NH-1: FEC fines Guinta for illegal loan from parents (Resign Watch Thread)

[Anti Democrat Democrat Club]

So, the following is not a big deal:

*Taking a loan 70 times as big as the limit in a rough primary, which you wind up winning by 4%, causing the FEC to investigate you
*Consistently insisting that you just forgot about $355k and it came from a different bank account - specifically insisting that it totally wasn't your parents
*Lying to the public about being cleared of any wrongdoing
*Falsely accusing your opponent of lying about you still being investigated
*Hiding your bank account for five years
*Being found out for cheating your way into a primary win in 2010 five years later

And somehow this will all blow over like an out-of-place comment, even though the state party (whose backing is essentially the only reason he beat Dan Innis in the first place) is cutting him loose.

Jesus, he could kill a man and you apologists would find an excuse for him to stay in office.

[Anti Democrat Democrat Club]

Speaking of Innis, he will only run if it were an open seat primary.

[Torie]

Guinta was civilly fined, and not facing a criminal charge, so I tend to doubt that he will resign, and he need not resign. But he needs to announce he will not run for re-election. His running again, if only to lose the primary, would further help the Dems in a seat they probably have about a 60% chance of winning anyway, all things being equal. I had this seat as one that I expected the Pubs to lose all things being equal, and now it's moving close to the top, right up there next to NV-04.

[Nyvin]

If getting rid of Guinta means getting a sensible republican who can hold the seat in a presidential year, then by all means make him resign. I really don't want to see that Ultra-HP Shea-Porter in congress again.

Lol being so sad to see garbage like Guinta going, but Carol Shea-Porter (a nice lady you happen to disagree with) is an HP.

I honestly think people are overreacting to this. Guinta has confessed his crime and paid the fine. It was a relatively minor offense and it shouldn't be hurting him as much as it is.

So you would be okay with other elected officials (democrats) taking out similar "loans" and then proceed to deny knowing where the money came from or saying they simply forgot...and then pay a fine and forget about it?

You wouldn't hold this against the Democrat in the next election??

[Attorney General, Senator-Elect, & Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

If getting rid of Guinta means getting a sensible republican who can hold the seat in a presidential year, then by all means make him resign. I really don't want to see that Ultra-HP Shea-Porter in congress again.

Lol being so sad to see garbage like Guinta going, but Carol Shea-Porter (a nice lady you happen to disagree with) is an HP.

I honestly think people are overreacting to this. Guinta has confessed his crime and paid the fine. It was a relatively minor offense and it shouldn't be hurting him as much as it is.

So you would be okay with other elected officials (democrats) taking out similar "loans" and then proceed to deny knowing where the money came from or saying they simply forgot...and then pay a fine and forget about it?

You wouldn't hold this against the Democrat in the next election??

Yes

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Guinta doesn't have very many friends in the NHGOP, does he? I mean, this scandal really shouldn't be big enough to lead to resignation calls from within your own party, yet that's what's going on.

So, the three likeliest replacement Republicans are Jeb Bradley, Dan Innis, and Chris Sununu, correct? And CSP should be virtually guaranteed the Democratic nomination.

Yeah - if she wants it. She'll clear the field if she runs.

Also worth noting that Guinta got caught using campaign money for his legal defense.

You don't think Chris Pappas could beat Shea-Porter?

[Anti Democrat Democrat Club]

Guinta doesn't have very many friends in the NHGOP, does he? I mean, this scandal really shouldn't be big enough to lead to resignation calls from within your own party, yet that's what's going on.

So, the three likeliest replacement Republicans are Jeb Bradley, Dan Innis, and Chris Sununu, correct? And CSP should be virtually guaranteed the Democratic nomination.

Yeah - if she wants it. She'll clear the field if she runs.

Also worth noting that Guinta got caught using campaign money for his legal defense.

You don't think Chris Pappas could beat Shea-Porter?

The matchup won't even happen. Pappas has already indicated he'd defer to her if she ran.

[Anti Democrat Democrat Club]

Yes

At least you're consistent about it. We can agree to disagree about this.

Guinta doesn't have very many friends in the NHGOP, does he? I mean, this scandal really shouldn't be big enough to lead to resignation calls from within your own party, yet that's what's going on.

