Larisa Alexandrovna: Rove, WH Emails, Attorney Scandal, Siegelman - All One Story, Justice Not Done

[Hissyspit]

Justice still to be served...

http://www.atlargely.com/2009/01/investigative-journalism-the-prm-series-articles.html

January 02, 2009

Investigative Journalism: The PRM Series Articles

UPDATE BELOW

Okay folks, since Congress appears to be disinterested in addressing Mr. Rove's contempt for ignoring his subpoena and the DOJ is under USAG's Mukasey's thumb, and the MSM is busy ignoring all of this entirely anyway, then the alternative press and citizen journalists must continue this work. Thus far Raw Story, Harper's, and a handful of articles in Time Magazine have been the only ones digging, chasing, demanding, questioning.

Part of why I started this blog was to encourage people to develop stories and leads, connect the dots and so forth as well as provide advice on working a story. In other words, I want you to investigate and write.

Here is my PRM series below in one place. Read through this and see what you come up with. But something has to be done. Paul Minor, John Whitfield, and Wes Teel are still in jail. Not to mention countless others who are not as visible. The break-ins, arson, and threats received by targets and witnesses in Alabama and Mississippi have yet to be investigated or addressed by law enforcement. And we know now that there were allegations of threats (part of the court record) against Michael Connell. Alabama and Mississippi lead to Ohio.

This is all one story. The US Attorney Scandal and the missing WH email scandal is one story. Election fraud allegations are but a tangent to this other, to the bigger scandal. The more people working on this, the more information can be developed and leads followed. The MSM has lost all credibility with me for its outright ignoring of this entire scandal from the firings, to the attorneys who stayed behind, to the political imprisonment of innocent people targeted by the Bush WH.

So, dig in and work this story. All real journalists should be (those not stuck overseas covering the myriad of other scandals and events). Those journalists who have the ability to and are not covering this scandal, can simply continue to pretend they are journalists. We know better. See my award nominated series below:

The Permanent Republican Majority Series (US Attorney Scandal and the Missing Emails):

Part 1: Political Prisoner
Part 2: Siegelman's Daughter Speaks Out
Part 3: Running Elections from the White House
Part 4: Mississippi Prosecutions
Part 5: Interview with Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Oliver E. Diaz, Jr.
Part 6: Break-Ins Plague Targets of Political Prosecutions
Part 7: Justice for Sale
Judge who denied Paul Minor's release protoge of Karl Rove
DOJ Investigating 2 US Attorneys in alleged political prosecutions
60 Minutes signal dropped in Alabama only during Siegelman portion
Interview with Dana Jill Simpson on Karl Rove's alleged smears
Karl Rove's next move: A Million Dollar House in Florida
Republican IT consultant subpoenaed in case alleging vote tampering in Ohio during 04 election
Documents reveal how vote tallies were routed in Ohio during 04 election
Abramoff said he had agreement with White House aid regarding communications
Treasury Department investigating US Attorney for sharing private income tax returns of a case target
IT Consultant subpoenaed in Ohio case declared emergency before fatal airplane crash

Also see Scott Horton's excellent reporting on Mississippi and Alabama.
See local Alabama journalist Roger Shuler's excellent reporting
And in Mississippi there is no one doing better work than theJackson Free Press
There is also my blog entries on the Siegelman case Here and on Paul Minor's case Here

If I have missed anyone, please let me know. I am still a bit tired today.

UPDATE

From Muriel Kane in the comments below, here is what she adds:

And while you're looking at Larisa's list of issues, don't forget:

- Tom DeLay, the K Street Project, the Alexander Strategy Group, and Jack Abramoff are also part of this story.

- So is the ever-tighter GOP alliance with corporate interests, particularly the Chamber of Commerce, and its reliance on corporate funding in place of actual popular support.

- So is the network of GOP operatives, lobbyists, and dirty tricksters (many of them the same people), such as Charlie Black, Wayne Berman, and Haley Barbour.

All of these people have had the perpetuation of Republican power as their overriding objective for the last dozen years. Most of them came together following Clinton's reelection in 1996 to lay their plans, form alliances, and set out talking points. Everything that we have seen happen since 1997-98 has been the outcome of the schemes that were hatched then.

Under the PRM strategy, the Republican Party itself has been whipped into lockstep and subordinated to corporate interests.

The greatest triumph of the PRM strategy came in the 2002 elections. Since then, it has progressively fallen apart around their ears. But that only means they can be expected to regroup again, as they did after 1996.

As well as digging out the skeletons of the past, we need to be paying attention to what is going to happen next. Who will be the new DeLay or the new Abramoff? Is Karl Rove still in the game or is he ready to pass the torch to a new generation of disciples? What will be the next set of wedge issues used to persuade Americans to vote against their own best interests? And how much of our lost trillions will be diverted into the warchests of PRM: The Sequel?

[Peace Patriot]

1. Thanks so much for this compilation!

I think Karl Rove was behind the campaign to drive our good CA Sec of State, Kevin Shelley, from office on entirely bogus corruption charges. Shelley had sued Diebold and demanded to see their source code, six months before the 2004 election. He also enforced CA's law that required a paper ballot for any voter who requested it, and engaged in other reforms. He was driven from office by a combo of corpo/fascist 'news' monopolies, Diebold operatives in the state legislature and a cabal of very corrupt county registrars.

I think both the Recall election in '03 (the first full-on 'TRADE SECRET' code election in CA), and the 2004 presidential election in CA, were fixed--the first to put Schwarzenegger in office (to stop exposure of Enron/Bush Cartel), the second to shave Kerry's mandate in CA to help pad Bush's national popular majority. (Kerry got 10% fewer votes statewide than Senate candidate Barbara Boxer; the entire difference between them is to be found only in Republican counties.)

When Shelley was elected (in '02), he began to seriously investigate Diebold, had hardly had time to put his name on the door when the Recall happened, and was more onto the scam of 'TRADE SECRET' vote counting by May '04 when he sued Diebold. Shelley was a good, old-fashioned, honest public official, who banned 'revolving door' employment in his office. (The prior, Republican Sec of State, Bill Jones, and his chief aide, Alfie Charles, had gone to work for Sequoia after bringing the curse of corporate-run e-voting to CA.) Shelley was one of the best Sec of States in the country at the time. When the bad guys went after him, he had no personal money for his own defense. The Rovebots at the EAC were threatening to hound him to death with investigation of the phony charges against him, much like Ken Starr went after Bill Clinton (--the charges against him were utterly without merit; the CA A.G. refused to pursue them) With no money to defend himself--no money! NO MONEY!--and unable to do his job, he resigned in early '05.

I think that this additional victim of Karl Rove needs to be added to this list of needed investigations.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

9. we in North Carolina owe Kevin Shelley BIG TIME

Shelley caught Diebold with their pants down.

From his April 2004 press release:

These actions were detailed in a report issued April 20 by the Secretary of State’s office. The report indicated Diebold’s persistent and aggressive marketing led to installation in a number of counties of touchscreen systems that were neither tested, qualified at the federal level, nor certified at the state level – and that Diebold then lied about it to Secretary of State officials.

“We will not tolerate the deceitful conduct of Diebold, and we must send a clear message to the rest of the industry: Don’t try to pull a fast one on the voters of California,” Shelley said.

http://www.sos.ca.gov/admin/press-releases/prior/2004/04_030.pdf

If it weren't for this press release, we would not be able to prove to our state legislators
that voting vendors LIE and cannot be trusted.

Thanks to this press release and instances of vendor misbehavior, we were able to set standards for
voting vendors and also civil and criminal penalties for vendors.

