In a fundraising letter dated May 8, 2012, U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann dishonestly tells Republican donors that “in retaliation for repeatedly standing up to President Obama on the national stage, liberal judges have redrawn the lines of [her] Minnesota Congressional District to try and wipe [her] off of the political map once and for all.”

At best, that’s a gross misrepresentation of fact; at worst, it’s a shameless, bald-faced lie designed to trick prospective donors into parting with their money under false pretenses.

Adding insult to injuring Minnesota’s judiciary, Bachmann then goes on to smear the five judges on the redistricting panel — presiding judge Wilhelmina Wright (appointed by independent Gov. Jesse Ventura) and judges Ivy Bernhardson (appointed by Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty), James Florey (appointed by Republican Gov. Arne Carlson), Edward Lynch (appointed by DFL Gov. Rudy Perpich ), and John Rodenberg (appointed by independent Gov. Jesse Ventura) — by telling her donors the the judges’ “bias was so obvious they even gerrymandered [her] home … entirely out of [her] District and placed it into one held by a six-term Democrat incumbent” [4th Congressional District Rep. Betty McCollum].

Following is the full text of Bachmann’s letter, with fundraising links removed.

Dear [recipient’s name],

I’m reaching out to you today because I need your support to continue fighting in the U.S. House of Representatives against President Obama’s big government agenda.

A major development has just occurred in my race for the U.S. House of Representatives and I’m asking for your immediate help …

… You see, in retaliation for repeatedly standing up to President Obama on the national stage, liberal judges have redrawn the lines of my Minnesota Congressional District to try and wipe me off of the political map once and for all.

Their bias was so obvious they even gerrymandered my home — where my wonderful husband Marcus and I live — entirely out of my District and placed it into one held by a six-term Democrat incumbent!

My friend, I want you to know that I am taking every necessary step to fight back against this political attack on my re-election campaign.

So please help my Congressional re-election start off on the right foot by making a commitment to my campaign in the amount of $2,500, $1,000, $500, $250, $100, $70, or $35 today.

After all, the outcome of this November’s elections will determine whether we imprison our children to a future of massive federal debt, crippling tax rates, unconstitutional mandates like Obamacare, and the building threat of nuclear attack from rogue nations like Iran…

That’s why I decided to sidestep this blatant attack and announced that I will run in the district I’ve spent my life connected to.

Still, I know the road ahead will not be easy.

As the TEA Party Caucus Chairwoman in the U.S. House and one of President Obama’s sharpest critics, the Democrats are licking their chops over Minnesota’s new political map and will spend MILLIONS to defeat me.

That’s why I need to raise more money than ever to combat their lies and negative attacks in this newly redrawn District.

That’s why your contribution in the amount of $2,500, $1,000, $500, $250, $100, $70, or $35 today is so important.

I know some of these amounts may be more than you can contribute. But with thousands of new voters to reach and win over before Election Day, I truly need you to be as generous as possible.

My friend, with your prayers and support, I will continue to use my position on the House Finance Committee to lead the charge to repeal Dodd-Frank legislation from around the necks of small bankers and, by extension, job creators.

I will sound the alarm on CNN, Fox News, the networks and other news outlets across the country about President Obama’s dangerous foreign policy actions.

And I will keep up the fight to defund and fully repeal the unconstitutional Obamacare mandate before it devastates America’s first-rate medical system!

But, in order to continue fighting for you, I first must win re-election in Minnesota’s new 6th District. That’s why I need your URGENT support today!

You and I must NOT allow the courts to defeat me by moving me out of my District at such a pivotal election.

In fact, to hand the Obama Democrats this victory now would be to destroy all we have built over these last six years.

So before you discard my email, please let me know I can depend on your support today by following this link [removed] and making a $35, $70, $100, $250, $500, $1,000 on up to the federal contribution limit of $2,500 ($5,000 for married couples) to Bachmann for Congress today.

Whether you contribute $2,500, $1,000, $500, $250 or can only make a gift of $100, $50, or $35 at this time, every dollar you send today is absolutely critical as I reach out to thousands of new voters in my District with our constitutional conservative message.

So please contribute a gift of $2,500, $1,000, $500, $250, $100, $70 or $35 without delay.

Thank you for standing with me at this transitional moment in our campaign.

Sincerely,

Michele Bachmann

P.S. My friend, the costs are just too great to let a few liberal judges keep us from speaking out for our constitutional conservative principles in Washington. I will fight President Obama and this injustice, but I need your support TODAY!

Please help me run an effective campaign and reach out to my new constituents in Minnesota’s reconfigured 6th District with a generous gift of $35, $70, $100, $250, $500, $1,000 or even $2,500 right away. Thank you!

