A Life Ruined: The Corrupt Players of the Mississippi Senate Race | Jen Kuznicki

A Life Ruined: The Corrupt Players of the Mississippi Senate Race

By On July 8, 2014 · 19 Comments

The Republican Senatorial primary in Mississippi exhibited an over-the-top abuse of power, showing how the accumulation of one party political power corrupts the entire system.

Upon the death of Mark Mayfield, an attorney who had been arrested and charged with felony conspiracy for supposedly telling blogger Clayton Kelly how to access Rose Cochran’s room in a nursing home, I began to look into how that ridiculous incident had gotten so out-of-hand. During the primary, I watched as Bradley Dayspring, communications frat-boy of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), made such a big deal about the arrest of the men that investigators had linked to the photo of Rose Cochran.

It is typical of the NRSC to hammer distracting details of supposed scandals of the opponents of their incumbency protection racket, rather than allow a debate between the establishment Senators they back, and any challengers. So, I treated the arrest of these so-called conspirators as a distraction during the campaign, and didn’t pay much attention to what the phony frat-boy was tweeting at the time.

The death of Mark Mayfield changed all that.

After reading the charges, the bonds issued, the claims by the lead investigator, and the resulting fall-out of the over-the-top political theater from the courtroom in front of a world press, I’ve come to the conclusion that a good, kind, decent man died needlessly, and several factors perhaps contributed to the depressive state in which he took his own life.

First of all, the basic story of the Rose Cochran “break in.”

Clayton Kelly, wishing to establish his blog during the heated Mississippi Senate race, wanted to get a photograph of Senator Thad Cochran’s wife, to prove that she was bedridden while the Senator was gallivanting around the nation and world with a woman who had, at times, been passed off as his wife, his assistant, Kay Webber. If Kelly was able to show that Mr. Cochran was not true to his wife, it could be used as political fodder, and the photo was briefly used in a youtube offering on Kelly’s website. It was taken down very quickly, supposedly when Kelly heard through channels that McDaniel abhorred it, and wanted it off the internet. When Kelly was arrested and charged with a felony, his bond was set at $200,000 by Judge Dale Danks, an appointee of the mayor, Mary Hawkins Butler, a close personal friend of Senator Thad Cochran.

Clayton Kelly held no real ties to the McDaniel campaign, and Senator McDaniel thoroughly denounced the actions of Kelly, repeatedly.

Days later, three other men were arrested in connection with the supposed crime, a high school gym teacher, a former radio show host, and attorney Mark Mayfield. All three were charged with felony conspiracy. The gym teacher, Richard Sager, was also charged with tampering of evidence, and his bond was set the highest of all four, at $500,000. Mayfield’s bond was set at $250,000, and though his attorney claimed it was too high, paid it so Mr. Mayfield could be released.  The bonds were set by Judge Dale Danks who, just to give you an idea of the corruption of politics this case reeks of, had earlier this year, set a bond of $50,000 for each of four counts of sexual battery and gratification of lust for a man who allegedly forced himself on a girl under 16. The former radio host, John Mary, was not arrested because of health problems.  A week later, both Kelly and Sager’s bond was reduced to $75,000 and $50,000 respectively, after the press had a field day with the outlandish news, that a group of “tea-party” McDaniel supporters committed felonies.

Kelly’s lawyer had argued that the charge didn’t fit the crime, and that taking the photo was at the most, a misdemeanor since Kelly made no money on it, the threshold being at least $250, and that there was no lascivious lewd intent.  But, the police investigator, , argued with the attorney, and testified that she believe the photo was “indecent” since the bedridden Rose Cochran was in bed clothes and the monetary amount of the photo was “priceless.”  Because of that ridiculous argument, the felony charges stood, and Mr. Mayfield would be tied to Mr. Kelly, and would be batted around by the NRSC’s Dayspring as if he were a criminal.  The following are tweets either tweeted by, or retweeted by, Bradley Dayspring.

rtd by dayspring

rtd by dayspring

The last tweet by Brian Walsh is important, because he used to have Dayspring’s job at the NRSC, and completely distorts what the police report said.  But also, it shows why the arrest of Mr. Mayfield was huge for the NRSC to be able tobetween the tea party, a very close supporter of McDaniel, and the photo of Mrs. Cochran.  The NRSC did not care that Mr. Mayfield never was found to help Mr. Kelly, and Mayfield insisted on his innocence throughout the whole mess.  They needed to imply that a close personal tea-party friend of McDaniel’s broke into the nursing home to take a picture of a 72-year-old woman in her nightie.  As you can see from the tweeted, and retweeted links by Mr. Dayspring above, once Mayfield was arrested, the entire tea party was indicted, along with Senator McDaniel, regardless of the facts.

