UH-OH

Bachmann Staffer Has Criminal Record

Charged with terrorism in 2006.

This won’t help Michele Bachmann’s image: Peter E. Waldron, one of Bachmann’s evangelical staff members who helped her win the Ames Straw Poll in Iowa this past Saturday, has a criminal record for terrorism charges. Waldron was arrested in Uganda for possession of rifles and other ammo in February 2006, several days before the country held its first big multiparty elections in 20 years. He spent 37 days in prison until the charges were dropped when, according to Waldron, the Bush administration and other friends intervened. On his website, Waldron said he was "falsely accused of being a spy by the Uganda government's secret police" and subsequently arrested. He is even preparing to make a movie about the ordeal. Waldron apparently fits right in on Bachmann's staff, which has become embroiled in at least five hostile encounters with media.