Hartford, CT – Connecticut Democratic Party Chairwoman Nancy DiNardo released the following statement in response to Tom Foley’s endorsement by the Connecticut Republican Party.

“The policies Mr. Foley would put in place are the same old, tired, failed policies of the past.  Connecticut can either go backwards with Mr. Foley, or continue making progress with Governor Malloy.

“Tom Foley has lost all credibility as he panders to the NRA, lies about his dangerous road rage attacks, and makes empty budget promises that he can never keep — 3.5 – 2 still does not equal 0, Tom. Mr. Foley has made millions off the backs of hardworking people by slashing payrolls and bankrupting companies. Add that record to his stance against Connecticut’s minimum wage increase to $10.10, and you have a recipe for economic disaster for Connecticut’s middle class. Mr. Foley may try to buy another election, but Connecticut Democrats won’t let his millions stand in the way of our progress.”

Background:

President Of The CCDL: “I Am Comfortable With The Conversations I Have Had With Tom Foley. I Believe He Is Pro-2nd Amendment.” “‘I am comfortable with the conversations I have had with Tom Foley. I believe he is pro-2nd Amendment,’ said Scott Wilson, president of the CCDL.” [Bristol Press, 5/15/14]

Foley Was Arrested In 1993 After Allegedly Forcing His Former Wife Off The Road While His Son Was In The Car. According to the CT Mirror, “In 1993, Foley’s then-estranged wife told police he forced her off the road as she left his home in Greenwich with their young son. Foley acknowledged pursuing her in his car, because she had not disclosed where she was taking the boy, but he denied forcing her off the road, The Courant reported.” [CT Mirror,6/25/10]

Foley And His Former Wife Were Arrested On A Breach Of Peace Charge. According to the CT Mirror, “Foley was arrested on an attempted assault charge in June 1981 after a motor-vehicle collision after leaving a party in Southampton, N.Y., on Long Island. He said both he and his ex-wife, Lisa Foley, were charged with breach of peace in the 1993 incident, which involved an argument over whether Lisa Foley had violated the terms of a child custody agreement.” [CT Mirror, 6/25/10]

In 2010, The Courant Requested The Police Reports, Which The Police Said Had Been Sealed And Foley Said No Longer Existed. In 2013, The Courant Made The Same Request With An Incident Number Provided By A Source. According to the Hartford Courant, “When the 1981 incident first surfaced during the 2010 campaign, in a Courant story that was based largely on an old newspaper clipping from a Long Island newspaper, Foley was able to put the issue mostly behind him. No official documents were available to contradict Foley’s explanation or identify the people from the other car, whose names Foley said he did not know. Arrest records in New York are sealed by law when charges are dismissed, and a Courant request for them came up empty in 2010 when the Southampton police said in writing that the ‘case has been sealed by court order.’ Foley, as the person accused, had the right to obtain them — and his opponents said he should do so, to clear the air — but Foley said at the time that he had a lawyer check into it, and that the lawyer was told they no longer existed. But now in response to a public records request from The Courant months ago — a request that, this time, included an incident number that a source provided — the Southampton police released the accident report that had not been sealed. It contained basic details, including the statement that Foley hit the other car five times and that he left the scene. It also contained the names of Foley, Howe and the four passengers in Howe’s car. The second report, the offense report, was sealed after the charges were dismissed but obtained through a source. It contains additional details on the circumstances surrounding the incident.” [Hartford Courant, 10/15/13]

Hartford Courant: Documents Paint A “Dramatically Different Picture” Of Foley’s 1981 Car Collision And Arrest Than Foley’s Account. According to the Hartford Courant, “Documents obtained by The Courant about a 1981 car crash involving Republican gubernatorial hopeful Tom Foley paint a dramatically different picture from the account that he gave during his failed 2010 governor’s campaign when he described the event as an accidental bump at low speed in traffic. The documents — which contain accounts from those who were in the other vehicle and a description of the physical condition of their car — say that Foley, then 29, drove behind a car full of people on a dark Long Island road in his Toyota Land Cruiser after a party and hit it five times in three separate locations.” [Hartford Courant, 10/15/13]

