Return Manafort's money, Democrats demand of California Republican

[November 01, 2017]    By Sharon Bernstein
 
 SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Reuters) - A California neuroscientist vying to unseat Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher stepped up his criticism of the conservative on Tuesday, demanding he return a $1,000 contribution from indicted Trump adviser Paul Manafort.

U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) speaks during a House Foreign Affairs Europe, Eurasia and Emerging Threats Subcommittee hearing about the attack on demonstrators by members of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's security detail on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, U.S. on May 25, 2017. REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein/File Photo

The Orange County seat held by Rohrabacher is key to Democrats' hopes to increase their numbers in the U.S. House of Representatives in next year's elections. Neuroscientist Hans Keirstead, a stem cell researcher and entrepreneur from Laguna Beach, is one of seven Democrats aiming to beat him, according to the Federal Election Commission.

"We've got a Russian-tainted Congressman taking Russian-tainted money from Manafort," Keirstead said in a telephone interview on Tuesday. "Something has to be put straight here."

Federal investigators probing Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election on Monday charged Manafort, a lobbyist and former Trump campaign manager, with money laundering.

Rohrabacher, a senior member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, has frequently praised Russian President Vladimir Putin and was considered for a role in U.S. President Donald Trump's cabinet.

His Southern California base in Orange County was for decades a Republican stronghold and a center of support for Ronald Reagan. Reliably conservative voters there have sent Rohrabacher to the House for nearly 30 years.

But the 48th Congressional district has undergone profound demographic shifts in recent years, and it is now one of nine Republican districts in California that Democrats have targeted. Hillary Clinton beat Trump in the district in 2016, winning 152,000 votes compared to his 146,600.

"These are people who care about the environment, care about social issues," said Drew Godinich, a spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in California. "Donald Trump and Donald Trump's Republican Party are no longer a good match for them."

Democrats' success in the district, however, is far from assured. Despite a tilt toward Clinton for the presidency, voters there chose Rohrabacher over Democrat Suzanne Savary by more than six percentage points in 2016.

Through a spokesman, Rohrabacher indicated that he was not at this time prepared to reject Manafort - or the $1,000 donation the political operative made to his 2014 campaign.

"The Congressman advises his political opponents and the media to observe the presumption of innocence, still an American principle," spokesman Ken Grubbs said in an email.

(Reporting by Sharon Bernstein; Editing by Andrew Hay)

[© 2017 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2017 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.