TX CD-14: Too Cozy For Comfort Relationship Between Ron Paul & Man Who Bought TV Ads Raises More Questions

You will recall that earlier this month Capitol Annex brought you the exclusive story that a Michigan phycian had purchased more than $150,000 of advertising in support of Congressman Ron Paul (R-Surfside) as “indirect” expenditures in Congressional District 14.

Now, new information has surfaced that shows exactly how Paul and Dr. Andrew L. (AL) Messenger) of Riverdale, Michigan are connected and that may shed more light on why the obscure doctor has made such a large gift on Paul’s behalf.

On April 4, 2005, Messenger gave one of several donations to Ron Paul. The April, 2005 donation was in the amount of $2,000. Three days later Paul was lauding Messenger, who is not a resident of Congressional District 14 and has no apparrent connections to Texas whatsoever, in the pages of the Congressional Record:

Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to a friend and patriot, Dr. Andrew L. Messenger, of Riverdale, Michigan.
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Dr. Messenger lives by the principals of honesty, hard work, and caring for his fellow man, and took great care to instill these same principles into his children.
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After raising a family and running a respected practice, Dr. Messenger continues to make a difference not only in his local community and across the United States through his generous support of the Leadership Institute.

[...]

When most men embrace the rewards retirement offers, Dr. Messenger pushes on to make a difference in the lives of his countrymen. Dr. Messenger’s support of the Leadership Institute gives young people and working professionals the practical tools necessary to advance liberty and protect freedom. Too often freedom has few friends on our college campuses, in our state houses, and in our capitol. Dr. Messenger is providing everyday citizens with the resources necessary to defend the dream of limited government George Washington and the rest of our founding fathers created when they wrote our constitution.

The Leadership Institute, while a non-profit organization, is an ultra-conservative teaching and training institute of sorts. And, while it cannot endorse candidates because of its non-profit status, that obviously doesn’t stop its supporters, like Messenger, from helping out members of the institute’s “Bi-Partisan Congressional Advisory Board.” The ‘non-partisan’ nature of the board is somewhat questionable, however, given that Texas’ most conservative Congressmen—resigned Tom DeLay, Randy Neugabuer, Pete Sessions, Joe Barton, Henry Bonillia, Kevin Brady, John Culberson,  Ralph Hall and Lamar Smith join Paul on the group’s advisory board, along with U.S. Senator John Cornyn.

Previous “instructors” at the Leadership Institute also include Tom Lizardo, Paul’s former Chief of Staff. A Nexis search also shows that several young interns or part-time Paul staff members also worked for, interned with, or were associated with the Leadership Institute.

The institute is also tied to the Republican Liberty Caucus, commonly known as the “Ron Paul Republicans,” which acts as a Libertarian Party caucus within the Republican Party. New RLC Chairman Chuck Muth is a trainer for the institute.

In addition, Jeff Gannon, the fake Talon News journalist outed in a scandal last year, is a Leadership Institute alum.

Whether the Leadership Institute ties are the reason for Messenger’s indirect expenditure on Paul’s behalf or whether it has to do more with the tragic death of the physician’s grandson and Paul’s views on life support as discussed in Capitol Annex’s previous article, no one can say for sure.

What is for certain, however is that questions still exist relating to the involvement of Jay Bryant, a Maryland media consultant, in Messenger’s “indirect” ad buy. For an ad buy to be an indirect expenditure under Federal Election Commission regulations, the campaign must not know in advance of the expenditure.

And, while there is no direct evidence that shows Paul’s campaign knew about the expenditure in advance, the fact remains that Jay Bryant previously consulted for Ron Paul and then is magically representing a Michigan doctor in an advertising buy in Texas’ 14th Congressional District.

Paul paid Bryant at least $121,183 between the 1996 and 2002 election cycles for consulting and media services.

At minimum, Paul should address the issue and make it clear once and for all his relationship with Messenger.

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