Kentucky activist admits making secret McConnell recording

In the recording, an aide to McConnell suggested Judd’s mental health and positions on religion could be liabilities for her on the campaign trail.

{mosads}Morrison writes that after releasing the recording, his personal life took a negative turn. He said that following its publication, he turned to drinking heavily and moved into his car.

But Morrison insisted that, despite receiving criticism from Democrats, including Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Ky.), who he said is one of his “personal heroes,” “I’ve never doubted that making the recording was ethical.” He also says that he doesn’t believe his actions were illegal, but admits he could be prosecuted for them.

“But I still think it was all worth it,” Morrison writes, citing recent polling that showed McConnell ahead of potential contender Lundergan Grimes by just four percentage points.

“If given another chance to record him, I’d do it again,” he adds.

Morrison, a co-founder of the Democratic super-PAC Progress Kentucky, also describes in detail how he recorded the conversation, which he said he made on a whim with his Flip camera. 

The description of events match up with those given to lawyers by Shawn Reilly, another Progress Kentucky co-founder who was also implicated in the event but has insisted he was not behind the recordings themselves.

Morrison wrote in his Salon piece that his relationship with Reilly, formerly a friend, soured after Morrison released the recordings to Mother Jones earlier this year.

Following their release, McConnell denounced what he called “Nixonian” tactics and immediately pegged Progress Kentucky as the culprit, although neither Reilly nor Morrison had come forward at that time.

The group had previously come under fire from McConnell and some Democrats for racially tinged tweets sent from its Twitter account that focused on McConnell’s wife, who is of Taiwanese descent.