Geoff Pender

The Clarion-Ledger

UPDATE: 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. 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.

ORIGINAL STORY

A Pearl man who runs a political blog is accused of sneaking into a nursing home where U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran's wife is bedridden and photographing her, then posting the image in a video political "hit piece" on the internet.

Madison Police arrested Clayton Thomas Kelly, 28, of Pearl on Friday night on a charge of exploitation of a vulnerable adult. He's being held on a $100,000 bond.

Kelly is accused of sneaking into St. Catherine's Village in Madison, where Rose Cochran has resided since 2000, suffering from progressive dementia and now bedridden.

Cochran on Saturday issued a statement: "I have been fortunate to have a wonderful family, and like so many families, we are deeply affected by my wife's serious, long-term illness, that we consider to be a very private family matter. We will continue doing everything we can to protect my wife's safety and security."

Donald Clark, attorney for Sen. and Rose Cochran, said the Cochrans' "privacy and dignity have been violated."

"We became aware of an unauthorized picture, posted on the internet, of Mrs. Cochran, taken literally in her room by her bedside at St. Catherine's," Clark said. "Sen. Cochran retained my law firm on this matter, and we looked at various legal options. We notified the proper authorities, which in this case is the city of Madison Police Department."

Clark said St. Catherine's is also conducting an internal investigation.

Campaign sources say Kelly on Saturday, April 26th, posted an anti-Cochran, pro-Chris McDaniel "hit piece" video that included the image of Rose Cochran. The video and references to it were removed from the internet within a couple of hours.

Kelly operates a "Constitutional Clayton" blog, a Youtube channel and other social media. He has posted numerous pieces in support of McDaniel and opposition to Cochran, and appears to have interviewed McDaniel on video at least once.

A campaign spokesman for state Sen. Chris McDaniel's campaign said the campaign was not involved in the video Kelly did, and Kelly doesn't work for the campaign.

"Absolutely -- I've never even heard his name," said Noel Fritsch, communications director for McDaniel.

McDaniel, in a written statement on Saturday, said: "I have reached out to Sen. Cochran directly to express my abhorrence for the reprehensible actions of this individual. This criminal act is deeply offensive and my team and I categorically reject any such appalling behavior. My thoughts and prayers are with Sen. Cochran and his family. Politics is about the exchange of ideas and this type of action has no place in politics whatsoever and will not be tolerated."

Scott Brewster, coalition director for McDaniel's campaign, contacted Saturday, indicated he was aware of the video.

"I do remember when it came out," Brewster said. "I think people made some phone calls (to have it removed). I didn't personally -- nobody personally talked to (Kelly). I don't know if anybody made phone calls about it. I'm not sure. Just, I remember all of a sudden it was gone."

Madison Assistant Police Chief Robert Sanders had little comment on Kelly's arrest.

"It's an ongoing investigation," he said.