Ernst Campaign Says Footage Shows Greenfield Is Not Transparent or Accessible

DES MOINES, Iowa – U.S. Senator Joni Ernst’s re-election campaign released a video of instances where Theresa Greenfield or one of her staffers have attempted to exclude video cameras at public events they held before the Democratic primary on June 2.

The campaign for the incumbent Republican senator said that their Democratic challenger in Iowa’s U.S. Senate race claimed to hold 100 public events, but the video they released demonstrates a lack of transparency and accessibility by the Greenfield campaign.

Ernst’s campaign says the video reveals numerous “private” events in which the Greenfield campaign kicked out members of the public and explicitly did not “allow recordings” of what was discussed at them. Something Caffeinated Thoughts observed during the course of her primary race.

Democrat and Republican candidates running for federal office often have trackers from the opposing party or an opposition research firm at their events. It’s part of running for office. Candidates can prevent trackers at private events on private property. They are, however, limited in their ability to restrict people with cameras at public events, especially when the events are held on public property.

The Ernst campaign says Greenfield has publicly dodged key issues facing Iowa, including not taking a position on the Democrats’ plan to tackle climate change.

“After spending the last year following Chuck Schumer’s ‘windowless basement’ strategy, Theresa Greenfield’s lack of transparency and accessibility is on full display. The reality is, Greenfield refuses to take public positions on many critical issues facing Iowa because she is afraid to tell Iowans the truth about where she stands,” Melissa Deatsch, spokesperson for the Ernst campaign, said in a released statement.

Watch the video below: