A fundraising letter from the campaign of U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-Loveland) has set off a tiff in the race for Ohio's 2nd Congressional district.

Schmidt is being challenged by Dr. Victoria Wulsin (D-Indian Hill) and businessman David Krikorian (I-Madeira).

Hamilton County Democratic Party chair Tim Burke responded to the fundraising letter by calling on Schmidt to "clarify who she believes is drilling off the coast of Florida and whether or not she is trying to raise funds based on a claim that China or Cuba is drilling near our shores."

The line is a reference to Schmidt's assertion on the House floor on June 5 that "the Chinese are drilling off the coast of Florida with their new energy partner, Cuba." This point has been proven not to be accurate.

The Congressional Research Service states, "While there has been some concern about China's potential involvement in offshore deepwater oil projects, to date its involvement in Cuba's oil sector has been focused on onshore oil extraction in Pinar del Rio province through its state-run China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec)."

Shmidt's fundraising letter says that Democrats have decided to attack her for pointing out that "Cuba was drilling off our shores" instead of engaging in "meaningful dialogue about the need for energy independence." The letter further says that the "Chinese and others have partnered with Cuba to drill for oil."

The statement from the Hamilton Democratic Party points out that Schmidt has refused to retract her statement made on the House floor. In response to the wording in the fundraising letter, Burke said, "Apparently in her efforts to frighten the citizens of the Second Congressional District into believing the red menace is about to come ashore, Congresswoman Schmidt cannot decide which red menace - the Chinese red menace or the Cuban red menace."

Schmidt spokesperson Bruce Pfaff said that the campaign doesn't usually discuss fundraising letters. He clarified comments made to Talking Points Memo by saying that he hadn't seen the fundraising letter in question himself.

Pfaff was quoted by TPM as saying that the letter did not appear to come from the Schmidt campaign. Pfaff told PolitickerOH.com that he was aware of an energy-related fundraising letter, but had not seen it.

Burke commented in a statement.

"She makes a claim on the floor of the House that is patently wrong, refuses to correct it," Burke said.  "Then she tries to make money off of it.  When challenged, her staff claims the letter didn't come from her."

Pfaff said that he told TPM that, of the portions told to him by TPM, it "seemed like parts of it were accurate, and came from our letter, and parts of it might be bogus."

"But I told him," Pfaff said, "'I don't know. I have not seen the letter. It wasn't until the second phone call that he wanted to challenge us and come back after us that he was like, ‘Well I have it.' And I said, ‘Did you have it when you spoke to me? Why didn't you send that to me? That would have been a lot easier for me to identify for you."

When told about the Burke release, Pfaff said that if Wulsin had a problem with the Schmidt campaign describing what she did with the Heimlich Institute then she should come forward and have a discussion about it.

Another portion of the fundraising letter says, "We have seen that Vic is willing to turn her head while prisoners in China are used for medical experiments." Burke didn't mention it in his release. The reference is to a literature review on malariotherapy that Wulsin did for the Heimlich Institute.

Malariotherapy is a controversial medical treatment pursued by Dr. Henry Heimlich, the inventor of the Heimlich maneuver, which seeks to treat HIV/AIDS by introducing the malaria bacteria into patients.

Wulsin spokesperson Kevin Franck said that Pfaff's comments sound like "typical Washington double-speak."

"It seems like Jean Schmidt and her taxpayer-funded campaign team in Washington wants to have it both ways," he said. "They can't say that they haven't read the letter and then discuss, in detail, the contents of the letter."

Pfaff, meanwhile, challenged Wulsin on the energy issue, as well as her ties to the Heimlich Institute.

Pfaff said that Schmidt had gone to Washington to protest, with fellow Republicans, the Congressional recess before a comprehensive energy policy had been passed.

Pfaff said that Schmidt was in support of the "all of the above" approach to the energy issue and was a sponsor of the American Energy Act that Republicans have been touting over recent weeks.

"Our point is that two years ago, Vic Wulsin was a proponent of a 50 cents-a-gallon gas tax," he said. "And so far she has not backed away from that."

Pfaff also reiterated that Wulsin needed to tell voters the full truth about her involvement with the Heimlich Institute.

"The memo that's out there publicly basically states that she gave them a way forward to continue these tests," he said. "That doesn't sound like a peer review. She gave them a way to get to the next steps."

"She just has to come clean," he continued. "She needs to have a complete airing of her activities, her involvement, how she was paid, what her intentions were by saying, ‘If you want to continue doing experiments, here's how you should do it.'"

Pfaff said that when Wulsin found out about the malariotherapy experiments she should have walked away instead of doing the peer review and taking money from the Heimlich Institute.

TEXT OF FUNDRAISING LETTER:

Jean Schmidt for Congress

PO Box 867

Milford, OH 45150

Dear Daniel,

The liberals in Washington are at it again.

