Maloney Pushes Back on "Dishonest" Attacks

By [Dan Rivoli] Rep. Carolyn Maloney is pushing back on her challenger's claims that she takes millions in special interest money. 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. "Independent news organizations and watchdog groups agree: Reshma Saujani"s negative campaign is twisting the facts and distorting the truth," Maloney's mailer reads. "On Sept. 14, say NO to Reshma Saujani and her dishonest negative campaign." The mailer quotes an editorial from the Queens Gazette that says Saujani is distorting Maloney's record. [A story from FactCheck.org](http://www.factcheck.org/2010/07/maligning-maloney-by-mailer/) is also highlighted. That site criticized Saujani, a former hedge fund attorney, for claiming she doesn't take "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 "special interests she is supposed to regulate." "It may well be that some of the donors who attended the concert were banking lobbyistsˆ  's but Saujani has no evidence of that," the piece said. See the mailer here: [Maloney Mailer Setting the Record Straight](http://www.scribd.com/doc/35420911/Maloney-Mailer-Setting-the-Record-Straight)