A man is in custody after allegedly sneaking into the nursing home where the wife of Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) resides.
The Jackson (Miss.) Clarion-Ledger reported Saturday that Clayton Thomas Kelly, 28, is accused of photographing Rose Cochran for an Internet "hit piece" against her husband. Kelly was charged with exploitation of a vulnerable adult, the newspaper added.
Cochran has been in the Senate since December 1978, and is one of the longest serving senators in U.S. history. He and Rose Cochran have been married since June 1964.
According to the Clarion-Ledger report, Kelly runs a blog called "Constitutional Clayton," which has expressed support for Cochran's 2014 Senate rival, Chris McDaniel. The McDaniel campaign issued a statement Saturday saying there was "no relationship" with Kelly.
Well, golly...Those fun-loving teabaggers are hard at work showing what a "class-act" they are. I'm surprised he didn't paint some sort of obscene symbol on her before taking her picture. I mean, if you're going to do a hit-piece, you want to make sure it works...right?
We'll pause here to give Fred an hour or two to see if he can find a "they did it too" anecdote.... _____
LadyJazzer wrote: The assertion is in the quote from the newspaper... Sorry I can't type any slower.
I've read the article twice now and I see no where that he is labeled as a Tea Party member except in the comments by the readers which hardly counts as a source.
I did however find this in the 2nd article linked in the body:
UPDATE 2: Tea Party Patriots Chairman Jenny Beth Martin released the following statement on the arrest:
"Exploiting another human being for gain is deplorable in any circumstance. To use the elderly for some sick, perceived political advantage is despicable. We condemn this vile act in no uncertain terms.
"The Defendant has never donated to the Tea Party Patriots or the Tea Party Patriots Citizens Fund. He is not in any of our data bases, and we have had no email exchanges with him.
Condemning this reprehensible act is one thing, assigning a political party to the accused when not backed up by evidence constitutes inflammatory behavior. I like you LJ, but I call BS on this post.
"Now, more than ever, the illusions of division threaten our very existence. We all know the truth: more connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another as if we were one single tribe.” -King T'Challa, Black Panther
The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it. ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is. ~Winston Churchill
"According to the Clarion-Ledger report, Kelly runs a blog called "Constitutional Clayton," which has expressed support for Cochran's 2014 Senate rival, Chris McDaniel. "
...and McDaniel is RUNNING as a teabagger candidate, and this guy pulls a "James O'Keefe" and sneaks into a nursing home to take pictures of the wife of the Democrat for a smear piece, I won't apologize for calling someone who lies down with vermin and gets fleas anything else. The fact that two TeaParty groups can't find him in their databases doesn't mean squat to me. (I wonder how many of the clowns out at the Bundy Ranch are "registered" on TeaParty databases?)
Cochran Campaign Attacks Tea Party Rival Chris McDaniel
UPDATE:
The Clarion-Ledger now reports that the “McDaniel camp knew about Cochran break-in before it was public”:
U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran’s campaign is questioning how Chris McDaniel’s campaign manager, state Sen. Melanie Sojourner, apparently knew about Clayton Kelly’s arrest before news of him allegedly sneaking into Rose Cochran’s nursing home room and taking photos broke.
Cochran campaign spokesman Jordan Russell said Sojourner left a voice mail message for Cochran campaign manager Kirk Sims at about 7:45 a.m. on Saturday, offering condolences over Kelly’s alleged actions and assurance McDaniel’s campaign doesn’t condone it. Russell said Sojourner indicated she had been concerned over the incident since Friday night.
The picture above of Clayton Kelly and Chris McDaniel was found on Kelly’s website, according to The Clarion-Ledger.
More on Kelly from The Clarion-Ledger:
A Pearl man who runs a political blog is accused of sneaking into a nursing home where U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran’s wife is bedridden and photographing her, then posting the image in a video political “hit piece” on the internet.
Madison Police arrested Clayton Thomas Kelly, 28, of Pearl on Friday night on a charge of exploitation of a vulnerable adult. He’s being held on a $100,000 bond.
Kelly is accused of sneaking into St. Catherine’s Village in Madison, where Rose Cochran has resided since 2000, suffering from progressive dementia and now bedridden.
Campaign sources say Kelly on Saturday, April 26th, posted an anti-Cochran, pro-Chris McDaniel “hit piece” video that included the image of Rose Cochran. The video and references to it were removed from the internet within a couple of hours.
Scott Brewster, coalition director for McDaniel’s campaign, contacted Saturday, indicated he was aware of the video.
“I do remember when it came out,” Brewster said. “I think people made some phone calls (to have it removed). I didn’t personally — nobody personally talked to (Kelly). I don’t know if anybody made phone calls about it. I’m not sure. Just, I remember all of a sudden it was gone.”
His comments are curious in that they appear to be backtracking as he digs a deeper hole about it. Of course, the unwritten thing in all of this is the fact that there has apparently been an attempt to say Cochran is having an affair with a DC aide (Kay Webber) while his wife is in the nursing home in Mississippi.
Hmmmmmmm.
I frankly don't care if the McDaniel camp now runs back to hide and disavows knowing what this slimeball did. You can call BS all you want...
Oh, and did I mention that THIS was on breitbart.com...(And we ALL know how "fair and unhinged"--er, "unbalanced" they are:
McDaniel Supporter Arrested for Sneaking into MS Senator Thad Cochran's Wife's Nursing Home Room
What has been described as an "ugly" primary campaign between the tea-party backed state Senator Chris McDaniel and longtime incumbent Senator Thad Cochran, got a lot uglier yesterday when a McDaniel supporter was arrested for sneaking into Cochran's wife's nursing home room.
The supporter, Clayton Thomas Kelly, 28, of Pearl MS, allegedly photographed Rose Cochran, who is incapacitated with progressive dementia, and bedridden. He later posted the image in a pro-Chris McDaniel video "hit piece" on his conservative blog, taking it down after only a couple of hours.
As far as political dirty tricks go - it doesn't get much dirtier than this, via the Clarion Ledger:
Madison Police arrested Clayton Thomas Kelly, 28, of Pearl on Friday night on a charge of exploitation of a vulnerable adult. He's being held on a $100,000 bond.
Kelly is accused of sneaking into St. Catherine's Village in Madison, where Rose Cochran has resided since 2000, suffering from progressive dementia and now bedridden.
Guilt by association is weak. This guy's actions have been disavowed strongly by the McDaniel campaign, and by the Tea Party group, and until there's proof otherwise, they are innocent of association if they say so.
I've voted for Republicans and even a Libertarian, Democrats, and Independents - if I all of a sudden go on a murdering rampage, who's gonna get the blame? (Hint: it should be my cat. He's not to be trusted, I'm sure he did it and pinned it on me!) lol
"Now, more than ever, the illusions of division threaten our very existence. We all know the truth: more connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another as if we were one single tribe.” -King T'Challa, Black Panther
The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it. ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is. ~Winston Churchill
