Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler commented Thursday, “What I could have done was investigate whether drinking was going on…I assume now; I should have assumed then.”
His statement was in response to a sighting of Gansler at a Delaware house party in June where teenagers were drinking. Gansler said in the Silver Spring news conference that he had only stopped by the party to briefly speak with his son who was the disc jockey. He attests that he did not have prior knowledge that there was teen drinking going on and assumed that the adult chaperones had the situation under control.
Gansler made an earlier statement to the Baltimore Sun regarding his obligation to intervene; “My responsibility is only to my child. …Everybody has their own moral compass.”
The Sun reports that it is legal in Delaware for parents to permit their children to drink at home.
Gansler reportedly pitched in with other parents to rent the beach house for a week as a graduation gift for their sons. He says that he doesn’t recall seeing teenagers consuming alcohol and when asked about the presence of red cups he replied, “There could be Kool-Aid in the red cups, but there’s probably beer in the red cups. I didn’t go over and stick my nose in the cups and see, maybe I should have.”
When a photo appeared on Twitter that seemed to show Gansler snapping a picture of the party, he said that he was trying to read a text message. “I’m 50 years old and can’t read so I’m holding it out.”
Gansler is a Democratic candidate for governor who, prior to the teenager rendezvous, has publicly voiced his concerns for underage drinking.