Accident Report Said Foley Hit The Other Car Five Times In Three Separate Locations Over A One-Mile Distance At 50 Miles Per Hour. According to the Hartford Courant, “The accident report said that Foley hit the other car — which had five people in it — three times on the left rear fender and twice on its left front fender. The incident unfolded over a mile or so, and one of the collisions happened when the cars were going about 50 mph, the offense report says. Foley hit the other car several more times after it had stopped in a parking lot, that report said. Howe, the other car’s driver, told a Courant reporter that he and his passengers had driven away from a party in Southampton that Foley also had attended, and that he believed that Foley had followed them in his vehicle. Howe declined to elaborate, and would not comment on what might have prompted the incident. He spoke only briefly when approached outside his home by a reporter who read to him from the police account of the incident.” [Hartford Courant, 10/15/13]

Offense Report Said Foley Struck The Other Car At An Intersection, On The Highway While Traveling 50 MPH, And In A Parking Lot. According to the Hartford Courant, “The second report, the offense report, was sealed after the charges were dismissed but obtained through a source. It contains additional details on the circumstances surrounding the incident. ‘Above named Michael R. Howe, and those listed as witnesses, are all victims of the charge of attempted assault,’ according to the report. ‘Defendant intentionally struck the victims while they were riding in a 1981 Mercury Sedan … Defendant was operating a 1973 Toyota Jeep … Defendant struck victims several times, once at [an intersection], once while west-bound on [Montauk] Highway while traveling approx. 50 MPH. and several more times at the parking lot of Suffolk Lighting on Main St.'” [Hartford Courant,10/15/13]

Police Reports Of Foley’s 1981 Collision Stated Foley Hit The Other Car Five Times In Three Separate Locations. According to the Hartford Courant, “Documents obtained by The Courant about a 1981 car crash involving Republican gubernatorial hopeful Tom Foley paint a dramatically different picture from the account that he gave during his failed 2010 governor’s campaign when he described the event as an accidental bump at low speed in traffic. The documents — which contain accounts from those who were in the other vehicle and a description of the physical condition of their car — say that Foley, then 29, drove behind a car full of people on a dark Long Island road in his Toyota Land Cruiser after a party and hit it five times in three separate locations.” [Hartford Courant, 10/15/13]

Foley Answered “No” On A Federal Background Check If He had Ever Been Charged With A Felony. According to the Hartford Courant, “When he got the chance to ask a question, Malloy asked Foley why he “lied to the FBI” by failing to disclose a felony arrest in the Hamptons on Long Island that occurred in 1981. ‘Truthfulness is a very important factor,’ Foley responded. ‘These issues, Dan, were taken care of in the primary. … I flip the question back to you, Dan. You have definitely said things that were untrue.’ ‘When the FBI asked if you had been arrested for a felony, you said no,’ Malloy responded. Foley acknowledged in July that he’d answered ‘no’ on federal background check forms when asked if he’d ever been charged with a felony, or with anything more than a ‘minor traffic offense’ – even though he’d been arrested, but not convicted, twice. He was arrested in 1981 on a felony charge of first-degree attempted assault and in 1993 on a misdemeanor charge of breach of peace in Greenwich.” [Hartford Courant, 10/27/10]

Hartford Courant: “Foley Intends To Close The State’s Budget Gap By Cutting Spending By $2 Billion And Then Collecting An Additional $500 Million In Federal Funding.” According to the Hartford Courant, “Foley intends to close the state’s budget gap by cutting spending by $2 billion and then collecting an additional $500 million in federal funding. The final $1 billion gap would be closed by increased revenues as the economy is stimulated and jobs are created, he said. But many believe that Foley’s view of generating an extra $1 billion in tax collections is overly optimistic for the next fiscal year because the economy remains stagnant.” [Hartford Courant, 10/27/10]

