The College Republicans gave the picture and scoop to Drudge

[scheming daemons]

According to the Pittsburgh post-gazette:

"Mr. Garcia took the widely published picture of Ms. Todd with her injuries. He said he took several photographs with a digital camera to document what happened. He said he only gave copies of the photos to police and the College Republicans."

Busted.

[yourguide]

1. I would be they passed them up the food chain to the McCain campaign

The McCain campaign PA communications person was the one pushing the story per TPM.

[jakem]

2. im not sure mcaain is 'up' the food chain...

where do bottom feeders fit in again?

:shrug:

[FreakinDJ]

3. Yes but did the College Republicans plan the hoax

little too systematic a fraud against Dems taking place

[EFerrari]

7. The person who took that pic had to know the "injuries" were a fake. n//t

[yardwork]

10. Why did he take the picture? Why did he give it to the College Republicans?

This story doesn't pass the smell test.

[EFerrari]

19. She looks about 12 in the photo posted to #6.

She may be a bad ass but I bet you she really does drift in and out of shared reality.

[FreakinDJ]

48. Excellent point

and more then 1 person is a conspiracy

[Lint Head]

4. There will be more lying and deception from the criminal

Re-Pubic-Rats. This crap is going to happen for the next eleven days. Bush the criminal has asked the DOJ to investigate Ohio voting.
These lying pigs will stop at nothing to steal the election. We live in a theocratic fascist state until Bush is in jail. :dem:

[adamuu]

5. I feel bad for Mr. Garcia

in his situation, I probably wouldn't be scrutinizing my friend too much. I'd say, let's get you to a hospital, first. And, "let's let the police do their jobs" second.

BTW this settles the mystery of who took the picture. No need to go digging into the EXIF tags anymore.

[yardwork]

11. Why did Garcia take a picture of her? Why did he send it to College Republicans?

[adamuu]

16. you're right... that's a good question

Just because they were "her employer"? That's not a valid reason.

I admit to being a little influenced by this thread:

This Ashley Todd thing is nuts! I know the guy whose apartment she went to after the fake attack
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=7597619

[Essene]

22. it's not an invalid reason, either

I'd hope there is an investigation into the nature of the emails.

They were connected and both employed by the College Republicans.

His immediate reaction to her showing up was to deal with her health, call the police and to document the injuries. He shared that photo with the College Republicans, perhaps aware of the importance of the story... but also perhaps aware that folks would just simply want to know that she was in trouble.

If you are out in the field like that... and a colleague is injured, it's NOT that unreasonable to contact the home office.

It just so happens this had massive political implications.

I'd rather beat up on the campaign folks who pushed the story to Drudge and embellished it.

[adamuu]

28. okay. thanks. n/t

[Essene]

17. He called the police.

What should he have done?

HE CALLED THE POLICE and documented it.

"I had red flags going up, but I didn't think it was prudent of me to ask the truth. I wanted to make sure she was OK."

Sure, he also contacted the organization responsible for both he and she. That's not necessarily politically motivated, although it sure smells funny given the consequences of that call.

the organization then clearly sent it to drudge, passed it around the campaign, etc.

[Warren Stupidity]

32. "That's not necessarily politically motivated" - huh?

"Mr. Garcia took the widely published picture of Ms. Todd with her injuries. He said he took several photographs with a digital camera to document what had happened. He said he only gave copies of the photos to police and Ms. Todd's employer, the College Republicans. One photo appeared on The Drudge Report on Thursday, setting off a storm of media attention."

Right. Not politically motivated at all. Read the rest of the article in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08299/922849-53.stm

Mr. Garcia appears to be very involved in this hoax. "I had red flags going up, but I didn't think it was prudent of me to ask the truth. I wanted to make sure she was OK." - by sending the pictures and the bogus story off to the College Republican National Committee? He has 'red flags' going up, but relays the hoax to the McCain Campaign. Right.

Then we have this odd paragraph:

"Mr. Garcia, 32, a first-year student at the University of Pittsburgh law school who also is from Texas, met Ms. Todd in May at a gathering of young Republicans in their hometown of College Station. On Wednesday night, she came back to his house, bruised and battered, and told him of the attack. He contacted police."

Well Ms Todd was neither bruised nor battered. Is the reporter indirectly quoting Garcia here? Most likely.

Garcia, in my opinion, was clearly in on the hoax and is now trying to invent a narrative where he is just another victim of Todd.

[yardwork]

41. I definitely have even more questions now.

[Essene]

6. and.. the truth comes out. (source link & new photo here)

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08299/922849-53.stm

[HooptieWagon]

37. Interesting quote from your Post-Gazette link:

"In March, Ms. Todd was asked to leave a grass-roots group of Ron Paul supporters in Brazos County, Texas, group leader Dustan Costine said. He said Ms. Todd posed as a supporter of former Arkansas governor and presidential candidate Mike Huckabee and called the local Republican committee seeking information about its campaign strategies.

"She would call the opposing campaign and pretend she was on their campaign to get information," Mr. Costine said last night. "We had to remove her because of the tactics she displayed. After that we had nothing to do with her."

About a month earlier, he said, Ms. Todd sent an e-mail to the Ron Paul group saying her tires were slashed and that campaign paraphernalia had been stolen from her car because she supported Mr. Paul.

"She's the type of person who wants to be recognized," Mr. Costine said."


Seems like Munchausen's to me...

[yardwork]

42. She was an employee of the College Republicans National Committee

Ms. Todd's job as a field representative for the College Republican National Committee brought her to Pittsburgh about two weeks ago to recruit college students. She had worked for the committee since August. Yesterday, the organization fired her.

