COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Michele Bachmann’s campaign may soon have a new addition to its South Carolina team.

Republican consultant Wesley Donehue said Bachmann’s senior South Carolina adviser Ron Thomas asked him to join the campaign to help with communications and strategy here.

Donehue added that he would help the campaign this weekend as a trial run before any firm decision is made regarding his position with the campaign.

“I have promised to help them Friday and Saturday," he said. "And that is as far as it has gone."

Bachmann’s husband Marcus will be here today and tomorrow and will submit his wife’s filing papers at the South Carolina Republican Party headquarters this afternoon. Tomorrow, he will address the South Carolina Federation of Republican Women’s annual convention, while Bachmann will speak to the group via Skype.

Donehue runs Columbia-based political Internet firm Donehue Direct, whose clients have included South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint and Rep. Joe Wilson. Donehue also leads political and communications strategy for the South Carolina Senate Republican Caucus.

Donehue is a former colleague of Republican consultants Warren Tompkins and Terry Sullivan (now Florida Sen. Marco Rubio’s chief of staff) who led Mitt Romney’s 2008 South Carolina campaign.

The Bachmann team also made staffing changes in Iowa this week, naming Republican operative Eric Woolson campaign manager. Woolson served that role for Mike Huckabee’s campaign in 2008. 

NEW YORK and DES MOINES, IA -- With just over two months to go before the first-in the-nation caucuses, Michele Bachmann appears to be going all in -- in Iowa.

This morning, the Bachmann campaign announced the addition of new staffers, bringing their total to 10 paid staffers in the Hawkeye State. That number includes Iowa political veteran Eric Woolson, the newly appointed state campaign manager.

"We have a strong, experienced organization in place that is equipped to build upon Michele Bachmann's historic victory in the Republican Party of Iowa Straw Poll this summer," National Campaign Manager Keith Nahigian said in a statement. "Eric is the perfect person to lead our team to victory on caucus day."

Woolson served as the campaign’s communications director in the state since late September, and he had previously worked for Tim Pawlenty’s unsuccessful bid this year. During Mike Huckabee’s caucus win in the 2008 cycle, Woolson served as his Iowa state campaign manager -- so the same title he holds with the Bachmann campaign. 

In addition to Woolson, the Bachmann campaign announced State Central Committee member, Wes Enos, as deputy state campaign Manager. 

Seven staff members were named to regional positions, and, notably, outreach positions on issues important to the campaign's base. Four of the staffers are assigned to Northwest Iowa, Northeast Iowa, and the central and Southeast areas. Two are assigned to "faith leader" positions, and one is assigned to be "home-school coalition" director.

The Iowa staffing additions come just a day after the Minnesota congresswoman mailed in her filing papers to New Hampshire qualifying her to be on the state’s primary ballot. And they come almost a week after the high-profile departure of five of Bachmann’s New Hampshire staff.

John DiStaso, the New Hampshire Union Leader's chief political writer, today sourly quoted yesterday's campaign's press release announcing the filing. "We all know what Michele Bachmann thinks of New Hampshire," he wrote.

DiStaso added: "She 'reaffirmed' her 'commitment' (we're being a bit sarcastic here, folks) to New Hampshire by literally mailing in her first-in-the-nation primary paperwork to the Secretary of State."

But campaign spokeswoman Alice Stewart tells NBC News, "We've been clear all along our focus is Iowa," and says today's staffing announcement shows the campaign is growing in the Hawkeye State.

CONCORD, N.H. -- Following a weekend of New Hampshire staff departures and controversy, Michele Bachmann made it official that she is running in the first-in-the nation primary. However, unlike most other candidates, she skipped the tradition of registering in person and instead filed by mail. Her paperwork and $1,000 check arrived this morning via express mail. Her filing is officially complete, Secretary of State Bill Gardner told NBC News this morning.

