Congratulations, Ron!

In a case that was highly reminiscent of Ronnie Earle’s vendetta against Tom DeLay, Minnesota Democrats, led by Gubernatorial candidate Mike Hatch, fabricated a criminal prosecution of our good friend Ron Eibensteiner, who was then Chairman of the Minnesota Republican Party. They found a pliant county attorney to bring the charge, which alleged a violation of campaign finance laws based–really–on a “thank you” letter that Ron wrote. While the Democrats were financed by taxpayer money, Ron had to defend himself out of his own pocket.

It was obvious all along that there was no substance to the Democrats’ charges, and earlier today an Olmsted County jury took less than three hours to acquit Ron on all counts. That’s great, and it’s no doubt a precursor to the humiliation that lies in store for Ronnie Earle. But the Democrats’ tactic of finding politically motivated prosecutors to bring frivolous criminal charges against prominent Republicans is a disgrace.

SCOTT adds: The Star Tribune article on Ron’s acquittal is “Former GOP state chairman acquitted in campaign finance case.” The jury took about as long to acquit Ron as it takes to elect a foreman. In his closing argument, Ron’s attorney used a line that certainly sounds applicable to the pending charges against Tom DeLay in Travis County, Texas: “Never has so much been asked from so little in a criminal trial.”

JOHN responds: Thanks to Scott for his exquisite politeness in noting that I forgot to add the link to the Strib article!

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