Bachmann staffer charged with terrorism in Uganda in 2006
An evangelical organizer for Michele Bachmann's presidential campaign spent more than a month in a Ugandan prison in 2006 after being arrested for possession of assault rifles and charged with terrorism, the Atlantic reports .
The man, Peter E. Waldron, was, as the Atlantic puts it, "the evangelical organizer who helped Michele Bachmann win the Ames Straw Poll in Iowa" last weekend. He also spent 37 days in the Luriza Prison outside of Kampala, Uganda in February 2006.
According to the Kampala Monitor, Waldron was charged with terrorism and the illegal possession of firearms. Ultimately, amid pressure from friends, evangelicals, family members, and possibly the Bush administration, the charges were dropped, and Waldron returned to the United States.
The Atlantic's Garance Franke-Ruta reports that Waldron's personal website - which is, as of this writing, listed as "Under Construction" -- said he was "falsely accused of being a spy by the Uganda government's secret police" in 2006.
Bachmann spokeswoman Alice Stewart told the Atlantic, of Waldron: "Michele's faith is an important part of her life and Peter did a tremendous job with our faith outreach in Iowa. We are fortunate to have him on our team and look forward to having him expanding his efforts in several states."
Waldron was described in the Kampala Monitor at the time as "an Information Technology consultant with the Ministry of Health in Kampala and a freelance journalist." Andrew Rice, a journalist who met him in Uganda in 2004 recalled on Wednesday that, "At different times in his career, he said, he had been a syndicated talk radio show host, a lobbyist and a Republican political consultant... [In 2004] he was in Uganda, trying to sell computer software to government ministries while preaching on the weekends."
Rice also notes that Waldron, during the course of their conversation, had strongly implied involvement with the CIA, "as he continues to do to this day."
The story of Waldron's travails in Uganda are reportedly the inspiration for a film, "The Ultimate Price: The Peter E. Waldron Story," the website for which is also currently listed as "Under Construction."
An apparent trailer for the movie, however, which is posted on YouTube, includes a description:
"Synopsis: Lebanon. Iraq. Syria. Afghanistan. Pakistan. Uganda. India. For over thirty years, his family never knew where he went -- never knew what he did. Based on a true story, Dr. Peter Waldron was on a mission. Was he a businessman, a preacher, a spy? Tortured and facing a firing squad, he never broke his oath of silence. What secret was worth the ultimate price?"
According to the Atlantic, Waldron says he has organized for the straw poll three times. On his website, he apparently also claims to have worked for the Reagan-Bush, Bush-Quayle, Bauer, McCain, and Bush-Cheney presidential campaigns.