 million for liberal Howard Baker? I know he was Fred’s mentor an all. But cmon!
Well said pissant
How much fun could they be having?
Kerik.
Pedophile priest.
Need I go on?
Unfortunately, his supporters on this site have no interest in the country OR the party, only making disgusting personal attacks.
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