SALON

Sunday, Feb 10, 2013 4:23 PM UTC

More troubles for Bachmann campaign over contact list

The strange case of a leaked contact list still plagues Bachmann's failed presidential campaign

By

Topics: Michele Bachmann, 2012 Elections, Iowa, Republicans, Republican Primary,

More troubles for Bachmann campaign over contact list Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn. (Credit: Facebook/teambachmann)

Michele Bachmann’s unsuccessful presidential campaign is still plagued by internal squabbles months after she dropped out of the race, over the use of a contact list for home-school families.

In a September 4 affadavit, obtained by the Iowa Republican and published last week, Bachmann’s Iowa adviser Eric Woolson accuses former State Sen. Kent Sorenson, also the Iowa chairman of Bachmann’s campaign, of stealing the list of contact information for the Network of Iowa Christian Home Educators (NICHE) from another one of Bachmann’s staffers, Barb Heki.

NBC News reports:

The list was the at the center of a flap late in Bachmann’s presidential run, when a powerful Iowa home-school network called “NICHE” complained that its collection of contacts for thousands of home-school families had been mined by the campaign and used to expand its fundraising.

At the time, the campaign called the emails a “mistake.”  The campaign agreed to pay NICHE, a 501c3 nonprofit, several thousand dollars in order to keep the group compliant with federal elections law.

But in his affidavit, Woolson says he approached Sorenson on the same day the fundraising emails were sent, and was told the list had been stolen.

From the affidavit:

I went to Sen. Kent Sorenson’s office to tell him because he was the campaign’s state chair. Kent smiled at me and said, “Do you want to know how it happened?”

I said, “No,” and tried to back out of the office. Kent said they weren’t getting anything out of Barb (Heki), so when she stepped out of the office they took it.

Kent said, “We stood watch.”

Heki, who was also the campaign’s Homeschool Coalitions Director and a member of NICHE, filed a lawsuit last year against Bachmann, Sorenson, Woolsen and other top staffers, claiming she was falsely accused of leaking the list and punished for it.

Sorenson has repeatedly denied that the list was stolen. “Nothing new here,” he told NBC News.  “Same story being recycled.”

The fighting over the list is just another one of the problems Bachmann faces from her former Iowa campaign staffers, five of whom claim she has refused to pay them in the year since her presidential bid ended.

Jillian Rayfield

Jillian Rayfield is an Assistant News Editor for Salon, focusing on politics. Follow her on Twitter at @jillrayfield or email her at jrayfield@salon.com. More Jillian Rayfield.

Next Article

You Might Also Like

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Serena William in an emotional moment during the final women's French Open match against Russia's Maria Sharapova. Williams won 6-4, 6-4, while Rafael Nadal defeated fellow Spaniard David Ferrer 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 in the men's finals on Sunday.
    AP/David Vincent

  • Ongoing anti-government protests at Taksim Square. Five people have died and thousands have been injured since the protests began on May 31. On Friday, Turkey's government agreed to suspend redevelopment plans for Gezi Park, which initially sparked the protests, until a court rules on its legality.
    AP/Vadim Ghirda

  • Billy Porter is all heart and "sole" at a performance of the Cyndi Lauper-scored "Kinky Boots," which won the Tony Award for Best musical on Sunday night.
    AP/The O+M Company, Matthew Murphy

  • A chemical plant explosion and fire in Louisiana on Thursday morning killed a 29-year-old and injured 73 more. The cause of the fire is still undetermined.
    AP/Gerald Herbert

  • So much for pie-throwing loyalty. Media Mogul Rupert Murdoch and third wife Wendy Deng announced they are filing for divorce on Thursday after 14 years of marriage. The pair are pictured at the 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards in Los Angeles this year.
    AP/Matt Sayles

  • Ariel Castro, accused of holding three women captive in his house for roughly a decade, walks into a Cleveland courtroom on Wednesday. Castro, 52, pleaded not guilty to hundreds of charges that include rape and kidnapping.
    AP/Tony Dejak

  • Supporters of Iranian presidential candidate, Hasan Rowhani, campaigned with banners on the streets of Tehran on Wednesday in anticipation of the Iranian presidential elections on Friday.
    AP/Ebrahim Noroozi

  • People watch from the side of the road as a flame-fighting plane passes over the Black Forest area north of Colorado Springs. A raging fire which has been burning since midweek has destroyed more than 360 homes and killed two.
    AP/Brennan Linsley

  • A restaurant in Dunabogdany, Hungary, is roof-deep in floodwaters spilling from the River Danube. Heavy rainfalls this week continued to flood major rivers and lakes in Germany, Austria, Switzerland the Czech Republic and Hungary.
    AP/MTI, Balazs Mohai

  • A gas mask-sporting demonstrator walks past Portuguese graffiti on a bank which reads "Fascist government." Thousands took to the streets São Paulo, Brazil, on Thursday to violently protest a 10-cent hike in bus and subway fares, while similar protests took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brasilia and Porte Alegre in southern Brazil.
    AP/Brennan Linsley

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

More Related Stories

Comments

 3 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username ( settings | log out )

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: "We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves": Growing up primate

Recommendations