Oct 25, 2012 No Comments ›› Pat Dollard
Excerpted from The Washington Examiner: Patrick Moran resigned from his father’s reelection campaign after Project Veritas released video showing him coaching someone on how to commit voter fraud, and now the police are investigating the case.
“The Arlington County Commonwealth Attorney’s Office and the Arlington County Police Department have been made aware of a video released yesterday allegedly depicting Patrick Moran, former Director of Field Operations for the Jim Moran for Congress campaign organization, assisting another to vote illegally,” the city announced today.
“The Arlington County Police Department has initiated a criminal investigation of this matter.”
Here’s what The Washington Examiner’s Steve Contorno reported on the video:
In the video, Patrick Moran is approached by a man claiming to have the names of 100 Virginia residents who are registered to vote but unlikely to do so. The man, who is holding a hidden camera, asks Moran how he can cast votes for those Virginians.
The younger Moran told POLITICO in an e-mail Wednesday that he doesn’t endorse “any sort of illegal or unethical behavior” and he never took the man – who turned out to be an undercover videographer – seriously.
“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,” Patrick Moran said.
Moran’s campaign said in a statement Thursday evening that it “welcomes a thorough investigation and we will fully cooperate.”
“The incident involving Patrick was an unfortunate situation,” the statement read. “While clearly lacking good judgment, Patrick’s unsolicited interaction with a right wing political operative seeking to trap him in a damaging conversation did not constitute an unlawful action. We are confident this unwelcome chapter in the campaign will be quickly and favorably closed.”
Moran himself added in a separate statement that his son had been trying to “deflect” the questions from the undercover videographer, whom the elder Moran called a “trained political operative bent on goading him into a specific response.” The lawmaker said he did not condone the actions of Project Veritas, O’Keefe’s group.
“But the fact remains that the conversation drifted into discussions that reflected a serious error in judgment that Patrick wishes he could take back,” Moran said. “In life, if we learn from our mistakes, we move forward stronger, wiser, and committed to ensuring they are not repeated. I know Patrick will come out of this tough situation a better man for it.”
