Christopher Mitchell

NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Campaign For Christopher Mitchell
State Representative, District 47
Email: Contact@ChrisMitchell2010.com
Phone: 813.398.9804
Website: ChrisMitchell2010.com


Response To Michael Steinberg's Case Dismissal:


TAMPA, FL ( December 9, 2009) The announcement of the dismissal of Michael Steinberg's case against the United States was published in this Monday's Courthouse News Reporter. We had expected a press release from his campaign in response, especially considering that his actions now reflect on the Democratic Party.

The following description of the complaint is taken directly from the Motion to Dismiss Complaint by the United States Court of Federal Claims No. 09-59 C:

"Mr. Steinberg obtained two tickets from his Congressman for admission to the “Blue Section” of the reserved viewing area. After obtaining the tickets, Mr.Steinberg traveled to Washington, DC to attend the inauguration and incurred travel expenses. Mr. Steinberg and his guest arrived at the designated “Blue Section” several hours before the inauguration ceremonies were scheduled to begin. They stood in line to enter into the designated “Blue Section,” but were eventually refused admittance.

Plaintiff asserts that he was never told by the JCCIC that there was a possibility that he and his guest might not be admitted into the designated viewing section. Mr. Steinberg asserts that the JCCIC knew that many ticket holders would be unable to be admitted to the inauguration ceremonies and that the JCCIC had a contractual duty to advise him of this fact publicly before he incurred the expense of traveling to Washington. Plaintiff asserts that if the JCCIC had advised him that many ticket holders would not be admitted to the inauguration ceremonies, he could have made an educated decision whether to incur traveling expenses.

Plaintiff asserts that the JCCIC breached a contractual duty it owed to him by failing to disclose known facts, which plaintiff detrimentally relied on and which defendant knew or should have known would be material to plaintiff in determining whether to incur travel expenses."

This complaint will raise several questions during a political election:

1. How many taxpayer dollars were spent to handle this complaint?

2. Now that the court dismissed this claim, how will constituents feel about this use of their tax dollars?

3. As someone whose actions now reflect on the Democratic Party, where is the press release in response to the case's dismissal?

Michael Steinberg filed his case February 9th and he announced his candidacy August 27th, so he had time to prepare. He should have known that this case would come up as a part of Republican opposition research. This is the sort of thing that becomes the subject of unfair attack ads that make assumptions, without the concern we have shown above for his side of the story.

Statement From Chris Mitchell:
" I am disappointed that Michael has placed the Democratic Party and my campaign in this situation. He needs to address this issue in the coming days so that we can move past it. This is something neither Michael, the party or myself need to be addressing come November."

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