10/13/2010 - Coats’ Camp Rebuts Charge of Lying (Indy Star)

By Mary Beth Schneider

Indiana Democratic Party Chairman Dan Parker accused Republican Senate candidate Dan Coats of telling "a bald-faced lie" in Monday's debate when Coats denied having negotiated his first lobbying job while still in the Senate.

Coats' campaign dismissed the brouhaha as a simple case of the candidate misspeaking during the first of three debates with Democrat Brad Ellsworth and Libertarian Rebecca Sink-Burris.

During Monday's debate at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, Ellsworth charged that Coats negotiated his first lobbying job in 1998 with the Washington firm of Verner, Liipfert, Bernhard, McPherson and Hand while in his final weeks representing Indiana in the Senate.

Coats disputed that. He said two former Senate majority leaders working then at Verner, Liipfert -- Democrat George Mitchell and Republican Bob Dole -- sought him out and "said 'when you leave the Senate, we would like to talk to you,' period."

Coats said he told them that "under the laws I'm not able to negotiate anything, nor do I want to negotiate anything. In fact, I took a month off after I left because I didn't want to think about what was next. It was then that they approached me to join them."

Parker, though, cited news articles from October and November 1998, while Coats was still in the Senate, that reported he was expected to go to work for Verner, Liipfert. And Coats' Senate office, on Dec. 3, 1998, issued a news release saying that Coats would join the firm.

Coats' Senate term ended Jan. 3, 1999, and he began work at Verner, Liipfert on Feb. 1, 1999.

Kevin S. Kellems, an adviser to Coats' campaign, brushed off the episode, saying Democrats are just trying to distract attention from Ellsworth's campaign fund, which is buoyed by special interest dollars.

"Hoosiers don't require slickness of their politicians, and in the heat of a live debate, Indiana voters understand when something isn't communicated as clearly as it could have been."

Parker, though, said this was no slip of the tongue.

"How can Hoosiers even begin to think about trusting Dan Coats to represent them in Washington if he's willing to go on statewide television and lie to Hoosiers?" Parker said.

The candidates will debate again Oct. 22 in Fort Wayne and Oct. 25 in Vincennes.