Liar Liar?

by: SheepskinStrutt

Fri Feb 05, 2010 at 10:58:54 AM MST

Former Colorado state Sen. Tom Wiens (R) was the source of almost nine out of every 10 dollars that went into his U.S. Senate campaign in late 2009.

Wiens' campaign said in a Feb. 2 release that it raised $728,418 through the end of last year, "which included contributions of over $188,418 and a candidate-provided loan of $540,000."

It turns out that the lion's share of Wiens' $188,418 in contributions came from Wiens himself.

Wiens' full campaign report, now available in the Senate's public records office in Washington, D.C., disclosed that he made personal donations of $101,250 to his campaign on top of the $540,000 loan. So Wiens actually provided $641,250 of personal money to his campaign, or 88 percent of his overall campaign receipts.

The $101,250 contribution came in six installments: $2,400 on Nov. 16, $32,600 on Nov. 16, $25,000 on Nov. 30, $20,000 on Dec. 2, $16,000 on Dec. 23 and $5,250 on Dec. 31. Wiens made the $540,000 loan on Dec. 31.

Wiens' report, which was not online as of Thursday, said that he raised $87,169 from individual donors (other than himself).

Not only does Wiens have a bit of an embellishment problem, he still has to supplement himself above and beyond his own candidate loan, footing the bill for nearly nine out of every ten campaign dollars that clink in his coffer.  For a man who has more than a few monetary "issues" in his past, it's only a natural act in Wiens' pecuniary theatrics. Is he really the sort of candidate Republicans want to face Bennet in  the fall, considering his shady dealings in the past and mendacious Q4 numbers?