When Did The DCCC First Find Out That Scott DesJarlais (R-TN) Knocked Up A Patient And Pressured Her To Abort Their Love Child?

DesJarlais, another GOP hypocrite who can't control his appetites

Early in August we did a little post about how the DCCC was wasting money on unwinnable races, like in Tennessee's 4th CD. At the time we showed a TV ad the DCCC had made for a totally obscure race that seemed completely hopeless. But it wasn't hopeless, it turns out-- and I'd bet the DCCC knew it back then and were just biding their time, the way they had in 2006 when they held back the information that Foley was diddling the pages until he could no longer get his name removed from the ballot. It's now too late for Scott DesJarlais to get his name off the ballot even if he withdraws from the race today. I'm getting ahead of myself.

What we saw in August was that the DCCC was spending money donated by Democratic donors-- who are largely pro-Choice-- on a hopeless campaign by state Senator Eric Stewart, an anti-Choice fanatic, to win back the 4th CD, the one Lincoln Davis lost to Scott DesJarlais in 2010. At the time, Davis, like Stewart a conservaDem, got 70,254 votes (39%) to DesJarlais' 103,969 (57%). Quite the reversal from the cycle before when Davis took 146,776 votes (59%) against his Republican challenger's 94,447 (38%), though it wasn't because he rode to victory on Obama's coattails. That year McCain handily defeated Obama in the 4th CD, 64-34%. And it's not like redistricting is going to help the Democrats' cause in the 4th. Under the new boundaries, McCain would have still won, but with 63% instead of 64%. So what is the DCCC looking at when they decide to back someone like Stewart in a district like TN-04? They always swear it's just about the numbers. But the numbers show an impossible situation-- completely unwinnable. And the money-- the other top factor for the DCCC... well, DesJarlais has raised $906,849 and has $591,976 on hand. Stewart has raised $367,382 (much of it with the help of the DCCC) and has a meager $152,712 on hand. Just for comparison's sake, the ad campaign the DCCC just ran for Stewart (below) and a couple dozen other mostly conservative candidates did not include any progressives... So what are Steve Israel and the DCCC really looking at when they make these lame decisions? Just that Stewart is an anti-Choice conservative?



So why bring it up again? In case you haven't already heard, DesJarlais got hoist on his own petard-- the hypocrisy petard. From the biggest newspaper in the district, Chattanooga's Times Free Press:

U.S. Rep. Scott DesJarlais, a Republican physician in Tennessee’s 4th District, pressured a female patient with whom he was having an affair to get an abortion, according to a story on the Huffington Post website.

The incident took place in September 2000 and is documented on a phone call transcript that the Huffington Post obtained.

In his campaigns, DesJarlais has promoted his pro-life, family values beliefs.

DesJarlais, who now is running against Democrat Eric Stewart, was provided a copy of the transcript, the website said, and did not deny it, but said in a statement that it was just dirty politics.

"Desperate personal attacks do not solve our nation's problems, yet it appears my opponents are choosing to once again engage in the same gutter politics that CBS news called the dirtiest in the nation just 2 years ago," according to the statement on the Huffington Post.

During DesJarlais’ 2010 campaign for the House seat against Democrat Lincoln Davis, details about his 2001 divorce to Susan DesJarlais alleged that he held a gun to his mouth for hours and also pulled the trigger on an empty chamber while standing outside his wife’s bedroom.

On the Huffington Post, a portion of the 2000 phone call transcript reads:

"You told me you'd have an abortion, and now we're getting too far along without one," DesJarlais tells the woman.

They then discuss whether he will go the abortion with her.

"You told me you would have time to go with me and everything," the woman says.

"I said, if I could, I would, didn't I? And I will try," DesJarlais says. "If I can [find] time, you're saying you still will?"

"Yeah," the woman answers.

The newspaper is promising more details today. For example, did Dr. DesJarlais drug her when he screwed her? He claimed that she seduced him, not the other way around but he's admitted to having had 4 extramarital affairs in quick succession. Were they all patients he had sex with? Has he pressured other women to have abortions? Does he consider himself a baby killer? DesJarlais has a perfect score on women's Choice and on contraceptives-- zero. He's 100% against both. There is no a single Member of Congress who has a more anti-Choice voting record than Scott DesJarlais, not even Todd Akin or Joe Pitts. I wonder what they would say about their crazy colleague today. Tacitly admitting the details of the story, DesJarlais calls it a partisan attack against him. "Desperate personal attacks do not solve our nation's problems, yet it appears my opponents are choosing to once again engage in the same gutter politics that CBS news called the dirtiest in the nation just 2 years ago."

Former Rep. Lincoln Davis had the transcript of the incriminating phone call and he certainly turned it over to Eric Stewart or, more likely, the DCCC. They just waited until it would be too late for DesJarlais to get off the ballot before breaking it to the media.