Doheny is throwing mud in new ad, opponent says

Matt Doheny, a Republican candidate in the 23rd Congressional District, has criticized his primary opponent, Doug Hoffman, for profiting from his two congressional campaigns in a new television advertisement that is now airing district-wide.

Robert Ryan, Mr. Hoffman's spokesman, said Mr. Doheny "should be ashamed of himself" for spreading "lies, half truths and innuendo," adding the ad was "obviously a desperate attempt by Matt Doheny to save his floundering campaign."

Here's the transcript:

"I'm Matt Doheny and I've approved this message because you have the right to know...Doug Hoffman is personally pocketing thousands in campaign dollars. Hoffman took over $9,000 for office rent and staff lodging, pocketed almost $7,000 for mileage and expenses, almost $8,000 to his accounting firm. Hoffman took over $3,000 for interest in campaign loans, money from special interests financing his campaign. Doug Hoffman: taking care of himself."

Quick fact check.

CLAIM: "Doug Hoffman is personally pocketing thousands in campaign dollars."

SOURCE: The candidate's filings to the Federal Elections Commission

CONCLUSION: True.

Mr. Hoffman, who was a Conservative Party candidate during last year's special election, has paid $6,689.23 to himself between Aug. 19, 2009 and June 9, 2010. Of these 23 expenditures, 15 are explicitly listed as reimbursements. That list includes payments as small as $6.05 for tolls on Aug. 21, 2009 and as large as $1,959.50 for mileage on May 26, 2010.

In the remaining eight, five merely state "hotel." Mr. Hoffman doesn't own any hotels that I'm aware of, so we can reasonably assume these are also reimbursements. The final three are:

• $15 for meals on Aug. 21, 2009, which also seems to be a reimbursement.
• $1,990.73 for mileage and travel on May 26, which also seems to be a reimbursement.
• $1,072 for "campaign car." I've asked if that's a payment toward a dedicated campaign car, a repair bill reimbursement, or another mileage reimbursement.

CLAIM: "Hoffman took over $9,000 for office rent and staff lodging..."

SOURCE: The candidate's filings to the Federal Elections Commission

CONCLUSION: True, provided Mr. Hoffman and his wife jointly own the Spruce Lodge.

Mr. Hoffman paid $3,627.50 in rent to the Spruce Lodge, which his wife owns, for a campaign headquarters. He paid $5,443.94 in a mixture of lodging and office rent to the Spruce Lodge for his campaign staff.

It appears Mr. Hoffman's staff was accommodated at the lodge at a discount. His wife, Carol, is listed as giving a $1,000 in-kind donation on Oct. 14. In the explanation, it reads "donation of lodging difference between charge versus market rate."

CLAIM: "...pocketed almost $7,000 for mileage and expenses..."

SOURCE: The candidate's filings to the Federal Elections Commission

CONCLUSION: True.

See justification of first claim and remember: By and large, these are noted as reimbursements of campaign-related expenses.

CLAIM:"...almost $8,000 to his accounting firm."

SOURCE: The candidate's filings to the Federal Elections Commission

CONCLUSION: True.

Mr. Hoffman paid $7,975.72 between Aug. 20, 2009 and June 22, 2010 to Dragon, Benware, Crowley and Co., where he works as a certified public accountant. The major expense is a $5,999 "repayment on debt from prior filing" on Nov. 4, 2009. I'll have to check on what that might mean. Most of the other expenses was reimbursement for mileage. I've asked about that too.

CLAIM:"Hoffman took over $3,000 for interest in campaign loans, money from special interests financing his campaign."

SOURCE: The candidate's filings to the Federal Elections Commission

CONCLUSION: True.

The Watertown Daily Times reported in July that Mr. Hoffman paid himself more than $3,500 in interest on loans he made to his congressional campaigns, charing 7.5 percent interest. Mr. Doheny and Rep. William L. Owens, D-Plattsburgh, have made interest-free loans to their campaigns.

"Charging interest on personal loans to one's congressional campaign is well within the law, and the interest rate does not appear exorbitant considering the high rate a bank probably would charge on an inherently risky loan to a political campaign, said Robert K. Kelner, a lawyer who heads the election and political law practice at Covington & Burling, a Washington firm," the story stated.

Since Mr. Hoffman has taken money from political action committees, it is easy to argue that "special interests" are financing part of his campaign.

Here's Mr. Ryan's response:

"The Hoffman campaign is obligated by federal law to report ALL campaign expenditures and that exactly what we've done. Doug Hoffman is proud that he runs a cost efficient, well run campaign and the only person who seems to disagree with that fact is Matt Doheny."

It's worthy of note: Team Hoffman had a few advertisements on television and radio that aired during last year's special election that were quite open to interpretation about whether they were true or false. The group has also several times misstated Mr. Doheny's positions or implied something that was not true.

Unbeknown to me, it appears Mr. Doheny's team took footage I shot of Mr. Hoffman for this advertisement. Compare: