Written by Daniel Desrochers of the Herald-Leader
House Democrats are staying quiet over whether they will cut ties with a campaign consultant who was targeted in an FBI probe and later served as a key witness in the campaign finance case against former Democratic Party Chairman Jerry Lundergan.
Gov. Andy Beshear has said he is drawing an ethical line regarding Jonathan Hurst, who testified in a trial last summer that Lundergan had left $20,000 in cash and a $25,000 check with a memo line that said “boy scouts” in his couch, and will not raise money for any candidate who uses Hurst as a consultant in 2020.
“As Kentucky’s former attorney general and top prosecutor and now governor, I draw strong ethical lines and I believe they are the right lines,” Beshear said Wednesday. He refused to say whether members have committed to stop using Hurst.
House Minority Leader Joni Jenkins, D-Shively, has said she will not tell members of her caucus to cut ties with Hurst, the consultant.
“I have delivered the governor’s message on this matter to the caucus, and as I have said before, I do not believe it is my role to tell candidates whom they hire for their campaigns,” Jenkins said in a statement. “Right now, our caucus is focused on moving Governor Beshear’s and our agenda forward during this legislative session.”
(Cross-posted via the Kentucky Press News Service. Read the rest of the article at the Herald-Leader.)
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