Former Bachmann staffers: Campaign team 'dishonest' and 'cruel'

Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann's former New Hampshire campaign staff revealed Sunday why they had several days earlier.

"This decision comes after much soul searching by each individual and after countless hours of discussion as a team," the former staffers said in a press advisory (PDF). "Although the team members regret our departure from the campaign, we know there was very little choice."

"While they collectively felt loyalty to the candidate, they no longer have faith in the national team. This is a sentiment that has been building since June, and was expressed on numerous occasions to members of the national team; it is now apparent that Team-NH's concerns were not shared fully with Congresswoman Bachmann, and were not taken seriously by some members of the national team. These are symptoms of the disease that infects too many members of the national campaign team."

The statement added: "The manner in which some in the national team conducted themselves towards Team-NH was rude, unprofessional, dishonest, and at times cruel. But more concerning was how abrasive, discourteous, and dismissive some within the national team were towards many New Hampshire citizens. These are our neighbors and our friends, and some within the national team treated them more as a nuisance than as potential supporters."

In an interview with Radio Iowa Friday, Bachmann denied that there was any truth to the exodus.

"That is a shocking story to me," the candidate said. "I don't know where that came from. We have called staff in New Hampshire to find out where that came from and the staff have said that isn’t true, so I don’t know if this is just a bad story that’s being fed by a different candidate or campaign. I have no idea where this came from, but we’ve made calls and it’s certainly not true."

(H/T: Yahoo! News)