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News From Nevada: No Voter Fraud But USA Fired Anyway
The search for a reason, any reason for U.S. Attorney for Nevada Daniel Bogden's firing continues.
On Monday, The Washington Post reported that a Justice Department official had raised concerns about Bogden's performance on voter fraud. Maybe that was why he was canned?
Well, if so, it wasn't because Nevada Republicans were up in arms about it, reports The Las Vegas Sun. Despite the fact that Karl Rove had "made sure to mention it to state officials during a campaign swing through Las Vegas just months before the contested 2004 election," the Sun reports, there seem to have been no complaints at all:
Secretary of State Ross Miller, a Democrat, said he knew of no cases brought to the U.S. attorney’s office in recent years. Nevada Republicans say the same.The biggest case Nevada had seen recently were allegations in 2004 that a Republican-financed group had shredded registration cards from Democratic voters. The FBI investigated but it appears the case was not forwarded to Bogden.
But as we've learned in New Mexico, Washington, and Missouri, there doesn't actually have to have been credible allegations of voter fraud in order for the administration to be unhappy with a U.S. attorney's lack of attention to it.
Comments (17)
jolie wrote on May 15, 2007 2:46 PM:my guess is that rove was pushing buttons on voter fraud in the states he'd targeted with his election strategy.
rove would use the threat of losing your job to "focus the minds" of the USAs.
rove wouldn't necessarily intend to get them fired, but what a great motivator if he could make them think they were vulnerable.
rove most enjoys working the oblique angles.
Punchy wrote on May 15, 2007 3:20 PM:Isn't this akin to firing the football coach for failure to plan for and give consideration to relief pitching, alley-oops, and power plays?
Does this mean the McDonalds manager can now fire his cooks for failing to know how to cook a Whopper?
racymind wrote on May 15, 2007 3:26 PM:I think they are generating fake voter fraud, because it's actual incidence is so low. The Texas voter fraud scandal reported in Houston on May 2nd was a blatantly racist, politically timed hitpiece. The lege was debating voter ID that very week, but the fake "fake voter registrations" had supposedly been coming in for weeks.
Forgive the self-promo:
Bob Wallace wrote on May 15, 2007 3:32 PM:See just how racist this was
So why did the FBI fail to pass the case forward?
We've recently learned about an FBI agent squashing the vote fraud case against Ann Coulter.
Is the FBI also operating as an arm of the Republican party?
Punchy wrote on May 15, 2007 3:37 PM:"Is the FBI also operating as an arm of the Republican party?"
#1) I cannot believe we've gotten to the point where this question is asked in serious fashion, and...
#2) I cannot believe you're actually asking this question as if you are unsure about the answer.
bigcat wrote on May 15, 2007 3:59 PM:It was my understanding in the McKay case, that the Secretary of State, the presiding judge in the gubernatorial recount case, and the FBI in Seattle all determined there was no credible evidence to proceed with fraud investigations.
McKay was canned for not making up such evidence.
Twill wrote on May 15, 2007 5:31 PM:Greg Palast on DemocracyNow 5/14 connects more dots on this case. He has 500 of the missing emails Rove sent by mistake to georgewbush.org. Bogus voter fraud is right.
http://www.democracynow.org/index.pl?issue=20070514
djcrow22 wrote on May 15, 2007 5:41 PM:or
http://www.gregpalast.com
Steven Biskupic was on the list. It has been suggested that Sensenbrenner gave him political cover then his name came off the list. But Biskupic did bring a very weak voter fraud case just prior to the election that was enthusiastically thrown out of court on appeal. Biskupic may be highly regarded but he did what McKay, Iglesias and Graves refused to do. Guilty as charged and he should resign now. He was one of the remaining 83 who did go along to get along.
racymind wrote on May 15, 2007 5:49 PM:Okay, my html failed in my earlier comment. To see the offending frame of the Texas racist voter fraud newsclip go here:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/226/484272758_992b327ce7.jpg?v=0
or go to May 3 on my blog history to see the racist stuff and link to the Houston clip.
Really offensive
Jillian wrote on May 15, 2007 7:10 PM:Who was supposed to be Bogdan's replacement?
At a ~1% per year national Democratic trend, Nevada projects to be a 51-49ish Democratic win/takeover in 2008. But it's a small state, where 1% of votes is only about 4-5,000. So the game in 2008 for Republicans in Nevada is predictably to prevent or suppress about 10-20,000 Democratic votes.
A Democrat (by name of Miller) won the Secretary of State job in Nevada this November, and there aren't the election machinery substructures in the state (i.e. Ohio's county election boards) to to hijack. Plus, Democratic organizations and local politicians do see the prize of Nevada's electoral and winning its remaining Republican holds on state government- majority in the state Senate (now split 11R-10D iirc- Democrats need a gain of only one seat) and possibly a recall election for the governor. And Jon Porter(R) is unsafe in the Las Vegas suburbia House district that contains the great bulk of the state's swing votes and Democratic trend. A lot of Republican power at several levels of government thus rides on the few thousand votes of margin in Vegas suburbia in November 2008- probably the largest amount of partisan power shift per vote in the country.