Our State Board of Elections approved Diebold as a vendor in spite of the fact that Diebold
said they couldn't meet our legal standards, and in spite of the fact that Diebold even got a
temporary restraining order AGAINST our legal standards.

Thanks to EFF, Diebold's TRO was lifted and the judge told them that the law applied to
them equally as to other vendors.

Diebold ended up fleeing North Carolina shortly after.

Kevin Shelley is a big hero. He had guts to do what he did, but of course when you stand up to a
bully or crook like he did, they come after you.

[leftchick]

10. I agree with you completely

I knew from the start that recall election was a Rove plan. He has fucked over this country so many times, when will we ever see justice?

[SpiralHawk]

2. "Move along. There's nothing to see here." - Corporate media Brown Nosers

"This thread is REAL journalism, unlike the corporate pap & spin the Blow Dry sect shovels out. Thank you for posting it. As an American who respects truth, fairness and justice, I am honored to k & r."

- Spiral Hawk

[babylonsister]

3. Rec'd with thanks for all the effort! It would be nice to think

this could go some where.

[mod mom]

4. Important links to better understand the * crime family's hold on this country.

It's time to expose it not sweep it under the rug like was done in the Clinton years.

[rhett o rick]

5. k&r

[rhett o rick]

6. Let's hope Larisa stays away from small planes. nm

[Hissyspit]

7. Kick

[annabanana]

8. Bookmarked. This info should be at our fingertips.. Thank you all

for the spectacular job you are doing.

[Torn_Scorned_Ignored]

11. I detest the corporate media

in eight years they've covered None of the administrations scandals or crimes. It pisses me off beyond belief that Our

Country was taken over by a group of what turns out to be criminals, thugs, and those that use torture. ALL under the eye of

the corporate media journalists, yet Americans, us Real Americans watching TV News and buying gas know basically Nothing about

the 2004 election being stolen, the truth about the Iraq War, and the propaganda. Maybe now that the economy tanked, I

mean we are in a Global Economic Crisis - Americans will begin to start demanding truth from those who guard our country from fascism.


I don't know what the award Larisa has been nominated is, but - :yourock: and I hope you :smoke: 'em.


George Bush says: See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda.

[Torn_Scorned_Ignored]

12. Kicked

:kick:

to recommend after hours. :hi:

[JackRiddler]

13. Thank you for putting it all together.

[Jambalaya]

14. Can you hear me now?

How about the firm FLS-DCI? They have been the dirty tricks r us go to guys for GOP communications issues.Like,robo calls, push polls,astro turf phony front groups.third party PACs. They are even ENDOSED by Karl Rove on their website. They are joined at the hip to Norm Coleman ,and Tom Synhorst (the S0 in FLS-DCI was a founding partner of Mike Connell's Gov.tech firm. Check out these links:

Daily Kos: RNC Pays Legal Bills for Convicted Senior GOP OfficialDec 23, 2005 ... DCI Group itself is an offshoot of FLS-DCI, founded in 1999 by Tony .... On October 28, 2002, two of Jack Abramoff's represented Indian ...
www.dailykos.com/story/2005/12/23/85734/492 - 47k - Cached - Similar pages

ePluribus Media Community || citizen journalism, for the people ...Apr 22, 2007 ... praise of another Synhorst partnership, FLS-DCI, may apply here as well: ... The company, now based in Vienna, Va., later paid Abramoff ...
scoop.epluribusmedia.org/story/2007/4/22/33926/1773 - 65k - Cached - Similar pages


VELVETREVOLUTION.US :And they name names familiar to everyone—Jack Abramoff, Bob Ney, Ken Blackwell, ...... Tony Feather of FLS-DCI was the co-chair of Romney campaign. ...
www.velvetrevolution.us/index.php - 778k - Cached - Similar pages

TPMMuckraker | Talking Points Memo | Nevada GOP Cracking Down On ...Oct 21, 2008 ... Jack Abramoff and the HUGE casino scandals involving lobbying . ... the vile GOP calls FLS-DCI has a headquarters in St. Paul,Minnesota. ...
tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/10/nevada_gop_cracking_down_on_ur.php - 94k - Cached - Similar pages

Soft Money in the 2006 Election and the Outlook for 2008File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - View as HTML
Jack Abramoff.” It urged viewers to “Tell Congresswoman Pryce that ..... In the same period, FLS-DCI fulfilled large contracts ...
www.cfinst.org/books_reports/pdf/NP_Softmoney_06-08.pdf - Similar pages

[chimpymustgo]

15. K&R. So many crimes, so little time.

[Jambalaya]

16. No votee,no laundry

VR MAIN BLOG







12/20/08: Bush Insider Who Planned To Tell All Killed In Plane Crash: Non-Profit Demands Full Federal Investigation



Michael Connell, the Bush IT expert who has been directly implicated in the rigging of George Bush’s 2000 and 2004 elections, was killed last night when his single engine plane crashed three miles short of the Akron airport. Velvet Revolution (“VR”), a non-profit that has been investigating Mr. Connell’s activities for the past two years, can now reveal that a person close to Mr. Connell has recently been discussing with a VR investigator how to tell all about his work for George Bush. Mr. Connell told a close associate that he was afraid that the George Bush and Dick Cheney would “throw under the bus.”

A tipster close to the McCain campaign disclosed to VR in July that Mr. Connell’s life was in jeopardy and that Karl Rove had threatened him and his wife, Heather. VR’s attorney, Cliff Arnebeck, notified the United States Attorney General , Ohio law enforcement and the federal court about these threats and insisted that Mr. Connell be placed in protective custody. VR also told a close associate of Mr. Connell’s not to fly his plane because of another tip that the plane could be sabatoged. Mr. Connell, a very experienced pilot, has had to abandon at least two flights in the past two months because of suspicious problems with his plane. On December 18, 2008, Mr. Connell flew to a small airport outside of Washington DC to meet some people. It was on his return flight the next day that he crashed.

On October 31, Mr. Connell appeared before a federal judge in Ohio after being subpoenaed in a federal lawsuit investigating the rigging of the 2004 election under the direction of Karl Rove. The judge ordered Mr. Connell to testify under oath at a deposition on November 3rd, the day before the presidential election. Velvet Revolution received confidential information that the White House was extremely concerned about Mr. Connell talking about his illegal work for the White House and two Bush/Cheney 04 attorneys were dispatched to represent him.

An associate of Mr. Connell’s told VR that Mr. Connell was involved with the destruction of the White House emails and the setting up of the off-grid White House email system.

Mr. Connell handled all of John McCain’s computer work in the recent presidential campaign. VR has received direct evidence that the McCain campaign kept abreast of the legal developments against Mr. Connell by reading the VR dedicated website, www.rovecybergate.com.

VR demands that the Justice Department conduct a complete investigation into the activities of Mr. Connell and determine whether there was any foul play in his death. VR demands that federal law enforcement officials place the following people under protective custody pending this investigation. Heather Connell who is the owner of GovTech Solutions, Randy Cole, the former President of GovTech Solutions, and Jeff Averbeck, the CEO of SmartTech in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Both GovTech and SmartTech have been implicated in the rigging of the 2000 and 2004 elections and the White House email scandal. Our prior request to have Mr. Connell protected went unheeded and now he is dead.







12/8/08: Don Siegelman’s Appeal To Be Heard Tomorrow



Former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman, a leader for progressive change in the Deep South, was the first Governor to endorse AL Gore when he ran for President. This was too much for Karl Rove, who launched a personal war to destroy Don, first with a political prosecution and then with a rigged election.

