A dirty trick went awry for two Republican workers in Arizona who tried to set up Democratic Rep. Tom O’Halleran by pretending to be communist donors — using false names — “in an apparent attempt to tie the Democrat to the far left,” according to The Guardian newspaper. (Read story here.)
The men walked into O’Halleran’s campaign office to drop off $39.68 in cash and demanded a receipt. O’Halleran’s finance director returned the money to a local Republican field office where she confronted one of the men, threatening to report him to the police. (Watch video below.)
According to The Guardian, “Making federal campaign contributions under a false identity is a crime. As a dirty trick, attempts to smear opponents by linking them to unsavory political groups has a long history.” A spokesperson for O’Halleran’s opponent denied their campaign had anything to do with the stunt.
O’Halleran, a former Chicago cop, futures trader, and talk-show host, was a Republican legislator in Arizona from 2001 – 2009. He left the GOP in 2014 and was elected to Congress as a Democrat in 2016.