The battle for Minnesota's Fighting First continues.
Local radio host's Hagedorn campaign bucks
Tuesday, the Mankato Free Press picked up the Minnesota Reformer story by Daniel Newhauser, GOP ad man, KTOE radio host has hidden connection to Hagedorn:
In appearances over the past year on a small AM radio station in Mankato, U.S. Rep. Jim Hagedorn discussed the federal response to COVID-19, impeachment hearings against President Donald Trump and of course, the Minnesota Vikings.
One thing he didn’t discuss, though, is that the news jockey throwing softballs his way is a paid vendor of Hagedorn’s campaign for reelection in the state’s 1st District, having been entrusted with turning hundreds of thousands of Hagedorn’s campaign dollars into digital ads and spots on local news stations, including KTOE, the one on which he interviews the congressman.
Hagedorn and the radio host, Al Travis Thielfoldt, who mans the “Al in the Afternoon” chat show on KTOE under the stage name Al Travis, have never disclosed on the air that they have a financial relationship, Thielfoldt confirmed in an interview.
Thielfoldt’s company, Innovative Marketing Techniques, was given $64,450 this election cycle from the Hagedorn campaign as of the end of July, and half a million dollars during the 2018 election cycle, according to Federal Election Commission records.
Failure to disclose the relationship is at the very least a breach of journalistic norms, which has raised the suspicions of media ethics experts and made at least one news employee at the station uneasy. . . .
Read the rest at the Free Press, or in Minnesota GOP political ad man’s side hustle as radio host could draw attention from regulators at the Minnesota Reformer.
Hagedorn deflects office spending questions with Feehan work doubts
The candidates debated on Sunday. Minnesota Public Radio's Hannah Yang reported in 1st District candidates Hagedorn, Feehan face off in debate:
Republican U.S. Rep. Jim Hagedorn and DFL challenger Dan Feehan outlined their differing views on health care, civil unrest in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd, and Minnesota's COVID-19 response in a debate Sunday.
This election to represent Minnesota's 1st District is a rematch of 2018, when Hagedorn narrowly defeated Feehan for the seat vacated by Democrat Tim Walz, who successfully ran for governor. The district spans east to west across southern Minnesota and includes cities such as Rochester, Mankato, New Ulm, Owatonna and Worthington.
Yang touched on a flash point at the article's close:
Hagedorn . . . was quick to level accusations at Feehan, alleging he was being paid to run for office by Democratic groups.
“Sir, I am an unemployed guy trying to earn the title of congressman here in this district — working hard, supported by an incredible wife who is allowing our family to go through this,” Feehan responded. “How dare you attack my integrity? Integrity is central to every single member of Congress, and you have shown absolutely none.”
The Mankato Free Press reported after the debate that Feehan's disclosure forms show $476,620 in earned income from 2017-2019, "but there is no indication from the income disclosure forms to suggest he was paid for anything other than work he did for those groups."
In the Mankato Free Press, Trey Mewes reported in Accusations fly at Feehan-Hagedorn debate:
Things came to a head at the end of the forum when Feehan brought up Hagedorn’s recent bulk mail scandal, where the congressman is alleged to have violated House ethics rules by paying close to $450,000 to companies with ties to his staffers to send out mail to constituents.
Hagedorn defended by saying he reported any potential violations as soon as he found out about them, but went further by accusing Feehan of potentially being paid to be a candidate. Hagedorn claimed Feehan has been paid $500,000 by organizations tied to Democratic operatives during the past two years to run for Congress rather than doing work for those organizations.
“You have to do a half-million dollars’ worth of work, and we’re talking about a two-year period,” Hagedorn said. “I’m very interested to see how you’re going to explain that you did a half-million dollars’ worth of work in two years, because if you didn’t, those are felonies. These are serious charges you’re going to have to deal with.”
Feehan responded by claiming Hagedorn is making up accusations, “things that are so untrue and so unfounded that they’re damaging to the integrity to the election.” Feehan said he was unemployed at the moment and supported by his wife, a local teacher, while running for office.
“How dare you attack my integrity?” Feehan said. “Integrity is essential to every single member of Congress and you have shown absolutely none.”
The forum broke down momentarily as the candidates sparred over potentially misusing funding, as Feehan demanded Hagedorn cite the sources behind his accusations and Hagedorn said his campaign found information in Feehan’s income disclosure forms.
“None of the words you’ve said tonight are true,” Feehan told Hagedorn.
Feehan’s income disclosure forms from 2017 to 2019 show he was paid $476,620 in earned income over that period from various companies and nonprofits, but there is no indication from the income disclosure forms to suggest he was paid for anything other than work he did for those groups.
In the Minnesota Reformer, Newhauser has more in In debate, Feehan questions Rep. Jim Hagedorn’s integrity; Hagedorn punches back.
KEYC reported Hagedorn claims Feehan was paid to run for Congress by Democratic groups (video clip) and FACT CHECK: Feehan was paid for work at nonprofits from 2017-2019.
KEYC reports in an update that Hagedorn has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission. Here's an explanation of the process on the FEC site.
But the Minnesota Reformer has more, including an depth look at the organizations for which Feehan worked.