I knew when I stood up for our troops that they would come after me. They have lied and twisted my words. They have tried evervthing to discredit my pro-growth, pro-America message. Frankly, I've gotten used to it. However, even I couldn't have predicted how ludicrous their latest attack would be.

As you are very aware, I have been working tirelessly to solve America's energy crisis.

However, instead of working to lower our energy prices and make our country more energy independent, Vic Wulsin and her liberal allies seem more intent on punishing the oil companies and raising our taxes.

Now they've decided to come after me because I stood on the House Floor and pointed out that Cuba was drilling off our shores. They simply attacked me rather than engage in meaningful dialogue about the need for energy independence. They are blasting me and other like-minded conservatives ovcr semantics.

However, the facts are dear.

While Vic Wulsin's friends in Congress are blocking our bipartisan effort to open up somc areas off our coasts to off·shore drilling, the Chinese and others have partnered with Cuba to drill for oil. Now whether they are drilling on the coast of Cuba or offshore less than 60 miles from Florida, it doesn't change the fact that the Communists in China understand the laws of supply and demand more than the Democrats!

Daniel, this is the same song and dance from Vic and her left-wing environmental extremist cronies. If you can't attack the message, attack the messenger.

Doesn't it make you wonder why they hide behind the personal attacks? They know that their own "secret" energy policy is a hoax. Maybe they know the people of Ohio and the rest of the United States are begining to figure that out.

Nancy Pelosi promised during the last election that they had a common sense plan to lower the cost of gasoline. Have you noticed a drop in price these last two years?

And just what is Vic Wulsin's plan for energy independence?

Opening up a small sliver of Alaska for oil exploration? Cutting the federal gasoline taxes?

Freeing ourselves from relying on foreign oil from the likes of Iran's President Ahmedinejehad and Venezuela's Hugo Chavez?

All those plans would makc economic sense. Yet Vic Wulsin believes she has a bener plan for energy independence if she wins the election this November. What is her great plan to make Ohio and the United States more energy independent? Vic wants to increase the gas tax by 371 percent! Rather than cut the gasoline tax to save Ohio taxpayers money at the gas pump, she proposes to add $0.50 per gallon in taxes to the over $4.00 we're paying at the pump in Ohio!

Vic Wulsin thinks the answer to lowering the cost of gasoline is to increase taxes on the oil and gas companies. I guess she forgot that taxes are a portion of the cost of manufacturing a product. It's almost like proposing to cut the cost of gasoline by charging by the quart instead of a gallon.

When compared to my plan of true energy independence, no Ohioan would say Vic's plan makes sense. Unfortunately, the liberals in Washington are doing everything they can to make sure our message doesn't reach the voters.

As of March 31, Vic Wulsin has raised ovcr $750,000 from big labor bosses, trial lawyers, and environmental extremists. While our campaign has done well to raise money, we're nowhere close to what Vic and her left-wing, out-of-state cronies have been able to raise.

We have seen that Vic is willing to turn her head while prisoners in China are used for medical experiments. If she can morally justify human testing in third world prisons do not doubt she is prepared to do anything for her extreme environmental beliefs. She will do everything she can to implement her plan to raise the price you pay at the pump.

She once said she would ride her bicycle to work. In the real world, it's hard to ride your bike to take your kids to daycare, to go to Kroger, take your parents to the Doctor, or get to work so you can feed your family. She doesn't understand the pain families feel at the pump. In fact she said in front of a microphone that people who earn less than a million dollars per year are middle class.

I'm writing you today because I need your help.

In order to combat the eventual barrage of attack ads from the likes of MoveOn.org and other special interest groups, I need your financial support of $100, $50, or even $25 to ensure our message reaches the voters of Ohio.

Daniel, with your help, we will be able to let Ohioans know the true meaning of energy independence and stop Nancy Pelosi and Vic Wulsin from taxing our country into oblivion.

Here's what I need you to do.

First, I need you to fill out the contributor card at the bottom of this letter and mail it back in the next 48 hours.

Second, I need you to send in your support of $100, $50, or whatever you can afford so that we can start getting our pro-growth message out to the people of Ohio as quickly as possible.

Third, please keep me and my family in your prayers. These personal attacks have been taxing on my family and we covet your prayers as we continue in this tough fight for our country.

With your help, we will be able to win in November and continue the fight for true energy independence for Ohio and the United States of America.

Sincerely,

Jean Schmidt

P.S, I need your help to stop Vic Wulsin's plan to raise our gas taxes by almost 400%. Please send in your contribution of $100, $50, or whatever you can afford as quickly as possible. You can also visit JeanSchmidt.com and use your credit card for your contribution. Thank you!