Rep. Ryan Zinke accused his primary opponent’s husband, Rick Todd, of assaulting one of his staff members during a campaign event, a claim that Mary Todd vehemently denied.
Zinke alleged that Rick Todd forcibly removed campaign material and punched a staff member, while Mary Todd admitted her husband’s guilt.
Rep. Zinke highlighted, “This is not the first time Mr. Todd has acted aggressively on the campaign trail,”
He claimed, “During the 2022 campaign, he verbally accosted my wife and my female staff. This behavior is simply unacceptable.”
“Upon seeing this in the hallway, Rick began to take them down and informed those standing by that he was taking. When confronted by a Zinke staffer and informed that those were property of the campaign, he became aggressive and shouted that since it had his information on it, it was his and he was taking it. At this point, he tried to pull the check from another staffer, cursing and grabbing him in the process. Some bystanders defused the situation before it could escalate further,” a witness allegedly said.
A second witness reportedly said, “Rick Todd picked up the check and said he was angry that it had his wife’s signature on it. The Zinke staffer approached him and grabbed the check from Rick. They engaged in tug of war over the check.”
However, Todd’s campaign refuted the allegations, stating that the campaign material in question was actually their own donation checks to Zinke’s campaign, and that Zinke’s claims were false and defamatory.
Todd’s campaign stated, “After the Congressional Primary of 2022, my husband Rick and I did donate two $1000 checks to Ryan Zinke’s campaign.”
“We also hosted a fund raiser in our home, in his honor. What the Zinke campaign is calling ‘campaign material’ is one of our checks which they enlarged and publicly displayed at the GOP winter Kick-Off in Helena. My husband was understandably upset because our private information was on display. He did not punch anyone. Zinke, on the other hand, resorted to slanderous lies,” their statement continued.
Zinke’s campaign countered, asserting that Rick Todd lost his temper and lied about the incident, and that the pertinent information on the checks was redacted.
The Zinke Campaign said, “Regarding the assault: Rather than be an adult and admit he lost his temper and acted inappropriately, Rick Todd is now lying about it and trying to use valuable law enforcement resources as a weapon to cover his tracks. Multiple witnesses will back up the fact that Rick Todd is lying.”
“The video he seeks, if it exists, will also prove Rick Todd is lying. The simple fact is he lost it, just like he lost it when he yelled at Mrs. Zinke and female staff outside the polling site in Kalispell on primary election day in 2022. The only acceptable next step for Todd is to back down, apologize and be held accountable,” emphasized the campagin.
“Regarding the check: Mr. Todd’s statement that information was unlawfully disclosed is another desperate lie made in attempt to cover up his shameful, criminal behavior. The pertinent information was redacted, and he knows that. Mr. Todd is fully aware that political donations are reported to the FEC and publicly available to lookup on FEC.gov,” concluded their statement.
Fox News Digital reviewed the checks, which appeared to have redacted some information but included the Todds’ address and a signature, information that is publicly available in FEC forms.
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