COATESVILLE, PA – John A. Murphy, the independent candidate for Congress in Pennsylvania’s 16th district revealed to a group of his volunteers today that Aryanna Strader, the Democrat candidate for Congress field false, misleading and bogus information with the Federal Election Commission in order to make her campaign look viable and attract well intended contributors to a faltering campaign lacking vision, direction and any meaningful purpose. "Not only did Strader not raise anything close to $50,000" said Murphy, "but some of the information provided by her alleged contributors to the FEC was downright fictitious!"
Murphy explained that the largest part of her "fundraising effort was a result of contributions made by both herself and her husband. To make matters worse, some people who supposedly contributed her to her campaign received exactly the same amount of money back from the campaign in various forms of disbursements". Murphy went on to point out that the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) requires that contributors report their occupation and their employer. According to the FEC, one of Strader's contributors says that he is employed by ‘People Who Like ACS’ and then reports his occupation as ‘Liker of ACS’! Murphy went on to say, "now I don't know what Ms. Strader's middle name is or what her maiden name is but there's a very good chance that it begins with ‘C’"!
Murphy added, "Her report is absolutely byzantine! One of her other contributors who donated funds which were also ‘reimbursed’ lives at the same address as the contributor who listed his employer as ‘Liker of ACS’ and his occupation as ‘Likes ACS’. When that ‘Liker of ACS’ gets his kickback from the Strader campaign the pay-off is listed as ‘providing campaign services’. The Democrat candidate has done all of this just to provide the illusion that she is a viable candidate worthy of having other people donate precious funds to her campaign."
Murphy said he became curious about the Democrat candidate’s fundraising activities after reading Tom Murse’s report in last week's Lancaster Intelligencer Journal. He explained to his volunteers, "I just couldn't figure out how a young woman from Oregon who has lived in Pennsylvania only a few months, becomes the endorsed candidate for the 16th district, even though she lives in the seventh district, suddenly is able to raise $50,000. Fortunately all financial filing with the FEC is public information; anyone can see what a web of deception the Democratic candidate has woven by simply checking out her Form 3".
Murphy acknowledged that the reporter Tom Murse, in a follow-up article on May 3rd, noted some of the irregularities in the Democrat candidate’s FEC report but, insisted Murphy, "this candidate must have her feet held to the fire for misleading the public about her fundraising efforts and their significance".
Murphy cautioned his supporters saying: "Sure, there are candidates and campaigns out there that play dirty, doing unseemly (or even illegal) things to raise the money they need to run. That won't be me. I'm running because I want to make a difference. I’ve got sound, workable solutions to many of our problems and an attainable vision for America. Of course it's going to take money to get our message out but it won’t be funny money. The two corporate owned parties make it difficult for independent candidates to get a jump on fundraising because of the draconian ballot access laws that make it all but impossible for us to raise any money during the first two quarters since we must spend our time collecting thousands of signatures just to get on the ballot. I can promise you that you will never see our campaign engage in the shenanigans embraced by the Democrat candidate."