Don's legal battle is now at a critical stage. Tomorrow, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals will hear his appeal, which could throw out the false charges. But Don needs our help to raise $30,000 to cover legal costs to clear his name. The government has reportedly spent over 40 million dollars to prosecute Don and his family has spent virtually all of their life's savings to fight these false charges.

For over a year, we have been reporting the story of Siegelman’s political prosecution, and the American Trial Lawyer Magazine labels Don Siegelman as America's #1 "Political Prisoner." Time Magazine exposed how selective prosecution was used by Karl Rove's Republican prosecutors and CBS's 60 Minutes exposed how they knowingly extorted false testimony to secure a conviction. Earlier this month, Time revealed that the Department of Justice has been involved in a cover-up of unethical and criminal activity within the Department and the U.S. Attorney's office. Last week's New York Times story reveals further prosecutorial misconduct. Don was handcuffed, shackled, and put into solitary confinement in a maximum-security prison for something The New York Times has said has never even been considered a crime in America. Fifty-four former state Attorneys General agreed and filed a support brief

Don is now engaged in two important fights: One for his own freedom and the other to save our democracy by seeing that Karl Rove is brought to justice. As Don recently said, "We must win these fights to unravel the injustices that have been perpetrated against our democracy. With your help, Karl Rove and his accomplices will be held accountable for their abuse of power -- and I can clear my name for good."

Tomorrow's hearing can put this right. Don's Legal Defense Fund can take donations of corporate, PAC, foundation, or personal money of any size. Please give right now online or mail your contribution to:

Siegelman Legal Defense Fund
3963 River View Drive
Birmingham, AL 35243








11/26/08: VR To California Secretary Of State: Investigate Proposition 8 Vote Count



VR has called on California Secretary of State Debra Bowen to order an immediate investigation into the accuracy of the vote count on Proposition 8, the ballot measure to amend the state's Constitution by repealing marriage equality.

VR believes an investigation is warranted due to witnessed failures in election auditing procedures, complaints from voters and election monitors, equipment failures, and more, including:

Exit poll discrepancy. The exit poll conducted by Edison/Mitofsky produced initial results indicating defeat of Prop 8. Edison/Mitofsky later "adjusted" the exit polls to match the announced vote count, thus destroying their usefulness in flagging possible election irregularities. However, the Election Defense Alliance captured screen shots of the initial exit poll results, documenting a predicted defeat of Prop 8.

Premature 'calling' of the election. Prop 8 was announced to have passed when, according to the Secretary of State's official website, an estimated three to four million votes remained uncounted. The margin of passage for Prop 8 was reported to be approximately 435,000 votes. As of this date, many votes still have not been counted!

Extremely high stakes. The passage of Prop 8 creates a dangerous precedent of subjecting the rights of a minority to a popular vote. Quite frankly, that is unconstitutional and un-American. Because of this, we believe that the California Secretary of State has an even greater responsibility than usual to ensure that the election results are accurate.

VR believes there are enough indications of potential problems with the Prop 8 vote count to warrant a thorough statewide investigation by the Secretary of State, and we request that such an investigation begin at once. This investigation should be transparent, auditable, and performed in a manner that can be independently overseen, so the voters of California can be assured that the announced election results are accurate. Voters should not have to simply trust that the reported election results are correct.

Should the investigation reveal that the election results on Prop 8 or any other contest or ballot initiative were incorrect, swift and decisive action must be taken to rectify the results.

The people of California deserve no less.

The full text of VR's letter to Secretary Bowen can be viewed at http://www.velvetrevolution.us/electionstrikeforce/2008/11/its_official_velvet_revolution.html







11/25/08: VR Releases Chambliss YouTube Video And Display Ad




Velvet Revolution (“VR”), a non-profit dedicated to clean and honest elections, has released a YouTube video about the Chambliss election fraud at www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_gBfUo9dPs.

VR will be running a display ad in the Atlanta Journal Constitution on Monday, December 2nd, about this explosive legal development. Blogs and other media can use this ad by downloading here.








11/24/08: Saxby Chambliss Election Fraud: Attorney Files RICO Notice On Georgia Secretary Of State



On November 24, 2008, Attorney Cliff Arnebeck served the following letter on the Georgia Secretary of State alleging a pattern of rigged elections, including that of Saxby Chambliss.

Secretary of State Karen C. Handel
214 State Capital
Atlanta, GA 30334
Fax: [phone]

RE: Public record and document hold request

Dear Secretary of State Handel:

We are in the process of preparing a racketeering claim under the Ohio Corrupt Practices Act against Karl Rove as the principal perpetrator, and other individuals acting in association with him, to corrupt elections in the United States over the course of this decade.

Ground zero for this activity in 2000 was Florida, in 2004 was Ohio, and in 2002 was Georgia. In each case, exit polling, the international gold standard for detection of vote count fraud, indicated fraud in the officially recorded vote for President or for the US Senate, in the case of Georgia 2002. Furthermore, the direct recording electronic voting machines that have been used in Georgia since 2002 are the election burglary tool of choice because of the multiplicity of avenues they provide for wholesale election fraud.

This is to request any records of official investigation of the reported use of uncertified patches by Diebold in two Democratic Georgia counties in 2002, reported by former Diebold consultant Chris Hood. Also, we request protocols, inspection and audit procedures that have been prescribed to protect against other introductions of uncertified patches into federal elections in Georgia.

We also request information as to the availability for inspection of the memory cards, tapes and all electronic records and hard drives on which these were originally recorded, for the November 2008 election.

Finally, we request your confirmation that all such records for the runoff election will be retained for the federally prescribed 22 month period.

Please regard this as a public records request, as a well as a document-hold notice in connection with our planned litigation.

Sincerely yours,

Clifford O. Arnebeck, Jr.
Attorney at Law







11/21/08: $100,000 Reward For Information Regarding Election Fraud in California's Proposition 8



Velvet Revolution (“VR”), a non-profit dedicated to clean and honest elections, today offers a $100,000 reward for hard information leading to the arrest and conviction of any person or persons who may have committed election fraud affecting the passage of Proposition 8.

California's Prop 8, an amendment to the state Constitution eliminating the right of same-sex couples to marry, was declared on election night to have passed, even though approximately four million ballots remained uncounted, approximately eight times more than the margin of victory.

Citing the unreliability of the state's electronic voting systems as well as complaints by voters, election monitors and election integrity advocates alleging election irregularities, VR yesterday called on the Secretary of State to launch an investigation into the Proposition 8 election. We now ask whistleblowers to come forward.

"If there was foul play in the Proposition 8 race, somebody knows it, and we're asking them to speak out," says Velvet Revolution spokesperson Emily Levy. "The possibility that millions of Californians could have the right to marriage equality revoked based on incorrect election results is deeply disturbing," says Levy. "In this age when California counts its votes with computers that repeatedly fail, produce incorrect results, and can be manipulated, the public and our election officials must go the extra mile to ensure that the election results are accurate." Velvet Revolution has also asked the public to monitor the post-election processes currently underway in California counties.

In addition to the new reward being offered in the Proposition 8 race, Velvet Revolution is offering rewards for information related to alleged election manipulation in the 2004 presidential election in Ohio, the break-ins at ACORN's offices in Massachusetts and Washington state, and the 2002 Georgia Senate race in which Saxby Chambliss prevailed. Chambliss is currently fighting to retain that Senate seat in a runoff election to be held December 2.

Tips can be left by phone at 1-888-VOTETIP or by email: tips (at) velvetrevolution.us. All tips will remain confidential.







