Maloney Pushes Back on Challengers Dishonest Attacks
By [Dan Rivoli] Rep. Carolyn Maloney is pushing back on her challenger"s claims that she is in the pocket of special interests. Maloney"s campaign sent out a mailer highlighting newspaper editorials and fact-checking websites that rebuff Reshma Saujani"s claims. Saujani"s campaign has repeatedly noted that she has not taken money from Political Action Committees, while Maloney has accepted $2.5 million throughout her career. The mailer quotes an editorial from the Queens Gazette that says Saujani is distorting Maloney"s record. â??Independent news organizations and watchdog groups agree: Reshma Saujani"s negative campaign is twisting the facts and distorting the truth, Maloney"s mailer reads. â??On Sept. 14, say NO to Reshma Saujani and her dishonest negative campaign. A story from FactCheck.org is also highlighted. That site criticized Saujani, a former hedge fund attorney, for claiming she doesn"t take â??special interest money. Though Saujani doesn"t take money from corporations" Political Action Committees, she does take campaign cash from employees of Wall Street companies such as Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch. FactCheck.org also criticized Saujani"s claim that Maloney, who was on a committee that dealt with the details of financial reform legislation, went to a James Taylor-Carol King concert fundraiser and took money from â??special interests she is supposed to regulate. â??It may well be that some of the donors who attended the concert were banking lobbyists's but Saujani has no evidence of that, the FactCeck.org piece said. See the mailer at OurTownNY.com But Saujani is sticking by her criticism of Maloney. She launched a â??Check the Facts page on her website at Reshma2010.com/CheckTheFacts. The website is aimed at giving â??you the truth about how Carolyn Maloney compromised her integrity by engaging in the same unethical behavior as eight other House members currently under investigation, according to Kevin Lawler, Saujani"s campaign manager. The investigation, however, is in regards to fundraisers held in December 2009 near the vote on financial reform legislation. Maloney"s fundraisers were in June 2010.