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Brendan Quinn, a consultant for Manning's GOP rival, Marc Molinaro, has filed complaints with the state Board of Elections and the state Assembly Ethics Committee, claiming that Manning pretended to be Quinn in a telephone call the assemblyman placed from his East Fishkill district office to a polling firm hired by Quinn.
Quinn said he also may file a criminal complaint against Manning for criminal impersonation or identity theft but first must determine whether to file the complaint in New York state, from where the call was placed, or Connecticut, where the call was received.
In published reports, the six-term assemblyman has admitted posing as Quinn in a telephone call to MJC Worldwide, a telephone center conducting a poll for Molinaro.
Manning said he was attempting to determine if the company was conducting a "push poll" for Molinaro. A push poll is described by the online encyclopedia Wikipedia as "a political campaign technique in which an individual or organization attempts to influence or alter the view of respondents under the guise of conducting a poll."
Push polls aim to push voters away from a candidate by using false information to sully the candidate's reputation.
Manning did not return a reporter's calls on Thursday.
In a report in the Independent, a Hudson-based sister newspaper of the Freeman, Manning said the pollster offered a number of statements about Manning that were "despicable stuff, personal stuff about me as well as illegal things."
Manning said after learning about the poll, he assembled a number of staff members to his speakerphone and called MJC Worldwide.
"I said, 'This is Brendan Quinn. What's going on? I'm hearing some complaints and I want to make sure things are being taken the way we wanted,'" Manning told the Independent.
Quinn confirmed he is employed by Molinaro as a consultant and that he did commission a poll for Molinaro. He declined to reveal the nature of that poll, saying that, under state Election Law, if he reveals any portion of the poll, he must reveal it in its entirety.
"Anything and everything that was included in the poll was truthful - there was no false claims," Quinn said. "Here's Mr. Manning being a hypocrite saying he's a victim and he's the one breaking the law."
Molinaro declined to comment on the matter, saying Quinn's decision to file charges against Manning are separate from the campaign.
"This is not a campaign action, this is not a strategy on our part," Molinaro said. "Brendan Quinn has advised me he and his firm are filing charges. Those actions are spear and apart from my campaign."
Manning has been locked in a fierce battle with Molinaro, a Dutchess County Legislator and mayor of the village of Tivoli, for the Republican line in the November election in the 103rd Assembly District.
Molinaro, R-Red Hook, was nominated for the Assembly this past spring over Manning by the Republican and Conservative parties in Dutchess and Columbia counties. For Manning to even have a chance to run for re-election, he must defeat Molinaro in a Republican primary Sept. 12.