11/17/08: 100K Reward For Information About Rigging Of 2002 Saxby Chambliss Senate Race In Georgia



VR today offers a $100,000 reward for hard information leading to the arrest and conviction of any person or persons who rigged the 2002 Senate race in Georgia in favor of Saxby Chambliss. That election pitted popular incumbent Max Cleland, a war hero, against conservative novice Saxby Chambliss. The pre-election polls showed Cleland with a comfortable lead but the end results had Chambliss winning by a wide margin.

Diebold whistleblower Chris Hood has stated publicly that, in the days leading up to that election, he was ordered by Diebold President Bob Urosevich (a GOP partisan) to place uncertified patches on hundreds of voting machines in the Democratic leaning counties of Fulton and DeKalb. Hood was told not to discuss these patches with Georgia elections officials. Documents provided by Hood show that Cathy Cox, the former top Georgia elections official, was unaware at the time that these patches had been placed on the machines.

Cyber security expert Stephen Spoonamore has stated that Mr. Hood gave him a copy of the Georgia patch and that he analyzed it and turned it over to the FBI Cyber Team in Washington for investigation. Spoonamore stated that the patch was a comparative patch and could have been used to flip the votes in the Diebold machines. He stated that in his expert opinion, Max Cleland was the real winner of that election and that Saxby Chambliss stole it with the Diebold machines.

Georgia uses paperless Diebold touchscreen machines for its elections. The machines it uses have been shown by computer scientists to be very vulnerable to manipulation and rigging with a computer patch or virus that can be installed in seconds.

VR wants to ensure that the December 2nd runoff election in Georgia between Saxby Chambliss and Jim Martin is not manipulated by an uncertified patch placed on voting machines by persons who have a partisan interest in the results. In order to ensure a clean election without vote machine rigging, the person or persons who may have rigged the 2002 Chambliss race must be exposed and prosecuted. All tips will remain confidential and can be left by phone: 1-888-VOTETIP or by email: tips (at) velvetrevolution.us.







11/14/08: More DOJ Misconduct Disclosed In Siegelman Case



Just weeks before the appeal of former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman’s case is to be heard by the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, more explosive evidence of DOJ misconduct has come to light by none other than a DOJ legal staffer who worked in the office that prosecuted Siegelman. > In short, that staffer, Tamarah T. Grimes, has provided emails that prove that Leura Canary, who had recused herself from the case, continued to follow every detail and provide advice and facts to the prosecutors. Ms. Grimes also provided emails showing that jurors had improper contact with the prosecution and that one juror had a crush on one of the prosecution team. Canary was a U.S. Attorney in Montgomery whose husband was Alabama's top Republican operative and who had for years worked closely with Karl Rove.

We interviewed Siegelman in July and he told us then that Karl Rove directed his prosecution and ordered the rigging of his election. It is time to get to the truth in this case and AG Michael Mukasey should not wait for the appeal court to rule. Mukasey himself should file to dismiss all charges against Siegelman.







11/8/08: Top MD Elections Official Rips Off Microphone When Asked About Diebold Voting Machines




VR has obtained an unaired major TV interview with Maryland’s top election official, Linda Lamone, in the weeks prior to the 2006 election. This is a must see video.

The dogged reporter who conducted the interview tried valiantly to get candid answers from Lamone (Administrator of Maryland's State Board of Elections and President of the National Association of State Election Directors) regarding the security and accuracy of the Diebold paperless touchscreen machines used in Maryland. Lamone, in response, said that respected computer expert Avi Rubin had done more than anyone to undermine confidence in electronic voting, that the reporter was living in a “fantasy land” to believe that voting machines are unsecure, and that source code used in the voting machines is “not relevant.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyWVB9RmwpE

Finally, rather than answer further questions, Lamore ripped off the microphone and stalked out of the interview. Wow, so much for transparency.

There is an interesting postscript to this interview. Despite the rabid opposition of Lamone, Maryland last year passed legislation outlawing paperless voting machines starting in 2010. Supporters of this new law argued that Lamone had no credibility since she was the person who helped cover-up and sanitize the SAIC report about the Maryland DRE machines. That report, leaked to VR in October 2006, http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3719, showed that the machines had hundreds of major vulnerabilities that could be exploited to compromise an election. Here is our video about that report. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8EeaFyY4y4







11/5/08: Finally, An Elected President



Barack Obama was overwhelmingly elected by citizens in all regions of the country. Unlike the past two elections where the results were contested in two states run by partisans who rigged the results, this election was won hands down by the person who ran the best campaign. This is not to say that there were not massive problems with voting systems in many states. But this election did not come down to one state or county controlled by corrupt officials.

Four years ago, VR was formed out of the chaos of the 2004 election. Since then, we and all of you have fought a long battle to ensure that our elections are fair, honest and transparent. We demanded accurate voting machines and paper ballots. In this election, both Florida and Ohio, now with paper ballots, went Blue and there is no one questioning that result.

Over the past several months, we have raised the specter of a Man in the Middle computer attack on the vote tabulators controlled by partisan evangelicals. We identified Michael Connell as the key GOP IT expert who created these nefarious networks. We took legal action against Connell in the form of a federal deposition. Karl Rove responded by threatening Connell to either take the fall or keep his mouth shut. Connell’s Bush/Cheney attorneys did everything possible to keep Connell from testifying.

Two weeks ago, Rove was confidently saying that John McCain could win ten battleground states to become President. McCain was confidently telling everyone that he would win with a surge in the wee hours of election night.

Well, last Friday, something important happened: Michael Connell was forced to appear before Solomon Oliver, a Clinton appointed African-American federal Judge in Cleveland. After Attorney Cliff Arnebeck accused Connell in open court of rigging elections for Karl Rove, the judge ordered Connell to submit to a sworn deposition 18 hours before the polls were to open. On Monday at noon, Connell was placed under oath and grilled about election fraud, Man in the Middle attacks, Trojan horse manipulations and threats from Rove.

And guess what happened? Connell suddenly changed his tune. Connell said that to his knowledge there would be no tabulation manipulations of Tuesday’s election. And something else, Karl Rove wrote on his blog late Monday that Obama would win by a landslide even in those states he had previously predicted McCain would win.

In short, at VR, with all the help from you, our affiliates, our supporters and others, we played a role in helping to make this presidential election more fair than the past two. Our education campaign, our paper ballot campaign, our whistleblower campaign and our legal strategies worked. That’s what democracy is all about.

Thank all of you for your confidence in our work, your dedication and your kind and generous support. We hope to continue to do our small part to make our government more accountable to everyone.







11/4/08: Connell Stonewalls At Deposition: Attorney Instructs Him Not To Answer Key Questions



The first deposition of Michael Connell took place yesterday in Cleveland. Connell was put on notice that he was being questioned about election fraud. Connell quickly adopted the posture of many Bush staffers who have been questioned about wrongdoing, such as Scooter Libby, Alberto Gonzales, Karl Rove, Stephen Hadley, Donald Rumsfeld and others. Attorney Cliff Arnebeck said that Connell is a classic ”Bush/Rove Team player” who was schooled on how to not answer.

Connell’s attorney helped Connell by telling him not to answer many questions including, “Who directed you to set up the Swift Boat Veterans For Truth IT Network.”

The only admission of substance was, after an initial denial, Connell said that he brought Triad and SmartTech into the Ohio election game. Of course, these are the two companies identified by Spoonamore as rigging the election, Triad by pulling hard drives prior to the recount and SmartTech by running the election results through its GOP servers in Chattanooga before they got to the Ohio election computers.

