JOSH CLAIMS: An opposition staffer backing Sherrod Brown made inappropriate physical contact with me.

THE TRUTH: Josh Mandel’s lies have reached new unsettling heights, and video evidence—as well as an eyewitness account—proves it.

1. A reporter from the Columbus Dispatch, who witnessed the event, wrote “Mandel approached the tracker, called him loudly by name, and at one point grabbed the monopod attached to the tracker’s camera.” [Columbus Dispatch, 9/29/12]

2. Video footage shot by the opposition tracker backed the account of the Columbus Dispatch reporter riding in the elevator with Josh Mandel. [Columbus Dispatch, 10/3/12]

3. Even after video footage emerged backing the description of events according to the Columbus Dispatch, Josh Mandel still lied about the encounter. [Columbus Dispatch, 10/3/12]

Dispatch: “Mandel Approached The Tracker Called Him Loudly By Name, And At One Point Grabbed The Monopod Attached To The Trackers Camera.” In September 2012, The Columbus Dispatch reported, “The tracker followed Mandel into a public elevator in the Rhodes Tower, where Mandel’s treasurer’s office is located. Mandel approached the tracker, called him loudly by name, and at one point grabbed the monopod attached to the tracker’s camera. The tracker said ‘please don’t,’ and Mandel relented, asking the tracker ‘how you been’ and said ‘good to see you.’ He also asked the tracker if he knew a Dispatch reporter who was in the elevator.” [Columbus Dispatch, 9/29/12]

Mandel Had A Bizarre Exchange And Brief Outburst With A Political Tracker. In October 2012, The Huffington Post reported, “The Republican nominee for Ohio’s U.S. Senate seat, state Treasurer Josh Mandel, had a bizarre exchange and brief outburst while sharing an elevator Friday with a tracker for a Democratic super PAC. Video shot by a tracker for American Bridge 21st Century shows the tracker, identified as Tyler, walking into an elevator occupied by Mandel and two other people. Mandel can be heard shouting ‘Tyler’ when the tracker walks in and then moving to another part of the elevator. He then pushes the camera away from him. The incident occurred in the elevator in the Rhodes State Office Tower, the building that houses the treasurer’s Columbus office. Mandel is challenging Sen. Sherrod Brown (D). When Mandel pushes the camera, the tracker can be heard saying ‘please don’t.’” [Huffington Post, 10/1/12]

Mandel Stated On Camera In Front Of The Reporter That Broke The Original Story That The Tracker Initiated Contact First. In October 2012, The Huffington Post stated, “‘Joe and I have a different recollection [than Hansen],’ Mandel said Tuesday in remarks captured on video by Dix newspaper chain. ‘[Hansen] made initial physical contact which is inappropriate.’” The Huffington Post continued, “Vardon published an account of the incident Saturday as part of an article about Mandel that portrayed the incident differently than Mandel described Tuesday. He wrote that Mandel grabbed the camera, but Hansen never grabbed Mandel. Mandel did not say Tuesday if Vardon — who was at Tuesday’s event — had discussed the incident with him.” [Huffington Post, 10/2/12]

Mandel Claim Completely Contradicted By Dispatch Reporter – “Mandel Approached the Tracker.” In October 2012, The Columbus Dispatch stated, “Republican U.S. Senate candidate Josh Mandel said a political video tracker ‘made the initial physical contact with me’ in an incident in a public elevator on Friday, offering an explanation that is not supported by eyewitness accounts or the video of the incident. On Saturday, The Dispatch reported that Mandel approached the tracker and grabbed the monopod attached to his camera. The tracker from the American Bridge 21st Century political-action committee had been following Mandel for several minutes and ultimately boarded the same Rhodes Tower elevator. The entire episode was witnessed by this Dispatch reporter, who was accompanying the state treasurer for a few hours on Friday.” [Columbus Dispatch, 10/3/12]

Mandel Continued to Claim That Tracker Made Physical Contact With Him After Video Surfaced. During an interview with WTOV days after the video of the incident surfaced, Josh Mandel stated that “Well we have these guys from Sherrod Brown’s campaign and the Democratic party who try to harass me and follow me around the state and listen, they’re doing their job and I respect that, but one of these guys made physical contact with me, which is inappropriate. It is what it is, it’s behind us, but I believe it’s inappropriate, but that’s his prerogative, you know he can act how he wants to act.” [WTOV9 10/03/12]