– The Connecticut Democratic party has filed a formal complaint against Linda McMahon and World Wrestling Entertainment, alleging that WWE executives provided an illegal “in-kind campaign contribution” by having several embarrassing videos removed from YouTube.
“If Linda McMahon is going to talk glowingly about her role as CEO of the WWE, then she also must answer for the kind of female-degrading, sexually-exploitive, steroid-fueled programming it’s become known for,” said Nancy DiNardo, chairwoman of the Connecticut Democratic Party.
After Linda McMahon’s political rivals drew attention to some of the more outrageous segments featured on WWE programming in recent years (including the infamous scene of Triple H simulating sex with a Katie Vick’s corpse), WWE officials immediately had the videos removed from YouTube and claimed they were protecting their content from piracy. Democrats argue that WWE singled out videos which would be harmful to McMahon’s campaign – a violation of federal law.
“WWE has selectively enforced its rights only insofar as they benefit Ms. McMahon’s candidacy. The facts demonstrate that WWE made expenditures in connection with an election, in clear violation of FECA,” the complaint says. “WWE expended its corporate resources – including the time of Mr. Zimmerman and other corporate personnel, and its attorneys – all used in the service of Ms. McMahon’s campaign to force YouTube to remove only the videos that reflected poorly on Ms. McMahon, while ignoring the multitude of other WWE-owned material still hosted on YouTube.”
Linda McMahon’s spokesman Ed Patru calls the Connecticut Democratic party’s formal complaint a “baseless accusation” and says McMahon has complied with rules and regulations established by the federal government. “This latest attack from Chris Dodd speaks volumes about just how worried he is about Linda’s campaign,” Patru said. “It’s troubling that Chris Dodd’s political apparatus seems more concerned with watching wrestling videos on the Internet than restoring trust in government.”