So, the three likeliest replacement Republicans are Jeb Bradley, Dan Innis, and Chris Sununu, correct? And CSP should be virtually guaranteed the Democratic nomination.

Chris Sununu I'd say is probably the likeliest to get in, and now that the Johns seem to have taken a back seat, Chris is the standard-bearer of the family (which has a lot of weight in the NHGOP). He's also called on Guinta to resign, so I'd say he's got a 90% chance of running - and that 10% is if Hassan goes for Senate and the governor's mansion is open.

If he runs for the House (and it looks like he will), I think he clears the field and is the strongest candidate the Republicans have. Also gives a better launching pad if he wants to take his brother's seat.

[Anti Democrat Democrat Club]

@CountryClassSF: Good news - you have your conservative. Former Executive Councilor Bob Burns is in, should Guinta resign.

Bad news - he lost to Pappas by four points in 2012. In a district that's about 3 points more Republican than NH-1. It's unlikely he'll win if he makes it past the primary.

If you're looking for other conservatives not named Sununu, here are two more:

*Joe Kenney - Executive Councilor for District 1. Has won on Democratic turf against a high-profile opponent twice, even though he didn't have the previous EC's family's endorsement. Both wins were in a special election and in 2014, but he's clearly battle-tested enough to be a good campaigner.

*Pam Tucker - A proud O'Brienite who has shown interest in this seat before Guinta ran. State representative - probably the most conservative of all.

Don't know the rest about the smatterings of businessmen, though all of Guinta's 2010 opponents were sufficiently conservative.

EDIT: And apparently Brad Cook, who ran for governor a while back, is considering a bid.

[Anti Democrat Democrat Club]

UPDATE: NHGOP executive board has decided not to call for Guinta's resignation. The chair specifically says she's not worried.

[CountryClassSF]

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Republicans go into meltdown mode every time they think they'll get negative media coverage.  The "OMG GET IT OFF THE NEWS NOW RESIGN RESIGN RESIGN!" attitude is almost pathological. When will they realize they'll always get negative media coverage?

If only they were as forceful asking indicted Menendez to resign. Oh wait, they never did.

Ayotte has been a thorn in the side of Republicans ever since she took office

[Attorney General, Senator-Elect, & Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Republicans go into meltdown mode every time they think they'll get negative media coverage.  The "OMG GET IT OFF THE NEWS NOW RESIGN RESIGN RESIGN!" attitude is almost pathological. When will they realize they'll always get negative media coverage?

If only they were as forceful asking indicted Menendez to resign. Oh wait, they never did.

Ayotte has been a thorn in the side of Republicans ever since she took office

Menendez has not actually been convicted of anything. Am indictment is an accusation, not a guilty verdict. Whatever happened to Innocent until proven guilty?

[CountryClassSF]

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It still exists - in the courtroom.  The integrity of the Senate is a different matter. 

When Mike Grimm was indicted (prior to pleading Guilty), Pelosi & co insisted he resigned. Not a word about Menendez.  We can't have different standards for everybody.

To my knowledge, Guinta's charges were a civil infraction as opposed to a criminal one

[IceSpear]

The Corrupt Frank Guinta is corrupt? Say it ain't so!

[Maxwell]

You must be logged in to read this quote.

It still exists - in the courtroom.  The integrity of the Senate is a different matter. 

When Mike Grimm was indicted (prior to pleading Guilty), Pelosi & co insisted he resigned. Not a word about Menendez.  We can't have different standards for everybody.

To my knowledge, Guinta's charges were a civil infraction as opposed to a criminal one

...

Mike Grimm also gave a guilty plea

I mean come on, stop being intellectually dishonest for once.

Though I can't imagine that's a possibility considering you're a troll, so...

[Attorney General, Senator-Elect, & Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

You must be logged in to read this quote.

It still exists - in the courtroom.  The integrity of the Senate is a different matter. 

When Mike Grimm was indicted (prior to pleading Guilty), Pelosi & co insisted he resigned. Not a word about Menendez.  We can't have different standards for everybody.

To my knowledge, Guinta's charges were a civil infraction as opposed to a criminal one

...

Mike Grimm also gave a guilty plea

He gave it several months AFTER the indictment. He waited until a month after he won reelection to do it.

[Oldiesfreak1854]

Looks like another Shea-Porter comeback to me.

