In some ways this is starting to make me laugh. In other ways, not so much:
CBS NEWS – Rick Perry’s presidential campaign says it is “absolutely not” responsible for leaking the fact that Herman Cain was accused of sexual misconduct while head of the National Restaurant Association to Politico, which broke the explosive story Sunday night.
“That is false, patently untrue, no one at this campaign was involved in this story,” said Perry communications director Ray Sullivan.
Sullivan then suggested to CBS News and National Journal reporter Rebecca Kaplan that Mitt Romney’s campaign is behind the allegations.
“I wouldn’t put it past them,” he said, stating that blog posts have noted that Cain’s successor at the Restaurant Association “is a big Romney donor.”
“There are much closer connections between the Restaurant Association, Cain and the Romney camp than there are with us,” he said.
Federal Election Commission records show that Steven C. Anderson, who succeeded Cain as the Restaurant Association’s CEO, gave $1,000 to Romney’s campaign on July 14, Kaplan reports. He also gave a total of $1,000 to Cain in two $500 installments during Cain’s 2003-2004 Senate campaign.
In response to Sullivan’s comments, Romney spokesperson Andrea Saul offered two words to CBS News: “Not true.” She declined to elaborate.
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