Thursday, December 10, 2015

Campaign release: We can prove Greitens smeared Brunner

(From Missourians for John Brunner)

Missourians for John Brunner today announced the campaign it had received (and will make available by request) a third-party affidavit disproving the recent outrageous and malicious claims made by Eric Greitens.

“We sadly learned on Monday just how far Mr. Greitens is willing to go to smear John Brunner and our campaign to try to deflect attention away from anyone attempting to raise questions regarding his record,” Deputy Campaign Manager Mike Hafner said. “The affidavit shows Mr. Greitens made completely false claims to Missouri voters on Monday. The simple fact is that Mr. Greitens remains the only candidate in the race who has decided to focus his campaign on character assassinations, name-calling, and smear tactics. This is the first time the Brunner campaign has gone on the record to challenge the outrageous and untrue claims made by Mr. Greitens, and it is our hope that both campaigns can move on to discussing our records and actual issues facing Missourians.”

On November 23, following an inquiry by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Brunner campaign released a statement which said a recording of a phone call was made because of an initial phone call made by Mr. Greitens of a highly threatening and harassing nature.1

On Monday, December 7, on The Mark Reardon Show Mr. Greitens would not even confirm nor deny the existence the first phone call was ever made, characterizing it as“absolute lie”, “a lie from them, Mark” and a “straight-forward lie”. 2 The press reported Greitens’s statement Monday evening, saying: “The Brunner campaign says the call was recorded because Greitens earlier made threatening phone calls, a claim Greitens denies.” 3

The Brunner Campaign on Thursday announced it had received phone records, as well as a signed affidavit (and will make available by request) from a witness attesting to not only the existence of an initial phone call made by Eric Greitens to John Brunner, but also to the threatening and harassing nature of both calls.

When Eric Greitens launched his gubernatorial campaign for Governor he pledged to always be honest with Missouri voters and said, What I can tell you is I will always tell you the truth and I’m not going to play any games.4

“The facts are simple, it is not a lie, and Eric Greitens is the only candidate in the race who is waging an all-out character assassination on other candidates,” Hafner said. “Missourians are seeking a leader with the temperament and veracity needed to serve in the highest office in our state.”

Upon request, the Brunner campaign will provide the affidavit, along with the phone records of Mr. John Brunner highlighting the existence of both calls made from Eric Greitens to John Brunner.

Sourcing Information
1. Full press statement released by Missourians for John Brunner on November 23 and November 24:
"While traveling to a campaign event on November 14, John Brunner received a phone call from a highly emotional and irrational Mr. Greitens. A few minutes later Mr. Greitens called a second time. Because the prior call was bordering on a threatening nature,the staff traveling with Mr. Brunner advised that it would be prudent to make a record of the second call. There was no authorization by the campaign to release any aspect of this information.

Mr. Brunner and Mr. Greitens met in Las Vegas on Thursday following a luncheon hosted by the Republican Governors Association. Directly after the luncheon Mr. Greitens approached Mr. Brunner and asked to meet at that time. They met (publicly) in the same ballroom (after many of the attendees left) for 15-20 mins. Mr. Brunner was very civil towards Mr. Greitens and went out of his way to meet with him in hopes of moving forward in a much more productive manner."

2. Transcript from The Mark Reardon Show (KMOX, Monday, Dec 7)
Mark Reardon (at 3 minutes and 15 seconds into segment): “They say the build up to this was another phone call…they say you made another phone call that was threatening.”
Eric Greitens (at 3 minutes and 25 seconds into segment): “Absolute lie. That is a lie from them, Mark. That is a straight-forward lie.”

3. Greitens speaks out on recorded phone call (KMOX, Dec 7): http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2015/12/07/greitens-speaks-out-on-recorded-phone-call/

4. Eric Greitens officially enters crowded Missouri gubernatorial race, (MissouriNet, Sept. 26
http://www.missourinet.com/2015/09/26/eric-greitens-officially-enters-crowded-missouri-gubernatorial-race/

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