Allen West (Photo: West.House.gov)

Though the presidential election passed without issue in the Sunshine State, Florida is once again at the center of a vote counting controversy.

After election night, Florida Democrat Patrick Murphy emerged with a slim lead over his opponent, congressman and Tea Party star Allen West. Since then, Mr. West's campaign has been pushing for a recount and in a letter sent to the St. Lucie County Supervisor of Elections Gertrude Walker and the county's Canvassing Board this morning they outlined one of their "serious concerns"--an alleged "malfunction" of the memory cards used to scan ballots in that county.

"If satisfactory answers are not forthcoming, we may need to direct our attorneys to take further legal actions to resolve these serious legal questions about the canvass of the election in St. Lucie County," wrote Mr. West's campaign manager Tim Edson.

With 100 percent of precincts counted in the race, the Associated Press reported Mr. Murphy was ahead of Mr. West by 2,456 votes, or 0.8 percent of the total cast. That's just shy of the 0.5 percent margin that would cause a mandatory recount. Though the Associated Press hasn't declared a winner in the race, other media outlets have and Mr. Murphy published a statement accepting the seat in the Sunshine State's 18th Congressional District and has declared his intention to attend Congress' freshman orientation next week.

For his part, Mr. West has had lawyers pushing for a recount and local Republican organizations have filed injunctions to have voting machines and ballots impounded in Palm Beach and St. Lucie counties. Mr. West has not taken action in the district's other county, Marin, where he won by 11,000 votes.

In his letter, Mr. Edson provided details about the issues the West campaign has with the vote count in St. Lucie. Mainly, Mr. Edson said they "understand" that the county "re-ran some 15,000 ballots that were cast on the first three days of early voting" after a "malfunction" in the memory cards used with the optical scanners that were used to count the votes.

"We have serious concerns that these ballots may have been wholly or in part counted twice, which in a race as close as ours makes a substantial difference both in whether there is going to be a state mandated automatic recount or in the overall outcome of the Congressional District 18 election," Mr. Edson wrote.

Mr. Edson, who demanded answer's to his questions about the ballot count by noon today, said his concern is based on the numbers the county provided for "cards cast" and "times counted" not adding up. He cited one precinct where he said the counts indicated 38 extra voters were counted and another where 54 too few votes were counted. Though these numbers are clearly quite small in a race where over 300,000 votes were cast, based on the Associated Press' numbers a difference of just about 800 votes would be enough to trigger the recount. Therefore, it's easy to see why Mr. West's campaign is making an issue over even these small potential discrepancies.

Politicker reached out to Ms. Walker's office for a response, but we were told she was not immediately available as she is "out canvassing."

View Mr. Edson's full letter here.

Allen West (Photo: Facebook)

Yesterday, a spokeswoman for Florida Congressman Allen West told us an article by Miami Herald gossip columnist Jose Lambiet claiming Mr. West, while serving in Iraq as an Army Lieutenant Colonel in 2003, sent his wife a letter asking her whether she was "committed to being my porn star" was a "garbage story."

"He hasn’t produced a letter, so, as of now, there’s no letter," Mr. West's spokeswoman Michele Hickford said of the lurid tale.

However, Mr. Lambiet, who wrote that he decided to "withhold publication" of the full letter "because of its nature" said he emailed Mr. West's campaign prior to publishing the story and received no response.

Mr. Lambiet declined to show the letter to Politicker, but he provided us with a screenshot of an email he said he sent to another West campaign spokesperson, Tim Edson last Thursday before the story was published. The email included a PDF file Mr. Lambiet identified as the letter in question.

"To me, this is exactly why some people are queasy about voting for Allen West. He's surrounded by people like Tim Edson, who is a bold-faced liar," Mr. Lambiet said. "I emailed the letter to them because I wanted comments and their campaign is based on these types of lies."

According to Mr. Lambiet, he decided to publish excerpts from the letter because they reveal details about the character of the congressman, who is currently embroiled in a heated re-election campaign against a Democratic challenger, Patrick Murphy.

"The letter reflects clearly that he's even forceful with his wife," said Mr. Lambiet. "Forceful, but also romantic at the same time."

Despite his obvious distaste for Mr. West's campaign staff, who he described as "poisonous," Mr. Lambiet said he doesn't have an entirely negative view of the congressman himself.