The chairman of the NRSC, Jerry Moran, has since stipulated that the NRSC .  That is funny, since the established committee is the foremost defense of, and proponent of, established incumbent Republican Senators now serving in the United States Senate.  If they are not representative of the Republican Party, but the groups that oppose them are held to that standard, who exactly represents the Republican Party?

But what you cannot see, is the fact that Mr. Mayfield, a well-respected , lost everything the day he was arrested.  But he was not just arrested, the sheriff and six policemen descended upon Mr. Mayfield at his office, in front of his co-workers.  Three banks he worked for as an attorney called and fired him the following day.  His work relations ruined, he was used by the system to try to tie McDaniel to Kelly, with no actual proof.

What did he do to be batted around like he was?  Did he “break in” to the nursing home?  No, not even Clayton Kelly did that, as it was apparently easy to get in to the home with a camera.  Did he “conspire” to photograph Mrs. Cochran in a state of undress, as the law he supposedly broke had been used against peeping toms?  No, there is still no evidence that he was even involved, and there is a lot of evidence that he was an ethical man with a very developed sense of justice.  The only time the name, “Mark” was mentioned in the against Clayton Kelly, was by John Mary, who said that “Mark” would have someone contact Kelly.  It could have been Mr. Mayfield or some other Mark, or Mr. Mary could have been making stuff up, but whatever the case, the ruining of his life was, in my view, the result of political overkill by a corrupt Republican machine in Mississippi.

There’s more, there’s a lot more, like how the photographing of Mrs. Cochran , by the Cochran campaign, who said they did an investigation of their own, and waited three weeks to tell the police, on a date closer to the primary vote.  Or, that the lead investigation was done by the firm, Butler Snow, who just happens to , a man who was almost single-handedly speaking for Senator Cochran on a daily basis during the campaign.  It was Butler Snow who gave police investigators the information that led to the arrests of the men.  There is more here on , an apparent breeding-ground for Mississippi Republican politics and government.  Also, lead investigator for the Madison Police department, Vicki Currie had previously faced an intent to file suit of involving a friend of hers on the police department, in a case that should have been handed to a different PD considering the internal conflict of interest.  The cyberstalking case was finally dismissed against a brain-damaged man.

In the end, after all of the accusations by NRSC and their allies in the press, such as the Morning Joe show on MSNBC, the reporter for the Washington Post, Robert Costa, and former staff members, they still lost the primary to Senator Chris McDaniel.  The entire machine from DC all the way down to the Mayor, Judge, and police department, could be linked together, with stronger ties than Mr. Mayfield and Senator McDaniel had with Clayton Kelly.

Of course, from that primary date on, the Mississippi Republican machine, arm in arm with the national one, went even further than framing an innocent man, and framed the entire tea party movement as racist.

Sick.

 

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19 Responses to A Life Ruined: The Corrupt Players of the Mississippi Senate Race

  1. Jim says:
    July 8, 2014 at 5:05 pm

    Looks like the old established "good ole boy" aristocracy in Mississippi still alive and well. They have backed off on lynching innocent black people but now have evolved to destroying fine upstanding citizens that might challenge their disgusting regime. Shame on you people. And shame on the blacks that out of ignorance voted for these crooks. Buy a clue folks… these blue blood white supremacists are using you the same way Obama used you… for their own gain.

  2. Jennifer Lawson says:
    July 8, 2014 at 5:50 pm

    Beautiful work, Jen, as per usual! The stuff the Pubs are doing, from the top to the state and local levels, at least in Michigan's case, with creepy Governors and admins.is so damaging to so many that, yes, it is SICK! >:(

  3. Kay Munson says:
    July 8, 2014 at 7:05 pm

    Corruption in paying people to vote and lies about Tea Party Racism are ok, though.
    Where are the morals in this once great country.
    If Mississippi let's Cochran get away with this, they deserve the stigma of being the most corrupt state government…..hold you head high boys, we will still look down on you.
    I feel really sad for the honest citizens of that state that have to deal with this and know that the time and effort they took to vote legally was for naught.

  4. Jake Ardmore says:
    July 8, 2014 at 7:21 pm

    can't that Brad Dayspring find the time to take a canoe trip on the Chattahoochee River?

