Former Obama Campaign Operative Charged With Attempting To Steal Iowa Secretary of State's Identity

A 29 year old Des Moines, IA man was arrested on charges of identity theft after attempting to use the identity of Republican Secretary of State Matt Schultz earlier this month.

Zachary Edwards was arrested Friday and charged with identity theft.

The Iowa Department of Public Safety issued a news release saying Schultz's office discovered the scheme on June 24, 2011 and notified authorities.

The criminal complaint says Edwards fraudulently used or attempted to use the identity of Schultz or Schultz's brother with the intent to obtain a benefit. No other details were given.

Edwards had reportedly worked for the Obama campaign in Nevada in 2007 before moving to Iowa to become the new media coordinator in the Hawkeye state in early 2008. After the campaign, Edwards joined the Des Moines-based consulting firm Link Strategies, who's clients include Democrat Senator Tom Harkin.

Edwards had reportedly stolen Schultz's identity in a scheme to falsely implicate the Secretary of State in engaging in unethical behavior. According to the Iowa Republican blog, Edward's alleged crime took place in June 2011, around the same time a Democrat-connected blog called Under the Golden Dome launched a 3-part article citing open-records requests from 'a tipster' that was highly critical of Schultz.

Earlier in the month, the Iowa Democrat Party had filed an ethics complaint, claiming Schultz used public resources [i.e. a Secretary of State Letterhead- NANESB!] to campaign against GOP Presidential Candidate Jon Huntsman. The complaint was dismissed by the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board a month later.