With so much Democratic grassroots activity and state power to exert, the only level on which Republicans have a potentially winning game to shift the vote margin is the federal level. With no popular incumbent or charismatic candidate to pull votes, that leaves the vote suppression game and the district's US Attorney to make it work.
Bogdan was clearly a fellow with integrity and no suitable abilities/experience, and not to be tasked with the very dirty and locally unusual "job". The RNC/Rove need is for an energetic USA with vote suppression experience no one knows about. Given the local lack of experience (I think) playing these games in winning ways, (s)he would have to be sent in a year or more ahead of time to work out and settle the gameplan with the local Republican players. The obvious vulnerabilities to exploit are the vote registration game (given high address turnover and interstate migration of Las Vegas residents) in suburbia and abuse of the Nevada ex-felon disenfranchisement laws and lists in the majority black and Latino parts of the city. (Robocalls, anyone?)
I'm curious who Rove planned to send in.
JNagarya wrote on May 16, 2007 11:55 AM:"I think they are generating fake voter fraud, because it's actual incidence is so low.
"Posted by: racymind
Date: May 15, 2007 03:26 PM"
That's not quite balanced or accurate. This is how it works:
1. Republicans make allegations of vote/r fraud against Democrats in order to intimidate and drive down Democratic turnout. That is a form of voting fraud -- by the Republicans.
2. At the same time, Republicans engage in agressive vote/r fraud by, as example, manipulating electronic voting machines, "caging" lists, etc.
It's fairly obvious, the way pickpockets work: "Look over there!" they point with the right hand -- while picking your pocket with their left.
security code = collar. As in: "Collar that voter-fraud Republican!"
Brian-Tommy Paine wrote on May 16, 2007 7:53 PM:Endless$$$ CRIMINALITY(War Profiteerings$, Medicare MIS$ERY Profiteerings$, Pos$t-KATRINA[etc.] Dis$aster Profiteereings$$, endless STOLEN and Voter-SUPPRESSED(Of Democrats!] "Elections," etcetera, etcetera, etcetera)and every other form of CRIMINALITY(RICO Statutes, can be applied, to numerous of the "Elected" Repubs$ CRIMES!)continues, as a DAILY, ongoing and BRAZEN FACT-of-Life by this "Administration" and "Pres$idency" and yet the Dems in Congress(and what few "Moderate" repubs$ left that there may be-) are STILL NOT aggressively ATTACKING and ADJUDICATING these Cancerous$ Tumors$$$$, of UNELECTED and Demonic SLIME, upon our precious CONSTITUTION and Democratic Republic?! There may well be SO MUCH CRIME committed, that is CONTINUALLY and daily being committed by these LYING "Americans$" and Trtaitors$, that it WILL CERTAINLY TAKE far more than just TWO Years form the barely in control Dems in the House and Senate to truly BEGIN to properly CLEAN all of this Criminality(9/11 ATTACKS$$, Daily-Fas$cistic Lies$ for this Murderous OIL and Lies$ fuelled IRAQ War, etcetera, as well) UP, and all of us, regardless of "Party Affiliation," MUST now understand this, given the UTTER CORPORATIS$TIC and RIGHTIS$T CONTROL of our major "NEWS$" Media!!!!
Brian-Tommy Paine wrote on May 16, 2007 8:16 PM:Sorry to "rant on," above. Am mentally ILL(Worsening conditions, also, no need to elaborate on them, e.g., 100,000 PLUS of Lower Manhattan Residents, fellow AMERICANS, STILL suffer from a "sub-threshold 6 level"{Not a Scientist or Psychologist, but the medical info. is available] of POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER from the 9/11/2001, somehow Allowed for HOURS$$$, ATTACKS$$, etcetera, so maybe my own problems are so very "minor," by comparison!)American CITIZEN, sorry to go on, but these ARE anti Democracy, Anti-Republic, anti- U.S. Constitution, CRIMINAL Demons$ and PROFITEERS$ that we NOW face, and our newly-elected Congress must CONTINUE to take them on, ith ever-increasing AGGRTESSIVENESS, ala Great PATRIOT CONGRESSMAN, Rep. HENRY WAXMAN, etcetera(*Understanding, again, that IT WILL take far more than just the House's TWO YEAR TERM< to clean ALL OF THIS EVIL, UP, BELOVED fellow CITIZENS!!)
Bill wrote on May 31, 2007 11:41 AM:MSN I NIIPET
Bill wrote on May 31, 2007 11:42 AM:MSN
MSN I NIIPET
Bill wrote on June 12, 2007 5:09 PM:MSN
MSN I NIIPET
epenisa wrote on January 11, 2008 12:03 AM:MSN
Hi all!
Nice work from your side... have a nice time with yoru blog :)
G'night