Jon Powers is getting hit from all angles now, with the Western New York GOP calling on him to publicly release financial documents relating to his War Kids Relief organization, and Jack Davis’s campaign revealed that back in 2004 Jon Poweres was cited for disorderly conduct.

The flurry of charges and countercharges began when the Davis campaign produced documents showing that Powers, a graduate of John Carroll University in Cleveland, was cited by a Cleveland Heights, Ohio, police officer on Oct. 23, 2004, for disorderly conduct. In his citation, the officer accused Powers of directing obscene comments at him.

“People need to know this is the real Jon Powers,” Davis spokesman Luke Vaughn said. “He flagrantly disrespects a police officer, is found guilty of disorderly conduct and never tells anyone. After 10 years of scandal and embarrassing headlines, we don’t need more of the same — we deserve a congressman who will tell the truth.”
But Powers spokeswoman Victoria Dillon saw the incident differently. She said Powers was with college friends and fellow veterans in the area, and denied at the time and denies now that he ever used obscene language in addressing the officer. She also offered to produce witnesses to back up Powers.

“At a time when he’s under investigation and running from revelations of election fraud and bribery, the Davis campaign is practicing the lowest form of politics by distorting simple facts,” Dillon said. “Jon was written a ticket for jaywalking, never arrested and never showed any disrespect to law enforcement.”

But a spokeswoman for the Cleveland Heights Municipal Court said Powers changed his plea of not guilty to the original Class 4 misdemeanor charge to “no contest” in connection with a minor misdemeanor on Jan. 11, 2005, and that there was no mention of jaywalking in the final disposition of the case.

Of course, the Powers campaign is claiming that Powers was merely jaywalking — which makes as much sense as saying that a person who gets a speeding ticket but has it reduced to a parking violation never violated the speed limit.

As for the GOP’s call for Powers to release the financial documents about War Kids Relief, the Erie County Democratic Party predictably fought back accusing the Republicans of attacking Powers’ service. In defending Powers, Erie County Democratic Chairman Leonard R. Lenihan said, “I wonder how many people at that press conference put their lives on the line in Iraq.”

So, apparently, Jon Powers is supposed to be above scrutiny because he served in Iraq? What Lenihan is choosing to ignore is the fact that the questions surrounding Jon Powers and War Kids Relief have nothing to do with Powers’ military service in Iraq. This, in my opinion explains why the local Democratic committees rushed to endorse Powers, despite his lack of political qualifications and experience. They think that any criticism of Jon Powers can be easily deflected by playing the “Iraq Veteran” card.

And, I have to disagree with Lenihan’s implication that Republicans are attacking Powers over this issue due to “their desire to avoid facing Jon Powers in November.” I think if there’s anyone the Republican Party wants to face in November it’s Jon Powers. This issue probably won’t hurt Powers amongst Democrat voters, since Democrats tend to ignore scandals involving members of their own party. But, the important thing to remember is that it wasn’t the local Republican Party that brought this issue up.

UPDATE: The Buffalo Bean has obtained a scan of the citation.

UPDATE: Buffalo Pundit, complete with talking points from the Powers campaign, echoes the claim that the Republican Party fears going against Powers in November. I think it speaks for itself that if they’re any candidate the Republican wants to face it’s Jon Powers. Commonsense would tell any pundit or political insider that if you had to choose between a better known candidate with virtually unlimited resources (Davis) and a political newbie with no experience, less cash, and no name recognition (Powers), you’d choose facing the latter. 

But hey, if liberals had commonsense, they’d be Republicans.

Tags: disorderly conduct, Erie County, Jack Davis, Jon Powers, The Real Jon Powers, War Kids Relief