Gay Republican Says Mormons Threw Him Under Bus

Gay Republican presidential candidate Fred Karger has alleged that the Mormon Church used it's influence to have him "thrown under the bus" just days before the New Hampshire GOP primary. Karger says it was "dirty politics" that led Aptos, California-based Terra Eclipse (Netboots) to shut down his campaign website just five days before the primary, because the church leaders and perhaps prominent Terra Eclipse client and senator Mike Lee from Utah, another Terra Eclipse client, did not like another of Karger's websites, Top10CraziestMormon Beliefs.com.

"We know that the Mormon Church did not like a website that I was involved with," said Karger in a written statement. "The other site was launched just two days before Terra Eclipse threw me in the gutter.I spent tens of thousands of dollars with this company which specializes in Republican campaign websites. So you can imagine my shock, when just two days before Christmas, Terra Eclipse sent me a terse email saying that it was dropping me in two weeks, just five days before the all-important New Hampshire Primary."

Karger previously went toe-to-toe with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints back in 2008 when he filed a complaint with California's Fair Political Practices Commission about the church's unreported spending on Prop 8.

"As a result of my complaint, the Mormon Church was investigated for 18 months, prosecuted, fined, and found guilty on 13 counts of election fraud. This was an unprecedented case for which the New York Times even commended me in an editorial. The Mormon Church was not happy."

Terra Eclipse owner Martin Avila could not be reached for comment but Karger released text of a letter he alleges Avila sent to him, in which Avila allegedly wrote, "While your campaign has every right to express views using tactics of your own choosing, our company also has the right to freely associate with our clients. In light of these actions, which not only appear to be completely irrelevant to a campaign for President of the United States, but also constitute an insult to and mockery of individuals of particular faiths, we are exercising our right to terminate your NetBoots account and disassociate with your campaign, as reserved in our Terms of Service.. I invite you to contact our attorneys should you wish to pursue the matter further."