Aubertine
Campaign Hit
by Major Fraud Scandal
Candidate's Tattered Credibility Takes New Hit on Charge of Faked Ad
MEDIA RELEASE
PULASKI, N.Y., Feb. 11 — Voters should be deeply concerned by the latest revelations of distortion and outright fabrication by Darrel Aubertine in his increasingly negative and personal campaign for State Senate.
Aubertine campaign operatives reportedly coached a local fisherman to makeup a completely false story about his childhood fishing on the Salmon River. His fictional account was included in the candidate's major campaign commercial.
In the ad—one of Aubertine's most widely broadcast commercials—a local fisherman tells a touching story about fishing with his "granddad" on the Salmon River. The individual who appears in the ad now admits that his story was completely false, and that he had been entirely scripted in advance by top aides to
Aubertine.
"This new revelation makes it more clear than ever that Darrel Aubertine will say or do anything to get elected," said Graham Wise, campaign manager for Will Barclay.
"This story is a wholly fabricated, bald-faced lie." Wise said. "Making matters worse, the Aubertine campaign knew that their scripted ad claims were entirely false.
"This revelation is just the latest in a profoundly disturbing pattern of distortions, fabrications and changing stories from Darrel Aubertine. On drivers' licenses for illegal immigrants, on nuclear energy, on his labor union support, and on his endorsement of Governor Spitzer's tax-and-spend budget, Darrel Aubertine tells one story, only to flip flop and tell an entirely different story just days later," Wise said.
"The bottom line is this: The Aubertine campaign is spending millions of dollars to tell the public a lie. That is not only disgraceful conduct, it's an arrogant slap in the face to every voter in Jefferson, Oswego and St. Lawrence Counties.
"We already knew we couldn't trust him on licenses for illegal immigrants, on nuclear power, or on the State budget, but spending millions to hoodwink voters with a completely fabricated story is just a disgrace," Wise said.
"If we can't trust him to tell the truth on something as basic as a story about fishing, how can we trust him to tell the truth on anything else?"
