Rachel Maddow covered this story last night on her MSNBC show. From The Boston Globe:
Embattled Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Fisher said Thursday that the Massachusetts Republican Party tried to bribe him. Fisher said he was offered $1 million to drop a lawsuit trying to force his way onto the party’s September primary ballot, according to WGBH.
That is the polar opposite of what the Mass GOP said Tuesday, when it accused Fisher of demanding $1 million to drop his suit and name from the ballot.
Earlier this week, the party painted Fisher as money grubbing, saying he asked for $1 million in exchange for dropping out of the race. But Fisher says the party approached him as early as December and offered him $1 million to go away.
http://www.boston.com/...
Here is what the Massachusetts Republcan party alleged on Tuesdsay - also from the Boston Globe:
Massachusetts Republican Party officials are accusing Tea Party gubernatorial candidate Mark Fisher of demanding up to $1 million in exchange for dropping his legal challenge to get on the GOP primary ballot this September.
In a letter shared with Republican State Committee members Tuesday evening, the party’s lawyer, Louis M. Ciavarra, outlined a series of meetings in which he advised Fisher’s attorney that it is unlawful to pay someone in exchange for dropping out of a political race.
“I advised you and your client, as well as my own clients, that . . . in layman’s terms ‘buying people off the ballot’ is illegal,” Ciavarra wrote to Fisher’s lawyer, Thomas M. Harvey, in a letter dated May 6.
Harvey confirmed Tuesday night that Fisher, who is suing for the right to face off against Republican front-runner Charlie Baker in the fall primary, had asked for $1 million, but said it was only a “starting point’’ in the negotiations.
(my bold)
http://www.bostonglobe.com/...
Did you catch that last paragraph? Fisher's lawyer is like, "oh you mean those million dollars. It was negotiable!"
But the MA GOP doesn't look good either - in their letter, they say they will allow Fisher onto the ballot. As Rachel pointed out, why would one, in a letter that accuses someone of extortion, also concede to the one demand of the purported extortionist?
It doesn't really matter if they offered or he demanded - both are illegal. Business as usual for the Goposaurs.
This episode is instructive, as it indicates how the establishment GOP will likely try to deal with wacky Tea Party candidates around the country - by paying them to drop out.