Geoff Pender

The Clarion-Ledger

UPDATE 4: Noel Fritsch with the McDaniel campaign has released a statement clarifying the timeline of when the McDaniel campaign learned of the arrest and break-in:

"Melanie noticed the political blog post at around 1:00 AM CDT Saturday and was alarmed that it was likely Ms. Cochran who had been photographed based on the preponderance of evidence, including the name of the rest home and the comments on the blog.

"At around 7:30 AM CDT, Chris was notified only briefly of the incident and the need to personally reach out to Sen. Cochran.

"Shortly thereafter, Melanie called Cochran campaign manager Kirk Sims to express in strongest terms the campaigns' condemnation of the alleged crime. Alex Jaffe interviewed Chris at around 9:30 AM CDT during an event, at which time Chris had still not been fully briefed. Chris was not fully briefed until he left event around 10:30 AM CDT, at which point the campaign issued a statement at 10:49 AM CDT.​"

UPDATE 3: The Hill is reporting that "a GOP aide who has listened to the voicemail from Sojourner to Simms, McDaniel's manager says she was made aware of the incident late Friday evening. She emphasized that their campaign was appalled, and that McDaniel himself was disgusted by Kelly's actions and wanted to speak to Cochran directly to express his outrage."

A GOP aide who has listened to the voicemail also confirmed to The Clarion-Ledger that Sojourner said that McDaniel "was upset about the whole thing and wanted to talk to Cochran" about it.

However, that does not match up with what McDaniel told The Hill in DeSoto County on Saturday morning when he said he knew nothing about the arrest at that time. Noel Fritsch, McDaniel's communications director, also said early Saturday morning when contacted by The Clarion-Ledger that he had not heard of the arrest.

UPDATE 1: Noel Fritsch, spokesman for the Chris McDaniel campaign, issued the following statement:

"The McDaniel campaign found out about the break in when a local political blog posted about it at 11:40 p.m. last night. Senator McDaniel has denounced the break-in and called Senator Cochran to extend his condolences. It is unconscionable for the Cochran campaign and the liberal media to use the act of a sick individual to lob despicable accusations."

The Clarion-Ledger has asked for clarification on the statement as to which blog reported that the arrest was connected to Rose Cochran or how the campaign knew the arrest was related to Rose Cochran since the only known report last night did not mention Cochran's name.

UPDATE 2: Tea Party Patriots Chairman Jenny Beth Martin released the following statement on the arrest:

"Exploiting another human being for gain is deplorable in any circumstance. To use the elderly for some sick, perceived political advantage is despicable. We condemn this vile act in no uncertain terms.

"The Defendant has never donated to the Tea Party Patriots or the Tea Party Patriots Citizens Fund. He is not in any of our data bases, and we have had no email exchanges with him.

"There are plenty of legitimate issues to be debated in this campaign. And while we condemn this criminal act, we look forward to a primary election to decide these issues."

In recent days, the Tea Party Patriots held press conferences pushing the issue of Cochran's overseas travel with a female aide from whom the senior senator leases a basement apartment in D.C. They endorsed McDaniel early in the campaign.

ORIGINAL STORY

U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran's campaign is questioning how Chris McDaniel's campaign manager, state Sen. Melanie Sojourner, apparently knew about Clayton Kelly's arrest before news of him allegedly sneaking into Rose Cochran's nursing home room and taking photos broke.

Cochran campaign spokesman Jordan Russell said Sojourner left a voice mail message for Cochran campaign manager Kirk Sims at about 7:45 a.m. on Saturday, offering condolences over Kelly's alleged actions and assurance McDaniel's campaign doesn't condone it. Russell said Sojourner indicated she had been concerned over the incident since Friday night.

Kelly was arrested Friday night by the Madison Police Department. Police released a statement about Kelly's arrest late that night, but neither it and nor initial news reports mentioned Rose Cochran. The release only included a brief statement about his charge of exploitation of a vulnerable adult. The blog Jackson Jambalaya was the first to report the arrest and post the statement from Madison police.

A Clarion-Ledger article posted online at 9:24 a.m. broke the news about a connection between the arrest and the Cochrans.

McDaniel campaign spokesman Noel Fritsch, contacted at 9:47 a.m., said he knew nothing about the arrest or news. Sen. McDaniel, interviewed for an article by the Capitol Hill publication The Hill less than an hour after the Clarion-Ledger story broke, said he knew nothing about it and "I don't guess I've been up long enough to see what's happened."

Russell said "this appears to be an inconsistent story," from McDaniel and his campaign.

"I think it would be interesting to know how she would hear about it before 7:45 a.m.," Russell said.

Sojourner could not be reached for comment.

Fritsch, contacted by telephone after the Cochran campaign raised the questions, had no immediate response, and requested any such questions be emailed in writing, which they were. There was no immediate response.

Contact Geoff Pender at (601) 961-7266 or gpender@jackson.gannett.com. Follow @GeoffPender on Twitter.