It is perfectly apparent to us ”“ what we cannot understand is why it appears that was not the case with the people who represent us.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal and U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy did not immediately say it, so we will: Christopher Donovan must temporarily suspend his campaign for Murphy”™s Fifth District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. The reason being that the FBI arrested Donovan”™s campaign director and levied charges of influence peddling on legislation in the Connecticut General Assembly where Donovan represents Meriden and is speaker of the state House of Representatives.
Meriden resident Robert Braddock Jr. was charged on suspicion of soliciting and concealing campaign payments and then stubbing out legislation in the Connecticut General Assembly deemed burdensome by “roll-your-own” tobacco shops.
Braddock pleaded innocent and Donovan was not named in a May 31 FBI affidavit. Consider this an ironclad statement ”“ we do not presume any guilty conduct on the part of Donovan. The actions alleged by the FBI could have easily transpired without his knowledge.
Lock this one in iron as well ”“ we do presume he has no right to campaign to represent the state of Connecticut in Washington, D.C. until he has come out with that full explanation.
We fully believe in the doctrine that someone is innocent unless proven guilty. But this is not a trial ”“ it is a campaign, with a different set of standards. Connecticut cannot send a man to Congress with even a whiff of graft floating in his general vicinity. Not after former Gov. John Rowland. Not after umpteen instances of funny money in Bridgeport, Hartford, Waterbury, Shelton ”“ the list goes on and on, ad nauseam. Until Donovan can answer all questions on the allegations, he cannot continue his quest for Congress.
Malloy immediately issued a statement demanding Donovan give a full explanation of what he knows. After trotting out his new campaign manager Tom Swan to field questions, Donovan took questions himself a few days later ”“ but did not shed any additional light on details surrounding Braddock.
With that information not immediately forthcoming, Malloy”™s immediate next move, as one of the two most prominent Democrats in Connecticut, should have been a demand for Donovan to suspend his campaign until he airs that explanation.
Contacted the morning of June 1 after the FBI filed its charges, Malloy office spokesman Andrew Doba declined to speak immediately on the record about whether the governor considered making such a demand, while noting the short time that had elapsed and the calling attention to the governor”™s statement decrying the charges as “despicable” and demanding facts.
Whatever statements Malloy has made on the situation and or plans to make going forward, he simply should have done more in the moment ”“ the word “suspend” should have been in the first sentence rolling off his tongue. There are demands for explanations, and then there is demanding accountability until such explanations are forthcoming.
It was Malloy who in 2010 ran on a platform of transparency, who touted his background as a onetime federal prosecutor.
It was Malloy who promised businesses a fair playing field in Hartford ”“ incidentally, a playing field kept pretty clean by his predecessor Gov. M. Jodi Rell who was left with the unenviable job of cleaning up Rowland”™s mess.
The candidate and our other elected representatives must be made to recognize that no immediate action in the form of a temporary campaign suspension demand simply deepens the distrust the residents and businesses of Connecticut have for the whole lot of them.
A suspended campaign is just that ”“ one that can be resumed, and in Democrat-dominated Connecticut, one that any individual in that party can resume with little difficulty.
If Donovan”™s lawyers have any boilerplate legal concerns about him making statements, the good news is that there is a U.S. House of Representatives election every two years. There is nothing stopping Donovan from picking up his quest in 2014 when presumably all facts are out. If he”™s the best Democrat for the job, he can prove it in the primary that year.
It”™s your vote. Use your best judgment ”“ just expect your elected representatives to do the same.