According to Gardner, 26 candidates have registered in total thus far for the primary -- 21 Republicans and five Democrats. The most Republicans ever to run in a Granite State primary was in 1992 with 25. With Texas Gov. Rick Perry filing Friday at noon and probably other lesser-known candidates yet to register, 2012 could be a record-breaking year for the GOP.

The only publicly declared candidate the Secretary of State's office has not yet heard from is former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, who put out a media advisory saying he is campaigning in Arizona, Oct. 27-29. So, unless he files today in person or this week by mail, his name will not appear on the New Hampshire ballot. The deadline is Friday.

Republican operative Eric Woolson will be named Iowa campaign manager for the Michele Bachmann campaign, NBC News can confirm.

An announcement will go out tomorrow.

Woolson, who was hired about a month ago to lead the Bachmann campaign's communications in Iowa, was Mike Huckabee's 2008 Presidential campaign manager in Iowa. Sources stress this is a newly created role in the Iowa campaign office -- an indication, sources say, that the campaign is growing.

In an evolving he-said, she-said, Michele Bachmann’s national campaign team is pushing back against sharp complaints by the five New Hampshire staffers who abruptly quit this weekend.

Reached by telephone this afternoon, campaign spokeswoman Alice Stewart lobbed back charges of poor dialogue with the national team. "It's hard to respond to individuals that aren't communicating with us," Stewart told NBC. 

In a strikingly cutting press release issued Sunday evening, the outgoing New Hampshire staff paint a picture of a conflict on a slow burn since late June, complaining of being “constantly left out of the loop regarding key decisions, and relegated to second-class citizens.”

The five staffers -- who comprised Bachmann’s paid New Hampshire team -- note in the release that the national campaign had suspended their pay in early September due to financial constraints. They insist, however, “Pay was not a primary motivation.”

Instead, the staffers point to personal beefs, writing, “The manner in which some in the national team conducted themselves towards Team-NH was rude, unprofessional, dishonest, and, at times, cruel.”

The conflict seems to have reached a boiling point during Bachmann’s visit to New Hampshire earlier this month -- her first since June 28^th. The release calls those incidents “private,” but a later paragraph complains of “how abrasive, discourteous, and dismissive some within the national team were toward many New Hampshire citizens."

Stewart brushed off those charges, saying, “I'm not going to comment on the personal attacks that they made.” 

Stewart pins the fallout on local disappointment with a campaign strategy that puts Iowa before New Hampshire.

“We've been clear all along our focus is Iowa,” Stewart told NBC. "There's only so many days to be in Iowa, and she has to take advantage of every single one of them, and be there.”

The campaign has sent public signals since the summer that it was shifting into an Iowa-centric strategy. It canceled a planned a trip to New Hampshire following its win at the Iowa straw poll Aug. 13^th, and later published a video narrated by Campaign Manager Keith Nahigian that admits, “We are going to compete in New Hampshire, but not dominate our effort like we are in Iowa.” 

Bachmann will file for the New Hampshire primary by mail, according to the New Hampshire Secretary of State's office. If she does so, the campaign will be opting out of the usual in-person fanfare that accompanies candidates who are aggressively competing in the Granite State. Historically, most candidates choose to file in person, joined by staff and supporters.

But since news of the departures Friday, a second dispute has emerged, focusing on the timeline of events leading to the rupture.  According to the release, former staffer Jeff Chidester declared via email Oct. 12^th that he was "done" with the campaign. A follow-up email was sent Oct. 14th threatening an exodus of the remaining staff, the release adds.

Stewart rejects that account, telling NBC the departures were a surprise to the national team, pre-empting efforts to repair the relationship. 

"It would have been helpful for them to communicate with us," Stewart said, "but they chose to communicate with the media."

During a telephone interview today with NBC, Chidester -- the most senior member of the departing staff -- doubled down on the timeline detailed in the release. 

"It was clear that senior staff knew I was leaving a week ago last Thursday," he said.

Chidester tells NBC he is being recruited by other campaigns. 