Mr. Arnebeck said that Connell denied that there were “any” problems at all with any voting systems and he never heard of any fraud. He said he did not “know of any vulnerabilities” to voting systems in Ohio. In other words, he said that everything’s fine, no one did anything wrong, and everyone should trust people like him to count their votes.

Mr. Arnebeck “Connell has just ensured that he is Exhibit A of the soon to be filed RICO lawsuit against Karl Rove et al for manipulating elections.” Arnebeck also said that Connell demonstrates the epitome of unethical conflicts of interest for running George Bush’s election IT network while counting the votes in the key state of Ohio.

The silver lining to all of this is that Connell and his handlers know that their gig is up. They should not believe for a minute that Connell’s two hour performance yesterday will do anything to slow down our investigation. Once the dust clears from today’s election, the attorneys will go full force to charge Connell and others with Racketeering and Corrupt Practices.







11/3/08: Election Protection Is Front And Center



OK, tomorrow is Election Day and we expect many problems across the country. However, there are many people who are on the front lines trying to protect the vote. We want to remind you of a few of the things we are doing.

Today, Monday November 3, Mike Connell, known as the Republican IT Guru, will be deposed in Cleveland, Ohio at 12:00 noon EST. This is part of a long-standing voting rights violations lawsuit, King Lincoln v. Blackwell, which has been previously covered by The BRAD BLOG and by Velvet Revolution's Election Protection Strike Force. Mr. Connell's company, GovTech Solutions, created Ohio's 2004 election results computer network. Connell will be questioned on many topics including Man in the Middle attacks, remote trojan horses, threats from Karl Rove, and Triad's manipulation of the election. The judge has ruled that information considered to be trade secrets of Connell's company will be under seal, as will any information gathered about witness intimidation, specifically the allegations of Karl Rove sending word to Connell that unless he "takes the fall" for election fraud, Rove will see to it that Connell's wife will be brought up on money laundering charges. Hopefully, all other questions and answers regarding all other topics will be available on Monday afternoon. Regardless of what happens in this deposition, it will likely be a dramatic day with many revelations and will help ensure that Connell and his cohorts have not rigged this election.

On Election Night, Brad Friedman of The BRAD BLOG will be anchoring Nova M Radio's coverage from 3:00 p.m. to at least Midnight (and possibly later), PST. That coverage will be not of the horserace, but of the track conditions, with stories of disenfranchisement, voter suppression, long lines, last minute legal rulings, any challenges that arise, etc. The networks and cable won't give any attention to these issues, but you know we will! We'll have up-to-the-minute information and a number of live guests. Listen live at this link http://www.novamradio.com/live/. Find a radio station broadcasting the show here http://www.novaMradio.com.

We are also working closely with Video the Vote to make sure that people with video cameras are present to document problems with the election. VR is one of the VTV east coast coordinators. Check it out a www.videothevote.org and if you see something going wrong, call 1-866-OURVOTE.

We are also working with a new organization called The Uptake, www.theuptake.com, which is doing something similar to VTV but more instantaneous. The UpTake uses video phones to take footage and give audio reports that feed directly into the Internet. Nokia has donated video phones to them for use in this election and VR helped to fund this new technology. We expect to have UpTake reports coming in all day.

Also, remember to call our fraud hotline if you have a tip you want investigated, 1-888-VOTETIP. And check our Election Protection Strike Force for the latest election news.

Finally, check out our affiliate www.truevote.us and sign their most recent petitions.
Urge Media To Archive All Exit Poll Results http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=600&
Petition for International Election Observers http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=574
Stop Vote Flipping in West Virginia http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=397
Take Action: Help Ensure All Who Want to Vote Can http://truevote.us/nucleus/index.php?itemid=340







11/1/08: Judge Orders Mike Connell To Submit To Deposition 24 Hours Before Election



Yesterday, after a contentious three hour hearing in an Akron, Ohio federal court, the judge ordered Bush/Rove IT expert Michael Connell to submit to a two hour deposition less than 24 hours before the start of the 2008 election. The Court ruled that Ohio attorney Cliff Arnebeck can question Connell under oath about Man in the Middle computer manipulations, the use of Trojan horses to control election results from a remote location, and the role of Triad in election manipulations.

However, in a strange twist, the judge agreed with demands from Connell’s attorney to keep under seal any testimony about threats and intimidation of Connell by others including Karl Rove. This is seen as necessary to protect possible criminal charges against those who may have engaged in obstruction of justice in this case.

A couple of notes here: We believe that Connell should not pull an Alexander Butterfield by waiting for a direct question from Mr. Arnebeck as to what he knows about rigged elections. Instead, Connell should be prepared to come clean from the start knowing that this is just the beginning of the inquiry. We have lots of names and lots of people providing us information about these rigged elections. Connell is not longer under the protectorate of the Bush family. There is a new dynamic here and Connell can either fight it and go down with the ship or get out in front and cooperate with full immunity for him and his wife.

Also, Connell must now know that the gig is up—he can’t steal this election. If he has set up the network for such a theft, he knows that he has to shut it down prior to Tuesday because he will get caught. People must now be held accountable and Connell has a unique opportunity to do that by cooperating in full and telling what he knows about election rigging, White House email destruction, front groups, and orders from Karl Rove and others to do illegal things.







10/30/08: VR Interviews Prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi About Prosecuting George Bush For Murder




America’s most famous prosecutor, Vincent Bugliosi, sat down with VR for an interview about his new book, “The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder.” He lays out his case in great detail and promises that he will lead the prosecution if appointed to do so. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULq9Ha7aKO8&feature=related This is a must see, candid interview about a criminal president. When asked why so many people have been afraid to take on the Bush Administration, Bugliosi blames the right wing fear machine. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B59IRr_1Nzk







10/29/08: Attorneys File To Compel Testimony Of Mike Connell: Spoonamore Attests That King Pin Attack Manipulated The 2004 Election



Yesterday, Attorneys in Ohio filed papers in federal court to compel the immediate testimony of Michael Connell, the GOP’s top IT expert. In short, they argued that Connell, once a willing witness, has hunkered down after threats from Karl Rove and his minions. See Memo here. They allege that Connell is a witness to a crime to steal prior elections, and his knowledge will be helpful to ensure that next week’s election is not stolen.

Attached to the motion is a powerful affidavit from Stephen Spoonamore, a cyber-security expert advising the attorneys. Spoonamore states that the 2004 election in Ohio was attacked by a Man in the Middle King Pin computer manipulation that changed the results from Kerry to Bush. See Spoon Declaration here. This is a must read for everyone to see how this was, and can be, done.

The Ohio News Service picked up the story here.







10/28/08: Kelsie Asks John McCain to send Sarah Palin Back To School To Learn About Global Warming “So Everyone Can Have A Clean And Healthy Environment”




This is our last Kelsie video of the campaign where she asks Senator McCain to enroll Sarah Palin in her fourth grade class so Sarah can learn about the cause of global warming. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8JHqRQiCic








10/28/08: Voting Machines Flipping Votes At Many Early Voting Sites: Where Are The Election Protection Attorneys?



