Sue Myrick Prancing With The Stars

The fossilized blog page of North Carolina’s 9th District Congresswoman Sue Myrick is becoming a little treasure trove of information and a monument to Republican hypocrisy the longer it stays up. As I wrote in Sue Myrick’s Shrine to Ann Coulter, Sue Myrick’s blog started in March 2004 with a total of six entries with the 5th entry about an Ann Coulter fundraiser in April 2005.

The last entry on Myrick’s blog was an April 17, 2005 post about another fundraiser with country music singer Sara Evans:

Sue Myrick is offering an exclusive, one-time event to meet country music star Sara Evans backstage at the Alan Jackson - Sara Evans concert May 5th
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Tickets to this very special event include a VIP backstage pass to meet and have your photo taken with Sara Evans, and a great seat to watch country music legend Alan Jackson live in concert.

          The plot thickens below the fold....

For Coulter’s appearance, Myrick’s campaign parted with $7,392.05 for various expenses listed in a Federal campaign report as related to the “Ann Coulter event”. The same Federal campaign report covering the same time period does not list any expenses related to the Sara Evans event though the report lists a $2,500 contribution 4/13/2005 to CRAIG PAC. The link for purchasing tickets went through Myrick’s congressional campaign website.

The CRAIG acronym stands for "Conservative Reform Agenda In Government" but it really stands for Craig Schelske, husband and then manager of country music artist Sara Evans and, an unsuccessful conservative Republican congressional candidate in Oregon.

The Charlotte Observer reported in 2005 that tickets for the Jackson/Evans concert ranged in price from $32.25 to $63.25. Myrick’s announcement stated that there were only 25 tickets available for this event. For 25 premium tickets the market value was $1,581.25. Myrick’s campaign reports do not show an expense or a contribution in kind for the value of these tickets or any other expenses associated with this specific event.

CRAIG PAC lists receipt of $1,581.25 from Craig Schelske on 5/6/2005 as "In-kind - concert tickets". CRAIG PAC also lists disbursement of $1,581.25 to Craig Schelke on 5/6/2005 as "In-kind - concert tickets". This could mean that the tickets were returned to Schelske or it could mean that he was reimbursed for the face value of donated tickets which appear to match the value of tickets made available by the Myrick campaign. (A similar pattern of contribution in-kind combined with reimbursement appears for both Schelske and Evans in other amounts on other dates).

The $2,500 contribution from Myrick’s campaign to CRAIG PAC might account for these expenses. CRAIG PAC also listed receipt of $2,500 from the North Carolina Republican Executive Committee 5/10/2005. However this seems improbable as CRAIG PAC, in response to FEC request for information regarding certain disbursements, stated that:

None of these disbursements were made on behalf of specifically identified federal candidates. They are not expenses for public communications, voter drive activity, or express advocacy, and thus do not constitute in-kind or coordinated expenditures.

It appears that Sue Myrick’s campaign may have benefited from $1,581.25 in concert tickets that were not properly accounted for in Federal reports.

Sara Evans is an accomplished country music star who recently appeared in ABC’s "Dancing with the Stars" (with Tom DeLay's endorsement) before dropping out to file for divorce from Schelske in October 2006. The divorce has been bitter, involving accusations by Evans against Schelske regarding adultery and pornography with denials and counter-claims by Schelske.

The most recent volley was a motion filed by Evans March 2nd for examination of pornographic images on Schelske computer hard drive or a documented copy of the drive made by a computer expert prior to Evans’ divorce filing. You can follow the blow-by-blow divorce history at WKRN TV

Schelske recently closed out both CRAIG PAC and his congressional committee, Craig Schelske for Congress, from which he disbursed $5,170.92 to himself for a loan repayment and transferred $5,000 to CRAIG PAC which he disbursed to himself as a contribution refund. His previous congressional committee report 7/12/2006 listed $91,291.73 in loans "owed from personal funds". His cash on hand was listed 7/12/2006 as $10,393.37. There is no account of the $86,120.81 balance of the loan at termination, part of which may still be owed to Evans.

Yet another example of the company that Sue Myrick keeps and the values that she holds dear. If only these people could be deported.

Coulter update:
I’ve since found a video of Myrick announcing the Coulter event: