Hartline: We did not pay for the Minuteman endorsement

From Wes Hartline:
Our campaign did not pay anything for the Minuteman Project endorsement. We made no contributions nor were we contacted before the endorsement other than being asked to send our website, blog and policy positions to the Project.

I would appreciate an amended blog post on that, Rod. If left as is, it appears to the casual reader that we had to pay for an endorsement, and that is completely false.

Comment: I have not alleged that the Hartline campaign paid for the Minuteman Project endorsement and the Hartline campaign is not alleging that I made that charge. I have not searched the Hartline financial disclosures to see if they have paid a consulting fee to Election Impact Group or any other firm associated with Jim Gilchrist. I believe Jeff Hartline to be an honorable person and I am accepting his statement at face value. I am pleased to post the above message from the Hartline campaign.

I did post as written the press release from the Hartline campaign in which they announced their endorsement from the Minuteman Project. In a separate post, I posted a link from Politico that tells of serious and credible allegations that the Minuteman Project endorsement was for sale. If you have not read that article please do.

While I have absolutely no reason to believe and don't believe the Hartline campaign paid for the Minuteman Project endorsement, if I was a candidate for Congress and received the Minuteman Project endorsement, instead of bragging about it, I think I would keep it a secret.

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A price tag for Minuteman support?

By BEN SMITH, 5/26/10, Politico- To win the endorsement of the Minuteman Project and its founder, Jim Gilchrist, you need to believe in federal troop deployments to stop illegal immigrants from entering the U.S. and stepped-up deportations of those who do.

You may also need to pay several thousand dollars, according to documents from three Republican campaigns that sought Gilchrist’s endorsement. Read more

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Minutemen Founder Endorses Hartline in 5th District

NASHVILLE, August 3, 2010, press realease from Hartline for Congress – Congressional candidate Jeff Hartline has received the endorsement of one of America’s foremost leaders in the fight to stop illegal immigration.

Jim Gilchrist, Founder and President of the Minuteman Project (www.minutemanproject.com), the nation's leading grassroots activist organization on the issue of immigration reform and border security, announced today that the organization is endorsing Hartline in the congressional race in Tennessee’s 5th District.

Gilchrist cited Hartline’s strong stances on securing our borders, denying illegals any form of amnesty, and cracking down on taxpayer-funded benefits that attract illegals to the United States. Hartline is a “real leader” who, as a member of Congress, “will ensure that Congress actually enforce current immigration laws to protect the jobs of Americans and the dollars of taxpayers,” Gilchrist said.

The Hartline campaign welcomed the endorsement. “Jim Gilchrist and the Minuteman Project are at the forefront of the fight to stop illegal immigration, and as a member of Congress I will work with them and other like-minded Americans to make the federal government enforce our nation’s immigration laws and secure our borders, and to stop any attempt to grant amnesty.”
“For too long law abiding Americans have grown tired of watching the political establishment lack the will to enforce our nation's laws when it comes to border security and immigration policy,” Gilchrist said. He urged voters to send Hartline to Congress “to demand the Federal Government enforce our laws and secure our borders” so that America can “begin to end the chaos of illegal immigration.”

Jim Gilchrist founded the multi-ethnic Minuteman Project on Oct. 1, 2004, after years of frustrated efforts trying to get a neglectful U.S. government to simply enforce existing immigration laws. Called “the world’s largest neighborhood watch”, their volunteer members aid efforts of the US Border Patrol by watching for illegal activity along the US-Mexican border.

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