Christine O'Donnell

Christine O'Donnell's Bookselling Money Magic

Ryan J. Reilly | February 4, 2012, 5:04PM

She may, famously, not be a witch, but here's a bit of money magic from former Delaware Republican Senate candidate and recent Mitt Romney endorser Christine O'Donnell: her political campaign gave $142,000 to her super PAC, which proceeded to buy copies of her book.

Federal Election Commission reports filed by her campaign and super PAC this week show that the money her campaign gave to her super PAC represents just under 62 percent of the $229,985 the PAC took in during 2011. $19,912.30 of that money went towards an August 20th purchase labeled "PAC Fundraising Non-Residual Books" from a book shop in Philadelphia.

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Christine O'Donnell

Christine O'Donnell's Ex-Staffer Says She Owes Him $18K

Jillian Rayfield | October 26, 2011, 1:06PM

Christine O'Donnell is involved in a legal dispute with a former attorney for her campaign who says she owes him over $18,000.

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Christine O'Donnell

Republican FEC Commissioners Stopped Probe Of Christine O'Donnell

Ryan J. Reilly | June 29, 2011, 11:17AM

Christine O'Donnell

Former Delaware Republican Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell told supporters in an email earlier this month that the Federal Election Commission "dismissed the politically motivated complaint against me that was filed by my opponents last summer."

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Christine O'Donnell

Christine O'Donnell Will Use Committee To 'Investigate' Left-Wing Groups

Ryan J. Reilly | February 8, 2011, 1:55PM

Christine O'Donnell

Failed GOP Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell is back, and she's telling supporters she wants her newly formed political action committee ChristinePAC to "investigate and counter attack leftwing groups."

O'Donnell, who wrote that her losing campaign sent "shockwaves" throughout the nation, said in an e-mail to supporters Tuesday that her group will look into the groups "funded with one million dollars or more from billionaire leftist George Soros."

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Christine O'Donnell

Christine O'Donnell Establishes PAC Based In Her Home

Ryan J. Reilly | January 19, 2011, 9:55AM

Christine O'Donnell

Former GOP Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell is under investigation for paying her rent with campaign funds. Now she's made the very same home the headquarters of her newly established political action committee, ChristinePAC.

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Christine O'Donnell

Christine O'Donnell Wants A Mulligan On Campaign Finance Reports

Ryan J. Reilly | January 5, 2011, 10:47AM

Christine O'Donnell

Christine O'Donnell will file amendments to all the campaign finance reports her campaign filed during the 2009-2010 election cycle, a lawyer for the failed Delaware Republican Senate candidate wrote in a letter to the Federal Election Commission.

All amendments will be filed along with Friends of Christine O'Donnell's year-end report on Jan. 31, GOP power lawyer Cleta Mitchell wrote in a letter to the FEC.

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Christine O'Donnell

O'Donnell: Fed Probe Ginned Up By Biden, Soros And Disgruntled Staffers (VIDEO)

Ryan J. Reilly | December 30, 2010, 10:17AM

Former Republican senate candidate Christine O'Donnell took to the airwaves of at least five morning shows today to fight back against the "thug politic tactic" being used against her by way of the federal criminal probe into allegations of improper use of her campaign funds.

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Christine O'Donnell

Ethics Group: Amount Of Money Could Make Or Break O'Donnell Investigation

Ryan J. Reilly and Alex Sciuto | December 30, 2010, 8:35AM

Christine O'Donnell

As former Republican Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell suggested yesterday the federal investigation into improper use of campaign funds was just one of Vice President Joe Biden's "thug tactics" against the Tea Party star, the president of the ethics group which made the complaint told TPM that the outcome depends on just how much campaign money she allegedly put to personal use.

"I think the major issue DOJ will have is whether it was enough money," Melanie Sloan, president of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) told TPM in an interview.

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Christine O'Donnell

Report: Feds Open Criminal Investigation Into Christine O'Donnell's Campaign Spending

Ryan J. Reilly | December 29, 2010, 2:22PM

Christine O'Donnell

Federal officials have reportedly opened a criminal probe into whether former Republican Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell broke the law by using campaign money to pay personal expenses, the Associated Press reported Wednesday.

The feds are looking into whether O'Donnell's spent $20,000 dollars in campaign money on personal expenses and rent, MSNBC reported. The probe stems from a complaint by the group Citizens For Responsibility And Ethics In Washington (CREW) which was filed back in September.

