Crossposted from North Decoder
This is pretty amazing.
Dem-NPL Public Service Commission candidate Brad Crabtree is starting to make an issue out of the fact that members of the North Dakota Public Service Commission are violating the spirit of state laws that prevent public officials from taking bribes. He's arguing that commissioners accepting campaign contributions from people associated with organizations that have business before the commission create a conflict of interest for commissioners, or at least the appearance of one. When asked, Crabtree stated that he said he wouldn't necessarily call for an investigation into the matter though. This seems reasonable since the law doesnt speak about campaign contributions per se, and it's also extremely hard to prove a direct link between campaign contributions and corruption, particularly in a post-Buckley and a post-Citizens United era. Republican U.S. House Candidate and Public Service Commissioner Kevin Cramer apparently thinks otherwise though. When asked to comment about this, Cramer said the following:
"He's asking for the trust of the people, but he's not willing to turn in criminals that he knows are breaking the law? That's pretty pathetic, quite honestly,"AP--Source: SFGate, emphasis mine
So set aside for a second that he completely mischaracterized what Crabtree was getting at, Kevin Cramer just called himself a criminal. His words, not mine. Not Crabtree's either. Not only did he call himself a criminal, he's a known criminal, and he thinks someone should have the guts to arrest him.Hey, man if the shoe fits...
