Ohio Tea Party leader says he did not try to 'extort' $1 million from Mary Taylor's campaign for gov

Ohio Tea Party leader says he did not try to 'extort' $1 million from Mary Taylor's campaign for governor


CLEVELAND, Ohio -- An Ohio Tea Party leader says he did not try to extort a $1 million contribution to a political nonprofit he runs in exchange for an endorsement of Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor's campaign for governor.

Tom Zawistowski relayed his interactions with Nathan Estruth, Taylor's running mate, in a lengthy email that Zawistowski mass distributed to Ohio politicos and media members this week. In the email and in a subsequent interview with cleveland.com, Zawistowski said he decided to make the story public after hearing from "someone he trusts" who said Estruth had characterized the request of $1 million from Taylor's campaign as extortion.

Zawistowski said the proposed donation to his non-profit, We the People Convention, Inc., was meant to finance a slate of candidates for the Ohio Republican Party's central committee, not to hire him personally.

"I have nothing to hide," Zawistowski said.

In a statement, a spokesman for the Taylor campaign did not directly respond to Zawistowski's characterization of Estruth's comments.

Read more: http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2018/03/ohio_tea_party_leader_says_he.html