"The biggest problem with Allen West is not him, because he did go overseas. I'm European, my family was liberated by the military. The problems are the people that follow him, his entourage," Mr. Lambiet said. "His record in Congress, I don't think it's as bad as the rest of the press makes it out to be. He did fight with his own party when it came to the debt ceiling."

In addition to questioning his integrity, Mr. Lambiet accused Mr. West's campaign staff and supporters of attacking him online after he published his story.

"Question anything when it comes to Allen West, you're taking your int life into your own hands, because these people flood your stuff with things saying, 'You're gay, 'You're unpatriotic,'" said Mr. Lambiet. "This is just mind boggling that this entourage--it's practically a sect, a sect of people that move around with him."

As of this writing, Mr. West's campaign has not responded to multiple requests for comment on this story.

Allen West (Photo: West.House.gov)

On Thursday, Miami Herald columnist Jose Lambiet published a story on his blog "Gossip Extra" claiming he obtained a handwritten letter Florida Congressman Allen West sent to his wife, Angela, while he was serving in Iraq as an Army Lieutenant Colonel in 2003. According to Mr. Lambiet, in the missive, the Tea Party favorite asked his wife whether she was "committed to being my porn star." Politicker spoke to Michele Hickford, a spokeswoman for Mr. West's campaign today and she angrily declined to discuss the letter.

"We're not going to comment on this crap, it's just a garbage story," Ms. Hickford said. 

We asked whether she debated the veracity of the letter and, though she didn't directly deny its existence, she pointed to the fact Mr. Lambiet has not published a copy of the document.

"He hasn't produced a letter, so, as of now, there's no letter," she said.

Update (10/3/12 1:30 pm): Mr. Lambiet claims he sent the West campaign a copy of the letter and received no response. He provided us with a screenshot of the email. 

In his blog post about the alleged letter, Mr. Lambiet said he chose "to withhold publication of the letter because of its nature." However, that didn't stop Mr. Lambiet from printing several excerpts including a vow from Mr. West to try to be "a clean cut, healthy and affectionate man," a claim the congressman detailed several "intimate acts" he expected to engage in with his wife upon his return from the war that would be "the standard and it is non-negotiable" and a demand his wife commit to wearing "two-piece swim suits when on vacations."

The "porn star" quote came in the alleged letter's sign-off, which said:

"Angela, I need to know, are you committed to being my porn star?...I do not want to hear ‘no’ or ‘we’ll see about that.’ I want my fantasies to be with you. God has authorized you and you only as my partner for intimacy and that is what I want....Get ready!"

We reached out to Mr. Lambiet to see if he wanted to respond to Mr. West's campaign. As of this writing, we have not heard back from him.

Allen West (Photo: West.House.gov)

Conservative Florida Congressman Allen West is having a fundraiser in New York City October 1, however, in spite of what the invitation says, he won't be holding the event in a Meatpacking District nightclub that is at least a decade past its heyday, Lotus. The official invite for the luncheon says it will be held at "The Lotus Club," which has been closed for years. Mr. West's event is actually being held at The Lotos Club, a private "literary club" on the Upper East Side.

Mr. West's fundraiser is being hosted by  the authors George Minkoff and Diane B. Saxton. Mr. Minkoff is known for his In The Land of Whispers trilogy, a historical fiction series based on the life of the English explorer Captain John Smith. Ms. Saxton is the author of the upcoming "psychological novel" Peregrine Island.

According to Capital New York, Mr. West will also be joined by Queens congressional candidate and Councilman Dan Halloran. The "suggested contribution" to attend the event is $1,000.

Allen West (Photo: West.House.gov)

Florida Congressman Allen West appeared on Fox & Friends this morning to discuss a campaign commercial released by his rival that shows him punching an old white woman in the face. Mr. West, who is African-American, said he believes the ad is evidence of a double standard where liberals are not rebuked for making racially charged attacks that would get conservatives in hot water.

'Think about this, think about if the Republican Party or a conservative PAC ran a picture of a black Democratic politician or congressman punching white women and white seniors. I'm sure that MSNBC, NBC and the Huffington Post and everyone would be going apopleptic right now," said Mr. West. "But once again, there are different rules."

