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Alexi Giannoulias on Principles & Values |
Kirk's fundraiser was held not in China but via Internet video conferencing, and the event was scheduled long before Kirk's May 28 vote, his campaign said. The fundraiser with 12 citizens working in Beijing raised about $6,000.
Giannoulias refused to back away from his accusation tying Kirk's vote t the money. He said Kirk has put China's interest ahead of that of the US. "It can be called nothing other than an act of economic treason," said Giannoulias.
Kirk blasted the Democrat. "Alexi Giannoulias is running a desperate and dishonorable campaign," Kirk said in a statement. "I have worn our country's uniform for 21 years, and to accuse me of treason in any context is beyond the pale. Giannoulias is a desperate candidate who is now dishonoring the office he aspires to."
GIANNOULIAS: I am very proud of the community bank that my father started 30 years ago. And let's be clear, no one has ever suggested that the bank has ever done anything illegal, illicit,
GIANNOULIAS: Look, the way a community bank does business--when you run for office, these stories get sensationalized. When a bank decides who to give a loan to, they look at the credit-worthiness of the borrower. They look at the credit score of the borrower. They look at the appraisal value of a property. Of course, there are some individuals with colorful pasts that we don't even want to do business with, but that doesn't represent the thousands of people--
Q: Were you aware that there were crime figures getting loans from your bank? You were a loan officer there.
GIANNOULIAS: If I knew then what I know now, these are not the kind of people that we do business with. But that's not--
Q: You're saying you didn't know? Did you know that they were crime figures that you were loaning to?
GIANNOULIAS: We didn't know the extent of that activity
Mark Kirk, the Republican nominee, and Giannoulias have spent much of their campaign debating who is least trustworthy. Giannoulias has dealt with fallout from the April failure of his family's Broadway Bank, while Kirk was forced to apologize for exaggerating his biography.