TIMELINE: What We Know About Daniel Cameron’s Campaign Donations Shakedown Scandal
TIMELINE: What We Know About Daniel Cameron’s Campaign Donations Shakedown Scandal
In light of back-to-back bombshell reports from the Associated Press and The Daily Beast, both of which revealed groundbreaking information regarding Daniel Cameron’s campaign donations shakedown scandal, here’s a clear timeline of events according to reports.
This comes despite Cameron’s desperate efforts to lie and cover up his conflict of interest:
- In 2022, the Kentucky Attorney General’s office launched an investigation into Edgewater.
- In January 2023, Daniel Cameron’s campaign got in touch with Edgewater to solicit campaign donations and ask the organization about “hosting an event” to raise money for Cameron’s campaign.
- In February 2023, as the primary got more competitive and expensive, one of Cameron’s opponents, Kelly Craft, returned to the airwaves with a new TV ad, putting the pressure on Cameron to raise as much money as possible.
- In March, Daniel Cameron called Edgewater and “personally asked for money again,” “just before his office subpoenaed the company.”
- Soon after, the Office of the Attorney General subpoenaed Edgewater Recovery Center.
- In late March and April, Cameron’s campaign accepted nearly $7,000 in donations from Edgewater Recovery Center staff and executives, which appeared to come at the “late stages of the investigation.”
- On May 16, Daniel Cameron was declared the winner of the Kentucky Republican primary, that the “donations helped fund.”
- On May 17, Daniel Cameron’s office received a “request for a list of his recusals.”
- On May 19, Daniel Cameron recused himself from the Edgewater investigation.
- On June 9, Cameron’s office received “a follow-up request for more details about the probe.”
- On June 14, Cameron’s campaign finally returned the donations to Edgewater, “nearly a full month after winning the primary election that the donations helped fund,” five days after the request for more information, and four months after receiving the first donation from Edgewater.
- Less than a week later, the initial report from The Daily Beast is released, revealing a conflict of interest and early elements of the scandal.
- On June 23, responding to a request for this case to be referred to the FBI, Cameron’s taxpayer-funded office claims he recused himself immediately after learning about the donations on May 19th.
- Days later, on June 26, the Associated Press released its bombshell report that revealed Cameron personally solicited the donations, completely dismantling Cameron’s timeline of events.
- That same day, The Daily Beast released a groundbreaking follow-up report debunking Cameron’s lies about the scandal and revealing “major inconsistencies” with Cameron’s claims about the scandal. The story also added that Cameron never officially “canceled” the campaign fundraising event he asked Edgewater about back in January, it “just never finalized.”
“Despite his best efforts to hide the truth from Kentucky families, one thing is certain: Daniel Cameron knew about this conflict of interest for months and lied about it. Even worse, it appears he abused his taxpayer-funded office to shakedown a target of an investigation for campaign donations,” said DGA States Press Secretary Emma O’Brien. “Kentuckians deserve to know the full scope of this scandal, and Daniel Cameron’s unethical actions must be investigated.”
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