Now we find out even Patrick Murphy's name is a political creation. You have to ask yourself, if voters send this Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate to Washington, will they ever know when or if he's stopped twisting the truth?
Thanks to a Washington Free Beacon investigation, we discovered today that Murphy, now 33, went by his middle name “Erin” until he decided to pursue a life in politics in 2011.
All traces of Murphy before his political career -- from mentions in the Miami Herald to his signature on official documents -- indicate he was known to the world as “Erin.”
"Murphy reinvented himself in 2011 after hiring a political consultant to map out his congressional run," writes Free Beacon reporter Brent Scher. "He moved to a new district, switched party affiliations, and started telling tall tales about being a successful small business owner. He also abandoned the name 'Erin,' which he had gone by since his days as a prep school student in Miami and aspiring businessman."
Incorporation documents for Coastal Environmental Services, a failed company that Murphy’s father started for him as he attempted to assist with cleanup of the Gulf oil spill, list "Erin Murphy" as one of the company’s three board members.
The Miami Herald business section made this public announcement: “Coastal Construction Group has named Erin Murphy vice president of coastal environmental services.”
When Murphy was quoted in official company press releases, he was referred to as Erin Murphy. In the company’s 2012 annual report, Erin Murphy was still listed as a director.
"The earliest mentions of Murphy located by the Free Beacon were during his high school days at Palmer Trinity, a private Miami prep school," writes reporter Scher. "Though he is currently referred to as 'Patrick' on the school website, records show he was not actually called that while enrolled there."
After graduating from Palmer Trinity, Murphy did a year at a prestigious New Jersey boarding school called the Lawrenceville School.
A representative at the school confirmed to the Free Beacon that Murphy was known as Erin during his year there. He is currently referred to as Patrick “Erin” Murphy on the Lawrenceville School’s alumni news page.
Murphy was Erin at home, too. An April 2000 profile of the Murphy family’s new “European-style mansion” refers to him as Erin.
One source told the Free Beacon he thought Murphy discovered when he crossed the Atlantic that Erin is a female version of the male name Aaron in Ireland. After that, it became a considerable source of embarrassment. So, under a political consultant's advisement, in 2011 he worked hard to scrub it from his political resume.
“Everything about Patrick Murphy is a fiction -- from his resume, to his donors, to even his own name,” said Ian Prior, spokesman for the conservative Senate Leadership Fund. “Makes you wonder what other ways Murphy is trying to pull a fast one on Florida voters.”
Prior is right. Murphy looks increasingly like a political cartoon character, made up in the head of an artist having way too much fun scamming the system and laughing at voters.
This name thing wouldn't be such a big deal in almost any other candidate. But for Patrick Murphy, it's just one more thing: the string of lies to pass himself off as something and someone he's not, the use of his position to further the family business, the lack of a single congressional distinction to go with his empty suit. Murphy is indeed a creation.
Reach Nancy Smith at nsmith@sunshinestatenews.com or at 228-282-2423. Twitter: @NancyLBSmith
