Following up on a story I first wrote about on February 1, Politifact weighs in on Charlie Justice’s claim that Bill Young spent money on a luxury car:
An online video by the Charlie Justice for Congress campaign tries to link opponent Rep. Bill Young with jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff. It is a case of guilt by association without proving any association. In a separate item, we’ve rated the suggestion of an Abramoff connection as Pants on Fire. But the video makes other claims about Young, a Pinellas County Republican, that have some truth to them, including one that Young used campaign money for “a luxury car.”
The video uses Abramoff’s fedora as a metaphor for the alleged ties between the two men. A copy of the hat flips off Abramoff’s head and lands on Young’s. The screen says that Abramoff “used his money for, among other things, luxury cars.” The hat lands on Young as the screen says, “Bill Young uses his campaign money for, among other things, a luxury car.”
Putting aside the sleight-of-hand implication of an Abramoff connection, it’s worth exploring the simple question of whether Young did indeed use campaign money for a luxury car.
Continue reading here.
