The Facts Don't Lie

But Hallburn Does -
Election Chicanery Exposed



Last month Hallburn got busted once again. This time for running campaign ads without the candidates' permission.

He illegally ran unpaid ads for both Natalie Tennant and Betty Ireland's campaigns for the gubernatorial nomination.



PutnamEYES.com said that the truth would come out when the first primary campaign financial reports were released.
And it has.
The truth is that Halburn lied.
Again.
Neither Ireland nor Tennant's reports lists PutnumLive as an expenditure or an in-kind contribution.

The Tennant ad even had the "Paid For by the Elect Natalie Tennant Committee" disclaimer. Which, if it was not a paid ad, is a violation of election law.

Campaign reports must contain all expenses.
An advertiser cannot donate ads to a candidate unless a value is declared and the donation is accepted by the candidate.PutnamEYES.com's prediction came true when Halburn claimed that unnamed supporters of the candidates only paid for the ads through February 28th. He says he doesn't run free advertisements.
Another lie which PutnamEYES.com has disproved.
Even Halburn admitted that he runs free ads. He just can't remember all the lies he's told.

Funny though, when the Secretary of State's Election Fraud Division got involved, the ads disappeared.
Halburn's explanation doesn't hold water. No politician buys an ad for one month, 3 months before an election. Especially to reach Halburn's 29 readers.

Next, he claimed ads were paid for by candidate supporters who plan to run them again when they get funds. He says no one ordered them removed.

Neither of these campaigns are hurting for money. The fact is, neither campaign sees the need for blog advertising.

He claims that political ads run $300 a month. Which is another lie.
Expenditure reports show that they cost anywhere between 25-200 dollars a month, when he decides to charge for them at all.
Some candidates pay nothing. Reports show that Brady Paxton for example, paid zero despite his ad running there for at least a month.
A Dale Martin ad that appeared before the general election in November apparently ran for free as well. It does not appear in any of his expenditures.
Both ads contained the "paid for" disclaimer.

Here are the numbers for the 2010 election cycle:

Brady Paxton
No expenditures since 11/5/08

Dale Martin
5/24/10 - ad - $100

Cathy Larck
4/25/10 - monthly ad - $125
5/11/10 - monthly ad - $125
11/14/10 - monthly ad - $175

Justin Black
5/7/10 - Advertisement - $100

Marge Carpenter
3/31/2010 - Advertising - $200
4/25/10 - Advertising - $25
5/3/10 - Advertising - $200

Debra Girimont
6/13/09 - ad test - $150

Additionally, in the 2008 Supreme Court race, Halburn ran an ad for now Justice Menis Ketchum that didn't appear on Ketchum's expenditures. Again containing the "paid for" disclaimer.

The candidates for county offices, Debbie Phillips, W.D. Arthur, William Legg & Kathie Crouse, are not required to file reports , so we can't tell if any of those candidates actually paid for their ads.

So, the bottom line here is that Halburn ran the Ireland and Tennant ads completely unsanctioned, without any permission or compensation from the campaigns.

Illegal?
Probably.
Unethical?
Certainly.
Neither is new for Mark Hallburn.

The sad thing about this whole episode is that both candidates knew these ads were running there but took no steps to have them removed. If neither of these two women weren't willing to stand up to a bully like Halburn, how are they going to stand up for the people of West Virginia on the really tough issues that face our state?

ANY politician that advertises with PutnumLive.com is not fit to hold office.


RELATED STORIES: 

Halburn Endorses Ireland 
Halburn Refuses To Remove Political Ad 
Halburn Ordered To Remove Ads!
Halburn Continues to Prevaricate In Election Ad Controversy