Christine O'Donnell: "No Truth" to Criminal Allegations
Delaware Republican Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell is rebuffing allegations that she illegally used more than $20,000 in campaign funds for personal expenses.
Speaking to reporters Monday night, Politico reports, O'Donnell said there is "no truth" to the accusations, leveled against her by the group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW).
"We have not, I personally have not misused the campaign funds," O'Donnell said.
CREW filed a pair of complaints against O'Donnell yesterday, requesting the U.S. Attorney's office in Delaware open a criminal investigation and asking the Federal Election Commission to audit O'Donnell's campaign expenses.
"Christine O'Donnell is clearly a criminal, and like any crook she should be prosecuted," CREW Executive Director Melanie Sloan said in a statement. "Ms. O'Donnell has spent years embezzling money from her campaign to cover her personal expenses."
CREW said O'Donnell's former aide David Keegan has signed an affidavit stating O'Donnell, who has run for Senate three times, paid her rent for two months out of campaign funds in 2009 and also used campaign funds for meals and gas. The group is also accusing O'Donnell of lying about the expenditures and committing tax evasion by not reporting the money as income.
O'Donnnell in turn accused CREW of being a "liberal organization" working to defeat her, according to reports.
"The momentum surrounding this campaign is obvious, that's why they're creating baseless accusations," she said.
O'Donnell's campaign manager Matt Moran told CNN that he is confident the allegations will be "dismissed as frivolous."
He added, "And for the charges that need to be articulated fully, we have some lawyers that will be looking at that and addressing those concerns."
While much of the attention surrounding O'Donnell's campaign has focused on the odd remarks she made in the past, such as saying she "dabbled into witchcraft," her opponents -- both the Republicans who supported her primary challenger Rep. Mike Castle and now Democrats -- have zeroed in on her financial problems. The Democratic Party yesterday released an ad that says "O'Donnell spends money she doesn't have. Hired employees she didn't pay. Stiffed businesses. Didn't pay her taxes."
During the primary campaign, O'Donnell's former campaign manager Kristin Murray recorded a robocall accusing O'Donnell of the same misconduct that CREW is now accusing her of: "As O'Donnell's manager, I found out that she was living on campaign donations -- using them for rent and personal expenses, while leaving her workers unpaid and piling up thousands in debt," Murray says in the recording.
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