U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann has settled a lawsuit alleging that senior members of her 2012 presidential campaign stole a proprietary e-mail list of home-school families from the computer of an Iowa campaign staffer. Legal papers dismissing the case were filed Friday in Des Moines by an attorney representing Barb Heki, an Iowa woman who sued the campaign a year ago alleging the theft of the list, which the campaign used to contact Iowa home-schoolers. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed. The case, which remains under investigation by police in Iowa, ignited internal divisions within the campaign that led to allegations of financial and ethical impropriety that are still being investigated by the FBI, the Office of Congressional Ethics, and the Federal Elections Commission (FEC). The principal suspect in the alleged theft, Iowa state Sen. Kent Sorenson, also is being investigated by Iowa authorities for allegedly taking undisclosed payments to support the Bachmann presidential campaign.
Bachmann announced last month that she will not seek a fifth term in Congress next year, though she said her decision was not tied to her lingering legal problems. Heki, the campaign's former home school coalition director, referred questions to her new litigation attorney, Jeffrey Wright, who said only that "the case has been resolved." The out-of-court settlement comes nearly two months after Bachmann travelled to Des Moines to take part in settlement negotiations.