At the Minnesota Reformer Monday, Daniel Newhauser reported in National security think tank responds to Hagedorn allegation: “Doesn’t hold much weight”:
A national security think tank, an educational reform outfit and a group that works with veterans interested in getting into politics pushed back Monday against murky charges of corruption leveled by U.S. Rep. Jim Hagedorn in a Sunday night candidate debate against his DFL challenger Dan Feehan.
Hagedorn tried to one-up Feehan’s own accusations of corruption by leveling some of his own: That “Democrat” groups had given Feehan phony jobs to help him run for Congress. The groups — which are well known in Washington — responded that they are not progressive front organizations, and that Feehan did real work for them.
A spokesman for Feehan said the work was above board.
“As Dan said during the debate, these baseless and slanderous accusations are a desperate attempt to distract from the ethics scandal engulfing the Congressman’s office,” said Ben Reimler, spokesman for Feehan’s campaign.
He’s referring to questionable spending by Hagedorn’s congressional office, which used $450,000 of taxpayer money on positive mailers about Hagedorn. As the Reformer reported, the money went to companies owned by a member of his staff and the brother of his chief of staff.
Hagedorn shot back during the Sunday night debate, questioning the work Feehan did for three organizations: Leadership for Educational Equity, the New Politics Leadership Academy and the Center for New American Security.
Hagedorn implied the groups sought to financially prop up a Democratic candidate so he could focus on knocking off Hagedorn, a vulnerable first-term Republican, who beat Feehan in 2018 by a narrow margin.
Hagedorn has yet to substantiate the allegations, and an email to his campaign spokeswoman and call to his campaign director asking for specifics were not returned.
The campaign released a spreadsheet showing payments that Feehan had self-reported on his annual financial disclosure forms showing he was paid about $473,000 over a three year span from 2017-2019, mostly from the three above-mentioned groups.
(Feehan’s campaign says it was actually less than that — his 2019 financial disclosure shows he made $120,000 that year and the previous year from Leadership for Educational Equity. That is a mistake, according to the campaign. He was only paid by that group in 2019, and they’ve filed an amended disclosure reflecting that he received no compensation from the group in 2018.)
Spokesmen for three groups Hagedorn attacked said that Feehan did perform work at the intersection of veterans and education policy, a theme that has been a cornerstone of his campaign as an Army veteran and middle school teacher.
Cole Stevens, spokesman for the Center for a New American Security, said Feehan was a senior adjunct fellow at the think tank, which focuses on national security and defense policy research. Feehan is a veteran of the U.S. Army and was the former principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for readiness in the administration of former President Barack Obama.
Stevens was indignant about Hagedorn implying the center is a Democratic shill group. The group’s board of directors includes Dick Armitage, who was a deputy secretary of state in the administration of former President George W. Bush; party-switching Sen. Joe Lieberman, who endorsed Republican John McCain for president; and, Rupert Murdoch’s son James Murdoch.
“Our CEO is Richard Fontaine. He’s a lifelong Republican. He was McCain’s foreign policy advisor. So that criticism doesn’t hold much weight,” Stevens said. “We’re a four-star rated charity. We’re very transparent about what we do, and we make sure the payments are tied to the research we’re doing.”
Leadership for Educational Equity is a nonprofit that bills itself as a group that inspires Teach for America alums to get civically involved. The group’s spokesman, Jason Llorenz, said in an emailed statement that Feehan, who taught in Chicago and Gary, Ind. for Teach for America, worked as a consultant for the group.
“(Feehan) played a key role in building LEE’s engagement and education programs to inspire LEE members who have served in the Armed Forces to further their service as civic leaders, as well as designing an educational fellowship program engaging LEE members with politics in their communities,” Llorenz said.
Feehan’s work for the New Politics Leadership Academy was along the same lines, according to the group’s spokesman, Gabriel Ramos. The nonprofit teaches military veterans how to get involved in politics. It often recruits losing Democratic candidates, paying them a stipend to reflect on their race and teach lessons to the next generation of candidates. Hagedorn’s colleague, GOP Rep. Mike Gallagher, has in the past spoken to alumni of the group, however.
“As a fellow, (Feehan) worked on a number of projects related to NPLA’s educational mission — including a research project that provided NPLA with quantitative research about the rural-urban divide,” Ramos said. “Throughout his fellowship, (Feehan) also served as co-facilitator for NPLA Foundations programming geared towards military veterans and other service alumni who are considering running for office or becoming more actively engaged in politics more broadly.”
Larry Noble, a 20-year veteran of the Federal Election Commission who now teaches law at American University, acknowledged it would be illegal for Feehan, during his candidacy, to accept money for work he didn’t do. But If Hagedorn has proof something untoward is going on, he should show his hand, Noble said.
“The congressman could file a complaint if he wanted with the (Federal Election Commission), but you know, he would need more than just saying, ‘He got paid by these people.’ He would have to allege the idea that (Feehan) didn’t do work for them,” Noble said. “The question, I guess, to the congressman is what, exactly, are you saying? What evidence do you have? What is your specific allegation? Just that he got paid? Or do you have any information that he didn’t do work?"
Prior to the debate, Business Insider published an overview of the contest in First-term Rep. Jim Hagedorn faces Democrat Daniel Feehan in rematch to represent Minnesota's 1st Congressional District.
Image: Is Congressman Jim Hagedorn the Scratchy of Minnesota's Fighting First? From The Simpsons.
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