KS-02: Republican Watkins Ducks Questions About Resigning

[RandySF]

Rep. Steve Watkins (R-KS) “declined to answer news reporters’ questions at a campaign event Thursday amid a flurry of bipartisan speculation his career in Congress could come to an abrupt end after eight months in office,” the Topeka Capital-Journal reports.

“Instead, he bolted into a waiting vehicle and sped away.”

“Republicans in Kansas and Washington, D.C., were pressuring Watkins to step down, but the reason for the possible resignation wasn’t certain.”



https://politicalwire.com/2019/08/22/congressman-ducks-questions-about-resigning/

[struggle4progress]

1. "Steve Watkins ... told voters repeatedly that he owned a company and built it from scratch ...

Of course, the building-a-company-from-scratch tale is prime grist for Republican audiences, and Watkins fed it to them ...

Problem is, the small business that Watkins supposedly grew was VIAP Inc., a subsidiary of Versar Inc., a global project management firm. VIAP existed for years before Watkins came on as a consultant, The Star uncovered in an investigation. The person credited with growing the company is a man named Bill Johnson.

Theodore Prociv, a former CEO of Versar, said he had never heard of Watkins. Several board members also had no memory of him ...

https://www.kansascity.com/opinion/editorials/article219192125.html

[RandySF]

2. The rumor on social media

Is that he sent out pictures of his junk to people who didn’t want to look at it.

[bluestarone]

3. Typical RETHUG here

That's what there DNA is!

[MagickMuffin]

4. Well we all know what happened to the Weiner

I seem to remember he got sent to jail for that.

[struggle4progress]

5. Lying about 'heroic' past

By Chris Perez October 2, 2018 | 9:21pm | Updated

A Republican congressional candidate from Kansas who touts himself as an “accomplished athlete and explorer” — with “heroic leadership” experience climbing Mount Everest and racing dogs “across the frozen tundra” — has been accused of being a fraud ...

... Guy Cotter, whom Watkins quoted in a self-description posted on his campaign website and GOP Young Guns, flat-out accused the West Point grad of lying ...

Cotter said he never even gave Watkins permission to quote him ...

https://nypost.com/2018/10/02/congressional-candidate-accused-of-lying-about-heroic-past/

[tblue37]

6. This is a brilliant burn:

State Sen. Steve Fitzgerald, Watkins’ former GOP rival, once referred to him as “a charlatan, a fraud and an opportunist.” Other politicians have pointed out how he’s never even voted in a partisan election in Kansas — and his biggest financial backer is his father.

“Clearly, this is the way the affluent get their middle-aged kids out of the basement,” Fitzgerald told the Kansas City Star in August.

[struggle4progress]

7. Yes!