"There are several attractive candidates already," he said, adding that he expects the other New Hampshire staffers to announce this week plans to join other campaigns.

The possibility of defections has seemed to strike a nerve at Bachmann’s national headquarters. About the news that one of the departing staffers -- Caroline Gigler -- having already joined the campaign of Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Stewart said, of the outgoing staffers: “It makes it hard to understand what their motives are.”

Late today, Nahigian sent out a release declaring the campaign wouldn’t comment further. 

"The unauthorized news release was sent by a person who doesn't even work for the campaign and has never had authority to speak on behalf of the campaign," he said. "We are not responding to comments made by a person who was not even a staff member in New Hampshire. Our focus is on Iowa."

The point of contact on the release is Karen Testerman, an unpaid adviser to the Bachmann campaign, who collaborated on the release with the five outgoing staff-members. The five outgoing staffers are: Chidester, Caroline Gigler, Nicole Yurek, Matt LeDuc, and Tom Lukacz.

DES MOINES, Iowa – In a parade of speeches heavy on social issues and punctuated by a notable barb against Herman Cain on abortion policy, six Republican candidates made their presidential pitches to an audience of influential Iowa conservatives Saturday.

All but two of the major White House contenders -  Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman were absent -- appeared at the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition’s annual fall forum, attended by more than a thousand Republicans in the first-in-the-nation caucus state.

Without mentioning the pizza magnate by name, Gov. Rick Perry used his remarks to ding the recently ascendent Herman Cain for a remark suggesting Cain supports a hands-off attitude towards government curtailing of abortion rights.

"It is a liberal canard to say I am personally pro-life, but government should stay out of that decision," Perry said.  "If that is your view, you are not pro-life, you are pro having-your-cake-and-eating-it-too."

Cain, who spoke before Perry, only briefly mentioned abortion in his opening remarks, declaring unequivocally that life is a fundamental right: "No abortions, no exceptions."

The field's only black Republican candidate also recalled growing up in Atlanta riding on segregated buses, but added to thunderous applause that “because of America's ability to change, I stand here today and I own the bus with my picture on the side."

Michele Bachmann also spoke at length about abortion as well as her personal relationship with faith.  “I believe the government must intervene and I stand for a constitutional amendment to protect life from conception to natural death,” she said.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich received one of the most enthusiastic responses of the evening, repeating his oft-used call for Lincoln-Douglass style presidential debates and lambasting "activist" judges who have ruled in favor of abortion rights.

Libertarian champion Ron Paul began to speak after Gingrich and some in the crowd departed.  The Texas congressman recited biblical references and told the crowd the Bible is filled with “dozens of quotations… telling us to have honest weights and honest measures.”

During the question and answer session, a moderator asked him what would he do to prevent “abortion on demand.” Paul responded, “As an OB doctor, I know when life begins. If I do harm to a fetus, I can be sued!”

Former Sen. Rick Santorum, who spoke last, described the family as the building block of recovery from the nation's fiscal woes. "If we don’t have strong families in America, we will not have a strong economy in this country," he said.

Santorum related the emotional story of the death of his newborn son and his struggle with faith afterwards, earning pin-drop silence from a supportive audience. "You want to know why I'm pro-life? Because God showed me if you're faithful, he will be faithful," he said.

Perry, Gingrich, Paul, and Santorum all spent time greeting voters at the Iowa State Fairgrounds before or after their remarks; Bachmann arrived late and Cain declined to spend much time with voters as he was ushered in and out of the room.

Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition President Steve Scheffler told NBC News before the event that the heavy focus on faith and family issues demonstrated social conservatives' eagerness to replace the current administration.

“It is indicative of the fact that this pro-family constituency is engaged and they want to stop the socialist policies of the Obama Administration,” he said. “They are ready to nominate someone who is going to carry the banner and win the election next fall.”

Despite the influence an endorsement from the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition would have, Scheffler said the organization would not choose a candidate. “We are just going to keep their feet to the fire,” he said.

