As a follow-up to our report last week, Rep. Alan Grayson, who held a fundraiser for congressional candidate Daylin Leach, was cleared of domestic abuse accusations.
According to the Orlando Sentinel, Grayson’s wife recanted her accusations.
The event that Grayson hosted for Leach raised a significant amount of money, but none of it was contributed directly by Grayson or from his PAC.
Leach’s campaign manager Aren Platt gave the following statement to PoliticsPA at the time:
Daylin’s record in preventing violence against women is unmatched in Harrisburg. Daylin worked to secure a $10,000 DCED grant for the Domestic Abuse Project of Delaware County’s legal services program as well as a $25,000 DPW grant for Laurel House, a shelter for women who have been victims of domestic abuse.
In the State Senate he crafted SB75, comprehensive anti-human trafficking legislation that would do more to prevent violence against women than nearly any bill the legislature has considered.
Additionally, he passed a law prohibiting shackling women who are giving birth while incarcerated and is a co-sponsor of a resolution recognizing October as Domestic Violence Awareness month.
State Senator Leach is running for the PA-13 Democratic nomination against State Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Philadelphia), former Congresswoman Marjorie Margolies and physician activist Dr. Val Arkoosh.
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8 Responses
Andrew-
The first sentence of this report links to last week’s story, and the quote from Daylin’s campaign.
Imagine for a moment, that Grayson had actually contributed $500 to the campaign. In that case, the campaign would have written a check returning the money last Wednesday, with a note explaining it was due to the accusation. Grayson was publicly cleared by Friday, just as such a letter/check would have arrived. What message would that juxtaposition have sent to Grayson?
If Daylin leach did indeed make that statement, above, to PoliticsPA (and I have some due diligence to do), I would reconsider my support for Leach. In addition to the concepts of innocent until proven guilty and political courage, I am disturbed by this man’s idea of loyalty. That’s very important to me, the quality of loyalty, as I perceive a man and a legislator. I’ll be following this.
Montco PA Dem-
My point in showing this other part of the press statement was that Daylin was asserting that a mere accusation would be enough for him to return money to a supporter. In this case, they awkwardly went out of the way distance themselves by pointing out that they hadn’t actually received any money in the first place.
Grayson had headlined a lucrative fundraiser for Daylin, and prior to this, it was bragging point for the campaign and its liberal credentials. The rush to judgement to abandon Grayson over an unsubstantiated accusation is just political cowardice in a tight race. That’s the fault.
This wasn’t a principled stance or a “higher standard”.
The exoneration came about within a few days, but even media reports at the time indicated that Grayson’s daughter and some video footage contradicted the wife’s account.
Observer-
The sustainable policy to is say: “Let’s see the outcome, or some evidence, or hear both sides before treating an accusation as a conviction.”
Do you honestly feel that tossing Grayson under the bus over a mere accusation is an act of political courage?
My head is spinning. Diano – are you saying that the Leach campaign is at fault because they said they’d give back money they never got if the giver (who didn’t give) was accused of something he didn’t do? Maybe it makes sense if you’ve been drinking – think I’ll try that.
Thanks for posting the follow-up. Usually the Accusations get a lot more press than the Exonerations. The Leach campaign’s policy of giving the money back is the only sustainable one, in this atmosphere – opponent ad campaigns and whispering campaigns (like the Margolies people are doing right now) never mention the exoneration, and exaggerate the accusation.
truth-
Nice try. However, there is a difference between tried/convicted and mere accusation. Daylin himself, in talking about his unshackling bill, had even pointed out that women who were incarcerated, but not even convicted, were subject to this treatment.
However, there is an appeals process and I’m glad that someone like Wolf, who wants to be Governor, believes in the right of those convicted to pursue their legal options. Too often, the executive branch cares about locking people up and throwing away the key, leading to many of the prison problems we have today.
There are a lot of people who disagreed with Casey recently folding under the pressure and failing to approve Obama’s well-qualified nominee because he “dared” to support the concepts of legal defense funds connected to an unpopular case.
agree david even tom wolf stands behind a convicted legislator to this day now thats what i call a supporter.
Actually, the statement giving to PoliticsPA included the following:
“While Congressman Grayson has not contributed to our campaign, if he had, Daylin would have returned the contribution as soon as these allegations were levied against him. Running for public office and holding public office means holding yourself to a higher standard — which is why Daylin would give back the contribution of anyone accused of committing a crime.”
This kind of important because, “Daylin would give back the contribution of anyone accused of committing a crime” flies in the face of innocent until proven guilty.
In this case, the “higher standard” should be waiting for the facts to come out. Tossing a supporter under the bus at the first hint of trouble is a lower standard.