Jonathan Oosting is reporting at MLive that Taylor Grenawalt, the college-aged intern for Rick Snyder’s reelection campaign who tried to infiltrate the Schauer/Brown campaign, has been fired.
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder’s re-election campaign has parted ways with an intern who asked about volunteering for Democratic challenger Mark Schauer in an apparent attempt to infiltrate the rival campaign.Snyder campaign spokesperson Emily Benavides described Taylor Grenawalt as a “former” part-time intern who was let go as soon as it was learned he had sent emails to Schauer staffers and his running mate Lisa Brown.
“Those are actions that we do not condone or do not tolerate,” Benevides said, noting she spoke with Grenawalt after his emails were published online. “…He told me it was something he had done on his own accord.”
The Schauer camp is as incredulous as I am given that the Snyder campaign has shown they are quite capable of stooping this low in the past. As Schauer Communications Director Zack Pohl told me, “It seems pretty clear that they threw him under the bus. These are the same guys who sent a fake CNN reporter to record Mark Schauer’s town hall”, referring to a scandal that happened last spring.
Maybe Grenawalt was acting on his own. Why he would do that is a bit of a mystery but it’s certainly a possibility. The more likely scenario is that he was sent out to infiltrate the Schauer campaign in an attempt to find dirt the Snyder camp could use to shore up their flailing campaign and, once he got busted, was tossed to the curb as an expendable intern.
I was contacted by someone yesterday claiming to be a Democrat and asking me to pull down my original post since it might damage Taylor Grenawalt’s future career plans. So far as I’m concerned, Grenawalt’s lack of scruples and ethics disqualify him from being involved in politics. If his political career is over because of this (which is highly doubtful) that would be good for everyone.
UPDATE: The Detroit News has the story now, too. Funny how neither the News nor MLive can bring themselves to name our blog. Maybe I should start calling them “a Michigan-based news outlet”… At least they linked us this time.
