Whatley's $17 Million Crime Ad Blitz Has One Small Problem: Harvey West

Politics runs on projection. The louder a man screams about the other guy's crimes, the harder you should look at his own house.

On July 29 the Senate Leadership Fund, the biggest GOP Senate super PAC, opened its wallet in North Carolina. The group announced a $17 million investment, the first round of a total $71 million to elect Michael Whatley. The digital, broadcast and streaming campaign takes aim at Roy Cooper's long public service record and is tied together by the slogan '40 Years is Enough.' The pitch, in the words of its own flack: 'Roy Cooper advanced his career on the backs of grieving parents and widows, catering to Far-Left groups and releasing thousands of violent criminals from prison early.'

Releasing violent criminals. Endangering families. Hold that thought.

Because here is Whatley's record, and it is not a talking point, it is a name. Harvey West was arrested in 2000 and charged with the statutory rape of three minors while serving as a police officer in the Outer Banks; those charges were reduced to five counts of indecent liberties with a child as part of a plea deal, under which West was sentenced to six years in prison and required to register as a sex offender. Years later, during Whatley's tenure as chair of the North Carolina Republican Party, he appointed West to the party's rulemaking committee multiple times.

This is not a Democratic smear cooked up in a war room. It surfaced from the right. Whatley's ties to West resurfaced after reporting by the Asheville Watchdog in March, and conservative outrage mounted soon after, leading to West's resignation as chair of the district party. A senior Republican tried to raise the alarm years ago and got steamrolled. Michele Woodhouse said six years ago she requested a closed session of the NCGOP Central Committee to discuss concerns over the fundraisers at West's house, but was rebuffed by Whatley and his leadership team. West, for his part, has never hidden a thing. 'I openly discussed what happened. I openly discussed my time in prison. I openly discussed the charges,' West told the Daily Beast.

And West was no wallflower. He and his wife created an annual fundraising picnic they called the Down East Judicial Picnic, and with support from Whatley, current state GOP chairman Jason Simmons, and high-ranking incumbents including Supreme Court Chief Justice Paul Newby, it emerged as a featured campaign stop and major source of judicial campaign money. So the man Whatley's own party wanted quietly gone was busy funneling cash to the judges who sit on North Carolina's highest court. Let that marinate the next time someone lectures you about law and order.

Democrats have noticed the seam. A Democratic-aligned group launched a $2.3 million ad campaign targeting Whatley over his ties to West, run by WinSenate PAC on YouTube, smart TVs, and streaming services.

So how does a former RNC chairman answer for it? He doesn't. He runs. Whatley has increasingly withdrawn from nonpartisan media, cutting reporters out of event invitation lists and retreating to friendly, right-leaning podcasts and outlets, even calling the police on a reporter for trying to cover a campaign event. When NC Newsline pressed, his spokesman fired back: 'Left-wing activists, like you, posing as journalists already have their narrative written. Whether they're inside the event or standing on the sidewalk makes no difference. They'll publish the same garbage and lies either way.' Garbage and lies. The plea deal is a public record, knucklehead.

The polling explains the panic. A Fox News poll has Democrat Roy Cooper leading Whatley 53% to 44% in the race to fill the open seat.² Fox. His own side's favorite network. Trump endorsed the Republican nominee last July and invited him to speak at a December rally in Rocky Mount, yet 48 percent of voters said his relationship with the president is concerning.¹ The money gap is worse. Cooper's campaign announced it raised $14.8 million from March to June; the Whatley campaign announced raising $5 million in the same period. Hence the $17 million cavalry, riding in to do what the candidate cannot: change the subject.

The subject is crime. Fine. Whatley's PAC wants to talk about who protected predators. Let's. He had a name in his own party, a plea deal, a warning he waved off, and a picnic full of judges. MUCK YOU, and answer the question.