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Related reports

Michele Bachmann Lies to Fans About Redistricting

By Bill Prendergast
Minnesota Progressive Project
May 14, 2012

She’s been sending out fundraising letters to her supporters everywhere, telling them that liberal judges retaliated against her for speaking out against President Obama. According to Bachmann the courts retaliated by redrawing her district in a way that threatens her election chances this year. …

Bachmann is lying to her supporters: the new boundaries of her district (as determined by the so-called “liberal judges”) actually improve her chances of reelection [going from a district that gave President Obama 45 percent of its vote in 2008 to one that would have given him 43 percent, according to the Cook Political Report’s David Wasserman]. …

[The] judges who redrew the districts this year were not a bunch of “liberals.” It was a bipartisan panel of judges that redrew the map.

So that’s another lie that Bachmann is telling her supporters in order to squeeze a few more nickels out of them. …

Full story

————

Credit Judges for Fair Representation

Editorial Board

February 21, 2012

Excerpts

[If] U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann wants to live in the Sixth District, which she’s represented in Congress since 2006, she’ll need to move. (She need not do so to stand for reelection, however: Members of Congress are not required to be residents of districts they represent.) …

Politicians and pundits will spend the next several days pondering the maps’ implications. Our first-blush assessment is largely positive.

To its credit, the panel opted for minimal changes in well-established political patterns …

[The reconfiguration mix] speaks well of the even-handedness of the five-judge panel’s work, befitting their mixed political pedigrees. Two were appointed by Independence Party Gov. Jesse Ventura, one by DFL Gov. Rudy Perpich and one each by Republican Govs. Arne Carlson and Tim Pawlenty. …

The redistricting panel did not agree [to separate St. Cloud from the Twin Cities metro area and attach it to the Seventh District], and opted instead to sever southern Washington County [where Bachmann lives] from the Sixth District. The judges seemed to be saying that St. Cloud’s future is more closely tied to the metro area than to northwestern Minnesota. It’s hard to fault that presumption. …

Full editorial

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6/7/2012 Update

Bachmann Continues Deceptive Fundraising Practices

On June 7, 2012 – the same day Obama for America campaign manager Jim Messina sent out a fundraising letter alerting Obama supporters that “for the first time in this campaign, we got beat in fundraising,” with “the Romney campaign and the Republican Party [raising] more than $76 million [in May], compared with [the Democrats’] $60 million” — Michele Bachmann continued her deceptive pattern of misleading Republican donors.

In a fundraising letter of her own, Bachmann stated, “I’m very concerned with the news I just read that Barack Obama and the National Democrat [sic] party just raised over $60 million in the month of May alone,” continuing, “I’m concerned they are preparing to dump their piles of cash on me and other Constitutional conservative candidates. That’s why I need your immediate support today.”

Bachmann then falsely asserts that she’s “one of the Democrats’ #1 targets for defeat this November.”

The truth is that Michele Bachmann is running in a safe Republican district and that the national Democrats will not be pouring a lot of resources into Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District.

Following is the full text of Bachmann’s letter, with fundraising links removed.

Dear [recipient’s name],

Despite an incredible week for our conservative agenda — with a big win in Wisconsin — I’m very concerned with the news I just read that Barack Obama and the National Democrat party just raised over $60 million in the month of May alone.

Make no mistake — our victories this week have the Democrats on the run, but $60 million dollars in one month will help them fight back hard and I’m concerned they are preparing to dump their piles of cash on me and other Constitutional conservative candidates. That’s why I need your immediate support today.

Let me explain.

Because of my highly publicized fight to repeal Obamacare, end runaway federal spending and expose this President’s horrific foreign policy track record, I’m one of the Democrats’ #1 targets for defeat this November.

The media worked very hard to elect President Obama in 2008 and now they are working overtime to keep him in office. As their job gets increasingly harder with the dismal unemployment numbers and economic forecast for our nation- they have changed their focus to attacking our campaign.

These factors, combined with a $60 million haul in just one month, means you and I must double our efforts to ensure we defeat Barack Obama and elect Constitutional conservatives to Congress to ensure repeal of Obama’s most onerous policies.

[Name redacted], let me be frank — $60 million is A LOT of money — I am not one to back down from this fight; but I also cannot do this alone.

And as you know, the Democrats have cherry-picked a self-funding multi-millionaire to oppose me in my re-election for Congress — that’s why I need to have your immediate support.

To ensure I am able to continue fighting the big-government Obama agenda and have a fighting chance against Obama and the Democrats’ millions, won’t you please make a generous donation of $25, $35, $50 or more today.

While the Democrats, under President Obama and Nancy Pelosi’s failed leadership, are certain to put up a well-funded and media-supported fight against me; I have been encouraged by the support from concerned Americans like you who have given me the strength to continue forward.

I shudder at the thought of what the Democrats could and would do to our economy and future if given the opportunity for the next four years. We cannot afford for that to be a possibility. Your donation today will ensure our conservative voice stays alive in Washington.

Thank you for your continued support and friendship. May God bless America.

As always, thank you for your unwavering support.

Sincerely,

Michele Bachmann

P.S. The Democrats are gearing up for what will most certainly be the most expensive election cycle in history. I need your support to show the Democrats the strength of our conservative movement. Can I count on your contribution of $25, $50, $100 or even $250? Thank you.