The five New Hampshire staffers, who quit Friday had not -- as of Saturday morning -- been in touch with the campaign to resign in a formal fashion, the Bachmann campaign tells NBC News.

Of the campaign's former New Hampshire Director Jeff Chidester, campaign spokewoman Alice Stewart told NBC, "He talked to the media -- just not us."

The Bachmann campaign learned of the departures Friday through media reports. This explains why Bachmann herself questioned the reports during a phone interview with Radio Iowa Friday afternoon -- and why the campaign said, in a statement issued after 5:00 pm ET Friday: "We have a great team in New Hampshire, and we have not been notified that anyone is leaving the campaign."

Chidester confirmed his own departure, and that of four others, via text to NBC last night.

All five paid New Hampshire staffers to the campaign left -- Jeff Chidester, Nicole Yurek, Matt LeDuc, Caroline Gigler, and Tom Lukacz.

NEW YORK -- Michele Bachmann is pushing back against reports that her presidential campaign staff in New Hampshire has quit.

The New Hampshire television station WMUR was first to report today that Bachmann's paid staff in the Granite State had left the campaign. According to WMUR, the staff was disappointed Bachmann was not more committed to winning the New Hampshire primary.

But this afternoon, in a telephone interview with Radio Iowa, Bachmann called the report "a shocking story."

"We have called staff in New Hampshire to find out where that came from, and the staff have said that isn't true," Bachmann said. "I don't know if this is a just a bad story that's being fed by a different candidate or campaign."

Bachmann added that the story is "certainly not true."

NBC has not confirmed the report.

Bachmann most recently visited New Hampshire for campaign events on Oct. 9 and Oct. 10; her last visit before then was on June 28.

*** UPDATE *** Bachmann campaign manager Keith Nahigian has issued this statement: "We have a great team in New Hampshire and we have not been notified that anyone is leaving the campaign. We look forward to spending more time in the Granite State between now and the primary, but our campaign has emphasized that our main focus is the first-in-the-nation caucus state of Iowa and we are continuing to build efforts there. While she will campaign in other states, Michele will spend the majority of her time in Iowa, doing what she does better than all the other candidates - retail politics - leading up to the all important caucuses."

NEW YORK -- During a town-hall discussion held over the telephone Monday night, Michele Bachmann had a special guest -- Donald Trump. The “tele-town hall” marked the first such event Trump has done with any of the GOP candidates for president. 

The idea for the call, the Bachmann campaign says, came during a meeting the two had over breakfast last week, at Trump’s home in New York.

Bachmann dialed in from a hotel room in Las Vegas – the site of tonight’s GOP debate – and Trump called from his office in New York.  Though both the Bachmann and Trump teams said yesterday the event did not mark an endorsement, the two met eye-to-eye in a wide-ranging discussion.

“We have a country with tremendous potential. Unbelievable potential. It's untapped,” Trump said during introductory remarks, before calling attention to competition with China. “We don't have the right leadership, and we're really falling badly. By 2016 China will overtake us economically. Hard to believe it would have been impossible to say that 10 years ago.”

Bachmann said later in the call that China’s rise has “profound implications,” and added, “One thing Ronald Reagan understood is you have to be the economic super power if you want to be the military super power.” 

It’s a message Bachmann often delivers during stump speeches – and though Monday’s call was billed as a discussion about the economy, national security and international affairs often crept in.

Trump attacked Democrats and Republicans for avoiding discussing OPEC’s hold on oil prices, and suggested that if the United States were to stop doing business with China, “they would go into a depression the likes of which you have never seen before.”

The Bachmann campaign says Tele-Town Hall events are a regular part of Bachmann’s strategy, helping the campaign to identify supporters and key issues to voters.  But the campaign acknowledges this event was unique.

“The reason we brought him on is that he’s a well respected person on issues of the economy, but he’s well versed on foreign policy issues and the politics of the day,” says Bachmann Campaign Spokeswoman Alice Stewart of Trump. 

