Jennifer Wexton is one of several challengers that has been calling Barbara Comstock out for refusing to hold a town hall. Last weekend, Wexton held another in person town hall, her sixth one this year.
During the town hall, a person identifying themselves as Andrew Bambrick, tweeted out that they were “turned away by campaign staff.”
I’m a registered #VA10 voter. Tried to attend @JenniferWexton Townhall, turned away by campaign staff. So much for being open to the public.
— Andrew Bambrick (@AndrewBambrick1) August 26, 2017
We were immediately suspicious, since Wexton and the other challengers have signed an Accountability Pledge, and have explicitly promised to be open to dissenting viewpoints. Things got even stranger when the Chair of the Republican Party of Virginia retweeted this claim a mere twenty two minutes later, calling it to the attention of Washington Post reporter Jenna Portnoy.
Who’s hiding now? Hear the crowd is really small too cc @dumpcomstock @jennaportnoy https://t.co/1d0LyAfPvN
— John Whitbeck (@JohnWhitbeck) August 26, 2017
Several hours later the real story started to emerge. It turns out Bambrick is a Republican operative who served as a “tracker”, who followed Wexton around with a video camera on at least one prior occasion. He also wasn’t barred from the town hall. He arrived more than thirty minutes early and was told to wait outside the venue until it was time to start.
Bambrick’s Twitter profile showed he joined Twitter two days before the town hall. He has sent exactly one tweet – the bogus town hall accusation. He has just two retweets, one of the Virginia GOP and one of Viriginia GOP Chair, John Whitbeck. It seems clear that Andrew only joined Twitter for the express purpose of smearing Jennifer Wexton. The only question that remains, is who put him up to it?
John Whitbeck was quick to deny everything.
Funny post. Too bad the kid isn’t paid and he isn’t a tracker. Love how you spend hours focused on me like your buddy @lowkell #obsessed
— John Whitbeck (@JohnWhitbeck) August 27, 2017
Sadly for Whitbeck, nothing he said in that tweet was true. Multiple sources confirmed for us that he Bambrick has previously tracked Wexton. He is also definitely a Republican operative. His Facebook page mentions multiple campaign activities and he has also done paid campaign work for at least one Republican official.
In his next tweet, Whitbeck goes on to deny that he even knows Bambrick.
You wish. Don’t even know the kid. Now get back to not having a life while I watch the fight
— John Whitbeck (@JohnWhitbeck) August 27, 2017
Just like when Trump denied knowing any Russians, it turns out there is a photo that easily disproves Whitbeck’s false claim that he doesn’t know Bambrick.
The picture was posted on Bambrick’s Facebook page along with the following caption:
“I am honestly so thankful that God allowed the four of us to meet with Lara Trump as well as Chairman Whitbeck.”
In addition to pictures with Lara Trump and John Whitbeck, Bambrick’s facebook page also contains photos of himself with:
- Ed Gillespie
- Ken Cucinelli
- Arkansas Senator Boozman
- Congressman Rob Wittman
- Gary Johnson (taken at CPAC)
- Bryce Reeves (VA State Senator)
- Dick Black (VA State Senator)
Bambrick’s Facebook page also contains no less than three images tying him directly to Barbara Comstock.
According to his Facebook page, Bambrick was also with Comstock at her victory celebration in Ashburn last November. It would seem that Barbara Comstock knows Andrew Bambrick more than she is letting on.
So someone close to Barbara Comstock made a fake accusation about Wexton on Twitter. The Chairman of the Virginia GOP then tried to push this fake news to the Washington Post. When called out on it, he lied and said he didn’t know the person, even though they were both photographed hanging out together with Lara Trump.
One this is certain – Cowardly Comstock would rather talk about anything else other than her refusal to do a town hall.
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