Oct. 25, 2006
 
Callaghan Addresses New, Negative Capito Ad
 
From Mike Callaghan for Congress Press Release
 
Charleston, WV (HNN) – Mike Callaghan, Democratic Congressional candidate (Second District), addressed the content on Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2006 of a new, negative ad from his opponent. The ad, which hit airwaves Tuesday, October 24, makes claims against Callaghan during his time as a federal prosecutor.
 
“Congresswoman Capito got the first part right when she admitted that Congress needs cleaned up,” Callaghan said. “Her negative smear campaign is a laughable reach. It’s no coincidence that right after the DCCC names my race to their watch list, she attacks me again. The momentum for my campaign gains ground everyday, she knows it, her campaign knows it, and they are once more trying to distract the voters by distorting where I stand and who I am. It's just pathetic that she is choosing to smear me rather than run on her own record.”
 
“As a federal prosecutor, I was tough and an equal opportunity prosecutor. I had no problems putting both Democrats and Republicans behind bars. I am proud of the work I did as a federal prosecutor,” Callaghan said.
 
“You can check jails and prisons across this country. I’ve put away drug traffickers, coal operators who’ve endangered their workers, tax evaders and bank robbers, and the list goes on.” Callaghan continued, “I even put away politicians who abused their power – both Democrats and Republicans. If I had any evidence whatsoever of a crime, I investigated and prosecuted those involved.”
 
“As for the vote buying matter, I applaud the federal prosecutors for their work in the vote buying case. It continues a long history of that office’s work on stamping out corruption in our state,” Callaghan continued, "But her facts are wrong. Her commercial asserts that I failed to prosecute vote-buying schemes, which is absolutely ridiculous because at that time I was not even a federal prosecutor. I was in service to the people of West Virginia as Secretary of Environmental Protection, enforcing our states environmental laws. And later as an attorney, I was asked to represent a client, who ultimately helped our government investigate and prosecute others in the vote buying matter. Because of his help, I am proud to say that others involved in this matter are now being punished for their actions. ”
 
Commenting on the matter of ethics forms being filed late, Callaghan explained that he did file ethics forms late as a lobbyist, and mailed his fees in with the forms. "I believe it was about $80 and I sent it in with the form before they even asked.”