As of yesterday, Patrick Moran was a field director for Democratic Rep. Jim Moran of Virginia, his father. Pat Moran was caught on tape by Project Vertias encouraging the use of fraudulent utility bills to vote under different names, even going so far as saying DNC attorney's would defend doctored and forged utility bills in order to get around Virginia's Voter I.D. law, so long as they looked legitimate. Warning: strong language
"It's gotta look good."
Late yesterday afternoon, Patrick Moran resigned from his position on the campaign.
In the video, Patrick Moran expresses doubts about the plan but eventually tells the undercover volunteer to “look into it.”
In a statement issued Wednesday night, Patrick Moran said, that “at no point have I, or will I ever endorse any sort of illegal or unethical behavior.”
“At no point did I take this person seriously. He struck me as being unstable and joking, and for only that reason did I humor him. In hindsight, I should have immediately walked away, making it clear that there is no place in the electoral process for even the suggestion of illegal behavior, joking or not.”
Moran said he stepped down because he didn’t want “to be a distraction during this year’s critical election.”
Jim Moran’s campaign office released a statement, saying: “Patrick is well liked and was a well-respected member of the campaign team. This incident, however, was clearly an error in judgment. The campaign has accepted Patrick’s resignation, effective immediately.”
Rep. Moran's Republican opponent, Patrick Murrey, released the following statement in response to the video:
After seeing this video on several news sites, I am very concerned about the campaign activities of my opponent. While it is not clear whether or not there was any wrongdoing, I hope that local, state and federal election officials will look into this matter immediately. The integrity of our nation is at stake, and it appears that my opponent’s campaign seems prepared to undermine free and fair elections right here in Virginia.
Sadly, anyone who is familiar with Jim Moran will not be surprised by this. The truth is that Moran has a long track record of hyper partisan behavior, racially charged comments and an infamous anger management problem. So this is more of the same embarrassing behavior that we’ve come to expect from Jim Moran and his campaign.
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Meanwhile, in Florida the FBI is investigating a bizarre case in which Republicans are receiving strange and bogus letters questioning eligibility to vote.
FBI officials said Wednesday the FBI will focus on letters received by voters in 18 counties in central and southwest Florida.
According to the Republican Party of Florida, Chairman Lenny Curry received one of the fake letters on Tuesday.
"This type of activity is not only disgusting, it is criminal, and must be prosecuted to the full extent of the law," Curry said in a release. "I call on Florida Democrats to join me in condemning this false letter writing campaign that appears to target likely voters in Florida, and help RPOF get the word out about this false campaign."
Local 6 first reported the bogus letter scam on Monday, which claim to be from county supervisors of elections but are postmarked from Seattle. They raise questions about the voter's citizenship and appear intended to intimidate people.
And who is the target of the Florida letter scam?
Officials in Florida have issued a statewide warning about a new trick trying to prevent voters from going to the polls.
Voters are getting letters that look like they are from local elections offices, questioning their citizenship. But Local 6 has learned the letters are fake, and they are going out across Central Florida and many other parts of the state.
Officials on Monday said voters who had received the letters thus far are white, registered Republicans who consistently vote in elections.
Yes, voter fraud exists.
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