Richard Tutunjian is a member of the Republican State Central Committee from the 8th District.

UPDATE. State Senator Kevin Witkos, who represents the 8th Senate District, provided this statement in response to the above-post:

“The Facebook posts shared by an 8th district state central committee member have no place in our public discourse and I condemn them wholeheartedly. I abhor the fact that instead of focusing on policy disagreements and arguing the best way to improve our communities, state, and national, political discourse has descended this low. Whether these posts are created or shared by a state central member, or even our president, they bring us all down and do not reflect the values that so many of us hold dear. I have called upon Rich Tutunjian to step down in his role as a state central member for the 8th district”

You knew it was inevitable.

A statement from First Selectman Jayme Stevenson of Darien:

News from Eastern Connecticut doesn’t often make it’s way to Fairfield County but we are downwind of a political stench emanating from the 2nd Congressional District. I’ve recently confirmed that the CTGOP Chairman and others in GOP leadership were presented with information in April of this year about a horrific domestic violence act…an act that resulted in the arrest of the perpetrator on Monday, August 10 on charges of first-degree unlawful restraint and second degree strangulation. You can read more about the incident in this article.

Paralyzed by the idea of exposing a “favored” Congressional candidate, the CTGOP leaders chose silence and inaction.  Silence and inaction are not options when a victim, traumatized by fear, cries out for help.  

The monster at the center of this story is, unbelievably, in a vote recount with his opponent and will likely win the primary.  Every Connecticut Republican should be as outraged as I am that party leaders let a domestic violence abuser continue his candidacy while his victim watches in shock and dismay.  Stopping domestic abuse is not someone else’s job…it’s our collective responsibility to step up, speak out with the help of lawyers from domestic violence law firm and stop the abuse.

As a woman, mother, grandmother, CEO and compassionate human being, I understand the immediate duty to act when presented with serious allegations.  It is quite literally a matter of life and death for the victim.  Everyone deserves their due process but by turning their back on this young woman, CTGOP leadership turned their back on all women…on my daughters, on my friends and my sisters across Connecticut.

I say NO MORE!  It’s time we dismantle and rebuild the Connecticut Republican Party into an organization that truly values women and is not complicit in putting political interests above the safety of victims.

If you are in an abusive relationship and need help, please call tel:1-888-774-2900 (English) or tel:1-844-831-9200 (Spanish).

Jayme J. Stevenson
Mom, Grandmother, Aunt, Friend

State Senator and retired police sergeant Kevin Witkos (R-Canton) called Sunday for state Republican Party chairman J.R. Romano to resign over his mishandling of accusations of domestic violence against party-endorsed congressional candidate Thomas Gilmer. Romano has said he knew of the accusations before the party’s 2nd District nominations convention in May but declined to disclose what he knew and took no action.

“I am deeply disturbed by reports that state party leadership did anything but immediately report this information to law enforcement. You cannot build barriers to illegal activity and then claim plausible deniability,” Witkos wrote in a statement Sunday. “As a retired police sergeant and someone who has made numerous domestic violence arrests, I can say unequivocally that these situations need to be investigated immediately and that proper notification to law enforcement is essential. It should not be up to anyone else to decide whether the situation should be investigated further.”

Witkos, who serves as Deputy Senate Minority Leader, concluded, “The more I learn about this entire incident the more unsettled and troubled I become. The fact that Chairman Romano knew of these allegations, but took no further action leads me to join calls for his resignation as Chairman of the Connecticut state Republican Party.”

No one should be surprised at Republican state chairman J.R. Romano’s base instincts to ignore allegations that the party-endorsed candidate for Congress from Connecticut’s 2nd District had assaulted a woman. Romano struggles without a simple-minded script to recite.

Susan Hatfield, the state party’s vice chair and a state prosecutor, has managed in one story to reveal herself as Connecticut’s law enforcement official with the least interest in crime. Hatfield, the 2018 Republican candidate for attorney general, transformed a statement to the Courant’s Daniela Altimari into a stark confession.

