Controversial new ad attacks Markey on government contracts

By Jeremy Pelzer, PolitickerCO.com Reporter

UPDATED 9/17/08 4:23 p.m.

Markey and her former boss, U.S. Ken Salazar (D-Denver) quickly denounced the ad as "absolutely false in every way" and pointed out that Musgrave's campaign has not offered any evidence of wrongdoing.

The ad claims "Millionaire Markey" used her job as a Salazar's Northern Colorado district director in Fort Collins to get "rich on non-competitive Halliburton-style government contracts" given to her information technology company, Syscom Services.

Government records show Syscom received $2.8 million in government contracts from 2005 until 2007, the period during which Markey worked for Salazar. From 2003 until 2005, Syscom received $1.7 million in contracts, the records show.

Markey transferred her 51 percent share in Syscom to her husband, Jim Kelly, in 2005, soon after joining Salazar's staff, according to the Fort Collins Coloradoan. Markey's campaign previously stated she only owned a 25.5 percent share of the company; those statements were in error, Markey told the Coloradoan.

Musgrave's ad did not accuse Markey of any specific crime, nor did it offer any evidence of one.

But the ad asks viewers, "If Betsy Markey used her congressional job to double her company's contracts, what will she do as your congresswoman?"

"Millionaire Markey has demonstrated an amazing knack for making millions from the government, when she had the inside track as a congressional employee," said Musgrave manager Jason Thielman in a press release. "A public office is a public trust and Betsy Markey needs to come clean on the millions she made from government contracts while working as a congressional staffer."

But Salazar said in a statement that the ad "is absolutely false in every way," and called on Musgrave to pull the ad and apologize (neither action had happened as of Monday afternoon).

"In Colorado, knowingly making false statements against your political opponent is a violation of the law," Salazar said in the statement. "Marilyn Musgrave's false accusations should be thoroughly and fully investigated by the authorities, and Marilyn Musgrave and her campaign should comply with that investigation."

Markey said in a statement that the ad was a "personal attack" that represents "politics at its very worst."

"Musgrave's accusations are completely fabricated, baseless and despicable," Markey said in the statement. "Because she is clearly unable to run on the strength of her own record, she has resorted to lying about mine. This is exactly what is wrong with Washington and something I will work to change in Congress."

Markey spokesperson Ben Marter told PolitickerCO.com that the campaign will allow some time for Musgrave to pull the ad. But he said Markey's campaign is already "mapping out some other scenarios" if Musgrave doesn't respond - including legal action, he said.

As for the moniker "Millionaire Markey," Marter said while he didn't know Markey's exact salary, it's less than Musgrave's congressional salary of $169,300.

Jeremy Pelzer is a PolitickerCO.com Reporter and can be reached via email at noreply@politicker.com.

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