Non-Profit Election Watchdog Demands Failed Machines Be Removed from Service, Impounded

In a national press release today, Velvet Revolution called for elections officials in all states to immediately impound any voting machine that has flipped votes from one candidate to another. It has been widely reported in the media over the past week of early voting that Direct Recording Election (DRE, usually touch-screen) voting machines made by ES&S, Diebold, Sequoia and Hart InterCivic have been flipping votes, predominantly from Democratic candidates to Republican candidates, but in some reported cases, just the opposite. (See: http://www.bradblog.com/?page_id=6577 )

These vote flips were first reported in West Virginia and the elections official there quickly ordered the recalibration of some machines, but video has shown that recalibration does not correct the problem and the flips continue. (See: http://www.velvetrevolution.us/electionstrikeforce/2008/10/video_the_vote_captures_video.html)

Vote flipping has also now reported to have occurred in Texas, Tennessee, Missouri, Nevada, Colorado, Georgia and elsewhere.

“Machines that flip votes should never be recalibrated,” said Brad Friedman, co-founder of Velvet Revolution. “Accessing these election-ready machines in this way, when they are most vulnerable to malicious software and manipulation, is wholly inappropriate. It is outrageous that election officials have ordered such action. Instead, failing machines must be immediately removed from service, impounded for later inspection, and voters should be given paper ballots to assure their vote may be counted accurately."

VR also demands that the legal teams associated with the candidates step up and take immediate legal action to quarantine these faulty voting machines. The Obama campaign has made much of the fact that it has thousands of lawyers on the ground to ensure that this election is fair and everyone’s vote is counted. “Unfortunately, these lawyers, the lawyers for McCain and the lawyers for the DNC and RNC are AWOL and asleep at the wheel,” continued Friedman. “”We insist that they keep their promise to the voters by demanding that these machines be taking out of service immediately. We should not have to wait until after the election for a candidate to sue because voters were not allowed to properly register their votes."







10/28/08: Thirteen Election Integrity Experts Discuss E-Voting Problems and How to Stop Them



VR has just issued a report on our Strike Force page called, “Thirteen Election Integrity Experts: E-Voting Problems and How to StopThem.” http://www.velvetrevolution.us/electionstrikeforce/2008/10/thirteen_election_integrity_ex.html

This important report is designed to wake up candidates of all parties about the dangers of electronic voting machine problems and manipulation. It details strategies and solutions that candidates should use to protect the vote -- and their political careers.

In test after test, electronic voting systems have been shown to be vulnerable to hacking from people who want to manipulate elections. Moreover, in the past week of early voting, these voting machines have repeatedly failed, flipped votes, and miscounted results. Therefore, it is crucial to the fairness of the upcoming election that citizens and candidates understand and take action against the menace of electronic voting machines and vote tabulators. This new report provides a road map on how to do just that.

The following election experts contributed to the report. Simon Ardizzone, filmmaker, “Hacking Democracy”; John Bonifaz, Constitutional Law Attorney, National Voting Rights Institute; Clint Curtis, computer programmer, E-voting whistleblower; David Earnhardt, Director, “Uncounted;” Dr. Robert Fitrakis, Attorney, Prof. of Political Science, Author, Editor; Brad Friedman, Investigative Journalist, Founder, BradBlog.com; Bev Harris, Founder, BlackBoxVoting.org; Holly Jacobson, President, VoterAction.org; Dr. David Jefferson, Computer Security Expert; Ion Sancho, Supervisor of Elections, Leon County, FL; Gov. Don Siegelman, Former Governor of Alabama; David Swanson, Washington Director, Democrats.com; Ellen Thiesen, Co-Director, VotersUnite.org







10/23/08: VR Calls For DOJ Investigation Into Why Bush/Rove IT Expert Mike Connell Asked How to Destroy White House Emails



Reporter Rebecca Abrahams wrote this week at Huffington Post that on October 11, 2006, longtime Bush/Rove IT expert Michael Connell met with cyber security expert Stephen Spoonamore to learn how to destroy data on White House computer hard drives This was during the height of the United States Attorney scandal and during the tenure of Connell's former employee, David Almacy, as director of the White House Internet and E-Communications Director.

Abrahams quotes from Spoonamore's emails which reference notes taken at the time of the meeting. Connell was accompanied at the meeting by Randy Cole, the former President of Connell's company, GovTech Solutions, now running for Ohio Congressional seat 41. When Spoonamore realized that Connell and Cole were asking how to destroy White House data, he terminated the conversation and told them that what they were asking about was illegal.

Attorney General Michael Mukasey recently appointed prosecutor Nora Dannehy to investigate whether criminal charges should be brought against those involved in the US Attorney scandal. Today, in a press release, VR called for that investigation to include what role and knowledge Michael Connell and Randy Cole have regarding the destruction of White House computer data, and, as Abrahams suggests, whether Connell knows where the White House email backup is located.







10/21/08: Kelsie Tells Sarah Palin Not To Interfere With Her Choice Of Medical Help




Kelsie’s latest letter to Sarah Palin expresses shock that Sarah would not want girls who get hurt to get the best medical help. She blasts Sarah for not trusting her to make medical decisions. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKXvzPUWoDM








10/18/08: VR Offers 5K Reward For Information About ACORN Break-ins



Today VR offered $5,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the break-ins of the Seattle and Boston offices of ACORN. In both cases, property was destroyed or stolen. ACORN issued a press release about the reward which can be seen here. Tips can be given to us on our toll free hotline, 1-888-VOTETIP or by email – tips at velvetrevolution.us.







10/14/08: Judge Rules GOP Caging Of Voters Is Illegal



The GOP has pulled out all the dirty tricks this election to make sure Republicans win, not by getting people to vote, but by making sure that people don’t vote. One of its tricks is called caging, where the GOP sends a letter to a voter and when it is returned as undeliverable, the voter gets purged or challenged. In Michigan, this took a very cynical turn when the GOP got lists of people who had lost their homes due to the mortgage crisis and then sent voters at those addresses caging letters. Of course, many of them were returned and the GOP used those return lists to purge voters.

However, Obama lawyers, The Advancement Project and the ACLU sued a few weeks ago, and yesterday Judge Stephen J. Murphy of the U.S. District Court of Michigan's Eastern District concluded that the program of eliminating these voters from rolls is in violation of federal law. “This is a very significant ruling for Michigan voters," said Matthew Lund, the ACLU cooperating attorney and a partner at Pepper Hamilton LLP who argued the case, in a release. "The court recognized – and repeated several times – that the state of Michigan is conducting unlawful voter purges that clearly violate the National Voter Registration Act. Michigan voters who were removed from the voting rolls for no reason other than failure to receive their ID card in the mail will now be allowed to vote in November.”

Well, one down for the people who believe in the rule of law and the right to vote. Now let’s see a court decision debunking the ACORN voter fraud myth and ordering Michael Connell and Karl Rove to testify about vote manipulations.







10/7/08: Velvet Revolution Calls On John McCain To Fire Michael Connell For Covering Up For Karl Rove In Federal Election Manipulation Lawsuit



Velvet Revolution today issued a press release calling for Republican candidate John McCain to fire computer expert Michael Connell from his campaign for covering up alleged election manipulations of Karl Rove and others. Mr. Connell, the GOP’s top computer expert, was subpoenaed based on a September 19th court order to testify under oath in an Ohio federal lawsuit looking into serious allegations that Mr. Rove has directed a strategy to illegally manipulate elections through the use of computer technology. Rather than cooperate in the investigation, Mr. Connell hired attorneys close to the Bush/Cheney Administration and refused to appear for the deposition arguing client (GOP) confidentiality. Those attorneys have said that they will do everything possible to keep Mr. Connell from testifying before the November general election.

Mr. Connell’s refusal to comply with a federal subpoena looking into credible evidence that the upcoming presidential election will be manipulated is at odds with John McCain’s promise to run a clean campaign. Another GOP cyber security expert, Stephen Spoonamore, has stated that Mr. Connell has vast experience and knowledge of the GOP computer networks at issue in the federal lawsuit.Mr. Connell has admitted to Mr. Spoonamore that in his zeal to 'save the unborn' he may have helped others who have compromised elections.”

