Mississippi’s Clarion-Ledger reports:
A Pearl man who runs a political blog is accused of sneaking into a nursing home where U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran’s wife is bedridden and photographing her, then posting the image in a video political “hit piece” on the internet.
Madison Police arrested Clayton Thomas Kelly, 28, of Pearl on Friday night on a charge of exploitation of a vulnerable adult. He’s being held on a $100,000 bond.
…
Campaign sources say Kelly on Saturday, April 26th, posted an anti-Cochran, pro-Chris McDaniel “hit piece” video that included the image of Rose Cochran. The video and references to it were removed from the internet within a couple of hours.
Rose Cochran, wife of U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., reportedly suffers from progressive dementia.
https://twitter.com/CuffyMeh/status/467690164014551040
"Constitutional Clayton" Kelly's twitter account. —> @CrispyClayton #MSsen
— Jimmy (@JimmyPrinceton) May 17, 2014
Kelly, who runs the “Constitutional Clayton” blog, has voiced his support for state Sen. Chris McDaniel, Cochran’s primary opponent.
https://twitter.com/CrispyClayton/status/460853030972178432
https://twitter.com/CrispyClayton/status/460813729521627137
Here's the McDaniel campaign's statement. Calls the incident "abhorrent." pic.twitter.com/KKECvtsgVt
— Daniel Strauss (@DanielStrauss4) May 17, 2014
“Strict rule: don’t be an inhuman ass,” tweeted Republican media strategist Rick Wilson.
Rightly so. Low and revolting. @jmartNYT: oh my: this is going to explode in Mississippi ahead of the Thad primary > http://t.co/bGLJpgr3iO
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) May 17, 2014
Hard rule: leave underage kids out of political attacks. General rule: leave non-pol wives/family out. Strict rule: don't be an inhuman ass.
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) May 17, 2014
Y'all know, I am a pretty hard player. But if your strategy involves sneaking into the hospital room of Cochran's wife to take photos 1/2
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) May 17, 2014
2/2 you lack the values and moral gravity to call yourself a conservative.
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) May 17, 2014
Amen.
So disgraceful. –> http://t.co/xTVCsIL3cS #mssen
— Andrew Bair (@ProLifePolitics) May 17, 2014
https://twitter.com/moderncomments/status/467682586610135040
Shameful. WTH was he thinking? Man arrested for sneaking into Thad Cochran's wife's nursing home http://t.co/9TFOq6qik9 via @clarionledger
— Esse Quam Videri (@karmacamilleon1) May 17, 2014
This Cochran episode is why we can't have nice things. What is wrong w/ people?
— Matt Exotic (@MattCover) May 17, 2014
https://twitter.com/LilMissRightie/status/467742584513630208
The latest on this developing story from The Clarion-Ledger:
This is getting crazy! #mssen RT @jimprincems: McDaniel camp knew about Cochran break-in before it was public http://t.co/DdZrq9Sp2i
— Andrew Bair (@ProLifePolitics) May 17, 2014
Twitchy will update as this story develops.
This report was published on Friday night before the identity of the nursing home resident had been confirmed.
https://twitter.com/EWErickson/status/467759935712149504
[Update]
The Clarion-Ledger has updated with a statement from McDaniel’s spokesman:
The McDaniel campaign found out about the break in when a local political blog posted about it at 11:40 p.m. last night. Senator McDaniel has denounced the break-in and called Senator Cochran to extend his condolences. It is unconscionable for the Cochran campaign and the liberal media to use the act of a sick individual to lob despicable accusations.
Editor’s note: This post has been updated with an additional tweet.
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