{"id":2003343,"date":"2023-08-17T05:06:02","date_gmt":"2023-08-17T09:06:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democratic-opposition-researcher-a-former-60-minutes-producer-masquerades-as-journalist-while-digging-dirt-on-pennsylvanias-david-mccormick\/"},"modified":"2023-08-17T05:10:02","modified_gmt":"2023-08-17T09:10:02","slug":"democratic-opposition-researcher-a-former-60-minutes-producer-masquerades-as-journalist-while-digging-dirt-on-pennsylvanias-david-mccormick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democratic-opposition-researcher-a-former-60-minutes-producer-masquerades-as-journalist-while-digging-dirt-on-pennsylvanias-david-mccormick\/","title":{"rendered":"Former &#8217;60 Minutes&#8217; producer poses as journalist to uncover information on David McCormick, Pennsylvania&#8217;s Democratic Opposition Researcher."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">34<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdemocratic-opposition-researcher-a-former-60-minutes-producer-masquerades-as-journalist-while-digging-dirt-on-pennsylvanias-david-mccormick%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2003343&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div>\n<blockquote>\n<h2>McCormick acquaintances say Marley\u200b Klaus Dowling has presented herself, alternatively, as &#8216;fact-checker,&#8217; reporter, and researcher<\/h2>\n<\/blockquote>\n<figure><figcaption>(Instagram)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<h3>David McCormick&#8217;s Senate Bid<\/h3>\n<p>David McCormick hasn&#8217;t announced another bid for U.S. Senate from Pennsylvania. In fact, \u2064the <em>Philadelphia Inquirer<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.inquirer.com\/politics\/election\/david-mccormick-senate-bob-casey-pennsylvania-campaign-20230801.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reported in\u2064 early\u200c August<\/a> that the Army veteran and former\u2063 Bridgewater\u200c CEO, who narrowly lost the 2022 \u2062Republican Senate primary to Mehmet\u200d Oz, is \u200d&#8221;not \u2064in a rush&#8221;\u200d to declare his\u200b candidacy to face off against \u200dincumbent Democrat\u2062 Bob Casey and \u2062is &#8220;being cautious \u200cabout the decision.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Democratic opposition \u2063researchers? Not\u200c so much. \u2062They have hit the ground running in an effort to collect \u2063damaging information on the would-be GOP candidate in what is certain to be one of the most \u2062competitive Senate races of\u2064 the 2024\u200c cycle.<\/p>\n<p>One of those\u200c researchers, former <em>60 Minutes<\/em> producer Marley Klaus Dowling, has set off both confusion and alarm bells among McCormick acquaintances, including current and former Bridgewater employees, leaving\u2063 some with \u2062the \u2062false\u200c impression that she is a working journalist.<\/p>\n<p>Klaus Dowling, herself \u2063a \u2063Democratic donor and the founder of TBD Research, which raked in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fec.gov\/data\/disbursements\/?data_type=processed&#038;recipient_name=TBD+RESEARCH&#038;max_date=12%2F31%2F2024\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">hundreds of thousands of dollars<\/a> from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign \u200bCommittee \u200din the 2022\u200c election cycle for research \u2063and strategic consulting, has appeared on these people&#8217;s doorsteps\u2014presenting herself, \u200bat various points, as a &#8220;fact-checker,&#8221; according to one; as a \u200bresearcher, according to another; and as a \u2063reporter,\u200b according to a third.<\/p>\n<p>The \u2064DSCC \u200dhas \u2062already \u200dshelled out $80,000 to the\u2062 firm this year,\u200b indicating that the\u2062 committee&#8217;s opposition research efforts are well\u200b underway\u2014and clearly focused on McCormick&#8217;s candidacy, with researchers popping up in several different cities.<\/p>\n<p>Bridgewater,\u2062 the \u200dworld&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/exclusive-populist-potential-ceo-of-worlds-largest-hedge-fund-plans-to-go-full-maga-in-looming-pennsylvania-senate-bid\/\" title=\"Exclusive \u2014 \u2018Populist Potential\u2019: CEO of World\u2019s Largest Hedge Fund Plans to Go Full MAGA in Looming Pennsylvania Senate Bid\">largest hedge fund<\/a>, makes headlines on a \u2064daily \u2062basis. \u2063It is \u200cnot unusual for the firm&#8217;s\u2062 employees\u200c to receive media \u200cinquiries,\u2062 and \u2062at least one \u200bof \u2064the people contacted was left with \u2062the \u200bimpression that Klaus Dowling was \u2063working\u2064 on a story or book about the firm. More \u2064unusual,\u2064 however, is for a researcher or reporter to materialize unannounced on employees&#8217; doorsteps.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;She identified herself as a fact-checker but was evasive on who she was fact-checking for,&#8221; said one former\u2063 Bridgewater employee. &#8220;She said she was just trying to get to know David McCormick.&#8221; The former employee, who said she\u2062 rarely worked directly with McCormick and \u200dnever\u200c worked for him, told the <em>Washington Free Beacon<\/em> \u2064 that she &#8220;made it clear to [Klaus Dowling] that I don&#8217;t know David that well \u2062and\u200b I don&#8217;t want to talk to\u2062 anybody.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Klaus Dowling persisted in \u200ba manner that the \u200bformer employee described\u200c as &#8220;aggressive.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;She tried to pick up packages on my doorstep and bring them in my house,&#8221; this person said. &#8220;She started\u2062 asking me questions: \u200dWhat was David like as a manager? Was\u200c I surprised\u200b he ran \u2063for office? Was I surprised he became so \u2064right-wing extremist [sic] \u200dand started kissing Trump&#8217;s ass? She started asking \u2062about the culture at Bridgewater: &#8216;Sounds \u2063like it was an abusive\u200b culture\u2026'&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Though the \u200bmechanics of the business are rarely visible to the public, opposition research \u200cis a standard feature of political campaigns. In every campaign cycle, \u200dboth <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democratic-opposition-researcher-a-former-60-minutes-producer-masquerades-as-journalist-while-digging-dirt-on-pennsylvanias-david-mccormick\/\" title=\"Former '60 Minutes' producer poses as journalist to uncover information on David McCormick, Pennsylvania's Democratic Opposition Researcher.