Cliff Arnebeck, the Ohio election attorney who issued the subpoena, said Friday that he is aggressively moving to enforce the subpoena. “Mr. Connell has information about how the votes are tabulated in key states in the upcoming election. In order to ensure that the election is fair and accurate, Mr. Connell needs to testify under oath and pursuant to a lawful subpoena about how these votes are tabulated, whether the tabulation will be compromised and whether anyone has directed him to compromise those tabulations.”

According to federal filings, Mr. Connell is working for John McCain to help him win the election. VR believes that until Mr. Connell testifies under oath about his apparent knowledge of election manipulations, he should not be working for Mr. McCain. If he does, the McCain campaign will appear to be in league with Mr. Connell to cover up criminal conduct and engaging in election tampering. This will call into question the results of the November election and again cast a shadow over our election process.







10/4/08: Kelsie Tells Sarah Palin, "I'm Not Going To Let You Take My Books Away"




In our second of four ads prior to the election, nine-year old Kelsie writes to Sarah Palin about a story she read about the Taliban in Afghanistan burning books in the girl school. Kelsie says that she will never let Sarah take her books away. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DywfhNDbSRM








10/2/08: VR Offers $100,000 Reward For Information About Michael Connell’s Election Manipulations



Today, VR offered a $100,000 reward for information from whistleblowers who have knowledge of election related criminal activity by Michael Connell, Randy Cole, Karl Rove and others. The full ad will be published this week in the Akron newspapers and you can see it here. The information must result in a conviction.

See a larger version







10/1/08: Calls for Special Prosecutor to Investigate Connell and Rove



In light of Mike Connell’s stonewalling of the subpoena in this case, Velvet Revolution today called for Attorney General Mukasey to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the conduct, actions and knowledge of Michael Connell and his confidential work for Karl Rove and George Bush vis a vis election manipulations and destruction of data. VR also called on Congress to hold hearings and place Mr. Connell under oath to testify about election rigging, destruction of White House emails, and spying on Congress. See PDF news release.








10/1/08: Former Diebold Contractor Blows The Whistle On Election Manipulations




VR has an exclusive interview with former Diebold contractor Chris Hood which talks about many disturbing actions by Diebold during prior elections, including illegal, uncertified and unreported patches, and improper feeding of tabulation results by Diebold Chief Bob Urosevitch. This interview was prepared for a major news program special that was supposed to air two weeks before the 2006 midterm election. At the last moment, however, the special was killed by the corporate media. Check out this important ten minute interview. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKnIghBsU58








9/30/08: Ohio Lawsuit Proceeds, Stay Lifted, Depositions Ordered, Connell Subpoenaed, Connell Stonewalls



There have been many new twists and turns the past few days in the Ohio federal case to protect the 2008 election by exposing those who have been accused of manipulating past elections. On September 22, the federal court lifted the stay in this case and ordered depositions to begin, starting with Bush IT Expert Michael Connell. (See Order in PDF) A few days later, Connell was subpoenaed and ordered to produce documents. He hired three high powered GOP-connected attorneys and filed a Motion to Quash (See Motion in PDF)and an affidavit stating that his information is confidential. (See Affidavit in PDF) His attorneys have refused to make him available for deposition and have indicated that they will not let him testify unless forced to by the court. Attorney Arnebeck intends to secure a court order to enforce the subpoena.

So Connell is using the Rove playbook of stonewalling to cover-up his possible criminal conduct in election manipulations. Fortunately, the Ohio federal courts will do everything necessary to protect this election so Ohio is not again the laughing stock for running an election suited for the third world. Moreover, there will be others subpoenaed who will talk rather than hide behind lawyers and fallacious assertions of confidentiality. Sorry, Mike, but you can’t hide by asserting that work you did for federal and state governments is confidential. You can’t hide by asserting that you possess trade secrets when you are covering up criminal activity. The time has come for accountability.







9/26/08: New Spoonamore Interview - E-voting Machines are a National Security Threat


Last week, VR interviewed GOP Cyber security expert Stephen Spoonamore about the upcoming election and his testimony in the new Ohio litigation to take depositions of Karl Rove and others.

The video is posted in full below with ten short clips for You Tube viewing. This interview is so important and explosive that we urge everyone to watch it. Spoonamore says that the GOP wanted e-voting to steal elections but now foreign governments will be hacking and the winner will be determined by the best hackers. He says that if the GOP wins the hacking competition, McCain will win 51.2 percent with three electoral votes over Obama, and it will be a stolen election.

Spoon makes valid points about the people who have been implicated in much of the election thefts such as, “they are religious extremists.” He names those who know about stolen elections and he insists that the only way to protect this election is with paper ballots, hand counted. Check out this extraordinary interview here. >


http://www.velvetrevolution.us/prosecute_rove/images/SpoonIntvw3.wmv

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyByZx5GEaw It’s a network, people.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YadsHqxid8I Electronic voting machines are a national security threat.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbxuXC4QlMk The genie is out of the bottle….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOHkY7sJ4ZI Fifty ways to steal an election.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1--KHOo8tkM Mike Connell: Bush IT Guru
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJHmuG8d2bQ The Rapp Family: Ohio election cover-up.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Z7DK3LgiOA Evangelicals and voting machines.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WTe8ppEIic Paper ballots please.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lrFkRHrRDI McCain/Palin will win by theft.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s07oi2G_K4c People should doubt the vote, it’s being stolen.







9/25/08: New VR Video Ad, Every Week Till The Election—Nine Year Old At Arlington Cemetery Tells John McCain, “Thou Shall Not Kill”




VR will be releasing a new video ad every week until the election in the spirit of the famous “1964 Daisy Girl” ad featuring a young girl counting the petals of a flower as the countdown proceeds to the detonation of a mushroom cloud. Our first ad is called, “An Open Letter from Kelsie to John McCain - Thou shalt not kill,” and is on YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vndUiYS_HRA








9/18/08: Ohio Attorneys File Papers To Take Deposition Of Bush IT Expert Michael Connell And Others-Includes Spoonamore Affidavit



Yesterday, Ohio attorney Cliff Arnebeck asked the federal court in Columbus to allow him to place Bush IT guru Michael Connell under oath to ask him about his 20 year work for the Bush family, including his work for Jeb Bush in Florida 2000 and for Ken Blackwell in Ohio 2004. “The public has a need and right to know, before the next presidential election, that the top Republican IT expert shares a concern about the vulnerability of electronic voting systems to fraudulent manipulation, and that this is not just “conspiracy theory,” Arnebeck wrote. Arnebeck also advised the court that he would seeking depositions from others, including Karl Rove. See Court filing.

Attached to the filing are two affidavits, one from cyber security expert Stephen Spoonamore and the other from analyst Richard Hayes Phillips. The Spoonamore affidavit asserts that the election computer setup used by Ken Blackwell in 2004 provided the means and opportunity for the manipulation of the election results. “ The vote tabulation and reporting system, as modified at the direction of Mr. Blackwell, allowed the introduction of a single computer in the middle of the pathway. This computer located at a company principally managing IT Systems for GOP campaign and political operations (Computer C) received all information from each county computer (Computer A) BEFORE it was sent onward to Computer B. This centralized collection of all incoming statewide tabulations would make it extremely easy for a single operator, or a preprogrammed single "force balancing computer" to change the results in any way desired by the team controlling Computer C. In this case GOP partisan operatives. Again, if this out of state system had ANY digital access to the Secretary of State’s system it would be cause for immediate investigation by any of my banking clients.” See Spoonamore Affidavit.

