Ms. O’Donnell, who lost her Senate race in Delaware to New Castle County Executive Chris Coons (D), is still not a witch. But she is reportedly under investigation by federal authorities for possible misuse of campaign funds. On Wednesday, the Associated Press reported a criminal probe looking into whether she used campaign money to pay personal expenses.
Late Wednesday, O’Donnell’s campaign called the allegations “unsubstantiated” and suggested a coordinated effort to crush O’Donnell politically. “We’ve been warned by multiple high-ranking Democrat insiders that the Delaware Democrat and Republican political establishment is jointly planning to pull out all the stops to ensure I would never again upset the apple cart,” O’Donnell said in her own statement.
O’Donnell has also started a political action committee, called Christine PAC, modeled after Sarah Palin’s Sarah PAC. O’Donnell has said she will use her PAC as a political home base from which to endorse and donate to candidates, pay for independent campaign ads, and lobby on issues.
In another Palin-esque move, O’Donnell has signed a book deal. According to her publisher, St. Martin’s Press, the book will “take the reader behind the scenes of her race for the Senate and embody O’Donnell’s identification with America’s frustrations and concerns with the current political climate.” Release is slated for August 2011.
