Abrams says charges were part of a conspiracy

Montgomery GOP members deny former comptroller candidate’s accusations

Although the charges have been dropped, Abrams is still angry over how he was treated by other Republicans.

In an interview with The Gazette, Abrams said former state party chairman John M. Kane, Montgomery County GOP Chairman Tom Reinheimer and Republican Central Committee member Adol Owen-Williams ‘‘conspired” to set him up for the assault charge. Abrams is also a central committee member.

In November, after a central committee meeting in Rockville, Abrams and Owen-Williams charged each other with assault, according to their charging documents. Owen-Williams said Abrams agreed to pay him $5,000 for stepping aside in the County Council race so Abrams could run for an at-large seat after he lost the Republican primary for comptroller.

Abrams claimed he raised the ire of party insiders for complaining that too much money raised in the county was going to the state party instead helping candidates in local races.

‘‘The county party has been living on a shoestring budget,” Abrams said.

Abrams denied he owed Owen-Williams any money for his campaign debts. ‘‘Under no circumstances was this a personal obligation for me to pay it,” Abrams said.

Owen-Williams and Reinheimer denied anyone conspired to set up Abrams and said Abrams created his own problems. Kane could not be reached for comment; his secretary said he was out of the country on Thursday.

‘‘The whole thing that came down with him and Adol had nothing to do with me and Mr. Kane,” Reinheimer said. ‘‘He made a commitment to Adol to reimburse him for the primary expenses he had incurred. He reneged on that. That was part of the understanding that Adol would get reimbursed on that money because he had basically given me the same kind of assurance that he would do that for me.”

Abrams’ complaint that too much money raised in Montgomery County goes to the state party is one made by county central committee members across Maryland, Reinheimer said.

But county parties and candidates are responsible for their own fundraising, Reinheimer said. ‘‘There’s an overall perception out there at the county level that the state party needs to do more to help the county parties,” he said. ‘‘But I’ve told people they’ve got to grow up and quit whining about it and accept the reality of it.”

Maryland Republican Party Chairman James Pelura, who succeeded Kane, said he intends to make sure more money from the state GOP does return to counties.

‘‘My approach is not what they, the counties, can do for the state party; it’s what the state party can do for the counties,” Pelura said. ‘‘That will be my guiding principle on the move forward.”

Abrams said he is unsure whether he will remain in the Republican Party. He did not attend the county convention on Saturday.

Reinheimer said the county GOP would continue whether Abrams remains active in the party or not.

Some of the tension among GOP members could come from the fact every Montgomery County Republican who ran for office lost their elections in November.

‘‘Being a Republican in Montgomery County is a very tough job right now,” Reinheimer said.