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All Muck is Local: Virginia
(Ed. Note: We come across a number of local stories each week that just cry out for our attention, but since we confine our muckraking to the national level, we're forced to take a pass. No longer. Each weekend we'll be shining a bright light on the muckiest local muck of the week. Got an entry we should consider? Let us know. - PK)
A tight primary race, indictments of voter fraud and a squealing babysitter.
In the 27th State District of Virginia, Mike Tate (R) was indicted Monday on two counts of voter fraud and nine counts of perjury concerning previous campaign finance reports. Meanwhile, with the primary election only 18 days away, Tate's lawyer, Edward MacMahon Jr., is crying foul. "I find it outrageous that charges like this would be brought in the middle of a primary campaign, which has the effect of subverting the democratic process."
MacMahon is pointing fingers at Tate's Republican opponent Jill Holtzman Vogel, a former chief counsel for the RNC with strong ties to the Virginia Conservative Action PAC. After all, reason Tate supporters, the woman who brought the complaint to the attention of the Virginia State Board of Elections is a campaign volunteer for Vogel; the local Leesburg Today even reports that the whistleblower occasionally babysat Vogel's children. And the local prosecutor who initially handled the complaint supported Vogel last year, although the prosecutor recused himself from the investigation in February.
The coincidences don't stop there. Remember Jason Torchinsky from the American Center for Voting Rights? He shares an office with Jill Holtzman Vogel at the boutique Republican law firm Holztman Vogel. So the woman accused of trumping up cases of voter fraud works with a man whose think tank worked to spread misinformation about voter fraud. Coincidence? Maybe.
Vogel is having none of Tate's accusations, remarking "a special prosecutor from another county investigated Mark, a circuit court empowered the investigation, and a grand jury indicted Mark for 11 counts of criminal behavior. No amount of name calling or blame shifting can change that fact." And Tate is no stranger to election indiscretions. In the past three years he has paid fines six times for late filings of campaign finance statements, racking up a bill of $900.
Control of the Virginia Senate is open to change this November election, and with no incumbent in front of them, both candidates are anxious to gain their party's nomination. Already Tate and Vogel have raised a combined $800,000. Whether that money will protect Tate's reputation long enough to make it through the primary is another story.
Late update: Jill Holtzman Vogel was incorrectly named as Jane Holtzman Vogel.
Comments (38)
Steve T. wrote on May 28, 2007 12:03 PM:Oh this is rich. After the ruthless politicization of the DoJ, after USA's were fired for refusing to use prosecutorial power to sway elections, the Republicans now find that tactic is a two-edged sword.
I believe I hear the sound of chickens roosting. Bwaawk!!
melior wrote on May 28, 2007 12:40 PM:Each weekend we'll be shining a bright light on the muckiest local muck of the week. Got an entry we should consider?
Dude, thanks for asking! We're hip deep in muck here watching the Texas Leg... High drama as the parliamentarian resigns in tears over Craddick 'discovering' new authority to refuse to recognize, just in time to squelch a coup and try to ram through the state budget before the clock runs out...
G4AM wrote on May 28, 2007 12:42 PM:Let 'em cannibalize themselves. The only thing that makes the accusation believable is that the vast majority of PROVEN voter fraud cases over the last year have been donated by our Publican friends.
code word = neck... Let them hang by the...
jon wrote on May 28, 2007 1:29 PM:Quelle Horreur!!!
Republicans accusing other republicans of voter fraud? This simply cannot be happening. Don't they trust the democratic process to find a sympathetic judge to award it to them later?
Christy wrote on May 28, 2007 2:01 PM:That's "Jill" Holtzman Vogel, not "Jane".
Signed,
Amused Democrat in the 27th
Gordon wrote on May 28, 2007 2:53 PM:Well if he loses the election, he's a shoe-in for any zombie movie ever written.
That's his campaign photo??
Citizen 92 wrote on May 28, 2007 3:12 PM:Someone in Virginia might want to ask Ms. Holtzman Vogel, former chief counsel of the RNC, what she knows about the "boutique" Karl Rove communications network otherwise known as gwb43.com.
As "chief counsel" this is certainly something that passed across her desk.
Don't dissapoint us, Virginia.
jake wrote on May 28, 2007 3:49 PM:this isn't actually all that funny - "chickens coming home to roost" sure is a fun metaphor and all, but when they're done cannibalizing themselves, the republic party will be all cannibal all the time.
it isn't enough to be "conservative" in karl rove's gop - you must believe that the rules are for other people, and that no law, tradition or notion of fair play should ever stand in the way of victory. and victory for them isn't a few terms in power - it's endless republican rule, with the constitution in shreds and our country sucked dry of wealth and resources from the inside.
we can go back to the old left vs right battle after people of conscience on both sides of the divide work together to restore some semblance of functional democracy. sure do miss habeas corpus. and free and fair elections. and the respect of the rest of the world.
Eliot wrote on May 28, 2007 3:56 PM:Long time Loudoun resident & Democrat.
This is actually a big deal contest for us. Loudoun has been the fastest growing county in the US over the last decade despite grassroots efforts to slow or forstall it. Developer money has been instrumental in persuading officials of the merit of continued rapid expansion. Campaign donations and self dealing has won out over the complaints that development is destroying history and heritage. That it has greatly increased the tax burden on residents as they are forced to pay for new school and utility upgrades.
In this case Tate represents the side that believes the current growth in unsustainable and unhealthy where Holtzman follows the trinity of build build build.
George wrote on May 28, 2007 4:21 PM:Mark Tate has had a column in a local NoVa paper for years where he has served as the resident GW Bush apologist, supporting him for everything that has been inflicted on the nation.
Eliot is correct, Tate has been more careful regarding development issues. Loudoun is a total mess thanks to the Republican Party, which has been rife with cronyism and corrupt activities. There are ongoing FBI investigations.
Tate's lawyer in this case was Moussaoui's counsel from last year's trial.
LandShark wrote on May 28, 2007 4:33 PM:Wow I guess to win a pepub primary you just have to out crooked your opponent....
Mrs Panstreppon wrote on May 28, 2007 4:34 PM:Jill Holtzman Vogel, GOP operative, believes in garnering political support the old-fashioned way - she buys it. At her campaign website, VoteJill.com, Holtzman Vogel proudly proclaims that she has been endorsed by Robin DeJarnette, Executive Director, Virginia Conservative Action PAC, and Whitson Robinson, Chairman, Fauquier County Republican Committee.
What Holtzman Vogel doesn't say is that she arranged for DeJarnette to be the executive director of the American Center for Voting Rights and that she put Robinson on the ACVR board.
The ACVR, of course, is the GOP front operation set up to promote the disenfranchisement of poor people. The ACVR's shady operations were recently written up in Slate by Richard L. Hasen.
Jill Holtzman Vogel and her husband, Alex, played major roles in the financing and operation of the ACVR through Holtzman Vogel PLLC and Mehlman Vogel Castagnetti.
I wrote about Robin DeJarnette and her relationship with the ACVR and the Vogels in a TPM Cafe post the other day (link below).
DeJarnette had the f'ing nerve to testify as expert witness in election law before the US Election Assistance Commission. As ACVR executive director, she also had an ethical responsiblity to inform the EAC that another EAC "expert witness", Pat Rogers, was not just a private attorney but also the ACVR secretary and a board member. But DeJarnette kept that information to herself.
Holtzman Vogel, DeJarnette, Robinson - these are not very nice people at all.
Anonymous wrote on May 28, 2007 5:25 PM:It's all really a nasty little circle.
Alex Vogel also works as a big name at DC consulting firm Mehlman, Vogel, Castagnetti. That firm is also home to Bruce Mehlman, former GOP Chairman Ken Mehlman's brother. On the other side of the coin, Vogel is married to Jill Holtzman Vogel. And Jill Holtzman Vogel used to be General Counsel at the RNC.
Hard to find someone these days not in the "family" per se, sucking from the government or RNC teat.
Anonymous wrote on May 28, 2007 6:26 PM:Good lord. Any television producers out there? Just start copying this stuff verbatim and you'll have a hit new soap opera, "The Edge of Right"...but don't forget the creepy theme music over the crashing ominous waves.
psyberdawg wrote on May 28, 2007 6:45 PM:Gordon @ 2:53 PM -- Maybe the primary will climax with Tate screaming, "Brains!" as he chomps into Jill Vogel's skull...
Republican cannibal zombies!
Oh, my.
Mrs Panstreppon wrote on May 28, 2007 7:02 PM:Charlie Jackson fleshes out the "Holtzman Vogel framed Tate" angle in a 5/25/07 Leesburg Today story, "Allegations Against Tate Remain Unclear" (link below):
"Very little is known about what exactly 27th District state Senate candidate Mark Tate (R) has allegedly done illegally, days after a Loudoun grand jury handed down an 11-count indictment exactly three weeks before voters in the district are scheduled to choose its Republican nominee.
The vagueness has allowed the Tate campaign to go on the offensive, suggesting a widespread conspiracy led by Republican opponent Jill Holtzman Vogel's campaign is behind the timely criminal charges.
The nine perjury indictments, according to court records, took place between January 2003 and January 2007, and stem from Tate's campaign finance disclosure filings with the State Board of Elections...
The other two charges allege election fraud. But available court records shed little light on the specific charges...
Loudoun County Commonwealth Attorney Jim Plowman, a Holtzman Vogel supporter, began the investigation after a compliant was filed with his office by another Holtzman Vogel supporter...
The best insight into the charges against Tate comes from the original complaint filed by Laurie Letourneau, a volunteer for Holtzman Vogel...
But Plowman is just one Holtzman Vogel supporter being fingered by Tate.
The Virginia Conservative Action PAC, a group that is supporting Holtzman Vogel, stated in a news item on its Web site May 1, citing "reliable sources," that Tate "is under intense criminal investigation for serious campaign finance fraud." But Robin DeJarnette, executive director of VCAP, said this week that her organization only knew that a complaint was filed with the SBE and that it was suggested to Letourneau she could bring the complaint to Plowman. DeJarnette denied ever speaking with Plowman, Holtzman Vogel or Letourneau about the investigation. But Letourneau has admitted speaking with Holtzman Vogel about filing the complaint. Letourneau said she asked Holtzman Vogel about Tate's finances and suggested filing a complaint...
Tate campaign supporter Kay Gunter, a member of the state Republican Party's Central Committee, said DeJarnette had predicted the date that Tate would be indicted. DeJarnette flatly denies that allegation..."
Like anyone would ever believe anything Robin DeJarnette had to say. For pete's sakes, as executive director of the American Center for Voting Rights, DeJarnette actively works to disenfranchise poor and minority voters. Despicable.
Then again Jill Holtzman Vogel is paid to actively help DeJarnette disenfranchise poor and minority voters.
Holtzman Vogel and DeJarnette are nasty, vile people of the worst sort.
UnEasyOne wrote on May 28, 2007 7:05 PM:I'd like to point out that strange as it may seem, it is possible to have principles and be conservative - Comey for example - or Ashcroft's refusal to sign the papers. My guess would be that the more principled the rethug candidate, the more likely that said candidate would be to have tactics employed against them that we have come to associate with attacks on Dems. There may be an opportunity to build alliances across party lines with outsiders in the R party.
Steve5117 wrote on May 28, 2007 7:11 PM:Perhaps some administration officials soon to be disgraced could learn from the Japanese:
http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=3218315
Jane wrote on May 28, 2007 8:08 PM:I have been thinking a lot lately about priorities.
My first one is global heating.
My second is the restoration of constitutional democracy in this country so that every vote is counted. To get every vote counted I believe we need to have optical scans with random audits in place.
Electing Democrats is the best available means to these ends and others but you don't always get what you want.
It seems like a sick joke given the above, but which Republican Presidential candidates, if any do TPMMUCKRAKER's bloggers think could be trusted to fight for fair elections?
nofltwlt wrote on May 28, 2007 10:11 PM:That's a very nice fairytale, but did he or did he not commit voter fraud?
Proofreader wrote on May 28, 2007 10:40 PM:Will,
Please change "Jane Holtzman Vogel" to "Jill Holtzman Vogel." Jill Holtzman Vogel was formerly known as Jill K. Holtzman.
