Updates
Statement from Ashley Hinson
I spent more than a decade on the air building the trust of viewers. I strive to hold myself to a high level of integrity and the plagiarism that was brought to my attention from the New York Times reporting is unacceptable to me and to Iowans. I immediately took action when the mistakes were brought to my attention. I sincerely apologize and take full responsibility.
As a former journalist, it is my responsibility to perform the proper due diligence to ensure that what I release is original and is attributed properly. To be transparent, an employee of the consulting firm I used to help with background and some writing took word for word several informational statements from others and included it in many of the pieces that I later approved and published. I have ended my working relationship with that company. What happened was wrong and violated your trust.
Let me be clear: the values and issue positions that were put out under my name are 100% my views. These are the views that I share with a majority of the voters here in eastern Iowa, and in that I do not waver. We will be working to ensure that this never happens again.
Congresswoman Finkenauer has copied and pasted Speaker Pelosi’s agenda, and that is not Iowa common sense. She has praised the Green New Deal, which would devastate Iowa agriculture. She supports raising taxes on Iowa families and small businesses, and Abby casts her vote with Nancy Pelosi 91% of the time.
I value honesty and I know Iowans do too. There are too many politicians covering things up and not being honest with people– it’s what’s wrong with Washington. I’m running to change that so we can do better as a country. I will work every day from now until November showing voters that the leaders they send to Washington must uphold personal responsibility, and work transparently and honestly. I will take these core values and serve as a strong voice for Iowans in Congress.