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Christine O'Donnell

Christine O'Donnell's 'I'm Not A Witch,' Yale Ads Cost $200K

Ryan J. Reilly and Alex Sciuto | December 10, 2010, 2:38PM

Christine O'Donnell's campaign appears to have paid nearly $100K a pop to produce two ads alerting Delaware voters that she was: "not a witch"; and that she "didn't go to Yale."

TPM's review of her latest financial disclosure shows that the O'Donnell's campaign made two payments to Strategic Perception Inc. on Oct. 4 and Oct. 12 that totaled up to $199,855. The witch-debunking ad premiered on the 4th while the Yale ad went up on the 7th.

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Christine O'Donnell

Christine O'Donnell's Last Minute Hires Included Anti-Gay Crusader

Ryan J. Reilly and Alex Sciuto | December 9, 2010, 3:20PM

Delaware Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell (R)

Recently disclosed financial forms from the campaign of unsuccessful GOP Senatorial candidate Christine O'Donnell reveal some of the Delaware Republican's last-minute staffing changes, including the addition to her campaign of the executive director of a conservative group that crusades against same-sex marriage.

Andresen Blom, the executive director of the anti-gay marriage group American Principles Project, was paid $13,000 dollars during the period running from Oct. 14 through Nov. 22, according to a recently disclosed campaign finance report reviewed by TPM.

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DE-SEN

Elex Official Tells O'Donnell Supporters To Quiet Down Outside Polling Places

Rachel Slajda | November 2, 2010, 3:57PM

Christine O'Donnell

The Delaware elections commissioner told the Christine O'Donnell campaign to get their supporters to quiet down outside polling places, after receiving complaints that their pro-O'Donnell chants could be heard inside.

The elections commissioner, Elaine Manlove, tells TPMmuckraker that the O'Donnell campaign is sending out "advance teams" of supporters to polling places where the Senate candidate is scheduled to appear as part of a voter-greeting tour.

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DE-SEN

O'Donnell Claimed Coons Spent $53K On A 'Men's Fashion Show' (He Didn't)

Rachel Slajda | October 14, 2010, 3:02PM

Christine O'Donnell responds to the crowd at the University of Delaware debate on October 14, 2010.

During last night's Delaware Senate debate, Republican candidate Christine O'Donnell was on the attack against her opponent, Chris Coons, accusing him of being "addicted" to spending. One of her charges -- one that she repeated twice -- was that he spent tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars on a "men's fashion show."

But it appears she was wrong. Documents obtained from the county show that Coon's office spent less than 10 percent of what O'Donnell claimed, on tickets to a local youth group's gala fundraiser, which included a fashion show, as well as a union banquet.

[TPM SLIDESHOW: Christine O'Donnell: Anti-Masturbation Crusader. Witchcraft Dabbler. Republican Senate Nominee.]

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Guns

'Gun Ban Obama?' Not So Much, Say Gun Control Advocates

Ryan J. Reilly | October 12, 2010, 9:18AM

President Barack Obama and ATF agents

To hear some gun rights activists tell it, President Barack Obama wants to take away your guns and, any minute now, jack-booted federal agents could knock on your front door to collect them.

Such predictions started during the 2008 campaign. "Obama would be the most anti-gun President in American history," screamed a banner at the National Rifle Association's GunBanObama.com. It got so bad that Obama even had to reassure voters he wouldn't take away their guns. Even after the election, gun sales boomed.

You'd expect a President so opposed by many gun rights groups to get high praise from gun control advocates since he took office. But advocates like those from the Brady Campaign To Prevent Gun Violence are far from satisfied with the progress on gun control being made in this administration.

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Christine O'Donnell

Christine O'Donnell's Schiavo Case: 'Life For Lauren'

Rachel Slajda | September 24, 2010, 8:44AM

Christine O'Donnell

You know that Christine O'Donnell is pro-life. But one episode that hasn't gotten much attention is her work on an end-of-life case, reminiscent of Terry Schiavo's, in 2008.

O'Donnell, the new Republican Senate candidate from Delaware, cites her pro bono public relations work on the case as the reason she was in dire financial straits during her Senate campaign against Joe Biden that year. Her straits were so dire, in fact, she sold her home to her boyfriend and campaign lawyer a month before it was to be auctioned off to pay her mortgage.

