Mike Pompeo
Mike Pompeo says that a new ad aired by rival Republican congressional candidate Wink Hartman is “a fraud” and he is asking television stations to pull it from the airwaves unless Hartman can provide proof.
The ad, which began airing last night, features (but does not identify to viewers) Daniel Lind, the former owner of Machining Concepts Inc. Lind’s company supplied machined parts to Thayer Aerospace in the early 2000s, when Pompeo was president of the company.
Wink Hartman
“Pompeo’s business practice forced me to declare bankruptcy, lay off all my employees and to lose benefits,” Lind says looking into the camera in the ad. “Mike Pompeo promised to pay me and didn’t. You can’t trust what he says.”
Hartman’s campaign stands by the ad, campaign manager Scott Paradise said. “They flat out didn’t pay him,” he said.
In a press conference this morning, Pompeo called the ad a “malicious attack” of a “desperate man,” and he said that Lind was paid in full — about $351,000. His campaign passed out manila envelops with an e-mail from Glenn Steele, chief operating officer of Thayer Aerospace Manufacturing (now known as Nex-Tech Aerospace), that says “all legitimate claims have been paid to all of our suppliers.” Another e-mail from Steve Becker, Chief Financial Officer of Kice Industries, who was Thayer’s controller from April 2001 to January 2005, said all suppliers were paid while he was there.
The envelopes also contained Lind’s personal bankruptcy filings, which do not list Thayer as “accounts receivable.” It’s unclear whether any business bankruptcy filings contain reference to Thayer.
“I call on Mr. Hartman to immediately release any documentation or support that he has which would substantiate the claim that is contained in that advertisement,” Pompeo said. “I will formally, within hours, ask each of the television stations that is airing this ad to remove this ad from the air if they do not have documentation satisfactorily supporting these claims.”
Paradise said Lind’s company filed bankruptcy and that the bank may have later collected the money Thayer owed. He said he plans to get documents from Lind as soon as possible that show Thayer had not paid its bills.
“If they ended up paying the bank, that’s fine and good,” he said. “But that doesn’t change the fact that Daniel Lind lost his company, lost his employees and lost his paycheck.”
Lind confirmed he was the person in the ad and he said he stands by his statements.
The back and forth between the campaigns comes less than two weeks before the Aug. 3 primary.
In a recent interview with The Eagle, Lind said he used to deliver loads of bell cranks, a little piece that helps pivot moving rods in airplanes, to Thayer while Pompeo was its leader. But after 9/11, Lind said Thayer’s payments began coming late.
Lind said he tried to understand that Thayer was like other aviation companies suffering the economic downturn. He said he negotiated with the IRS to temporarily forgo payroll taxes while he awaited payments from Thayer, which was about a third of Lind’s business.
Lind said he couldn’t afford to sue Thayer for nonpayment.
Time passed. And four other companies Lind’s company supplied also closed. Then the IRS called to tell Lind his time was up and he owed his payroll tax for his three employees — including what he owed while the IRS cut him a break.
Lind said it forced his company to fold.
The Chapter 7 bankruptcy publication in The Eagle in February 2004 read: “Lind, Della Mae, Daniel G. Lind Jr., dba Machining Concepts, Inc., liabilities $278,421.51, assets $159,495.”
Lind blames Thayer — under Pompeo’s leadership —for his downfall. Lind said he’s upset with Pompeo for two reasons. “One: If he was aware of what was going on, he made the decision to screw my company. Two: If he wasn’t aware, the people beneath him were out of control and he didn’t manage them.”
Pompeo said that he didn’t recognize Lind in the ad and doesn’t recall ever knowing him.
Lind now does similar bell crank production for cars. “I washed my hands clean of it,” he said. “It was a major struggle.”
Pompeo acknowledged that Hartman could probably find a disgruntled supplier or former employee given Thayer’s hundreds of suppliers and workers.
He didn’t directly respond when asked if his company paid Lind on time. He acknowledged the company struggled after 9/11. But he said they paid off their debts and avoided bankruptcy.
“The simple fact is he’s trying to buy this election in the closing days,” Pompeo said. “At the rate he’s spending his personal wealth, he can run a new ad every 48 hours and burn it into the memory of voters.”
Learn more about the campaign finances of Hartman and Pompeo here.