Activist admits making secret McConnell recording

• Recording of strategy session about Ashley Judd leaked to %27Mother Jones%27 magazine
• Curtis Morrison writes charges against him will be presented to federal grand jury
• Activist says the furor over recording %27changed my life%27

WASHINGTON — Curtis Morrison, a former spokesman for an anti-Mitch McConnell super PAC, admitted Friday that he secretly taped a strategy session of the Senate GOP leader and his staff and could be indicted by a federal grand jury.

"Here's the latest: An assistant U.S. attorney, Brian Calhoun, telephoned my attorney yesterday, asking to meet with him next Friday as charges against me are being presented to a grand jury," Morrison, formerly with Progress Kentucky, wrote on Salon.com.

After the recording became public in April, McConnell asked for an FBI investigation. The FBI later confirmed it was looking into the matter.

McConnell spokesman Robert Steurer issued a brief statement: "We defer entirely to the FBI and the United States Attorney's Office in Louisville on this criminal matter."

Until now, Morrison has not commented on the Feb. 2 incident during which he made the recording. On the recording, which was published by Mother Jones magazine, McConnell is heard talking about a "Whack-A-Mole" strategy against potential opponents.

Staffers also were heard laughing on the recording as they discussed actress and potential Democratic candidate Ashley Judd's struggles with depression. Judd decided in late March she will not run for the Senate.

Morrison wrote Friday that his taping "changed my life."

He said he leaked the recording to Mother Jones but "never expected" the negative reaction "from my own political side."

After the recording was made public, Morrison said he lost his friendship with Shawn Reilly, the executive director of Progress Kentucky,who was with him at the Louisville campaign headquarters when the secret meeting was recorded.

"I lost my apartment. I lost my job and my career path," Morrison wrote.

"Unlike Mitch McConnell, I will not paint myself as a victim," he said. But he added that negative reaction from people like Rep. John Yarmuth, D-Ky., made him think: "Did I make a mistake?"

Morrison said he is planning to go to Whittier Law School in California this fall.

"I'm 44 years old, and my life path has shifted a bit, but I'm still alright," he wrote. "So far, McConnell has failed to cause me even a fraction of the suffering or inconvenience he's caused most Kentucky families."

The furor over the recording "was a frustrating moment, but in truth, I've never doubted that making the recording was ethical," Morrison insisted.