Couple Alleges Threat From Congressman

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Shirleypal
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Couple Alleges Threat From Congressman

Post by Shirleypal » 09-02-2007 09:25 PM

Couple Alleges Threat From Congressman

Posted: 2007-09-02 19:52:53
Filed Under: Nation News
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Sept. 2) - A local couple is complaining that U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn left them two threatening voice mails after they wrote a letter criticizing his fundraising.

Jonathan Bartha and Anna Bartha told The Denver Post that Lamborn said there would be "consequences" if they did not withdraw their letter.

"We felt very threatened and intimidated, and quite frankly, scared," Anna Bartha said. "It was just not anything we would ever anticipate an elected official would pursue or a way that an elected official would conduct himself."

Lamborn, in a call to The Associated Press on Sunday, said there was never any intention to threaten anyone and that he had never accepted money from the gambling industry as alleged by the Barthas.

He said he would make his banking records available and that his spending reports show he never took the money offered by the industry.

"I never had it in my bank account for one second," he said in a telephone call. Lamborn said his goal in calling the Barthas was to save the embarrassment of their claim being revealed to be false. He said he has a record of opposing gambling.

The Post reported that when asked whether his messages were threatening, Lamborn said: "No, that is ridiculous. My hope, I failed, but I had hoped to meet with them privately and confidentially because lying is a serious matter. "

Asked what he meant by consequences, Lamborn said: "When someone tells a lie, it just has bad consequences."

No comment was available from the couple Sunday. A person who answered the phone listed in their name said they did not live there.

The Bartha's letter criticized Lamborn for allegedly accepting $1,500 in campaign contributions from the gambling industry. Federal records confirm the donations were accepted, but Lamborn said he returned them. He did not say when and The Post said there is no federal record of them being returned.

Lamborn's voice mails urged the couple as "brothers and sisters in Christ" and implored them to call him back to discuss their "blatantly false" letter.

Jonathan Bartha is employed by Focus on the Family. His wife, a board member of Falcon School District 49, worked for two months as a scheduler for candidate Jeff Crank during a bitter, six-way Republican primary race for the 5th Congressional District seat.

Lamborn has written an open letter to the chairman of the GOP in El Paso County, Greg Garcia, asking him to investigate the letter.

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Shirleypal
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Post by Shirleypal » 09-02-2007 09:31 PM

What happened to our freedom of speech........it is actually more than speech.

SETIsLady
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Post by SETIsLady » 09-02-2007 11:05 PM

They are eating their own. It sure sounds like he is trying to cover up something.

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majda
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Post by majda » 09-03-2007 02:54 AM

Shirleypal wrote: What happened to our freedom of speech........it is actually more than speech.


Indeed...what has happened to 'freedom of speech'? We the people express an opinion, and it seems there is always someone there to put us down.
"The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government -- lest it come to dominate our lives and interests." ~ Patrick Henry

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