Noriega Runs Halloween Web Ad Linking Cornyn To Abramoff

October 28, 2008 3:27 p.m. EST

Austin, TX (AHN) - Democratic Senate candidate Rick Noriega is celebrating Halloween with a new web ad accusing Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) of "masking his scary voting record" and linking the Republican incumbent to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

In the 30-second ad entitled "Dress Up," a man is shown wearing varied outfits from a doctor's white overcoat to a soldier's fatigues to a jeans and a yellow hard hat. A narrator, meantime, says Cornyn voted against children's and seniors' health care, against benefits for veterans, and against new energy jobs.

It ends with the man wearing prison stripes as the narrator says, "Did the bidding of Jack Abramoff."

Abramoff is currently serving a six-year sentence for charges of conspiracy, fraud and tax evasion. He was convicted by a Florida court in 2006 after pleading guilty to sending a fake wire transfer worth more than $20 million to buy the SunCruz Casino in 2000. On Sept. 4, he was convicted on separate charges in Washington for bribing public officials.

His ties to Cornyn stem from the senator's work as Texas attorney general to shut down the Tigua's Speaking Rock Casino. Cornyn had claimed in 2005 of never meeting Abramoff, who is accused of illegal lobbying activities including defrauding American Indian tribes.

A liberal-leaning watchdog, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), at the time had filed for Texas Public Information Act requests with the Texas Office of the Attorney General and the Texas Governor's Office to check the veracity of Cornyn's claim. The group cited e-mail correspondence between Abramoff and former Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed that mentioned Cornyn several times. One email, sent in 2001, allegedly had Reed telling Abramoff, "get me details so I can alert cornyn and let him know what we are doing to help him."

Cornyn, who has repeatedly denied working with Abramoff, is currently ahead of Noriega in polls as well as fundraising. The latest statewide poll by Research 2000 has Cornyn leading, 50-44 percent. The Republican, who was recently endorsed by 14 Texas newspapers including the Amarillo Globe News and the Austin American-Statesman, has raised $18.7 million so far in the race, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, while Noriega has only raised $3.4 million.