GOP Operative Hired By S.C. Democrat: There's No Plot Here!
The Republican consultant at the heart of accusations of mischief in the South Carolina Democratic primary said in an interview he worked for a Democratic candidate because he opposed higher taxes and seemed qualified to serve in Congress.
Preston Grisham, a longtime campaign operative for Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC), said his new firm Stonewall Strategies was just getting its first clients together when Gregory Brown gave him a call out of the blue to ask for some help with his primary campaign against House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC). Though the nearly $24,000 in payments (the largest expense for the Brown campaign) are listed as for "marketing," both Grisham and Brown said Stonewall did initial polling and helped Brown set up his Web site. (It was housed here last week but now is a dead link.)
"It wasn't my idea to work for him as any way to raise mischief, it was just to help a level-headed, good guy," Grisham told TPM in an interview. He said Stonewall worked with Brown through March, to "help him get it off the ground."
"I just received a phone call. I don't know how he got my name," Grisham told me.
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