Katherine Harris tied to bribery scandal
lready trying to avoid the media, Longboat Key Republican Katherine Harris is now canceling campaign stops in Southwest Florida as questions swirl about her ties to a Washington, D.C., defense contractor at the center of an ongoing national bribery scandal.
Harris, who is running for the U.S. Senate, abruptly canceled a stop in Charlotte County on Saturday, and four other events planned for Lee and Collier counties were removed from her campaign Web site.
It’s another sign that Harris’ struggling campaign is now in full crisis mode. Political consultants say that shying away from the public right now is also a bad strategy.
“She can’t hide and expect this to go away,” said David Johnson, a Republican political consultant. “It looks like her campaign is circling the wagons.”
Brandon-based political consultant Mark Proctor said he advises clients to hold court early with the media to avoid a story dragging on for a week, as it has with Harris. The longer the story goes on, the more likely it is for voters to remember the issue come Election Day, he said.
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Harris organized a conference call on Friday with her most loyal supporters in which she downplayed her connections to MZM Inc., saying, “There is nothing to it except for the press trying to be negative.”
The company’s owner admitted in federal court that he gave $32,000 in illegal campaign donations to Harris.
Continuing with the conference call, Harris described a campaign on a roll and gaining momentum daily. She said prominent national politicians, like U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., hosted a fund-raising event for her in Washington last week, proof that all is well.
“Now there is a buzz in Washington,” Harris said on the call.
Harris’ ties to defense contractor MZM Inc. have been under the microscope since Feb. 24.
That’s the day when MZM founder Mitchell Wade admitted to bribing one member of Congress and giving Harris illegal contributions in March 2004.
Over a private dinner in Washington, D.C., Wade and Harris talked about “obtaining funding and approval” for a Navy counterintelligence program that Wade wanted to open in Sarasota, Justice Department
