Vote Buying Claimant Stevie Fielder: “I Was Not Paid to Lie”
“I have repeatedly said and will continue to say, because it’s true, that I was the one who paid Rev. Fielder.” Johnson says. “I paid him an amount of money to have his text messages and publish the material on my site as well as the audio as well.”
Yet, Fielder recounts the sequence of events differently. He says he wasn’t paid by Johnson, but instead by Noel Fritsch, the spokesman for state Senator Chris McDaniel’s campaign. Fielder also says Fritsch was present when the interview by Johnson. He says he was asked to explain as a hypothetical how the vote buying scheme would have worked. “That’s what Noel Fritsch was paying me for to give Charles Johnson a run-through of how it would be.” says Fielder. “A hypothetical situation so that the people would understand how the full process was working. That’s all it was. I had to put myself in the situation as if I would have actually taken the bribe to do this; what they was wanting me to do.
Fritsch refused to be recorded during an interview yesterday, but in a previous conversation with MPB when asked about paying Fielder or being part of the interview process he responded like this. “That is false, I did not do that.” Fritsch says. “What I understand, Charles Johnson did not do that either. My understanding is that Charles paid for the text and emails, and those emails are from a Thad Cochran campaign staffer and those emails and texts strongly suggest that the Cochran campaign was paying $15 dollars for Democrats to vote in the primary.” – See more at:
MPB Online
8/12/14
Magnolia Tribune
