Diehl targets Warren’s fundraising
Accuses Liz of raising cash off Kavanaugh confirmation vote
GOP candidate Geoff Diehl used last night’s debate to accuse rival U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of being unethical and breaking the law with her campaign fundraising off the Kavanaugh hearings.
“Something that we found out recently that is pretty unconscionable is that Sen. Warren was fundraising illegally using the vote on Justice Kavanaugh — the confirmation vote — to try to raise money for her campaigns,” Diehl said during WCVB’s senate debate. “It turns out it’s illegal.”
The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust filed an ethics complaint this week about an email Warren sent out during the sexual-assault hearings regarding then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Warren sent out an email asking for donations, but there’s been no determination by the Senate Ethics Committee on whether she broke the rules.
“Actually, I don’t know,” Warren responded when asked if she had raised funds off of the Kavanaugh hearings — causing a stir in the audience, while the debate moderators jumped in to point out the ethics com- plaint.
“Then I will check into it, but I don’t know,” Warren said.
Warren’s email, featuring a “Donate now” button, read: “If we all get in this fight right now, from Boston and across the country — then we’ve got a fighting chance at stopping the Republicans and Kavanaugh in their tracks.”
Diehl accused Warren of looking “for every opportunity to grandstand,” saying, “That was such an intense moment in our country’s history in terms of us trying to deal with presumption of innocence — the cornerstone of our legal system — and you were willing to throw it right out the window.”
The conservative group filed the ethics complaint against Warren and California Democratic U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris saying, “By linking a promise of official action with campaign contributions, a Senator violates a ‘basic principle’ of Senate Ethics that guards against conflicts of interest.”
Last night’s debate was the third and final before the Nov. 6 election between Warren, a Democrat seeking re-election to a second term in the Senate, and her opponent Diehl, a Republican state representative. Polls have shown Warren with a sizable lead. — sean.cotter@bostonherald.com