On Friday, over Twitter, the campaign teased a coming announcement “sure to fire up this race.”  Stewart said tens of thousands of people were on the call, and that Bachmann and Trump spoke privately beforehand.

A poll taken during the call identified key initiatives voters thought should be undertaken to revive the economy.  Cutting spending ranked first, followed by repealing the federal health care law, opening domestic energy resources, cutting taxes, and clamping down on illegal immigration.

“This gave her an opportunity to engage the people,” Stewart said.  “And an opportunity, for sure, to get an idea on where the focus needs to be paid in terms of improving the economy.”

PERRY, Iowa -- In an event Saturday billed as the “Bachmann Takes it to Perry Rally,” Michele Bachmann took her anti-illegal immigration message to the small town just outside Des Moines that carries the last name of her GOP opponent, Texas Gov. Rick Perry.

But Bachmann only mentioned Gov. Perry by name once, and it came during the question-and-answer period. Instead, she focused on detailing the case for a major initiative Perry opposes: building a fence along the United State's border with Mexico. 

“I will secure that border,” Bachmann said inside the ballroom at the historic Hotel Pattee. “That will be job No. 1.  And it will be every mile; it will be every yard; it will be every foot, because the portion that you fail to secure will be the highway into the United States.”

The event marked the introduction of a new advocacy group exerting pressure on GOP presidential candidates to sign a pledge to secure the border. Bachmann’s signature on Americans for Securing the Border pledge binds her to completing a fence along the Southern border by the end of her first year in office. She is the first candidate in the Republican field to sign it.

“The politicians every election cycle always pay lip service to securing the border but nothing ever gets done. So we believe it’s time to have a pledge,” Americans for Securing the Border Chairman Van Hipp told NBC News. “We have issued the challenge to all the major presidential candidates and Michele Bachmann is the first one to step up to the plate.”

The Minnesota Congresswoman has staked her candidacy, at least in part, on the message of a fiscal discipline -- and as she made the case for the fence this afternoon, she framed it in fiscal terms. 

“I want to talk to you right now a little bit about some of those very real costs that come across along with illegal immigration,” Bachmann told the crowd of roughly 75 people. “It’s actually $113 billion a year,” she said, citing research by a conservative non-profit group, Federation for American Immigration Reform. “That’s the cost of illegal immigration.”

Illegal immigration has been a continued point of contention in the 2012 presidential race, specifically the DREAM Act, which, in Texas, allows illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition at public universities. While Bachmann did not mention the Texas governor’s name, she harshly criticized Perry for the Texas law.

“In 2009 in Texas, there were 12,138 students that benefited from that,” she said. “That cost the taxpayers of Texas $25.9 million.”

Bachmann’s message did not please everyone in the room. After interrupting the congresswoman mid-speech, Eddie Diaz, a 32-year-old Perry resident and first-generation Iowan, was given the first question following her prepared remarks. 

Diaz and Bachmann went back and forth on arguably the most sensitive element of the whole immigration debate -- the fate of the children of illegal immigrants.

“Under our system of government you cannot punish the children for the actions of their parents,” Diaz forcefully told Bachmann. The congresswoman countered that laws like these only encourage more illegal immigration.

Following the “Bachmann Takes it to Perry Rally,” the Perry campaign responded, touting Perry’s 10 years experience as governor of a border state.

“Governor Perry has been hard at work at this,” Perry’s Iowa Chair, Bob Haus, said in a statement. “Iowans will trust someone who's actually done the work to secure our border."

DES MOINES, Iowa—According to Federal Election Commission filings, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann's two campaign arms raised a total of almost $4.1 million during the third quarter fundraising period.

FEC filings posted Saturday found that Bachmann's spending outpaced her earnings between the beginning of July and the end of September. Her two authorized committees — Bachmann for President and MicheleBachmann.com — spent over $6.2 million during the quarter,

Bachmann for President raised $3.9 million during the quarter, spent $5.9 million, and has above $1.3 million in cash on hand as of the end of September.