Not if she runs against Ayotte for the Senate.

Hopefully Guinta will have the good sense to retire or resign.

[Anti Democrat Democrat Club]

So, quick timeline of me living under Guinta's rule:

*July 2010: Political reporter Kevin Landrigan first raises the question of where Guinta got $125,000 to loan his campaign, about two weeks after.

*August 2010: Former NHGOP chair Fergus Cullen (who's from the moderate wing of the party) breaks a story that congressional candidate and former Mayor of Manchester Frank Guinta wound up listing a new, unreported bank account in the low-to-mid six figures on his disclosure form. An activist files a request for the FEC to investigate. Guinta claims that he just forgot about the account, despite the account being the source of over $250,000 of loans. Throughout, he insists that it's his money and that it didn't come from his parents.

*September 2010: When the dust settles, Frank Guinta wins the Republican primary for NH-1 by less than 3,000 votes (4%). Carol Shea-Porter raises questions, and Guinta complains about "personal attacks".

*October 2010: NHPR does a piece disproving Guinta's explanation - specifically that from his real estate transactions, he only gained about $52,000, and his insurance consulting was unlikely to give him hundreds of thousands either. He also tries to dodge a question whether the money is his parents' or not, saying that he's "focused on the economy". The NHDP also files an FEC complaint.

*November 2010: NH voters elect Frank Guinta to represent them for two years. He later votes farther to the right than Carol Shea-Porter voted to the left.

*September 2012 to November 2012: Frank Guinta is unopposed in the primary. Mystery Bank Account becomes an issue again. He continues to deny and dodge. Shea-Porter wins.
 
*October 2014: Carol Shea-Porter raises the question of the $355,000 bank account again in the final days of the election. He accuses her of lying, saying he was cleared by the House Ethics Committee, and in a debate specifically says that he was cleared by the FEC of any wrongdoing.

*November 2014: Guinta wins by less than 9,000 votes (3%). Everything is fine, Democrats regroup.

*May 13, 2015: The FEC fines Frank Guinta for an illegal donation that turned out to be his parents' money after all. He "apologized", yet still refused to admit that the money was his parents'.

And after that, you can read the thread.

Essentially, this is a big deal because Frank Guinta injected a third of a million dollars into a very close race that most likely tipped it in his favor, hid the source of that third of a million from the public, and knowingly lied about it coming from his parents. He also knowingly and willfully lied about being cleared by the FEC, and accused his opponent of lying about it when she attacked him on his mystery loan. So essentially, this story includes a public official buying a primary with illegal loans, hiding it from everyone, stonewalling his investigation in the process, lying to the public about the investigation, and slandering his political opponents when they brought it up.

If that's okay to some of you, then your ethical priorities are seriously fycked up.

[Anti Democrat Democrat Club]

Shea-Porter is in. Also calls for Guinta to resign.

[Senate Minority Leader Lord Voldemort]

Hopefully this will be the end of the dumb Guinta/Shea-Porter back and forth. The NH GOP is better than this. They can field a better candidate in 2016 who will lose in 2016 and try again and win in 2018.

[Anti Democrat Democrat Club]

Guinta's parents and sister refute his explanation that it was his own money. His mother even explicitly described one of the payments as a loan from her.

[Anti Democrat Democrat Club]

And now Innis has gone from "I'll only run if Guinta doesn't" to "I'm considering it".

[Anti Democrat Democrat Club]

Busy,  busy day in resign watch news.

*The NHGOP chair has officially stated that she's lost her trust in Guinta and stopped just short of calling for his resignation.
*The NHGOP vice chair has resigned due to her comments
*Al Baldasaro, the state house's resident arch-conservative (or at least ever since O'Brien became toxic), has accused Guinta of betraying his trust and has called on his retirement (if Baldasaro somehow wins the primary he's completely unelectable in the general)
*Innis is now considering
*A bunch of newspapers have reaffirmed their calls for Guinta's resignation

[Attorney General, Senator-Elect, & Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

Guinta is not going to resign, Sawx. He's been clear about that. He may be scared into retirement/defeated by a strong primary challenge, but he will finish out his term.

[Anti Democrat Democrat Club]

Well excuse me for wanting to talk about a race in my state that isn't one giant circlejerk.