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McCain slams 'smear campaign'
21/02/2008 14:17 - (SA)
Toledo, Ohio - Republican presidential candidate John McCain has issued a statement saying he "will not allow a smear campaign" to distract from his campaign as published reports questioned his relationship with a lobbyist.
The Washington Post quoted longtime aide John Weaver, who split with McCain last year, as saying he met with Vicki Iseman and urged her to stay away from McCain.
The New York Times suggested an inappropriate relationship between the Arizona senator and Iseman, a Washington lobbyist, or influence peddler.
The New York Times quoted anonymous aides saying they had confronted McCain and Iseman, urging them to stay away from each other, before his failed presidential campaign in 2000.
Eight years later, McCain is close to securing the Republican nomination. Aides said the senator would address the allegations at a news conference on Thursday.
No romantic relationship
The published reports said McCain and Iseman each denied having a romantic relationship, and the paper offered no evidence that they had, saying only that aides worried about the appearance of McCain having close ties to a lobbyist with business before the Senate Commerce Committee on which McCain served.
The story alleges that McCain wrote letters and pushed legislation involving television station ownership that would have benefited Iseman's clients.
In a statement issued by his presidential campaign, McCain spokesperson Jill Hazelbaker said: "It is a shame that The New York Times has lowered its standards to engage in a hit-and-run smear campaign.
"John McCain has a 24-year record of serving our country with honour and integrity. He has never violated the public trust, never done favorrs for special interests or lobbyists, and he will not allow a smear campaign to distract from the issues at stake in this election.
"Americans are sick and tired of this kind of gutter politics, and there is nothing in this story to suggest that John McCain has ever violated the principles that have guided his career."
McCain's campaign also issued a lengthy statement insisting that his actions did not benefit any one party or favour any particular interest.
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