Press Held Story Of Ernst Aide’s DUI Arrest Until Post-Election
[su_right_ad]Gretchen Hamel was a top aide to Iowa Senator-Elect Joni Ernst until she was arrested for DUI with a .181 alcohol level on October 30. This was her second DUI arrest, the first being October 13. The Des Moines Register published the story November 6. Hamel tried to get away with it the first time by falsely claiming someone else was driving.
At 10:30 p.m. on Oct. 13, Hamel crashed her Ford Explorer into a sign post at the intersection of 142nd and Meredith streets in Urbandale. She was in the passenger seat when Urbandale police arrived. She claimed a man named “Robert” was driving the vehicle and “took off running” after striking the post, according to an Urbandale police report.
“Hamel later admitted that she lied and that she was the one driving the vehicle,” the report states.
Not that it would have changed the outcome of the election, but it still seems quite wrong that the story was buried until the election results were in. To me, that smacks of influence at a high level over at the newspaper. Top campaign aides don’t have things like this go unnoticed.
So why bury it? It wasn’t Ernst driving, it was Hamel. It seems to me they should have been on this when it happened.[su_csky_ad]
tiredoftea November 7th, 2014 at 11:21 am
Yes, a free press, the bulwark against government malfeasance strikes again. Damned liberal press!
granpa.usthai November 7th, 2014 at 1:47 pm
left wing socialist commies like Hitler I guess!
Hass November 8th, 2014 at 12:06 am
“Damned liberal press!”
Hahaha! I’ve lost count in how many times I’ve heard that phrase.
rg9rts November 7th, 2014 at 11:29 am
One set of rules for the entitled and another for us riffraff…..think of jocks and it will all make sense
Snick1946 November 7th, 2014 at 11:29 am
The Des Moines Register held this story? WTF? My recollection is that they did not endorse Ernst and that she ticked off their staff by refusing to meet with them to discuss an endorsement. Why did someone feel they owed her any favors? No it wouldn’t have changed the outcome, sadly. It does seem that Little Miss Wonderful Joni Ernst has some stuff in her closet. Only the beginning…
rg9rts November 7th, 2014 at 11:31 am
It will come out sooner or later…till then Iowa you made your bed ,,,,
Snick1946 November 7th, 2014 at 1:05 pm
I grew up in Iowa- my family were evangelicals- I put all that behind me years ago. Still, I know enough about them as a subculture to feel safe in predicting that this woman is going to be a gift that keeps on giving to those of us on the Left. She will make Bachmann look tame by comparison. Someone on her staff or in her family will always be making news, not the kind she’d want.
rg9rts November 7th, 2014 at 2:03 pm
I’d say you have my sympathy but we will all suffer…
Pilotshark November 7th, 2014 at 2:07 pm
how about this head line! talking about scary.
Politico on 2014: ‘Now there could well be as many as 10 or 20 Bachmanns coming to Washington’
dave-dr-gonzo November 7th, 2014 at 12:03 pm
The only reason the usually right-wing Des Moines Regurgitator did not endorse the hog-castrating rube with the creepy laugh is that she would not consent to an interview with the paper’s editorial board.
Maxx44 November 7th, 2014 at 11:36 am
What about this rightwing whine that the “liberal press” carries the Democrats’ water?
Nicholas Russell Harris November 7th, 2014 at 10:47 pm
It’s just that, Reichwing whine. . .
Anomaly 100 November 7th, 2014 at 12:51 pm
In fairness, I’d be drunk all the f*cking time if I was her aide.
Spirit of America November 7th, 2014 at 1:23 pm
LOL(x5)!
granpa.usthai November 7th, 2014 at 1:57 pm
love your spirit to much to say it, – but sometimes you do leave yourself wide open.
…..
aaaaaaaahhhhoooooooeeeeeeeuuuuuhhhhh.
please have Shades standing by with a charged defib next time.
I ain’t no Russian Repubs playboy, but I was taught to do some things for myself.
Laura Flannery November 7th, 2014 at 4:41 pm
WAR ON WOMEN ALERT!!!!!
tracey marie November 7th, 2014 at 5:07 pm
teabagger alert!
granpa.usthai November 7th, 2014 at 1:45 pm
JFG!
the boozer hangs out with the same party as Sara
jez, you’d think somebody in the media bathroom would have figured it out.
Pilotshark November 7th, 2014 at 2:03 pm
Wait isn`t that paper one of them that Join would not do an editorial board review with?
Laura Flannery November 7th, 2014 at 4:40 pm
It was wrong to with-hold this information, just as it was wrong to with-hold the information that Kay Hagan is very good friends with Lois Lerner and had a hand in the IRS targeting scandal. It may not have changed the election, but don’t we have the right to know????
tracey marie November 7th, 2014 at 5:06 pm
lol, there is no scandal teabagg, period
Nicholas Russell Harris November 7th, 2014 at 10:46 pm
If there had truly been a scandal? Yes. . .but seeing as even the Tea Bagging Department of Inquisition, I mean Department of Justice found. . .THERE WAS NO SCANDAL IN THE IRS OR BENGHAZI. . .but I forgot. . .Tea Baggers are allergic to facts. . .
fancypants November 7th, 2014 at 8:32 pm
just the tip of the iceburg as they say …..
You never know what gifts I.O.W.A. will bring to washington