Reporters peppered Tom Knox, a Philadelphia millionaire running for governor, today with several questions about why he paid $15,500 for a fine and legal costs last September to the Philadelphia Board of Ethics to settle an issue about radio ads his campaign aired when he ran for mayor in the 2007 Democratic primary election here. That was less than convenient for Knox, who was pushing his plan to bring ethics to Harrisburg.
The ads, run under the name of a bogus organization, targeted then front-runner Michael Nutter for a land dispute involving a church in West Philadelphia. The ads, which aired on black-oriented radio stations, suggested if was as if Nutter "wanted to disrespect the church, which is a step away from disrespecting God."
Knox today said he had accepted responsibility for the ads and dismissed the issue today as a "reporting error" on a campaign finance report. “Quite frankly I didn’t know anything about it," Knox added. "If I had seen that ad, I never would have run it. It was a ridiculous ad. It was counterproductive and probably not true."
Last September, Knox released a statement saying he disagreed with the Board of Ethics on several of the allegations but felt it was in the best interest of the public to settle the issue. The board found that the ads had been e-mailed to Josh Morrow, who ran Knox's campaign for mayor and now heads up his campaign for governor. The board also found that Knox had signed a wire transfer for $13,215 to the West Philadelphia Democratic Club, which the same day sent the same amount to the radio stations for the ads.
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David Gambacorta spent a small eternity writing about cops, drug dealers and serial killers. Now he’s writing about power and politics – which sometimes reminds him of the old crime beat. He joined the Daily News in 2005. And yes, he knows you’re not quite sure how to pronounce his last name. E-mail tips to gambacd@phillynews.com
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Catherine Lucey joined the Daily News in 2002 and has written about murderous drug gangs, political protesters and Harry Potter. After covering the 2007 mayoral election, she moved over to the City Hall bureau where she has been reporting on the Nutter administration.
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Jan Ransom, a native New Yorker, joined the Daily News in 2010 after graduating from Howard University. She has since written about the difficulty of filing police complaints, tax deadbeats and life after violent home invasions. She joined the Daily News City Hall Bureau in 2011 and has plunged headfirst into reporting on administration budget battles and City Council shenanigans.
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