The Hayes affidavit asserts that after reviewing hundreds of thousands of documents, ballots and other election records, “it is my conclusion that there is so much evidence of ballot alteration, ballot substitution, ballot box stuffing, ballot destruction, vote switching, tabulator rigging, and old fashioned voter suppression, that the results of the 2004 presidential election, would have been reversed” had there been a real investigation. See Hayes Affidavit. He insists that the time is now to take depositions from those implicated in the theft of that election.







9/14/08: The Heart And Soul Of Republican Party




We have a flash banner at the top of our website decrying George Bush for destroying the Republican Party. However, the Grand Old Party has sunk to another low with the campaign of John McCain. Bush lied us into war and now McCain is lying about virtually everything. Even in the face of blistering attacks from the press for exposing the lies, McCain keeps them up. http://factcheck.org So lying has now become the heart and soul of the GOP, to the chagrin of many in the party. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UY5Plqs5d98








9/5/08: Cyber Expert Spoonamore Says Voting Machines Manipulate Elections



We have a new 28 minute video of cyber security expert Stephen Spoonamore that everyone should see. He explains, in clear and understandable language, just how unsecure our voting system is and states without equivocation that he believes elections have been stolen with the Diebold and ES&S machines. Although Spoonamore is a Republican, he truly believes in fair and honest elections even if that results in his candidate losing. We all need to be extra diligent this coming election and heed Spoonamore’s warnings.


http://www.velvetrevolution.us/prosecute_rove/images/SpoonInt2005.wmv



Highlights from the video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbmiGCSHQ1c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoPUZvaoyqw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_PjPsteoqk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ti3MlNgeCRQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-sHsfze_Xo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtUx0lyijXg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_JdUZzgu9I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xIZLizSnGc






9/1/08: Candidates Nationwide Called Upon to Challenge Suspicious Elections



'If You Want Our Votes, We Want Your Pledge'

VR has launched its newest campaign at StandingForVoters.org, calling on candidates across the country to pledge to challenge elections when necessary.

In recent elections, we have witnessed targeted disenfranchisement of voters, non-transparent, unverifiable electronic voting systems, and many other assaults on the election process. However, for various reasons, election challenges have been few and far between. In the upcoming election, let's make democracy the winner by ensuring that all candidates that have standing can challenge suspect elections!

Our new campaign allows candidates to sign the Standing For Voters Pledge or Super Pledge, stating that they will not concede and will challenge suspect elections. Candidates of any party, for any office, in any state, can sign. StandingForVoters.org helps to educate candidates about the problems with elections, the types of election challenges available, and how to decide when to contest an election. It asks voters to participate by getting their candidates to sign the pledges.

Print out the pledge card http://www.standingforvoters.org/PDF/StandingForVotersCard.pdf and get it to every candidate for signature. Here are more tips http://www.standingforvoters.org/voters.html:


Attend candidates' nights or other campaign activities, make a statement about the importance of election integrity and ask the candidates publicly to sign the Standing for Voters pledge.
Call radio shows where candidates are being interviewed and ask the candidates on the air to sign the pledge.
Write letters to the editor and op-ed pieces in your local newspapers urging candidates to pledge. You can also encourage the paper only to endorse candidates who have made the pledge.
Visit candidates' websites and send them emails asking them to sign the pledge. Include a link to StandingForVoters.org.
Talk to your local political clubs. Find out who has direct contact with candidates and enlist their help.
Once one candidate for a particular office has signed on, call their opponents and ask them to match that pledge.

Visit StandingForVoters.org and see who has taken the pledge so far! And then help us make that list much, much longer!







8/28/08: OH Secretary of State Issues Letter Warning Against Voter Caging



Two weeks ago, the Advancement Project and Project Vote raised concerns that as many as 600,000 people could be thrown off the Ohio voter rolls because of vote caging and challenges. And last week Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner responded with a long letter setting out the law and provisions regarding voter challenges in Ohio.

In short, Brunner made absolutely clear that she will not allow the wholesale challenge of voters. She stated that she will be informing all elections officials in the state that every challenged voter is entitled to due process such as notice and a hearing. Moreover, any voter purged from the voter rolls is entitled to cast his or her vote using a provisional ballot. A full copy of the Brunner letter is here.







8/27/08: Diebold Coverup-Stephen Spoonamore Confronts MD Board of Elections With Unredacted SAIC Report




We have been asserting for years that Diebold (now Premier Elections Systems) makes voting machines that don’t work, are unreliable and that have flipped elections. Just last week, Diebold was forced to admit that software in its machines has for a decade been dropping votes. These machines are being used in 34 states in the upcoming election.

Two years ago, The Brad Blog broke the Pentagon Papers of E-Voting stories about the SAIC report on the vast problems with Diebold vote machines. In short, Diebold had issued a 40 page redacted version of the SAIC report which whitewashed the problems. Computer cyber security expert Stephen Spoonamore got a copy of the 197-page unredacted report which listed hundreds of serious problems, and he released that report to us.

Well, Spoonamore did more than that – he took the report to the Maryland Board of Elections and confronted them with it at a public meeting. He told them that if he were handed such a report in the private sector, he would “shut down the system and open a fraud investigation.” The elections officials expressed shock that they had not ever seen the same unredacted report. And when the meeting was over, Spoonamore, with a concealed microphone, personally confronted the officials. And what did one of them say to him –that him having the report was “a security risk.” Following the confrontation, Spoonamore was contacted by law enforcement officials who demanded to know how he got the report. We can say now that the report came from a high official in the Executive Branch who wanted to expose Diebold.

We have this all in an exclusive video now posted on YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8EeaFyY4y4 This exclusive report was prepared for a major news program but was killed prior to the mid-term elections. Why was it killed, and why did we have to wait another two years before Diebold was forced to admit that its voting machines are unreliable?

There must be transparency in the election process and this report underscores why these machines should be investigated from top to bottom by independent investigators before even being considered for use in an election. The lesson is clear – we cannot trust the vote machine companies and we need paper ballots for all votes cast.







8/15/08: The Chamber Of Commerce Launders Money To Fake Front Organizations To Fund Attacks On Candidates



The untold story behind our new RoveCyberGate campaign is frightening. www.rovecybergate.com We have learned from attorneys that the Chambers of Commerce, both US and state, have a political arm that works closely with Karl Rove to raise hundreds of millions of dollars for the purpose of manipulating elections. That money is used to create fake front organizations as so-called “advocacy groups” to attack candidates who are not “pro-business.” The advocacy group donors are exempted from disclosure.

The attorney who is handling the RoveCyberGate case, Cliff Arnebeck , is one of the only lawyers in the country to ever sue the Chamber of Commerce over this practice. He did so in the case of Ohio Justice Alice Robie Resnick where the Ohio Chamber spent over $4 million to unseat her using the front group, Citizens for a Strong Ohio. In short, the Ohio Elections Commission and every court thereafter held that the Chamber criminally violated election laws by taking large amounts of undisclosed funds to make political attacks on specific candidates. http://www.thealliancefordemocracy.org/html/eng/2246-AA.shtml

[Jambalaya]

17. oops!

I didn't mean to C&P the ENTIRE collection of threads-just the last one. But the Velvet Revolution does have excellent articles.

[Independent_Liberal]

18. I haven't forgotten.

Impeach Bush/Cheney, even though they only have a couple weeks.