Congressman Roy Blunt noted that political action committees (PACS) were meant as part of a campaign finance reform after the Watergate scandal, while seemingly dismissing a USA Today report on lobbyist contributions he's received.
"Lobbyist money is when a lobbyist would write a personal check. That's their money and they write a check. I have no idea how much money that might be," said Blunt in an interview.
In an Oct. 4th story, USA Today listed Blunt as the top federal recipient of lobbyist money in 2009.
Blunt seemed to dismiss the story, saying it focused on PAC money -- not lobbyist money.
A Blunt spokesperson said the Congressman misspoke. "You are correct. He did misspeak. He was addressing a different point of attack," said spokesman Rich Chrismer.
*WATCH FULL EXCHANGE ABOVE*
ON PACS: "Remember the PACS were a reform after Watergate . . . so individuals could put their money together and speak as loudly as campaigns used to speak."
UPDATED 7:37 PM: MO DEMOCRATIC PARTY RESPONSE
"LENIENT POST"
"What concerns me is that you seem to bury the fact that he was entirely wrong about the focus of the article," Missouri Democratic Party spokesman Ryan Hobart wrote The Notebook in an e-mail late Thursday. "In fact, it doesn't even come up until you quote Rich Chrismer in the second to last paragraph. It is also noticeable that you were lenient when Congressman Blunt avoided addressing the large amounts of lobbyist money being given to his campaign. I know you are more than willing to hold Secretary Carnahan's feet to the fire by saying she is "tap dancing" around the issues, but the same level of urgency did not come through in today's post about Blunt," Hobart continued.
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