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Christine O'Donnell

O'Donnell Cited Palin-Backed 'Bridge To Nowhere' As 'Pork Barrel Spending'

Ryan J. Reilly | September 20, 2010, 11:04AM

Sarah Palin and Christine O'Donnell

When Christine O'Donnell wanted to show voters in the 2008 election what type of "pork barrel" spending she would never vote for, she cited the example of the controversial so-called "bridge to nowhere" in Alaska -- a project backed by now-supporter Sarah Palin.

Palin's endorsement of O'Donnell gave her candidacy a big boost just before the primary.

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Christine O'Donnell

Christine O'Donnell's Former Campaign Treasurer Says Obama Is A Secret Muslim

Ryan J. Reilly | September 20, 2010, 10:05AM

President Barack Obama and Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Christine O'Donnell

A lawyer who worked as the campaign treasurer to GOP Senate nominee Christine O'Donnell in the 2008 race thinks that President Barack Obama is a secret Muslim.

"Yes, actually, I do," Jonathan Moseley told TPM on Monday when asked if he still believes that Obama secretly practiced the Islamic faith.

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Christine O'Donnell

Christine O'Donnell VS. Al Franken In 1997: Sex, Condoms And Hypocrisy (VIDEO)

Rachel Slajda | September 19, 2010, 6:40PM

Al Franken and Christine O'Donnell on Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher in 1997

During one of her many appearances on Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher in the '90s, Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell (R-DE) sparred with now-Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) over sex, condoms and hypocrisy.

The first topic: A provision in then-President Bill Clinton's welfare reform bill that would fund sex ed, but only if the curriculum taught that extra-marital sex "will have harmful physical and psychological effects."

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Christine O'Donnell

Christine O'Donnell Thought Joe Biden Tapped Her Phone

Ryan J. Reilly | September 17, 2010, 10:10AM

Christine O'Donnell and Joe Biden

When she ran against then-Sen. Joe Biden in 2008, Christine O'Donnell thought the future Vice President was tapping her phone lines, a former campaign manager for the now-Delaware GOP Senate nominee told Politico.

Kristin Murray, who was one of several campaign managers for O'Donnell during that race, said the candidate broached the subject of phone security in June 2008 when they were discussing cell phone plans.

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DE-SEN

O'Donnell Campaign Operated Without A Treasurer, Despite FEC Rules

Rachel Slajda | September 16, 2010, 1:54PM

Christine O'Donnell

Christine O'Donnell may have broken campaign finance regulations by operating for months at a time without a treasurer, experts say.

Her campaign committee, Friends of Christine O'Donnell, has seen three treasurers quit, and went more than a year without a designated treasurer.

Campaign committees are required by law to have a designated treasurer at all times in order to collect and spend money, according to experts. But, according to records filed with the Federal Elections Commission, she's gone through several periods with no treasurer at all, including one of more than a year.

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Christine O'Donnell

Christine O'Donnell's Sexual Evolution

Rachel Slajda | September 16, 2010, 8:00AM

Christine O'Donnell

The new Republican candidate for Senate in Delaware is known most widely for her positions on sex: She is a devout Catholic, chaste, anti-masturbation, pro-abstinence-only sex ed, anti-condoms and anti-porn.

But Christine O'Donnell didn't grow up in a strict religious household. For her, the turning point came in college.

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Christine O'Donnell

Christine O'Donnell: AIDS Gets Too Much Gov't Money, Condoms Wouldn't Stop It (VIDEO)

Ryan J. Reilly | September 15, 2010, 11:22AM

Christine O'Donnell

Long before Tea Party backed candidate Christine O'Donnell won the Republican primary in Delaware and became the GOP Senate nominee, the conservative firebrand was arguing that the government was spending too much money fighting AIDS and said condoms wouldn't stop the disease from spreading.

You already know about O'Donnell's extreme views on sex and porn, and you've seen the video of her campaign against masturbation.

[TPM SLIDESHOW: Christine O'Donnell: Anti-Masturbation Crusader. Witchcraft Dabbler. Republican Senate Nominee.]

Now TPM has unearthed a 1997 C-SPAN video that shows O'Donnell voicing concerns that a drag queen ball "celebrates the type of lifestyle which leads to the disease," objecting to terming those with AIDS "victims" and calling AIDS a consequence of a certain "lifestyle which brings about this disease."

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