  5. Amanda says:
    July 8, 2014 at 7:29 pm

    Jen found you via Levin. I am here in MS & am so so sad about Mayfield. I don't read the local paper or listen to local news, so didn't know all the goings on until 2nd primary. I voted both times for McD. and was soo angry when I heard all the results of the voting. Am still very distressed about the dirty politics and hearing about Mayfield was devastating. Don't know if I can even vote in Nov. will have to do a lot of soul searching. Am truly disgusted with the GOP now, so where to turn? I'm a true conservative/tea party'er. Loved your in depth article on what really happened down here. Thanks, Amanda

    • Jen Kuznicki says:
      July 9, 2014 at 1:30 am

      Thanks for reading, Amanda, and I’m sorry about the new realizations about the party we thought we supported. However, I am hopeful that shining a light on the corruption will make the party better in the long run.

  6. TheGreatMiddleClass says:
    July 8, 2014 at 7:46 pm

    This makes me sad and sick to my stomach. So much evil and they will all end up six feet under the earth at the end. :(

  7. Danny (Black Dog) says:
    July 8, 2014 at 9:08 pm

    GREAT JOB JEN !!!!

  8. aprilnovember811 says:
    July 8, 2014 at 9:54 pm

    If right doesn't prevail in this fraudulent win of Thad Cochran, he should not be awarded any ones vote. He and the Barbour gang, who it appears would sell their own mother for a buck, and power, defrauded Chris McDaniel, and his voters.

    Personally, I will never vote for the good ole boy, establishment GOP, as long as I live. If they're tied to the old guard, count me out. My vote is too precious to me anymore.

  9. Jean Cooper says:
    July 8, 2014 at 9:56 pm

    How sad that a man lost all hope in the very system he believed in. These people have no honor or shame

  10. task says:
    July 9, 2014 at 5:01 am

    None of this is a surprise. In fact it is exactly what should have been expected.

    It has been said that so many government statutes and regulations exist that most people could be charged with three felony violations each day without ever realizing that they have done something wrong. When it comes to politics, if you are not part of the entrenched system, you risk serious consequences. I, and several friends, once warned a Democrat not to go against the NJ political apparatus because he had been warned from the inside. The ultimate outcome was that that the court determined that his residence was not what he claimed since he spent considerable time at the residence of his girlfriend in an apartment where his name was on the lease. That oversight cost him his law license, a year in jail, a fine and an enormous amount of community service.

    It works like this. If you are not part of the system you will be accused of committing crimes that you had no idea existed. If, on the other hand, you are part of the system, you get a license to commit unbelievable crimes that you know exist. Too often it is assumed, by Conservatives, that only the Democrat Party is corrupt and, of course, it is. It is especially so because it is well protected by a biased and activist media that Mark Levin refers to, as the Praetorian Guard, which is a referral to what was once the private guard of the Roman Emperors. What most people do not know is that they actually became powerful kingmakers so that their nominee would become the next Emperor. This is exactly what much of the media does today.

    The rise of Tea Party Conservatives as a result of the ostentatious and flagrant lawlessness of the Obama Administration had an unintended consequence. It uncovered that established Republicans and their operatives could be just as corrupt as Democrats. Politicians will often go to great lengths to achieve their goals and Haley Barbour is at the top of the political food chain. I have despised his lobbying efforts on immigration and his clemency attitude toward illegal’s that represents amnesty on steroids. On the other had he is aggressively prochoice and as a consequence Mississippi has a low abortion rate compared to the rest of the Country. He certainly made a name for himself based upon how well he handled the Katrina aftermath where his efforts were compared to Giuliani’ s handling of NYC post 911. But Barbour will justify any means needed to re-elect the insider Cochran who can be pushed, cajoled and swayed to do what the establishment GOP wants. But make no mistake about what the GOP wants; it wants what Barbour wants.

    Media Pundits have recently chided that Tea Party candidates have been put to rout by a disenchanted public. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Anyone who knows and understands Mississippi politics and Haley Barbour’s involvement understands just how difficult it is for a challenger to defeat an incumbent, let alone an incumbent supported by a political machine of the size and scope as the one run by Mr. Barbour. What is truly shocking is that, despite the fact that Conservative Organizations, post 2010, were placed on the National Brown Shirt IRS kill list and that Haley Barbour did his best to do the worst he could do, an underfunded McDaniel actually won the Mississippi Senatorial primary race. The final obstacle remaining is to prove it by delegitimizing the fraudulent election results and starting anew. McDaniel is in the same league as David the giant slayer and Rocky Balboa and no one knows it better than Haley Barbour whose best punch, below the belt, failed to cleanly take him out.

  11. Claire says:
    July 9, 2014 at 8:28 am

    Mark Mayfield was a close family friend. My family still lives in Jackson, where I grew up. When I've spoken to my parents recently they've said Jackson is a powder keg right now.

