BREAKING: “Texts Show Lahn’s Campaign Was Warned About Derek Wulf’s Debts on Day One”
Steve King on Wulf’s financial scandals: “Next bail out may be bail money”
DES MOINES – Ahead of the KTIV debate, a bombshell new report from Iowa Starting Line reveals that Zach Lahn’s campaign knew about Derek Wulf’s legal and financial scandals when he selected Wulf as his running mate.
Leaked texts from Lahn’s campaign show that “a conservative Iowa political operative warned Lahn’s campaign field director that Wulf faced lawsuits from his main lender” and “that Wulf’s finances were dire” before the Iowa GOP approved Wulf as the nominee for lieutenant governor. Despite publicly downplaying Wulf’s debt as “routine re-financing” and describing Wulf as an “honest man,” Lahn’s staff was so worried about Wulf’s debt that they privately considered replacing him with the son of Iowa GOP Chair Jeff Kaufmann on the ticket.
The leaked texts also suggest that Lahn’s team could have helped orchestrate who secretly paid off Wulf’s $540,000 debt. On June 15, Lahn’s field director Bluhm said Wulf’s financial troubles were “now on the right path forward” for a “swift resolution.” Two weeks later, a donor to Lahn’s campaign formed an LLC in Illinois “specifically” to allow a mysterious Iowa lender to pay Wulf’s debts. Lahn has refused multiple requests to tell Iowans who is paying Wulf’s debts.
Even Steve King said Wulf’s financial troubles made him “sick to [his] stomach … Next bail out may be bail money.”
From Iowa Democratic Party spokesperson Terra Hernandez:
“Zach Lahn choosing a known fraudster as his running mate and trying to cover it up should make all Iowans seriously question his judgement and character. Lahn should immediately tell Iowans who is paying off his running mate’s debts and what they were promised in return.”
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