2010 Hartford Courant Editorial: “Foley Continued To Undermine His Credibility By Insisting He Can Close The Budget Gap Without Raising Taxes.” In October 2010, the Hartford Courant wrote in an editorial, “But the next governor isn’t going to offset that $3.4 billion deficit with savings from union contracts alone. Gov. M. Jodi Rell, remember, got concessions amounting to only $700 million in exchange for a two-year, no-layoff pledge. […] Mr. Foley continued to undermine his credibility by insisting he can close the budget gap without raising taxes.” [Hartford Courant Editorial, 10/9/10]

Foley Sold An Unprofitable Division Of Bibb In 1985, Cutting Payroll By About 1,000. According to Forbes, “Foley was on his way. First priorities: raise money and cut costs. Even before the buyout closed in October 1985, Foley struck a deal to sell Bibb’s unprofitable carpet yarn division for $ 11.5 million; that lopped the payroll by about 1,000. He scrapped management’s plan for a $ 35 million capital expansion program — more savings — and contracted with two mills to supply Bibb with woven goods. He brought in new managers who responded quickly to Foley’s incentive compensation plans. More than $ 7 million in bonuses have been given. As if from a textbook, Bibb worked as Foley said it would. Pre-Foley net earnings were $ 6 million. Last year: $ 11 million.” [Forbes, 9/5/88]

Hartford Courant: Foley’s NTC Group Earned Millions In Management Fees “Even As Bibb Struggled.” According to the Hartford Courant, “Foley’s Greenwich-based holding company, the NTC Group, collected management fees from Bibb of $4 million each year from 1992 to 1994, then $3.4 million in 1995, even as Bibb struggled and began losing money in 1994, according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. He estimates he personally collected about 20 percent of those fees. While Foley has enjoyed success in business overall, his Bibb venture contrasts starkly with the rosy-hued picture of his career painted in his campaign literature.” [Hartford Courant, 5/21/10]

Foley Said NTC Group Made About $20 Million Over 10 Years From Bibb In Management Fees. According to the Associated Press State & Local Wire, “In response to Malloy’s continued attacks focusing on the Bibb Co., Foley said his company, NTC Group, bought the Macon, Ga.-based textile company in 1985 when it was losing money and turned it around. He said the recession of 1990 and increasing competition from overseas hurt the company, which went through a restructuring in 1996 that ended with bondholders owning and controlling Bibb. Foley said he had no role in management or operations after 1996, and Bibb closed its largest fabric mill in Columbus, Ga., in 1998. He said Bibb’s new owner filed for bankruptcy protection in 2001. Foley said NTC Group did make about $20 million over 10 years from Bibb in routine management fees.” [Associated Press State & Local Wire, 10/11/10]

When Asked About Raising Connecticut’s Minimum Wage To $10.10, Foley Replied “I Don’t Think Anybody’s Proposing That…,” And Then Stated “I Think We Need To Be Careful About Having A Minimum Wage Here In Connecticut That’s Higher Than Other States Because That Drives Jobs Out Of The State.” “Reporter: How about the state minimum wage policy for 10.10? Foley: I’m sorry? Reporter: I said how do you feel about the state proposed raise on the minimum wage? Foley: Well of course a national minimum wage that is 10.10 would require that the state have a minimum of 10.10. Reporter: I mean if you were governor and you got a bill that would raise ours… Foley: I don’t think anybody’s proposing that…. I’m talking about a national minimum wage. Reporter: There is a bill here in our legislature to raise our minimum wage to 10.10. Foley: But I assume you were asking me about why the President was here and what Governor Malloy was talking about. Reporter  No, no, no I’m asking you about the bill that’s in our legislature right now. Foley: I think we need to be careful about having a minimum wage here in Connecticut that’s higher than other states because that drives jobs out of the state. That’s why I support a national minimum wage. In the range of 10.10.” [Connecticut Policy Institute Press Conference, 3/7/14]

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