Mr. West said liberals feel like it is open season for them to target black conservatives because the Democratic Party has African-American activists, specifically the NAACP and the reverends Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, "well-placed." As evidence of this, he cited the fact that none of these activists came to his aid when the controversial ad was released.

"I think that on the left, they believe that when you look at black conservatives especially, they feel that they have an open game," Mr. West said. "You know, where's the outrage from Jesse Jackson, and Al Sharpton and the NAACP about this? They're not going to say anything because they're nothing but an effective wing of the Democratic Party whatsoever. And they have effectively kept them well-placed so that they can continue to make sure that they have a black electorate voting bloc."

Mr. West also said he believes the attack ad ran against him may have been illegal. The ad was released by the American Sunrise PAC, which supports Mr. West's Democratic opponent, Patrick Murphy, and is run by Mr. Murphy's father, Thomas Murphy Jr. PACs are prohibited by law from coordinating with campaigns.

"I would find it hard to believe that the son does not know that the dad is running this super PAC and what the dad is doing," said Mr. West. "And so, again, if this was something happening on the Republican side or the conservative side you would see the liberal media just going just crazy, but there are different rules that apply to them. There's different rules as far as integrity and character."

Watch a video of Mr. West's Fox & Friends appearance below.

Rep. Allen West (Photo: West.House.gov)

Florida Congressman Allen West  had a rather interesting response to Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel's threats to block the fast food chain Chick-Fil-A from opening a restaurant in the Windy City due to the CEO, Dan Cathy's, admission he doesn't support same-sex marriage. Mr. West brought up the Chick-Fil-A controversy during an interview with CNBC's Rick Santelli today on the floor of the Chicago Board of Trade.

"I had to come up from down South because I wanted to try to open up a Chick-Fil-A franchise here in Chicago," said Mr. West.

However, it doesn't seem like the congressman is really putting his money where his mouth is.

The Politicker called Mr. West's office to ask if he's actually working on starting his own Chick-Fil-A restaurant. His communications director, Angela Melvin, explained the remark was made in jest.

"He was joking," she said. "The way he jokes you can't tell sometimes, but he was kidding."

He might not actually be opening a Chick-Fil-A, but Mr. West is most definitely supporting the restaurant in the current controversy. In a previous interview, Mr. West slammed Chick-Fil-A's detractors and described his longstanding affinity for the restaurant.

"Freedom of speech, I guess you have people that determine, you know, if it's the type of speech that I like, it's free," said Mr. West. "I mean, I grew up on Chick-Fil-A in Atlanta, Georgia. I love Chick-Fil-A. I finish here, I'm going to Chick-Fil-A."

Chick-Fil-A has become a cause celebre for many conservative politicians in the wake of the gay marriage flap. Former presidential candidates Rick Santorum and Mike Huckabee have launched an effort encouraging other gay marriage foes to eat at the restaurant on August 1 for "Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day." On Friday, Sarah Palin took a field trip to a Chick-Fil-A while campaigning for Senate candidate Ted Cruz in Texas.

Lena Dunham (Photo: Twitter)

Lena Dunham, the star, creator and producer of HBO's hipster-ific series Girls, took to Twitter today to encourage her more than 200,000 followers to take on the Tea Party by "eat[ing] dope shit" at a series of dinners dedicated to raising money to defeat a "targeted list" of Tea Party incumbents picked by a liberal super PAC. The dinners are hosted by hosted by a group called Downtown For Democracy and Ms. Dunham's real-life best friend, Audrey Gelman (who uses the handle @grumplstilskin on Twitter and works as press secretary for Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer) is a member of the Downtown For Democracy Board.

"Want to eat dope shit for a wonderful cause? Support D4D and my oldest best ‪#girl‬ @grumplstiltskin," Ms. Dunham tweeted along with a link to the dinner series.

The Downtown For Democracy dinners, aptly titled "Dining For Democracy," feature meals cooked by star chefs including Mario Batali and Momofoku Milk Bar's Christina Tosi. There will also be guest speakers and musicians including MSNBC host Alex Wagner and Michael Bloomberg's deputy mayor for government affairs, Howard Wolfson. Tickets require contributions ranging from $125 to $2,000.

