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Pompeo Calls for End of Campaign Tricks

WICHITA, KS – Mike Pompeo, Wichita businessman, veteran and Republican candidate for U.S. Congress today called upon Wink Hartman to immediately pull an advertisement featuring an unnamed accuser attacking Mike Pompeo’s record as a businessman.
 
 “Realizing he is in a desperate situation due to his falling poll numbers and having spent more than a million dollars of his money attacking me and not telling voters why they should vote for him, Wink Hartman has now launched an attack without providing a shred of evidence or documentation – not even the name of the person leveling the charge. This attack on my character requires a response,” Pompeo continued.
 
“Just as I will defend the honor of America in Congress, I stand today to make sure that voters know the truth about the claims Wink Hartman is now making. I call on Wink Hartman to immediately release documentation to substantiate his claim. Should Hartman not be able to produce satisfactory documentation in the next few hours, I will formally ask the television stations to pull these false attacks and seek by all means available to hold accountable Wink Hartman and all involved for presenting this false information to the voters.” Pompeo continued.
 
“Our first notice of this advertisement came just 20 hours ago. Thayer Aerospace had hundreds of suppliers during my time as its leader. I did not recognize the man in the advertisement, but we were fortunate to have a campaign supporter identify him as Daniel Lind. We have tried in these past hours to evaluate his claim that he was not repaid and that his bankruptcy was the fault of my business practices. We have now found the initial documents for Daniel Lind’s federal bankruptcy – an event he references in the Hartman advertisement. Following this initial review of the claims presented, we provide the following evidence that this attack by Wink Hartman is false.
 
1)     In his own bankruptcy proceedings, under sworn oath, Mr. Lind claimed “none” on accounts receivable. This is in direct contrast to the statements he has made on camera. There is in fact no reference to Thayer Aerospace or Mike Pompeo in the files we have reviewed so far. (Schedule B, line 15)
 
2)     We can find no record of any action by Mr. Lind in Sedgwick County District Court to attempt to collect on any debt.
 
3)     Our review of records thus far, indicates that Machining Concepts did business with Thayer Aerospace for approximately 3 years. The total volume of the work performed by that company for Thayer Aerospace was approximately $351,000. All of the obligations associated with that work were paid for by Thayer Aerospace.
 
4)     Glenn Steele, President Thayer Aerospace Manufacturing has stated “I have no recollection of Daniel Lind or Machining Concepts being a supplier to Thayer Aerospace. More importantly, as the business leader of Thayer Aerospace dating to 2001, I am positive that all legitimate claims have been paid to all of our suppliers.”

5)     From Steve Becker, Controller, Thayer Aerospace Manufacturing:  “During my tenure at Thayer Aerospace, from April 2001 thru January 2005, all suppliers were paid for services rendered to Thayer Aerospace.”
 
“From my understanding and my examination of the record, there is no basis for this advertisement. I am proud of the fact that while at Thayer Aerospace – even during the most difficult economic times, we never took the easy way out, and never declared bankruptcy. All of our vendors were paid. The same cannot be said for Mr. Hartman,” Pompeo continued. The hard-working people of Thayer Aerospace during this time and now are of the highest ethical and business standards and do not deserve this.
 
“Once the journalists, bloggers, and reporters get to the bottom of this story, voters will become aware this ad is a fraud. Every day, it becomes clearer to voters that Mr. Hartman will do, say and spend anything to get elected. This sort of dirty, confusing and fraudulent campaigning is exactly why voters disengage from our democratic process and do not trust office holders. These times are so critical and the issues so important to the future of Kansas and America. I urge Mr. Hartman to elevate his campaign to a level of civility that honors voter involvement. Less than two weeks out from this most critical election, voters deserve to be talking about the issues that put our country at this perilous crossroads, not about an anonymous claim put forth only to avoid addressing serious matters in the closing days of the campaign.” Pompeo concluded.

*Click here to download and view a PDF file of this news release.