E-mail received from Don Benton - and my response

I received the following e-mail from the Clark County Republican Party:

419er --

Heads up from Senator Don Benton - Columbian poised to attack!Columbian Headline: Benton pays self $78,000 - In multiple law suits

Dear Friends,

The headline above will be in the Columbian Enquirer in the next few days. The conclusions one would likely draw from this headline would be fully erroneous. And this is the intent of this partisan rag. A few elements are based in fact—but they are benign. Let me comment on two key areas the Columbian is apparently exploiting.

National Advertising Consultants (NAC): NAC is a nationally recognized advertising agency—that I own. I used this company to buy all of the television, radio, and cable advertising for my recent campaign because of the buying leverage and I knew and trusted the buyer. The campaign wrote checks for some 78 thousand dollars to NAC. That company then scheduled the ads and managed the schedule with the radio, cable and television stations. Using my advertising company to schedule and buy my campaign ads does not violate any Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) rules or Washington State campaign laws. Given the expertise, it was the logical choice. Therefore the story line is completely misleading.

Multiple lawsuits: In my businesses I think I have been named in at least one lawsuit, perhaps two—and these were years ago (one about 30 years ago). I have never made it into a court room for any lawsuit in which I was named. I would certainly remember that! Bear in mind that companies get sued from time to time. It does not mean the suit is valid or that the owner has done anything wrong—which, of course, is what the Columbian and their yellow journalists are trying to imply.

The liberal and partisan Columbian has never been my friend. However the partisan leaders of this paper have become especially agitated with (1) my recent contributions to forming the Majority Coalition Caucus and establish Republican control in the Senate, (2) resultant success in stopping CRC funding. However, the Columbian really went berserk when the Republican County Commissioners appointed me to improve one of their departments at the County.

Since my appointment, the Columbian has been in full character assassination mode, and currently they are conducting a massive background search on me involving at least three reporters. I know this because during the last three weeks, I have received calls from old friends, customers, and business partners I haven’t heard from in years—asking me why these people are calling

Stevie Mathieu, Stephanie Rice and Erin Middlewood, amateur reporters from the Columbian with well known liberal bias, have:

· Repeatedly called my old business partners from up to 30 years ago, some private business customers of one of my companies, schoolmates, employees and even one of my old community college professors—where I was an active member of student government.

· Filed Freedom of Information requests with the Washington State Senate for years of my senate expense and per diem reports, and with Clark County for my county time cards and every email sent or received.

· Poured over all of my old public disclosure documents on file at the State PDC office from 20 years of previous campaigns.

· Apparently developed a story about me getting my son a lifeguard job at Klineline pond. This is completely untrue. He was one of few certified lifeguards to apply and is a lifeguard at an athletic club. He was hired based on his own merits and accomplishments.

· Demanded that I provide them a list of customers from every company for which I have ever had an ownership or financial interest.

On August 6th, Erin Middlewood of the Columbian arrogantly said to me: “I’m giving you the vetting that you didn’t get for the county job,”!

Can you imagine this happening to you, your business and your family? And for what? For being a public servant for over 20 years that doesn’t kowtow to the Columbian? For being a successful conservative representative that works to stop the waste of taxpayer dollars? For stopping the CRC? For bringing business leadership experience to a government department? You won’t read about any positive behavior. You see, these activities do not support the negative narrative they have been on a mission to create for years. Did you know they even manipulate their website to suppress reader access to any story that may have a positive element?

To put it simply, this is an old-fashioned witch hunt attempting to destroy my character and my reputation. It is an old Democrat party tactic which has been used for years. When you can’t refute the message, kill the messenger! The Columbian is nothing more than a newsletter for the Democratic party. I wanted you to know what is coming and to know the truth. As I usually do, I will ignore them, put my trust in the voters and continue my work for the citizens of Clark County.

Please call me with any questions.

Don Benton

And here was my response:

Good afternoon Mr/Ms "Action" (This was who the e-mail was addressed from - Action@clarkrepublicans.org)

Do any of you have any idea how dumb this makes you all look?
I have considered myself a conservative for most of my life - and I typically vote for the Republican candidates - but you can guarantee that Senator Benton will never get another vote from me. Or Madore. Or Mielke. Or anyone they support. Let's be clear. I wholeheartedly support the death of the CRC and probably some other things that Don Benton has worked on over the years - but this letter is over the top.

I spoke with Senator Benton briefly during the last campaign when he was threatening to sue Tim Probst. We traded voicemails - and I thought he was out of line then. It's even worse now.

This actually reads more like a story from "The Onion" than it does an actual letter from an elected or appointed official or whatever Mr. Benton is these days. Let's start with a list of the petty name-calling: "Columbian Enquirer," "Partisan Rag," "yellow journalists," "amateur reporters." Really? Is that how a self-proclaimed 20 year (supposedly) beloved elected official acts? This is more like a peeved child than a senior statesman.

Kudos to the Columbian for doing this - they should do it for everyone. Would you like to know why the Columbian has never looked into my private life? It's because I didn't run for public office. I considered it - but I decided I didn't want the scrutiny. So - if you want the Columbian to stop looking into Senator Benton and his businesses - he should simply resign now.

You want to talk about wasting taxpayer dollars? Every day that Don Benton spends time defending his reputation - or dealing with the thousands of people who wish he would just resign and go away - he is NOT doing the job that he was appointed (yet wholly unqualified) to do.
Senator Benton, in this letter, claims that he was appointed to "improve" his new department. I have to ask again Really? Do you really believe that? Don't we all know - no matter which party we are from - that this was a favor done by cronies - putting someone sure to lose his seat as a senator next election into a cushy job that required no vetting?
Don Benton truly is now getting the vetting that he should have gotten before the job was given to him. We need to know about the conflicts of interest. We need to know the history - the qualifications - mostly because it's clear to every observer that this is a shady back-room deal.

Senator Benton needs to act his age. He needs to understand that the wringer through which he is being placed is one he volunteered for when he chose public office. He needs to stop protesting and simply say "come - look - at everything - I have nothing to hide" - unless - of course - he has something to hide - which (based on the vehemence of his objections) seems likely. And - lastly - Senator Benton needs to resign his "environmental" post at the County - for which he should have realized he wasn't qualified when he listed his superior environmental prowess as knowing how to turn off the water when he washes his hands.

Finally - the word is "pore" not "pour" as in "pored over all of my old public disclosure documents".

Thanks for listening. Now do something.