The Nebraska Democratic Party released a radio ad Tuesday calling on voters to reject Republican state Auditor Charlie Janssen’s re-election bid after an investigation revealed he often comes to work late and spends time swilling beer in a sports bar instead of doing his job.
Janssen has ignored demands by NDP Chair Jane Kleeb and others that he resign.
“Charlie Janssen has violated the public’s trust and deserves to be turned out of office,” Kleeb said. “Democratic Auditor candidate Jane Skinner will bring integrity back to the office — which is supposed to root out fraud and abuse like Janssen’s.”
The 30-second ad, which can be heard here, will run on radio stations across the state.
The ad says:
“Republican Auditor Charlie Janssen spends hours in a bar with his buddies — showing up for late for work and leaving early.
He’s paid $85,000 a year by Nebraska taxpayers and he’s running again to be Auditor. It’s his job to protect taxpayers from waste and abuse. Drain the Swamp?
Gov. Ricketts is doing nothing about this waste of taxpayer money.
Democratic candidate Jane Skinner, she’ll bring integrity back to the office.
Trust me, Jane won’t be sitting in a bar during the day, she’ll be working hard for Nebraska.”
Said Skinner: “Charlie Janssen violated his oath office and the faith voters put in him. I promise that, as your Auditor, I will make sure that the office is run as taxpayers expect and deserve.”
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For More Information:
Omaha World-Herald story: State auditor spends 3-hour lunches in sports bar, World-Herald investigation finds
A three-month investigation by The World-Herald of State Auditor Charlie Janssen found a pattern of late-morning arrivals at his Capitol office, long lunches lasting up to three hours or more involving beer drinking, and little evidence that he was at the office in the afternoon.
In the past month, over the course of 20 working days, the newspaper observed the state auditor 10 times spending lengthy lunches at Brewsky’s, a popular sports bar about 15 blocks south of the State Capitol.
On five of those occasions, World-Herald reporters saw the auditor sharing pitchers of beer with a companion inside the tavern. Janssen and his companions were seen chatting and occasionally checking their cell phones. On most of the five occasions, at least two pitchers of beer were consumed.
The lunches often began between noon and 12:30 p.m. and sometimes ended as late as 3:45 p.m. or 3:55 p.m. Janssen then would get into his truck and drive away, not returning to the Capitol.
Omaha World-Herald editorial: Editorial: With his behavior, State Auditor Charlie Janssen has shown a major failure of judgment
“If a mid-level state employee conducted himself in that fashion, there would be serious consequences. Janssen is a high-level official elected statewide, overseeing a major state agency, and he should be held to an even higher standard.
“That he didn’t realize this indicates a major lack of judgment. (Janssen’s casual approach to his work at the State Capitol goes back to his time in the Legislature, where his habits were frequently low-energy.)”
“Janssen needs to think through whether he should … step down from office.”
