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Last week, we published a
Letter
to the Editor from Hillsborough County
Commissioner Carol Holden in which she rebutted a recent
GRA
guest editorial citing Holden's false
allegations against recent challenger Pamela Manney.
The editorial pointed out that in an August 29th press
release, Holden accused Manney of failing to file an August 20th Summary of Receipts and Expenditures as required by
state RSA 664. This allegation by Holden was soon
proven to be false.
Unfortunately, it appears false
claims are not uncommon to Holden.
In her letter
to the GRA,
Holden wrote, "In that editorial, I was falsely accused me of not telling the truth about my opponent’s filing the August 20th Candidate Receipt and Expense Form."
Her letter went on to state, "I wrote the press release stating that "I
believe that my opponent has not filed."
Note that Holden
emphasized the word 'believe' in bold.
OK, so Holden claimed she
never said in her press release that Manney had not filed, but rather
that her press release stated she
only "believed" Manney had not filed. So
we took a look at her press release ourselves.
On August 29th, we
received the email below from Holden herself with the
aforementioned press release attached.
Email received from County
Commissioner Carol Holden on August 29, 2008.
Note the attached press release. "FOR
IMMEDIATEManney08.doc"
LIE UNCOVERED
We reviewed that press
release and discovered, as can be seen below, that, in
direct contradiction to the claim she made in her letter
to the GRA, she
stated "Pam Manney, my opponent in the Republican Primary for District 3 County Commissioner, did not file the August 20th Summary of Receipts and Expenditures as required by RSA 664.":
Holden press release of
August 29, 2008.
Hmmm...it certainly
appeared to us she had lied in her letter
to the GRA.
So we contacted Holden directly and asked her to
comment.
ADMITS
LYING
In her
email response to us, she wrote, "You are correct that I did not state in the press release it was my belief on August
27th...", an admission she lied in her
letter to us.
She also stated "The words “I believe” were used in the complaint."
They were indeed, Carol, but not the way you're
implying.
In that complaint
to Secretary of State William Gardner,
Holden again flatly stated that her opponent
"...did not file the Summary of Receipts and Expenditures..."
(emphasis added).
The
words 'I believe' were actually used in the following
statement, "I believe that she has incurred expenditures in excess of $500 and that she is required to file."
MANIPULATION OF THE
FACTS
Obviously,
Holden is quite adept at manipulating facts. She
admittedly lied in her letter
to the GRA,
and then cleverly attempted to twist the truth when
implying she had, in her complaint to the state, used
the word "believe' to accuse Manney of failing
to file, when in fact the word 'believe' was
actually used in reference to Manney's expenditures.
Some
voters will no doubt see this issue, regarding the use
of a single word, as trivial. But it is
symptomatic of a much greater concern - that of Holden's
honesty and integrity, and indicative of her apparent
affinity for cleverly misleading and manipulating the
public. It's a shame she stooped to such low
levels just to win re-election.
It is
truly unfortunate, and an incredible disservice to
voters, that Holden continues
her dishonest tactics. And we will never
know how her false accusations may have affected the
outcome of the election. Worse, can we ever
believe anything she says to her constituents?
Voters and taxpayers
beware...
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