Newsroom: Press Releases
Begich Continues to Spin Web of Lies in Debate Controversy
Stevens Campaign Renews Demand for Public Apology
The Ted Stevens campaign today is renewing its demand for a public apology and retraction from Mark Begich following several false statements made by Begich and his staff over the last two days. In a campaign press release and an interview with KTUU-TV yesterday, Begich claimed that Senator Stevens would not participate in live, public debates. These statements were made despite the Senator’s confirmed attendance at candidate forums sponsored by the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce and KTOO/Alaska Public Broadcasting.
The latest in a series of Begich lies came today when the Washington, D.C., newspaper, The Hill, reported that KTOO News Director Rosemarie Alexander “was surprised to see the Begich release and has not talked to the Begich campaign for several weeks.”
Yet Mark Begich claimed that his campaign had been “checking on these debates every single day.” These comments, made to KTUU-TV in Anchorage yesterday evening, clearly contradict Alexander’s assertion that Mark Begich hadn’t contacted KTOO about its debate in “several weeks.”
In fact, Alexander told The Hill that when she tried to re-confirm Mark Begich’s participation in the October 30th KTOO debate yesterday, she did not receive a return call.
“Mark Begich’s lies are really stacking up,” said Aaron Saunders, spokesperson for the Stevens campaign. “Instead of coming clean and admitting that he deceived Alaskans, Mark Begich is continuing to spin a web of misinformation. We hope Mark Begich takes our demand for a public apology seriously. He is not acting like the ethical candidate he claims to be.”
The Begich campaign’s explanation to The Hill today was that the debate controversy was a “miscommunication” and that they “had been told by the debate outlets that Stevens had yet to commit prior to sending out the releases.” Yet the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce confirmed that it notified Begich of the Senator’s attendance weeks ago.
