Democrats accuse McMahon of improperly using WWE resources

Republican Linda McMahon and husband, Vince, turned the family company, Stamford-based World Wrestling Entertainment, into an arm of her first-time bid for U.S. Senate, Democrats asserted in an elections complaint filed Wednesday.

State Democratic Party Chairman Nancy DiNardo said in a complaint to the Federal Elections Commission that WWE has taken several actions that could be construed as illegal coordinated campaign expenditures.

"Linda McMahon maintains a close personal, familial and financial connection to WWE and is relying upon the resources of that company to advance her campaign in an apparently coordinated manner," DiNardo wrote the FEC.

But the Stamford-based company maintains the television ads launched this week touting its partnership with the Make-A-Wish Foundation, an on-line campaign urging fans to stand-up against criticism of the company, and other initiatives were undertaken to defend its reputation and product.

"World Wrestling Entertainment will not be bullied or intimidated by whining allegations intended to censor our freedom of speech," Vince McMahon said in a statement.

And Ed Patru, a spokesman for Linda McMahon's campaign, called DiNardo's complaint "specious" and "utterly baseless."

The McMahons built the Stamford-based WWE empire after purchasing the company from Vince's father in the early 1980s. Linda McMahon, who resigned as CEO a year ago to launch her Senate bid, has been touting her executive experience on the campaign trail and so far spent around $40 million of her professional wrestling fortune on the race.

But critics, including Democratic opponent Richard Blumenthal, have attempted to raise questions about Linda McMahon's character and how the couple earned their money, citing the sexual and violent content of some prior WWE programs, past federal investigations of steroid abuse among wrestlers, and the couples' treatment of its talent and behind-the-scenes staff.

Aside from appearing with his wife at the GOP nominating convention in May and granting some rare interviews, including one over the summer with Hearst Connecticut Newspapers during which he declined to talk politics, Vince McMahon has been absent from the campaign trail.

But some questions were raised when the company a few weeks ago announced two events around Election Day -- a "fan appreciation" event in Hartford Oct. 30 and a live Smackdown event in Bridgeport on Election Day.

Then last Thursday, hours after the Democratic Senatorial Committee launched an ad questioning McMahon's tenure as CEO, the company issued a news release highlighting all of the national political figures, many Democrats, who have used WWE as a platform to reach voters and praised the company's voter turnout initiatives.

Vince McMahon followed that up Friday with a public invitation to First Lady Michelle Obama to visit WWE and learn more about the company in Stamford Monday while she was stumping for Blumenthal. That meeting did not happen.

On Monday WWE launched an on-line campaign called "Stand Up For WWE," urging fans to become more active in defending the company and showcasing footage of celebrities at WWE events praising the company. WWE is also running a television ad about its work with the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which features a brief clip of Linda McMahon at an event.

DiNardo in her letter to the FEC argued it is "inconceivable" Linda does not know what her husband is doing and is not hoping to benefit from WWE's actions.

, particularly the "Stand Up" effort.

"Although WWE is publicly traded, Mrs. McMahon and her immediate family control 88 percent of the company's voting shares ... She has made her association with the company a cornerstone of her Senate campaign and her name is synonymous with the WWE," DiNardo wrote.

In an interview last week, WWE spokesman Robert Zimmerman said matches are typically arranged 18 months in advance. But he acknowledged that the `Fan Appreciation Night' was a reaction in part to the negativity of the Senate race, a comment that was cited by DiNardo in her FEC letter.

Staff Writer Brian Lockhart can be reached at brian.lockhart@scni.com