Retire Pryor Group’s Sloppy Bookkeeping

The independent expenditure committee known as “Retire Pryor” today took out a full-page advertisement in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette attacking Senator Mark Pryor because of his in-laws’ business and potential tax problems.

Mark Pryor has no dealings with his in-laws’ business decisions, but that didn’t stop the Retire Pryor folks from throwing out wild, unsubstantiated charges.

The Retire Pryor ad in today’s paper is one of the most convoluted and inept negatives ads I’ve ever seen.  After reading the full-page ad twice you still find yourself saying, “Huh? What is this about?”

The Retire Pryor folks accuse Mark Pryor of some complicated scheme that involves his in-laws and their company, Continental Express, Inc.  They offer no real proof, just some court documents that don’t involve Mark Pryor and a laughable argument that they don’t need evidence because “logic” dictates that Senator Pryor is involved.

It turns out that the group “Retire Pryor” has been called out by the Federal Election Commission for some sloppy bookkeeping.

On March 6, 2012, the Federal Election Commission sent the Retire Pryor Committee a letter asking them to correct mistakes and clarify discrepancies on their Statement of Organization filing documents. You can read the FEC’s letter to the group here.

The FEC outlines three areas they need clarification and gave the committee until April 10, 2012 to respond.

I spoke with the FEC today and, as of yet, they have not received a response from the Retire Pryor Committee. The Retire Pryor Committee is so inept, they can’t even meet a simple deadline.  They had 30 days to respond to the Federal Election Commission, which is more than enough time.

If the Retire Pryor Committee can’t get basic campaign paperwork filled out correctly and refuses to respond to the FEC’s request for clarification, how can we trust anything they have to say about Mark Pryor?

The Retire Pryor Committee members probably couldn’t get their paperwork filed in a timely manner because maybe they’re too busy selling weapons to Iran and North Korea.

I have no absolutely proof of this mind you, I’m just using their own “logic” to raise questions on matters they may or may not be involved in.  Let them prove to us they’re not involved in a complicated scheme to sell weapons to our enemies.

That’s exactly how they’re attacking Mark Pryor, just some wild charges without a shred of real proof.