[alcibiades_mystery]

8. Anyone who took the picture must have known the injuries were fake

The black eye (which appears to be completely gone) is clearly fake even IN the picture; it must have looked even more fake in person.

[seabeyond]

9. why did none of these morons ask about a backwards b. makes no sense. really these repugs arent

absolutely stupid.

[Karenina]

12. Au contraire!

:rofl:

[nomaco-10]

13. The guy that took the pic is supposed to be...

a law student. You'd think he'd atleast be smart enough to have questioned the backward B. Just goes to show what a bunch of morans they all are.

[seabeyond]

14. ya know. i know they are stupid as in ignoring reality and fact per politics or candidate, but they

do have working brains. as you say, .... he is a law student. geeeesh.

[BumRushDaShow]

15. Glad to give the 5th rec. & link to the article.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08299/922849-53.stm

Ironically, she was apparently a trouble-maker in other campaigns per the article. Crashing Ron Paul & Huckabee meetings.

Is it any irony that she purportedly listed her favorite book as "The Scarlet Letter"? :eyes:

[Neutralator]

20. He was tired of her and saw a nice way to get rid of her ;)

[Karenina]

35. AND Feldman! A twofer!!!

:rofl:

[adamuu]

21. "She would call the opposing campaign and pretend she was on their campaign to get information,"

"About a month earlier, he said, Ms. Todd sent an e-mail to the Ron Paul group saying her tires were slashed and that campaign paraphernalia had been stolen from her car because she supported Mr. Paul."

[nomaco-10]

25. Almost sounds like munchausen proxy by politics....

Really weird stuff with this woman. Infiltrating other campaigns, ingratiating herself then pulling some stunt for attention. This young woman has some serious mental issues.

[EFerrari]

36. Or she's Rove's love child. n/t

[No Elephants]

45. Great insight and metaphor.

[H2O Man]

18. Very important.

Thank you.

We need to keep on this.

Nominated.

[Democat]

23. Now we have the start of a major scandal - where to from there?

Photographer gives pictures to the College Republicans.

It's doubtful they have any connections with Drudge Report.

So, who did they give the pictures to that gave the pictures to Drudge?

Is McCain or Palin directly involved?

In fact, when did Palin and McCain call this girl - do they have time stamps on when the calls to her were made by McCain and Palin? Was it before or after the Drudge story was posted?

[TornadoTN]

24. Bingo - and they have to be complete fucking morons to fall for her "mascara"

It would have been much more clear in person and the fact that these guys fell for it just screams that they were in on it all along. Especially - ESPECIALLY - when they take pictures and give them to College Republicans.

To fall for this is the ultimate sign of stupidity or willing collaboration.

[nomaco-10]

31. Article I read this am said police said she did have...

a black eye, but she wouldn't tell them how she got it. They think it's possible she did it in the car by hitting her face on the steering wheel or something (self inflicted). In any case, I thought it odd there was no sign of a black eye in her perp walk pic. Who knows.

[rocktivity]

26. No wonder Todd is being held on 50K bail on a misdemeanor

This is expanding into a conspriacy...

:headbang:
rocknation

[PA Democrat]

27. "I had red flags going up, but I didn't think it was prudent of me to ask the truth.

I wanted to make sure she was OK."

So Mr. Garcia had serious doubts about her story, but then sent the photo to the College Republicans without instruction to await verification of the story?



http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08299/922849-53.stm

According to the article, Mr. Garcia also said that Todd was employed by the College Republicans, which does change the story. Todd was not just an over-jealous McCain supporter, but actually an employee of the Republican Party.

[justiceischeap]

29. The RNC disavows the College Repugs

They did some sort of shoot the illegal immigrants game and the RNC stated that the College Repugs were a separate group and the RNC had no control over them. So technically, she wasn't working for the McPain campaign but on behalf of.

[yardwork]

43. Except that the two groups are still totally connected by money.

As I understand it, the RNC supports the College Republicans. They may be two separate organizations, but the RNC funds them.

[No Elephants]

47. I don't believe Garcia. I think he is trying to exonerate himself.

[speedoo]

30. Glad to see the CR's busted, but McCain's campaign is also busted.

Feldman pitched this to the Pittsburgh TV stations. He's very complicit in blowing this hoax out to the press.

[yardwork]

44. Exactly. There's a direct connection between College Republicans and McCain campaign.

Todd was an employee of the College Republicans. If they didn't know that she had a history of doing this sort of thing, they should have vetted their employees a little better. Maybe they knew she had a history of doing this kind of thing and that's why she got the job!

[sce56]

33. That is what happens with them College Retards They like to do all kinds of stupid stuff like spam!

This is the spam they sent me twice the first time note the time stamp on the email 9-11-08 it was in my email on Sunday 9-07-2008

[crazy_vanilla]

34. oh, and he didn't notice it was badly-applied mascara and as fake as they come/

This is ridiculous.

[Disturbed]

39. The Bail is $5K if that State is like most. !0% must be paid &

collateral for the $45K. I wonder who will step up?

The RWing meme is that she is mentally disturbed so it's best to forgive & forget.

I think that the McShameless Campaign & her RWing group should held accountable, as well. They were part of the despicable scheme.

[TheKentuckian]

38. The Press says

the PA McGollum director was pushing the story to them. This is a stunt and its not just this blackhearted little liar behind it.

[beachmom]

40. Link to the article, please. nt

[Doctor_J]

46. College Repukes of which Ashley is a member?

So this was intricately cooked up, not just a whack-job off her meds.