\">major parties employ researchers<\/a> to dig into \u2064the background of the opposing \u2062party&#8217;s candidates, looking for\u2063 potentially damaging\u200b information that can be pitched to the \u200dmedia, used in campaign advertisements, or \u2064deployed in \u200cdebates.<\/p>\n<p>But\u200d political operatives say misrepresentation is not just unethical but ultimately harmful to the achievement of\u2062 the party&#8217;s objectives.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;An operative \u200dshould either enhance the committee&#8217;s\u2063 ability to elect &#8216;our&#8217;\u2063 candidates or they should be terminated,&#8221; said Rob Collins, the\u2064 former\u2062 executive director\u2062 of the National Republican Senatorial \u2062Committee. &#8220;This\u200b is unethical\u200d behavior at best.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>In another instance, Klaus Dowling appeared\u200b three\u2063 times at the home of a second former Bridgewater employee, according to a source familiar \u2062with \u2063the situation, though the homeowner said on \u200cthe first occasion that she\u200c was not interested in\u200b speaking with Klaus Dowling. A third \u200dsaid Klaus Dowling identified herself as a researcher and declined to leave a business\u200c card.<\/p>\n<p>Neither Klaus Dowling\u200d nor the DSCC responded to a request for comment.<\/p>\n<p>McCormick \u200ddeclined to comment.<\/p>\n<p>The Democrats&#8217; embrace\u2064 of aggressive tactics to extract compromising information \u200don their political opponents comes at\u2064 a time when \u200bthe methods employed by opposition researchers are \u200bin the spotlight. A <em>Puck News<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/puck.news\/thiel-brock-a-gutter-oppo-campaign-for-our-times\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">report<\/a> in mid-July revealed\u200c the lengths to which Democratic operatives went to \u2064use\u200d opposition research to drive Peter Thiel\u2014who had bankrolled the Republican Senate\u2063 campaigns of Ohio&#8217;s J.D. Vance \u2063and Arizona&#8217;s Blake Masters\u2014out of politics.<\/p>\n<p>Like the effort \u2062to collect information on McCormick,\u2062 reporter Theodore Schleifer\u2062 detailed Democratic \u200boperative \u200bJack Bury&#8217;s efforts \u2064to &#8220;conduct\u2064 dozens\u2062 of interviews with people who might know \u200dThiel&#8221; and to pay millions for \u2063dirt on him. At times, Schleifer wrote, people felt &#8220;cornered or misled&#8221; \u200dabout the contours of the \u200cproject.<\/p>\n<p>Bury had extensive \u2064conversations with\u2064 Thiel&#8217;s ex-boyfriend, Jeff Thomas, who\u200d reportedly became \u2064so\u2063 torn about participating in\u2063 the project that he emotionally unraveled and in March <a href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/human-interest\/model-influencer-jeff-thomas-dead-at-35\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">jumped \u2062to his death<\/a> from an\u2064 apartment in a Miami high-rise.<\/p>\n<p>Prior to founding TBD Research, Klaus \u200bDowling served\u2062 as \u2062director of communications and media \u2062for the\u2062 nonprofit California Endowment and founded her own production company, Ghost Productions. She said on Twitter in February 2022 that she\u2064 was changing career paths to &#8220;do what I can\u200c with the skills I have to protect \u200bdemocracy.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h3>The Pennsylvania\u2064 Senate Race<\/h3>\n<p>Should McCormick\u2063 enter\u2064 the race, the matchup will be expensive and closely watched, as Republicans look to take\u200d back the Senate \u200cmajority. The <em>Cook Political Report<\/em> right now\u2064 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cookpolitical.com\/ratings\/senate-race-ratings\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">places\u200d the \u200crace\u200b in its &#8220;Lean Democrat&#8221; column<\/a>, but with\u2063 Democrats defending far\u2064 more competitive seats than Republicans, \u2063the party is likely to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/historically-incompetent-press-secretary-kjp-accused-of-hiding-behind-obscure-law-to-dodge-questions\/\" title=\"KJP, a historically incompetent press secretary, is accused of hiding behind obscure law to dodge questions\">face tough questions<\/a> about where to spend money and where to pull back.<\/p>\n<p>Senate\u2063 Majority Leader \u2064Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.)\u2062 has made clear \u200cthat the Pennsylvania race is a priority, <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/democrats\/senators-of-the-people-swing-state-lawmakers-to-fundraise-at-harvard-club-with-chuck-schumer\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">headlining a fundraiser<\/a> for Casey earlier\u2063 this year \u2062at\u200d the Harvard\u200d Club in \u200cNew York City.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>McCormick acquaintances claim Marley Klaus Dowling has portrayed herself as a &#8216;fact-checker,&#8217; reporter, and researcher on Instagram. However, David McCormick has not declared his candidacy for the U.S. Senate from Pennsylvania. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported in August that McCormick, an Army veteran and former Bridgewater CEO, narrowly lost the 2022 Republican Senate primary to Mehmet Oz.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":248,"featured_media":2003344,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[544],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2003343","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-free-beacon"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2003343","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/248"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2003343"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2003343\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2003344"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2003343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2003343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2003343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}