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Christine O'Donnell's Claremont Class: A Dentist, A Felon, A Libertarian Who Called Her 'Susie Homemaker'

Christina Bellantoni and Jon Terbush | October 14, 2010, 8:47AM

Delaware GOP Senate Candidate Christine O'Donnell

Christine O'Donnell (R-DE) believes her participation in an eight-day conservative think tank fellowship is the "number one" thing qualifying her for service in the U.S. Senate. O'Donnell says the "deep analysis of the constitution" taught at Claremont Institute's competitive Lincoln Fellowship program would help her make sound decisions in the Senate, but the teachings couldn't keep one of the other fellows from facing jail time.

Among the 10 fellows awarded the fellowship with O'Donnell in 2002 was Scott Bloch -- the "Geeks on Call" guy who headed the Office of Special Counsel under President George W. Bush who pled guilty this April to criminal contempt of Congress for withholding information from a House oversight committee.

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Conservative On O'Donnell's Claremont Creds: 'It's Helped Me Tremendously' (VIDEO)

Christina Bellantoni | October 8, 2010, 4:39PM

Chuck DeVore and Christine O'Donnell

Conservative Republican Chuck DeVore told TPM today that he agrees with Christine O'Donnell that a week-long think tank program qualifies her for the United States Senate. He completed the Claremont Institute's competitive Lincoln Fellowship program two years after O'Donnell was a fellow, and he said in an interview its rigorous discussion of the Constitution is unrivaled in modern politics.

"It's helped me tremendously in my political life. What it gave me was the practical understanding of what makes the United States unique," DeVore, a member of the California State Assembly, told TPM.

DeVore said that being a Lincoln Fellow gave him "a deeper understanding" of whether laws he is voting for on the floor of the assembly are "really appropriate" or constitutional.

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Claremont Institute Tells TPM O'Donnell's 2002 Resume Listed Oxford University

Christina Bellantoni | September 30, 2010, 4:44PM

Candidate for U.S. Senate Christine O'Donnell (R-DE)

One thing we know is true: Christine O'Donnell was a Lincoln Fellow at the Claremont Institute in 2002. The rest, as we've closely chronicled, is all a bit fuzzy.

But TPM just spoke with a Claremont official who reviewed O'Donnell's 2002 application file. Ryan Williams, who oversees the Lincoln Fellowship program, told us that O'Donnell lists a certificate from Oxford University on her resume. "She did have a line about Oxford," he said as he looked at her file, which also included an essay and letters of recommendation.

Williams told us the item on O'Donnell's resume reads:

Oxford University, Oxford, UK Certificate awarded Summer 2001

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