MicheleBachmann.com raised about $200,000, spent roughly $260,000, and has just over $200,000 in cash on hand.

Bachmann's spending outpaced her earnings, records show. In part because of that spending, her primary campaign committee carries about $550,000 in debt.

According to Bachmann's campaign, Bachmann had received 97,000 contributions from over 70,000 individuals, with an average contribution of $42.

"We are especially proud of the fact that we continue to bring in large numbers of small donors who contribute time after time," campaign manager Keith Nahigian said in a statement. "We are grateful to each and every donor who has helped us gather the necessary resources to continue reaching out to the people of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and the rest of the country."

Bachmann has staked her campaign on a message of everyman frugality—attacking the federal government for its deficit, and insisting Iowan families would know better than to spend beyond their incomes.

During an event in Des Moines earlier this month, Bachmann told reporters, "This is how I intend to run the country. In a way that I grew up understanding here in Iowa, we were frugal, we were prudent, and we never spent more money than what we took in."

GRINNELL, Iowa -- Michele Bachmann’s planned stop at a local farm for a speech and fundraiser Tuesday night seemed to stop just short of the plan.

Bachmann toured Carroll's Pumpkin Farm with owner -- and former state representative -- Danny Carroll and his wife, Joy, but did not make scheduled remarks inside a hay loft, which had been outfitted with banners and equipped for television media coverage.

The reason apparently had to do with a group of about 50 students from nearby Grinnell College -- and at least one from the University of Iowa -- who showed up unannounced. They were alerted to the event by an email from campus Democrats, students said. One carried a sign with the word "My" written large enough to encompass two lines followed by "Body" and "Choice," or "My body, my choice" -- a clear counter to Bachmann’s anti-abortion-rights views.

“We had some very special friends and guests, who were invited specifically for this fundraiser," Carroll said, "and we wanted, out of consideration for those guests, that they had the opportunity to spend some quality time with Congresswoman Bachmann.”

The campaign event was billed as a fundraiser for a Christian advocacy group called, The Family Leader, which is affiliated with the Colorado-based organization Focus on the Family, and issued a controversial anti-gay marriage pledge -- among other things -- earlier this year.

The congresswoman met privately with about 35 supporters inside the farm’s main house.

The Grinnell students milled outside the main house as at least two local policemen and two Poweshiek County deputies arrived and cordoned the group with yellow tape. When Bachmann emerged from the house, she took a brief tour of the farm and stopped to admire baby goats before holding a press conference.

Asked by reporters why she did not visit the hay loft and meet with the students, Bachmann insisted the event was private and held at the discretion of her hosts.

"I think, if I understood correctly, that the college students just came on their own and asked if they could come on the property,” Bachmann said, “and it would be up to the Carrolls to say.” She added, “They said that they welcomed them on their farm and allowed them on. But this was never intended to be a big, public event.”

Some of the students, in order to get in, said they purchased tickets to hear Bachmann's speech. At least four students held signs. Some read: "Female Gay Student 99%. Where's My Future?” (99% is in reference to the “Occupy Wall St. Movement,” which refers to itself as the 99% of the population without a say); "John Wayne Quincy Adams --- Our Greatest Forefather"; and "Pray BACK The Gay.”

"I think everyone came in with an open mind and were willing to be pretty civil," said Abby Stevens, one of the Grinnell students.

Jillian Johnson, another student, said, “I was just hoping to hear her speak, and just sort of hear a lot of her positions.” She added, “It’s just frustrating that a group of college students could drive away someone who’s running for president. I don’t really know what outcome they were expecting. Grinnell’s known for being an extremely liberal, politically active, although very peaceful school.”

As Bachmann walked to her van, she looked over at the students assembled behind the cordon.

“Bye!” she shouted, with a wave and a smile.