Republican Dan Maes, in a recent campaign disclosure, says he refunded a $300 campaign contribution to longtime Republican activist Freda Poundstone. Never mind that nowhere in his disclosures does he claim to have received a campaign contribution from Poundstone.
Poundstone told the Colorado Independent today that she never received $300 from Maes. Much has been made of the fact that at a meeting of Jefferson County Republicans, Maes gave her an unsigned check for $300, but he promised a few days later to get her a signed check, which she said today she has never received.
“I never received another check,” she said. “I still have the one he didn’t sign. Maybe I should frame it. If he says he paid me back, it is totally a lie, but we know he’s a liar. If he told me the world was round, I’d have to go outside to check.
“The way he gave me the unsigned check was weird, too. I was speaking to a meeting of Republicans. I was sitting. He walked up and whispered something in my ear — I have no idea what–and dropped the check in my lap,” she recounts.
Maes is the GOP nominee for governor. He’s in a three-way race with American Constitution Party candidate Tom Tancredo, who has frequently criticized Maes on the Poundstone issue, and Democratic Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper.
Asked why she has never filed a complaint with the Colorado Secretary of State’s office about the discrepancies in Maes’ campaign finance reports, Poundstone said she is just tired of dealing with the matter.
A spokesman for the Colorado Secretary of State’s office said the office could not investigate situations like this without a citizen complaint. Anyone can file such complaints.
“I haven’t filed a complaint because I’ve told my story and I’m sick of talking about it. I’m sick. I’ve had double pneumonia. I have leukemia. I’m on chemo. All I need is six more days on the radio talking about the check, so I just dropped it. You have my word that I never got a signed check that I could actually cash. Maybe he forgot to put a stamp on it. I have been so sick to my stomach over this; you have no idea,” she said.
“How it started, he called me up and said he was two months behind on his mortgage, and could I help? So I met him at the bank. He says I gave him $300. I won’t even get into how much I really gave him, and it was to pay his mortgage. Then he starts telling people it was a campaign donation, and then he says he gave it back, which he never did.”
Calls to the Maes and Tancredo campaigns were not quickly returned.
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