Via TPM, can’t prove that she’s telling the truth but this does jibe with what we already know about the McDaniel camp reacting quickly, and emphatically negatively, to the video of Rose Cochran after they found out about it. Which makes sense even if you’re unwilling to believe that McDaniel wouldn’t condone a hit this nasty: From his standpoint, the risk of a ferocious backlash from conspiring in something like this is much greater than the political reward he’d get from making an old man’s tragic personal life an issue. The Kellys really have no reason to cover for McDaniel either. Granted, they both support him against Cochran, but the quickest ticket out of legal trouble right now would be to point the finger at McDaniel and try to make a deal with the DA. Instead, here’s Kelly’s wife confirming that McDaniel wanted the video down almost as soon as it went up. Unless they’re very loyal soldiers for a campaign they’re not even affiliated with, Occam’s razor suggests she’s telling the truth.

Tara Kelly said her husband was working to get the “Constitutional Clayton” blog and YouTube channel off the ground when he received tips from “someone on the Internet” accusing Thad Cochran of having an affair.

“They gave him information as to where Rose Cochran was staying, as well as other information,” Tara Kelly said. “… I wish I could tell you the names of these people on the Internet that gave my husband this information. But I don’t know and can only hope it comes out who they are.”…

“Now, here’s where it gets tricky,” Tara Kelly said. “The video was up for about an hour and a half when Clayton received word, either through Facebook or the phone, I’m not sure, that ‘the big man,’ meaning Chris McDaniel, wanted it taken down. The exact words, I remember Clayton told me, were ‘the big man himself says take it down.’ Clayton was already going to take it down but did so at that time.”

[Kelly’s lawyer Kevin] Camp, however, said his client took down the video when the responses were more about the photos of Rose Cochran than about the message of the video.

Three lingering questions. One: Why does Kelly’s lawyer have a different explanation for why the video came down? Two: How did Kelly get inside the nursing home to see Rose Cochran in the first place? He didn’t sneak in, says his wife, and they’ve got the parking pass from the nursing home to prove it. And three, most importantly: Who’s the nefarious malefactor who nudged Kelly to go shoot some video of Rose Cochran in the first place? Evidently there’s some Iago out there who was whispering in his virtual ear about making a name for himself in blogging and thought that videotaping an old lady with dementia was a smart place to start. What’s that person’s motive?