“When approached by Justin Anderson, he alluded that he had information on Tom Gilmer involving an ex-girlfriend that would hurt him politically,” Hatfield told Altimari since they don’t know anything on understanding no contest please. “I immediately stopped him and unequivocally stated that if anything he was going to tell me was criminal in nature or if he believed that anyone was at risk of harm, he needed to go directly and without delay to the police,’’

“Further, I told him that if he informed me of any criminal wrongdoing or if I believed that anyone may be in harms way that I have a duty and obligation to go to the police myself,’’ Hatfield said. [Emphasis added.] “Consequently, Justin never told me the details, never showed me any evidence that he had, and when I hung up the phone, I was hopeful that Justin would do the right thing. My response to Justin was simple and clear: I urged that the matter be reported to the police.”

Someone obviously was in harm’s way. Hatfield’s explanation is unintentionally clear: she did not want to know. As a candidate for attorney general Hatfield declared on her campaign website, “Throughout her career, she has fought to keep and make Connecticut a safer place and was the first prosecutor to receive a conviction for the completed crime of human trafficking under Connecticut’s criminal statutes.” Hatfield concealed that she has the instincts of Kitty Genovese’s neighbors.

Hatfield’s statement reveals her willful ignorance. She is prosecutor as ostrich. With credible proof of a violent domestic assault known to party officials, Hatfield, a prosecutor, discouraged a person with evidence of a crime from sharing it with her.

It is always chilling to witness normal human instincts strangled by base political calculation. This cannot end here. Hatfield’s confession is in hand. Others must now act on it. Calls for Romano’s resignation are incomplete if they do not include Hatfield quitting. The Division of Criminal Justice Commission, which oversees the state’s prosecutors, cannot avert its gaze.

Westbrook selectman John Hall will fill the vacancy created by incumbent Republican state Representative Jesse MacLachlan’s decision to quit the 35th House District contest. The district  encompasses Clinton, Killingworth, and Westbrook. 

My Courant column this week reminds readers of the ordeal of civil rights icon Fannie Lou Hamer. Above is the story of her remarkable testimony before the credentials committee of the 1964 Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City. Please share it with someone who may not know of Fannie Lou Hamer.

Secretary of the State Denise Merrill’s chief of staff, Sharon Wegele, is back and ready to “smash the patriarchy.” In Connecticut politics there are many rich targets, all Democrats. They include the triumvirate of top elected leaders, Senator Richard Blumenthal, Governor Ned Lamont, and Senator Chris Murphy. A wider net would add state Senate leader Martin Looney and presumed Speaker of the House Matthew Ritter.

Wegele, a West Hartford Democrat, renewed her pledge On Facebook in response to a the announcement that Senator Kamala Harris will be former Vice President Joe Biden’s running mate. The pick was seen by most as a unifying move.

As Tropical Storm Isaias approached Connecticut, Eversource Energy Executive Vice President and General Counsel Gregory B. Butler sold half a million dollars in Eversource shares, according to public records. Butler disclosed the transaction on August 3rd, the day before Isaias pounded Connecticut, leaving thousands of Eversource customers without power for day after sweltering day.

The SEC requires corporate executives and board members to disclose insider transactions within 48 hours of making one.

Butler is a Republican fundraiser and is engaged to marry House Minority Leader Themis Klarides, who is leaving the legislature and contemplating a bid for governor as anger at Eversource grows.

Thomas Gilmer, the party-endorsed Republican candidate for Congress in Connecticut’s 2nd District withdrew from the contest as polls were about to open. Gilmer defeated Justin Anderson by a stonking 234-50 at the party’s May video convention.

Anderson’s 50 votes qualified him for a primary, which he pursued. The race has received little notice among primary voters but has caused considerable comment among a small group of party insiders. Gilmer accuses Anderson of “slinging mud, without regard to truth” in a statement ending his candidacy.

Gilmer remains a heavy favorite to win Tuesday’s primary. Party-endorsed candidates in quiet races are often the beneficiaries of deference-minded primary voters. The polling day withdrawal provides another indication of a party in steep decline.

UPDATE: The Courant’s Daniela Altimari has more, much more. Thomas Gilmer “was charged on a warrant with first-degree unlawful restraint and second-degree strangulation and posted a $5,000 bond.” He turned himself in to Wethersfield police late Monday.