Downtown for Democracy was founded in 2003 "to organize artists around the Bush/Kerry presidential election." During this election cycle, they're focused on defeating the "Tea Party 10," a list of Tea Party incumbents in Congress compiled by the liberal super PAC CREDO that includes, Allen West and Steve King.

"If Joseph Goebbels was around, he'd be very proud of the Democrat Party because they have an incredible propaganda machine," Mr. West said.  "I think that you have, and let's be honest, you know, some of the people in the media are complicit in this, in enabling them to get that type of message out."

These remarks didn't sit well with pretty much everyone with local Jewish members of the Congressional delegation, who called on Mr. West to apologize.

"In 2011, any sane person should know that Nazi analogies and casual references are offensive and inappropriate, especially in the context of political name-calling," said the west side's Jerry Nadler. "But Congressman West takes Nazi references to a new low in seeking to smear his Democratic colleagues and score cheap political points. To so cynically invoke Goebbels demonstrates, at best, a terrible lapse in judgment, and, at worst, latent anti-Semitism that has no place in public discourse in the U.S. or anywhere else."

Gary Ackerman of Queens concurs:

"Allen West must immediately apologize for equating the efforts of Democrats to the propaganda of Joseph Goebbels," he said. "This is exactly the type of rhetoric that turns people off to Washington and getting involved in politics."

Mr. West is well-known as a bomb-thrower around Capitol Hill, but we haven't yet seen statements condemning him from local GOP representatives. It is worth noting that Michael Grimm won his Staten Island seat with a large amount of out-of-district Jewish support, and Bob Turner represents one of the most Jewish districts in the nation.

We will update if they send anything out.

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Republican Florida Congressman Allen West said Hitler's minister of propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, would be "very proud of the Democrat party."

Yesterday, Florida Republican Allen West took exception to some comments from Wasserman Schulz on the House floor about how he was forsaking South Florida's seniors, and he sent an email calling her "vile, unprofessional, and despicable"  and "not a Lady," among other things. (Ironically, West lives in her district.)

This afternoon, Gillibrand sent an email to supporters with the subject line: "nothing is more ladylike than fighting for your values."

"The rant against Debbie was downright shocking," wrote Gillibrand, calling West's email "harsh, abusive rhetoric that was simply unacceptable."

Democrats have been using the attention to attack Republicans about Medicare cuts, and Gillibrand's email links to an online petition on her campaign site.

Earlier today, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Steve Israel sent out his own email about the incident, a fundraising pitch for the DCCC, that said the "disgraceful e-mail outburst" was unsurprising, coming from West.

Here's Gillibrand's email:

Dear Friend,

It takes guts to stand up to the radical GOP agenda.

Republicans are trying to fix the financial crisis by slashing Medicare and Social Security, which will hurt millions of seniors and destroy our social safety net. My friend Debbie Wasserman Schultz stood firm against them.

What she got in return was a scathing attack on her character filled with harsh, abusive rhetoric that was simply unacceptable.

But Debbie and I, and all of our colleagues in Congress who care about protecting the middle class and seniors, will not be bullied by vitriolic rants. We will continue to stand up for the people we represent by protecting the essential programs they depend on.

Will you join me in supporting Debbie and telling the extreme wing of the GOP what a lady looks like?

Click here to stand with Debbie and tell the extremist Republicans that we won't let them destroy Social Security and Medicare.

The rant against Debbie was downright shocking, especially when you consider she was protecting the interests of the people of Southern Florida, the people she’s steadfastly represented for so many years.

Is it wrong to put the elderly before Big Oil? American workers before multinational corporations? The uninsured before millionaires?

Of course not. But when you do you’d better be prepared for a monstrous tongue lashing from the GOP!

Join Debbie and me today and tell the Republicans in Congress that there’s nothing they can say or do to convince the American people that cutting essential safety net programs that help millions of people is a good idea.

Click here to add your voice and support our efforts to protect Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and all the things we’ve come to depend on.

Sometimes, when you’re on the wrong side of an issue, you let your temper get the better of you. Maybe when our colleague cools down, he’ll be able to see that no good will come from “Cut, Cap and Balance.”

Sincerely,

Kirsten Gillibrand

P.S. Nothing is more ladylike than fighting for the issues that you care about.