Cooked In Utah
Talk about conflating politics with money.
In testimony this week, a political consultant suing controversial Rep. Merrill Cook, R-Utah, over campaign-season loans said Cook griped about how much it cost to get elected versus the financial boon of being on Capitol Hill.
Testifying in the $200,000 Utah civil suit, Kevin Walthers, who helped manage Cook's victorious 1996 campaign, said Cook told him shortly after the election that, "I've wasted the family fortune running for office. It's really not worth it."
Apparently, the congressman complained the money spent - his own and others' - wasn't worth the price of admission.
The Salt Lake City civil trial is the latest chapter in the political life of Cook, who owns an explosives business and is known for past explosions of his own, including the firing of his top staffers after being re-elected in 1998; rambling press conferences; allegations of tape-recorded phone sex; profane outbursts in front of fellow Republicans; and whispers about his mental stability.
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Throw in Cook's ill-fated attempt ten years ago to ditch the GOP and start a new party, and these latter-day foibles are leaving him with little political cover.
"He shows a history of having a temper that causes him to make ... bold moves. Be it bolting a party, be it firing his entire staff, be it spending his own money on campaigns," Todd Taylor, executive director of the state's Democratic party, told CBSNews.com this week.
Taylor adds that Cook's troubles - combined with the emergence of a strong challenger - have gotten the attention of the national Democratic party, which is targeting Cook's seat for takeover. Democrat Jim Matheson, an energy consultant and son of former two-term Gov. Scott Matheson, has a wide lead over Cook in state polls.
On its own, Matheson's challenge would be formidable enough, state party officials from both sides of the aisl say, but the trial has only heightened Cook's vulnerability.
And now, details from the trial also seem to show that Cook is not at all happy with his own job. Meeting with Cook shortly after the 1996 election - Cook's first victory in seven tries - Walthers said he told Cook he owed $173,000 to Utah political consultant R.T. Nielson. Nielson claims Cook owes him $193,992, which includes campaign funds and interest. The case is being heard in Utah by 3rd District Judge Sandra Peuler.
During the election, Cook spend a whopping $866,000 out of his own pocket to finance his campaign. But he spent other people's money, as well, witnesses said, on the promise of paying back campaign loans.
In one post-campaign meeting, Walthers testified that Cook offered to pay Nielson $40,000. At the same time, Walthers told the judge that Cook admitted that figure was nowhere near enough.
"I know that amount is way too low. I know I owe you a lot more than that," Walthers recalled Cook saying.
In cross-examination, Cook's attorney said Nielson inflated billings for everything from photocopies to fruit pies. For example, evidence showed Cook was billed $675 for ice cream, $685 for fruit pies and $812 for hot dogs and condiments for the Republican convention. But Nielson could only show receipts for $297, $413 and $450, respectively. Other billing invoices had similar problems, defense lawyers said.
Incidentally, Cook, who is running for re-election in a field thick with challengers, has again infused his campaign with considerable personal money.
Not that there's any guarantee that Cook will even survive the GOP primary. Scott Simpson, executive directive of the Utah GOP told CBSNews.com this week that Cook is by no means a sure candidate.
State Republicans are especially incensed over a profanity-laced tirade Cook unleased on party officials.
"He just kind of lost control of his vocabulary," Simpson said.
Asked if the GOP is supporting Cook, Simpson would only say the party "will ensure a fair process."
In public appearances, Cook's diffident, and slightly loony, personality quirks have rarely been on display. He maintains he's the only candidate who can take on and beat his presumed Democratic rival and professes a deep love for his role on Capitol Hill. But mounting allegations of misconduct behind close doors may have caught up with him.
"It seems like there's one new story after another," says Simpson.