The SDP Bombshell aftershock

Today SDP broke another bombshell regarding David Kranz. This time it is 1976, collaborating with Abourezk staffers (including Tom Daschle) when he was Managing Editor of the Mitchell Daily Republic. In 1980, while Kranz was still Managing Editor of the MDR, Senator George McGovern was in a heated Senate race with James Abdnor. David Kranz bylined a 9/22/1980 front-page report regarding reporting irregularities on some campaign contributions to the Abdnor campaign. Here is the lead-off:

The Federal Election Commission reports filed by Cong. Jim Abdnor are missing some essentials including $43,000 in campaign contributions. Some reported contributions are also missing word or words in the reporting of names of Political Action Committees that indicate what special interest it is associated with.

Several of the missing contributions are in areas of big oil and energy firms according to documents obtained from the FEC.

The Daily Republic obtained the discrepancies in a cross check with its Washington Bureau, comparing the filings of Political Action Committees reports with those of Friends of Jim Abdnor, his senate campaign committee.

Looks like a lot of research by David Kranz…or did he do the research? On 9/25/1980 the MDR ran an AP report out of Sioux Falls regarding McGovern’s books:

Finance directors for Sen. George McGovern quietly cleared up small discrepancies in the Democrat’s treasury just four days before Rep. James Abdnor was harshly criticized for failing to report $36,000 in political contributions.

Republicans, stung by former Gov. Harvey Wollman’s charges that Republican U.S. Senate hopeful Abdnor appeared to have violated federal law, said it looked like McGovern was cleaning his own house in anticipation of the charges against Abdnor.

McGovern campaign aides placed the blame for their discrepancies on the Federal Election Commission. They said a Sept. 19 letter pointing out the problems had nothing to do with the charges against Abdnor that surfaced Monday. [that was the above Kranz 9/22 report]

It was merely coincidence that the letter was sent three days before the problems in Abdnor’s finances surfaced, said McGovern aide Jeff Smith.

The report included another denial from Smith:

Smith Denied he or any other McGovern leaked the story to the South Dakota press, although Abdnor campaign director Keith Jensen said he believed the story originated in the McGovern camp.

Jensen made this sharp response to the 9/22 Kranz report in a 9/23/1980 MDR David Kranz report:

"This really burns me up. You aren’t being fair with us on this thing. I just can’t believe you wouldn’t ask me. This is just another point in your history of trying to snare us,” Jensen said. “We have no intention of trying to deceive anyone. You know that. We’ve done our best.”

Looks like another case of Kranz working for a Democrat by abusing the power of the press. The current publisher of the MDR said this in his 6/7/2003 column:

For example, while Kranz’s long and friendly relationship with George McGovern is well known, reporters who work in one state for most of their careers are going to form relationships with some of the folks they cover. The requirement, though, is to keep them at arm’s length. Reporters need to build rapport and trust with those they write about; they must not become so close that they back away from reporting the warts, as well, when necessary.

Again go back the SDP post that provides a huge pile of evidence that David Kranz has a habit of collaborating with Democratic campaigns, and as I have already posted…his Sunday column was just another example. Now, you can add this 1980 log onto that fire.