Jane wrote on May 28, 2007 10:48 PM:Bushco with the connivance of Holtzman Vogel has cried wolf so often that she should expect a certain amount of skepticism. Also, several claims of perjury in campaign filings and the indictment hits when after being placed by a Holtzman Vogel supporter?
nofltwlt, get a grip, smell the coffee, learn to think, ask questions and STOP BEING A PARROT.
As between these two idiots, this blog does not have a strong favorite but either outcome does not speak highly of the 'Publican party.
Bend Dover wrote on May 29, 2007 5:54 AM:Isn't it just beautiful watching one member of the family values party attacking and smearing another member of that party? At least it shows that the Family Values Party is an equal opportunity smearer.
Bend Dover wrote on May 29, 2007 5:54 AM:Isn't it just beautiful watching one member of the family values party attacking and smearing another member of that party? At least it shows that the Family Values Party is an equal opportunity smearer.
PMS wrote on May 29, 2007 8:24 AM:"Perhaps some administration officials soon to be disgraced could learn from the Japanese:"
Unlikely. The Japanese make a big deal about HONOR. Republicans make a big deal about PRIDE.
Mrs Panstreppon wrote on May 29, 2007 10:03 AM:Jill Holtzman Vogel's husband, Alex, signed a legal document as an authorized representative of the Free Enterprise Coalition in a 2004 Ohio lawsuit against ACORN that was dismissed in 2005.
I'm investigating the Free Enterprise Coalition at the TPM Cafe (link below) and it appears to be a sister organization to the American Center for Voting Rights to the extent that it, too, has seemingly gone out of business very recently. The phone was disconncted and the corporate registration allowed to lapse.
Unlike the ACVR, the Free Enterprise Coalition did not seek publicity. It had no website and no employees. The Coalition appears to have been inactive until 2004 when it received $2.8 million in direct contributions, according to the 2004 990.
Almost all of the $2.8 million went to legal fees, presumably for election-related expenses.
Was the $2.8 million earmarked by the RNC for lawsuits intended to disrupt the voting process and help the RNC? I wonder what Jill Holtzman Vogel knows about the Free Enterprise Coalition and if her firm, Holtzman Vogel, got a piece of the $2.8 million pie.
Nell wrote on May 29, 2007 11:17 AM:You're a fountain of useful leads, Mrs. P! Many thanks for all your work.
Mrs Panstreppon wrote on May 29, 2007 11:55 AM:Thanks, Nell. Your bearded iris is beautiful!
Someone else read my Free Enterprise Coalition post at the TPM Cafe today and posted a very useful SourceWatch entry about the Coalition with crosslinks on the board of directors. No surprise there - all GOP operatives.
I am delighted about the SourceWatch entry but I think there may be a mistake. Tommy Hopper's Free Enterprise Coalition, Inc. was a Tennessee corporation registered in 1999 and dissolved in 2001, according to the TN SOS.
The Free Enterprise Coalition that I am investigating is a Virginia corporation, registered in 1998 and automatically terminated on January 31, 2007, according to the Virginia State Corporation Commission.
I don't know how to edit in SourceWatch so I guess I will just post about the difference in the two Free Enterprise Coalitions at the TPM Cafe.
If I was rich, I'd pay good money to get a hold of the memorandum outlining the Free Enterprise Coalition's plan of attack.
Adam Sharp wrote on May 29, 2007 2:02 PM:Hi, my name is Adam Sharp, and I am serving as campaign manager for Karen Schultz, the Democrat running in Virginia's 27th Senate District.
Karen hasn't made any comments about the Tate/Vogel fight (no sense getting in the way), but she is talking to voters about why the district needs a moderate, experienced leader instead of impractical extremists.
For more information about Karen, please visit her website: www.karenschultz.org
Vogel and Tate have tons of money available from the GOP establishment. Please consider a contribution to help Karen clean up the district!
www.karenschultz.org/contribute.html
Thank you!
- Adam
The Political Junkie wrote on May 29, 2007 2:26 PM:Arrgh:
I live in NoVA and I thought corruption was further south, past Front Royal. ;-p
Whatever gave me that idea...
kreine wrote on May 31, 2007 9:49 PM:I support the weekly 'muckiest local muck' update :-)
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Norma wrote on October 20, 2007 3:38 PM:Did you guys know that karen Schultz was born in DC and spent the first 15 years of her life there? She never mentions this