Full disclosure. I’m conservative. I’m libertarian. I’m pro-life and pro-gun. I favor low taxes, border control and limited federal government.
If I could vote in the 18th Congressional District special election on March 13, I don’t know if I could vote for Rick Saccone.
I had no problem with advertisements suggesting that Conor Lamb would side with Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer. That’s fair game.
However, the National Republican Congressional Committee’s recent ads attacking Conor Lamb’s record as a federal prosecutor are inaccurate and offensive.
As a criminal defense attorney, I worked with Conor on very serious cases during his tenure as an assistant U.S. attorney, including cases involving large-scale distribution of opiates and opiate overdose deaths. Conor is a tough negotiator and a formidable trial attorney. He is bright, fair-minded and reasonable. His work ethic and integrity were beyond reproach.
The assertion that Conor was ineffective as a prosecutor is simply not true.
The suggestion in an ad by another group attacking Conor is that as an assistant U.S. attorney in Pennsylvania, he was involved in the Obama administration’s Iran policies. This is offensively absurd, akin to blaming the cashier at McDonald’s for securities fraud by the CEO.
These statements reflect a disregard for the truth and an alarming ignorance of how federal criminal prosecutions work. Unfortunately, these ludicrous and malicious attacks on Conor’s record as a prosecutor undermine what are legitimate criticisms concerning his policy positions.
I generally disagree with Conor Lamb’s politics, but I admire and respect him as a man and colleague. Voters should look critically at his ideology and policy positions, but voters should have no doubts about Conor Lamb’s character, competence and integrity. I agree with Mr. Saccone on many political issues, but I am disappointed in his campaign. There are good reasons to vote for Mr. Saccone, but the mud makes them harder to see.
MICHAEL MOSER
Hampton
First Published: February 23, 2018, 5:00 a.m.
