McConnell campaign alleges it was bugged, seeks FBI investigation Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell's re-election campaign has asked federal authorities to help it identify the source of a recording of private strategy sessions earlier this year.
McConnell campaign manager Jesse Benton said Tuesday that the campaign is working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Attorney's office in Louisville to uncover who recorded a Feb. 2 meeting in Kentucky – attended by McConnell himself -- which was published earlier today by the liberal magazine Mother Jones.
Alex Wong / Getty ImagesSenate Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) McConnell's campaign has vehemently denied that anyone from its staff was responsible for the leak, and has begun to pursue a criminal investigation into the matter.
"Senator McConnell’s campaign is working with the FBI and has notified the local U.S. Attorney in Louisville, per FBI request, about these recordings," said McConnell campaign manager Jesse Benton. "Obviously a recording device of some kind was placed in Sen. McConnell’s campaign office without consent. By whom and how that was accomplished will presumably be the subject of a criminal investigation."
In the tapes, McConnell and a handful of aides are heard discussing opposition research against would-be Democratic challengers next fall, most prominently the actress Ashley Judd. While Judd eventually declined to challenge McConnell for re-election in 2014, the aides were heard on-tape discussing research into Judd's background, including her mental health history and religion.
Already, the McConnell campaign -- which has been early and aggressive in organizing the top Senate Republican's re-election effort -- has suggested that the recordings were part of a Democratic smear, although it has not provided any evidence to substantiate that allegation.
"We’ve always said the Left would stop at nothing to attack Sen. McConnell, but Watergate-style tactics to bug campaign headquarters are above and beyond," said Benton.
In a phone interview with NBC News, Mother Jones' David Corn says he and his publication have "no comment" about any FBI investigation into how he obtained the recording of the McConnell campaign's strategy session on actress Ashley Judd.
"This story speaks for itself," Corn said.
Corn adds that Mother Jones reached out to McConnell's Senate and campaign offices for comment before publication, but did not hear back.
Corn also says the article makes it clear that Mother Jones was provided a copy of the audio from an anonymous source.
While McConnell has won four additional terms since winning his first in 1984, the Kentucky Republican has been aggressively targeted for defeat by Democrats, who argue McConnell is not especially popular in his state, and is to blame for much of the procedural gridlock in the Senate.
