Dem Senate hopeful: GOP activist tried to infiltrate campaign

Russ Feingold’s Senate campaign is accusing a GOP activist of trying to infiltrate its offices in an attempt to spy on the campaign.

“This person came into our campaign headquarters using a fake name, a fake story, and even a fake Facebook page to try and cover their tracks,” Sarah Lindstrom, a volunteer coordinator for Feingold’s Senate campaign, wrote Friday in a fundraising email.

{mosads}The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Thursday that a woman claiming to be “Allison Moss” signed up to volunteer for Feingold’s campaign and was subsequently let go when staff asked if she was actually Allison Maass.

“I’m not going to be answering any questions, so if you want me to leave, I’ll leave. If you want me to stay, I’ll stay,” the woman told Feingold’s staff, according to a recording given to the Journal Sentinel, when asked if she had tried to infiltrate Hillary Clinton’s campaign last year.

Clinton’s campaign said that three women in Iowa, including one named Allison Holmes, pretended to be supporters in an apparent effort to catch the campaign participating in an illegal activity. The three women each gave the campaign a phone number that belonged to an Allison Maass, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Michael Tyler, a spokesman for Feingold’s campaign, said the incident is a “new low” in the Senate race.

“Republicans are so desperate to keep Sen. [Ron] Johnson in Washington, that they’ll play the dirtiest tricks in the book,” he said in a statement. “Johnson’s allies can keep playing House of Cards, but Russ’s campaign is fueled by grassroots enthusiasm and is far more interested in presenting a positive vision for Wisconsin’s future.”

Stephen Gordon, a spokesman for the James O’Keefe-led conservative group Project Veritas, declined to say if the group was involved, telling Time magazine he “will neither provide nor confirm the identity of any of our undercover journalists, real or imagined.”

Brian Reisinger, a spokesman for Johnson, said the campaign isn’t affiliated with Maass, who is registered to vote in New York as a Republican, according to Time.

Johnson’s campaign also hit back in a fundraising email late Friday afternoon, accusing Feingold’s camp of “spreading lies that we are trying to ‘infiltrate’ their campaign.”

They also mocked Feingold’s staff for telling The Huffington Post that the woman being blonde and driving a truck were “part of the tipoff,” and asked supporters to donate $10 to get a bumper sticker for their own truck.

“Rest assured, all you pickup-driving blondes out there will always be welcome on our team,” Johnson’s campaign added in the email. “We know Senator Feingold has been spending a lot of time in DC and California. But here in Wisconsin, we drive trucks.”

Feingold, a former senator, is aiming to unseat Johnson in November after the Wisconsin Republican beat him in 2010. Feingold is currently leading in the polls by more than 11 points, according to RealClearPolitics. 

This story was updated at 6:43 p.m.