OH-13: Sutton and Her Staff Differ on Their Facts

Release:

JUST THE FACTS, MA'AM What IS Betty Sutton's relationship to a New York City 5th Avenue wealthy executive, whose company conducts business with Freddie Mac? Republican Challenger Dave Potter and the voters of the 13th Congressional District would like to know!

Why is Congresswoman Betty Sutton so sensitive about her relationship with the family of Jeffrey H. Lynford, the Wall Street real estate market information specialist with strong ties to Freddie Mac?

http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/officerProfile?symbol=REIS.O&officerId=2936

http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-1678076/Freddie-Mac-Selects-Reis-for.html

According to the New York Real Estate Lawyers' Blog, Lynford and his family hosted a $500-per-guest fundraiser for Sutton at their Fifth Avenue residence last Monday night,

http://www.nyrealestatelawblog.com/2008/10/hillary_comes_out_for_betty_su.html

at which Sen. Hillary Clinton was scheduled to appear. But, when Potter asked Sutton about the relationship at their City Club debate Tuesday, Sutton refused to answer, treating the question as an insult to her honor. In fact, the congresswoman later told an Akron reporter that Potter "made up" the connection.

http://www.akronnewsnow.com/news/itemdetail.asp?ID=2633§ion=news&subsection=politicsnews

Well, Potter certainly did not "make up" the fundraiser invitation, posted Oct. 17, nor did he "make up" the relationship between Sutton's apparent host and the financially ravaged Freddie Mac.

All Potter wants to know is, why would a Wall Street money man have such an interest in a freshman Democratic incumbent from the middle of Ohio?

AND...

Could the Lynfords' generosity have had anything to do with Sutton having switched from opposing to supporting the $700 billion bank bailout boondoggle?

After all, Lynford's business, Reis Inc., is deeply involved with the fate of Freddie Mac.

http://www.reis.com/index.cfm

And Reis has been the target of a merger move:

http://notorious-rob.com/2008/08/14/romance-rejection-drama-the-saga-of-costar-and-reis/

So, did Sutton's vote switch help make life a little easier for the real estate analyst? A Sutton staffer told a reporter from the Lorain Morning Journal that Lynford is a big supporter of Hillary Clinton, and the fundraiser -- which Sutton says Potter "made up" -- was Clinton's idea.

http://www.morningjournal.com/articles/2008/10/28/news/mj172336.txt

Sutton told the Akron reporter that she wasn't "on Wall Street" the night of the fundraiser. But of course, she would not have had to been there-- Wall Street and Fifth Avenue are two different, if often-related, thoroughfares. And she would not have even had to attend the affair -- the hosts of such soirees usually will accept checks through the mail.

But Potter has documented the invitation, and the relationship between the host and Freddie Mac. It's time for Betty Sutton, who insists she's the paragon of ethics, to stop stonewalling and make clear just why it is that people with serious interest in the survival of Freddie Mac decided that this obscure Ohio congresswoman, running against an unfunded opponent, needed such a campaign boost so curiously soon after Sutton switched her vote.

The 13th District might like to know.