John Edwards Party Crasher Is Jailed

By JIM HICKEY

Police this week are continuing their investigation into a Florida man believed to be the former chief of staff for a U.S. senator who crashed the fundraiser of Presidential candidate John Edwards in Chilmark on Friday by passing himself off as a campaign official.

Police say 31-year-old Michael Duga used a credential identifying himself as the chief of staff to former Sen. Maxwell Cleland of Georgia to gain access to the event.

Once inside, he purported to be a top official for the Edwards campaign to some while representing himself as a paying guests to others. According to Mr. MacDonald, the host of the event, Mr. Duga was neither.

"Let me say that Mr. Duga is not - nor has he ever - been affiliated with the Edwards campaign . . . as far as I know he knew nobody at the event, and nobody there knew him," Mr. MacDonald said.

During the party, Mr. Duga slipped into a back room at the MacDonald home and stole a package of Edwards campaign material as well as a bundle of the former U.S. senator's personal stationery. According to one guest who asked not to be identified, Mr. Duga approached several people during the fundraiser and asked if they could help him arrange a private meeting with Mr. Edwards and his wife Elizabeth.

"He really seemed a bit off . . . at one point he pushed his way through the audience just to sit at a table next to Mr. Edwards," the guest said.

Mr. Duga's appearance at the fundraiser was only part of his bizarre behavior over the weekend. Although police are not sure when Mr. Duga arrived on the Island, they believe he rented a room in a bed and breakfast in Aquinnah where he asked another guest if he could borrow their vehicle to find better cell phone service.

Mr. Duga then reportedly drove the vehicle, a Chevy Suburban, to the Edwards fundraiser where he worked most of the night at the front table where people purchased tickets. Toward the end of the fundraiser, Mr. Duga reportedly tried to stop a photographer from taking pictures of Mr. and Mrs. Edwards.

According to the police report, Mr. Duga got a ride to the airport with the Edwards party after the event, although he missed the flight to the next campaign stop.

Instead, Mr. Duga spent the night on the Island, and was next spotted Saturday around 8 a.m. when the Menemsha Coast Guard Station called Chilmark police to report a suspicious person on their property. Coast Guard officials later told police Mr. Duga was looking through paperwork and made some telephone calls from the Coast Guard boat house without permission.

When police arrived and questioned Mr. Duga, he said he was on official business and was currently volunteering for the Edwards campaign.

"Mr. Duga was asking many questions and was using military style jargon with lots of acronyms," the report said. "His eyes were glossy and red; his hair was messed up and he had a white substance that appeared to be toothpaste on his lips and chin . . . he appeared to be intoxicated."

A portable breathalyzer test on Mr. Duga, however, revealed that his blood alcohol content was zero.

The communications center said the Oak Bluffs police had run Mr. Duga's information the previous evening. They also learned he had an extensive criminal background in Florida, where he had been charged with possession and sale of narcotics as well as carjacking.

When police asked Mr. Duga what he was doing on U.S. Coast Guard property, he said he was bringing provisions to the officers, and pointed to a paper bag containing a sandwich and a soda. He then said he wished to speak to the U.S. Coast Guard commander to notify him of the 27 security deficiencies he had observed.

Chilmark police contacted Sgt. Neil Maciel of the state police who detailed with the Secret Service. A secret service official told the state police she was familiar with the subject, but since the incident did not involve someone under their protection, it was best left to the local police to handle.

When police searched Mr. Duga's vehicle they found several sensitive documents from the Edwards campaign, including a computer printed itinerary of his event stops with times and locations as well as two hand-written papers titled Advanced Slates for 12/26 to 12/30 that included the names of campaign team members, cell phone numbers, e-mail addresses and hotel room assignments.

"The materials found showed a disturbing pattern," said Chilmark police chief Timothy Rich. "It does not seem to be an accident that Mr. Duga crossed paths with Mr. Edwards on the Vineyard."

Police also found in the vehicle an identification belonging to a U.S. Coast Guard officer that had a U.S. Government stamp on it that Mr. Duga allegedly stole from the barracks. Police also found a small amount of marijuana.

Mr. Duga was arraigned Monday morning on two charges of breaking and entering during the daytime for a felony, two charges of trespassing, one charge of larceny from a building and one charge of class D drug possession.

Bail was initially set at $1,000, although it was increased to $2,500 on Monday.

Mr. Duga is currently being held in the Edgartown house of correction.

» Share Your Feedback

Your town





Security Check

Please type the text shown above

Your name


Your Email Address


Your Comment

Submit
Feedback

The Vineyard Gazette welcomes reader comments. The comments are selected for publication but are not edited. Please keep your comments brief and on topic. The Gazette reserves the right to remove comments at any time for any reason, and will restrict access of registered users who repeatedly violate our terms.

Print Article

Send link by email

More from this issue

Back to top