And the gloves are off.
Candidate Esther Kim Varet’s campaign has accused candidate Perry Meade of violations of Federal Election Law. The campaign claims Meade took control of the West Coast “March for Our Lives” Social Media feed and changed the name to “Perry for Congress.”
From the press release:
Tustin, CA – Today (August 14), the Esther Kim Varet campaign filed a Federal Election Commission (FEC) complaint against opponent Perry Meade, for:
- Stealing a nonprofit’s Instagram account for use on his campaign, which, at an estimated value of $79,000, constitutes a clear violation of $5,000 per-election contribution limits
- Illegally transferring the asset weeks before Meade filed any paperwork with the FEC, violating clear rules regarding disclosure for federal candidates
The Esther Kim Varet campaign also launched an inquiry with the California Attorney General’s office, ensuring that March for Our Lives did not violate their nonprofit status by authorizing such a transfer.
“I am appalled by Meade’s blatant theft of March for Our Lives property,” said Campaign Manager Ajay Mohan. “As a proud donor to both March for Our Lives and March for Our Lives Action Fund – and as someone who has worked for Democrats for over a decade – I know that the mission to prevent gun violence is sacred. That mission should not be usurped by Meade’s flagrant ambition.”
The campaign provided copies of their complaints, attached below. Very lengthy documents:
We’ve reached out to the Meade campaign for comment and will add it to this post when it is received.
From the OC Register, a response from Meade’s campaign:
“The Instagram account was started seven years ago and was managed by Perry and other volunteer youth organizers as a platform for grassroots activism and organizing,” said Lukas Walczak, campaign manager for Meade’s campaign. “It has been inactive for the past four years. We chose to revive it in that same spirit — as a tool for grassroots organizing — which is the foundation of our campaign and the work Perry has been committed to for the past decade.” (editor’s note: that’s illegal without permission from “March for Our Lives”)
“This baseless complaint is a ridiculous publicity stunt from our opponent to distract from the fact that she has no meaningful ties to our community and has no track record of improving the lives of Orange County families,” Walczak continued. “We had hoped that all of the candidates in this race would stay focused on our shared goal of defeating Young Kim and delivering results for our community, such as building a more affordable future for all. It’s disappointing, if not surprising, that our opponent is resorting to bad-faith attacks instead of uniting behind the mission of flipping this seat.” (editor’s note: Meade, as a representative of Unite Here 11’s PAC had promised support for Joe Kerr who ran in 2024 before announcing a campaign at a Town Hall hosted by Congressman Eric Swalwell).
Here’s the formal response from the Meade campaign to TheLiberalOC:
“The Instagram account was started seven years ago and was managed by Perry and other volunteer youth organizers as a platform for grassroots activism and organizing. It has been inactive for the past four years. We chose to revive it in that same spirit — as a tool for grassroots organizing – which is the foundation of our campaign and the work Perry has been committed to for the past decade.
This baseless complaint is a ridiculous publicity stunt from our opponent to distract from the fact that she has no meaningful ties to our community and has no track record of improving the lives of Orange County families.
We had hoped that all of the candidates in this race would stay focused on our shared goal of defeating Young Kim and delivering results for our community, such as building a more affordable future for all. It’s disappointing, if not surprising, that our opponent is resorting to bad-faith attacks instead of uniting behind the mission of flipping this seat.”
For those with a short memory, former Irvine resident Michael Fox once refused to surrender control of he Democrats of Greater Irvine Facebook page in which the club invested time and money to grow. He would not surrender the password. Fox turned the page into soemthing that promoted his wife’s candidacy. The DPOC’s Jeff LeTourneau touted a “settlement” he had negotiated to return the page to the club for a promise that no one would disparage Fox’s wife, Irvine City Council member Melissa Fox. It was a straight up IP theft — nothing to negotiate and it took about 10 minutes before something wrote something nasty. I remember speaking to the person who took over managing the site AND all of the Irvine Democrats Fox had blocked from the page — they called it a digital graveyard. Perry and others may have built a page for March for Our Lives, but to transform the page and its user-base into Perry for Congress is, at the very least, unethical. What he should do now; shut that page down, delete all the users and start fresh.
One can question her motives or mindset. I am with Esther Kim on this one.
Every candidate who runs for office knows there are rules that must be followed.
Esther Kim has not done anything wrong. It is Meade who did not follow the rules as prescribed by the FEC. Those infractions should be exposed.
If Meade did not know he was breaking rules in his actions. He just reveals he is not ready for prime time. Rules every other candidate across all 535 districts (HoR and Sen) are legally bound to follow.
If he did know he was breaking rules. He is not fit for an office that puts one under a microscope. Ethical issues that go to the character of the candidate.
It strains credulity that anyone (especially Meade’s supporters) believes that if Meade is the nominee. That Young Kim’s campaign team would not have discovered these discrepancies and exposed them. Guaranteeing her another term. That I believe she will have if Meade is the Dem candidate. That is in addition to the campaign point of him living at home. Something that is certain to be a campaign point. This transgression exposed by Esther Kim is just icing on the metaphorical cake.
Personally, I have a difficult time believing many of Meade’s claims. Particularly that he is responsible for the construction projects for which he claims responsibility.
As I pointed out in another post. I want to meet the school superintendent, school administrator, or school board trustee that made a decision to spend millions of taxpayer dollars because of Meade’s advocacy when he was a teenager.
While it may be the way he claims. I just want confirmation from one of those involved who made the actual decision. This is one of those times when I tell people, “I am from Missouri.”
Even though I am not.
Perry is unraveling. Good luck running for anything in 10 years
Kim Varet’s campaign has no substance. All she does is to attack people left and right and has nothing to offer.
It worked for Trump. Lol!!!