    While they both voted for McDaniel, many of their upperclass Northeast Jackson & Madison friends did not. It's obvious why–their only syllogization for voting for Thad was his legacy; and by legacy, I mean years occupying a seat in the Senate; not actually accomplishing anything in the way of progress for our infamously superlative state. That and the #RebelsForThad hashtag trending on Twitter. Actually, no — the hashtag was clearly the dominant persuading factor.

    My dad shares Mr. Mayfield's deep commitment to the Tea Party ideology, particularly economic & immigration reform. He told me many times before Mr. Mayfield's death how much he respected the work he was doing. He noted how brave he was & how much conviction he must have to oppose an institution so deeply ingrained in Mississippi & Jackson society. My dad told me on many occasions there's nothing those corrupt, establishment good ole' boys wouldn't do to protect their money.

    This incident reminded me of another from when I was younger. My parents were also acquaintances with Dickie Scruggs–one of the richest men in Mississippi who was just released from prison after being convicted of bribing a judge with $40K for a favorable ruling in a minor fee dispute.

    Again, like my dad has always said–you never know someone until you come between them & their money.

    The Tea Party in Mississippi (and nationally) is destabilizing the establishment's long-standing racquet. We are exposing the corruption that has gone on for years & in-so doing, disturbing their honey pot.

    Mark Mayfield was so committed to the ideals for which the Tea Party stands because he SO sincerely believed they would improve the state of things for everyone in our state & in our country. He was the lease extreme, political man you could imagine. Instead, he was enormously kind, humble… he was, as Jen described, a true Southern Gentleman. In combination with being a truly good man, he also happened to be one with tremendous strength of conviction. His conviction compelled him to take action where many of us fall short, lacking strength to fight this evil system.

    I cannot imagine how they must have tortured him to push him to this. He loved his family SO much, as much as any man I know. He was very close with his two sons & also very active in his church. They must have bullied him relentlessly; they must have been so cruel & deliberate, to push him to this.

    Mr. Mayfield's death has shaken up so many of us. I've vacillated between a range of emotions from enormous grief, as the loss of a great man & friend; terror, at the prospect that this is what happens when the most courageous among us stand up to this system; anger, at the depraved men, including Brad Dayspring who have blood on their hands and are surely going to the hell they proclaim to fear so much for the sick pleasure they took in leading this witch hunt.

    I'm trying to get beyond feeling vindictive: no other family should have to suffer like the Mayfields, as a results of the dangerous game of politics. However, this corrupt institution needs to be completely uprooted.

    I can't imagine it getting any uglier than this; but I fear it will. We all need to band together & be strong. As Mr. Mayfield's sons posted following his death, "We will persevere and stay the course." In his honor, we will prevail.

    Thank you Jen for this beautifully & poignantly written article exposing the deep-rooted evil & dangers inherent in politics today.

  12. Jackson, MS says:
    July 9, 2014 at 9:12 am

    You left out a tragic detail. The brain-damaged target of Vicki Currie's bogus "cyberstalking" overcharge ended up killing himself, too. Helluva record, there.

  13. Rebekah Huang says:
    July 9, 2014 at 10:25 am

    The entirety of this sickens me and that is why term limits at all levels of governance is so important…before they have the time and connectedness to become a part of the political machine instead of doing the peoples work send them home!
    Thank you for your work bringing this all to light.

  14. seascout says:
    July 9, 2014 at 12:24 pm

    BTW Jen, the "brain-damaged man" similarly persecuted by Madison PD also killed himself not long afterwards.

    So glad someone finally connected these tragedies.

  15. says:
    July 9, 2014 at 2:41 pm

    […] And on related subjects, Jeff Lord’s American Spectator piece about Mississippi Conservatives, another PAC which helped Cochran and has collected money from a fairly familiar daisy chain of donors, is a required read. So is Jen Kuznicki’s piece on the ruin, and ultimate suicide, of Mark Mayfield. […]

  16. Michael L says:
    July 13, 2014 at 11:49 am

    Jen, thank you so much for all the detail and analysis. It was sorely lacking. I am still suspicious the death of Mr. Mayfield was a 'suicide' and would appreciate any detail on that investigation as it comes available and similarly also concerning the rumored lawsuit the Mayfield family may file against the Madison PD for trespassing.

  17. Slhancock says:
    July 13, 2014 at 1:15 pm

    Thank you, Jen! WOW! I'm sure there have been others who have been ruined by the "elites" when their panties get in a wad.

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