AG: Giddings ‘ignored the facts’ in campaign newsletter

BOISE — Idaho Rep. Priscilla Giddings is once again being called out for comments she made in her campaign newsletter.

Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden issued a news release Thursday saying Giddings “ignored the facts and attempted to craft a narrative for political gain” with statements that were included in her Feb. 15 newsletter.

The White Bird Republican, who is running for lieutenant governor, devoted a portion of the newsletter to a recently revised child sex abuse report.

She noted the original report cited an 86% increase in sex abuse cases in fiscal 2021. However, the revised report showed a mere 0.6% increase.

“So either they got the numbers really wrong to begin with, or they adjusted how things are reported to make the numbers look better,” Giddings wrote. “I’m running for lieutenant governor so we can have a transparent government that actually serves the people.”

In his news release, Wasden faulted Giddings for implying there was a lack of transparency by his office and that the numbers were changed to improve appearances.

The initial report was sent to legislators Jan. 19. Wasden said it was revised Feb. 3, after inaccurate numbers were discovered.

The revised report was accompanied by an email explaining that the number of sexual abuse cases listed in the original report was incorrect.

“I understand that mistakes happen and appreciate the (Department of Health and Welfare) quickly making us aware of the error,” Wasden said. “In the interests of transparency, we made sure legislators understood exactly why they were getting the revised report … If (Giddings’) intentions were sincere, the representative would have come to us with her questions or concerns. That did not happen. Instead, she ignored the facts and attempted to craft a narrative for political gain.”

Giddings hadn’t seen Wasden’s news release and had no immediate comment when contacted about it after Thursday’s House floor session.

This was the second time since the session began Jan. 10 that an elected official has felt compelled to publicly rebuke Giddings.

Sen. Mary Souza, R-Coeur d’Alene, also criticized her for mischaracterizing legislation Souza introduced regarding party affiliations.

Under current law, voters who want to change their party affiliation before a primary election must do so by the candidate filing deadline. The only exception to that is for unaffiliated or independent voters, who can choose to affiliate with the Republican or Democratic party on Election Day.

Souza’s bill would end the special treatment for unaffiliated voters, requiring them to update their party affiliation by the same deadline that applies to all other voters.

Nevertheless, in a campaign newsletter sent out the first week of the session, Giddings said Souza’s bill would “let anyone change their party affiliation on primary election day.”

“We know that Democrats are organizing to change their party affiliation to Republican to impact the May 17 primary,” Giddings said. “This bill would make that effort even easier by allowing anyone to vote in the May primary, regardless of their party affiliation.”

In a subsequent news release, Souza said Giddings’ claims were “completely untrue.”

“Anyone actually reading the bill would know it removes the exception for unaffiliateds and clearly requires all voters who wish to change to do so by the partisan candidate filing deadline,” she said.

In a Jan. 19 Facebook post, Giddings acknowledged “mis-summarizing” the legislation.

“This editing error reminds me that I need to take extra precautions to avoid mistakes when I’m under a heavy workload,” she said. “Hopefully it also will remind us all how important it is to confirm everything anyone tells us.”

Spence may be contacted at bspence@lmtribune.com or (208) 791-9168.