Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) has frequently proven herself to be a prolific campaign fundraiser, but one former aide to her failed 2012 presidential effort said Thursday that her camp is still refusing to pay five Iowa straw poll staffers their due.
Peter Waldron, Bachmann's former national field coordinator, spoke with Salon, alleging that the withheld payment stemmed from the staffers' resistance to signing the campaign's nondisclosure agreement, which would have prohibited them from reporting any “unethical, immoral, or criminal activity” witnessed while carrying out their duties.
Salon reports:
Waldron said the staffers are owed a mere $5,000, and that Bachmann has more than $2 million in her campaign account, but has refused to pay unless the staffers sign the agreement. Negotiations over payment with Bachmann Finance Chairman James Pollack eventually broke down and Waldron decided to go public with the news, posting a press release on Christian Newswire this evening.
From the release:
“I feel a moral obligation to see that my Christian brothers and sisters are paid for worked performed in good faith. I’ve continually communicated by telephone and email with Mr. Pollack for 1 year but he broke every promise made to me to pay the staff. I appealed to Dr. [Marcus] Bachmann for help. I appealed to Representative Bachmann’s Chief of Staff Robert Boland to intercede with Mrs. Bachmann on behalf of her loyal Iowa staff — all of whom are married, all have children."
[...]
“It is sobering to think that a Christian member of Congress would betray her testimony to the Lord and the public by withholding earned wages from deserving staff.”
Bachmann Finance Chairman James Pollack has since denied the allegation in an email to Salon, calling it “false and inaccurate.”
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