Bluestem's post about the political event Mark Buesgens attend in Wright County prior to his arrest has been cited by Politics In Minnesota, City Pages Blotter, and the Minnesota Independent.
Andy Birkey's article in the latter,Buesgens attended event as Emmer representative on day of DWI arrest reports:
Rep. Mark Buesgens, who was arrested Saturday on suspicion of driving while intoxicated, has worked for Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer, as past campaign manager and more recently as campaign chair. But while Emmer representatives told the Star Tribune Monday that Buesgens left the campaign on Sept. 12, the Minnesota Independent has learned that Buesgens spoke at a tea party event as a representative of the Emmer campaign the same day he was arrested. He then attended an event that night sponsored by Republicans in Wright County.
Buesgens was scheduled to speak at the We the People rally hosted by the Forest Lake Tea Party on Saturday, representing the Emmer campaign. The invitation for the Sept. 18 event (PDF) lists Buesgens as “Tom Emmer’s Campaign Chairman. A representative of the Forest Lake Tea Party confirmed to the Minnesota Independent that Buesgens attended and spoke at the event, and that he did so representing the Emmer campaign as campaign chairman.
I wonder if that's what Buesgens was doing at the Wright County event. While the Meeker County Republican BPOU listed him as a speaker, the Wright County Republicans didn't. Here's the listing from the Wright County GOP's Calendar:
| Calendar: | Wright GOP |
| Title: | Last BBQ of the Summer |
| When: | 18.09.2010 05:00 PM - 09:00 PM |
| Description: | You are invited to the LAST BBQ OF THE SUMMER Hangar Party - Meet & Greet Republicans Co-Sponsored by Wright County Republicans and CampAmericaGrassroots.com Saturday, Sept. 18th, 5-9PM Dick & Patty Borrell's Hangar 4859 US Hwy 12 SW Waverly, MN 55390 (One mile West of Waverly on South side of US 12) Admission is FREE to the public. We will be asking for donations to the candidates and free will offering to cover the food. We'll be serving brats & dogs with all the sides and a cash donation bar. Invited Candidates are: Governor - Tom Emmer Lt Gov - Annette Meeks Atty Gen - Chris Barden Auditor - Pat Anderson Sec of State - Dan "Doc" Severson Supreme Court - Greg Wersal US Dist 6 - Michele Bachmann Senate 19 - Amy Koch House 19A - Bruce Anderson House 19B - Joe McDonald Senate 18 - Scott Newman House 18A - Ron Shimanski House 18B - Dean Urdahl House 25A - Glenn Gruenhagen House 34A - Ernie Leidiger Plus 10th Judicial District Republican Endorsee (TBD) Candidate speeches begin at 7:30 PM. |
| Location: | 4859 US Hwy 12 SW Waverly, MN 55390 |
Was Buesgens at this function as an Emmer spokester? Yesterday, the Emmer campaign denied that Buesgens was still chair of his campaign committee. However, two pieces of evidence bear witness to the shakiness of that claim. First, as the City Pages blotter notes in Tom Emmer campaign alcohol problems keep getting worse:
According to documents on file with the state, he was Emmer's campaign chairman at the time of the arrest. But Team Emmer is insisting Buesgens was off the campaign payroll as of Sept. 12 -- before the arrest.
MNPublius notes in Busted: Emmer campaign caught lying (pt 3):
The Emmer campaign, instead of just telling the truth and admitting that its campaign chair made a mistake, fell back on its time-honored practice of trying to mislead Minnesotans. They claimed Buesgens was no longer the campaign chair, when in fact he had been attending functions as campaign chair just the day before.
When the news broke yesterday, Emmer sent a letter to the Campaign Finance and Disclosure Board asking that his registration be changed, and backdated by a week.
Did Emmer really think nobody would find out that he did this? He could have told the truth and admitted Rep Buesgens made a mistake, and that would have been the end. Instead, his first inclination was apparently to lie about it.
Go read both posts. Jeff Rosenberg is right: Emmer could have simply admitted Buesgens made a mistake and that would have been the end of this.
Besides that, apart from campaigning for Emmer there is little reason for Buesgens to be at these events, since they are definitely not within the district that he represents.
Posted by: Jennifer B. | Sep 22, 2010 at 10:23 AM