Comments (28)

Jim S wrote on January 29, 2008 4:24 PM:

Conyers is the real deal!

Anonymous wrote on January 29, 2008 4:53 PM:

That, sir, is a stroke of genius.

Bring out Mark F. "Thor" Hearne, II and we've got a full house!

Oh, and maybe conference in Bob Ney from the joint.

Citizen92 wrote on January 29, 2008 5:05 PM:

While Conyers is at it, he might also consider re-reading this story:

(www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050707/SRRARECOINS/307070079/-1/SRRARECOINS2)

There's a lot to unravel here. Let me help:

We've got the White House seeting appointments with a convicted felon (Tom Noe);

We've got a White House aide using e-mail to set up this appointment (is it a "missing email)?

We've young White House aide Colister "Coddy" Johnson setting up the political meeting in the White House with Mehlman and Rove;

Young Coddy then went on to be the "field director" of voting access for Bush-Cheney 04. '04 was, of course, a election of disenfranchisement;

Young Coddy is also the son of Bush's former Yale roommate and present OMB official Clay Johnson;

Oh, and Tom Noe's wife, Bernadette, was the Election Board Chair for Lucas County (Toledo) OH - where there were significant voting irregularities.

It's all related.

nolo wrote on January 29, 2008 5:10 PM:

Hahahahahahaha. I look forward to seeing Blackwell sweat.

rougegorge wrote on January 29, 2008 5:36 PM:

How do we know Blackwell will accept the
"invitation" and appear at the hearing?

Tim wrote on January 29, 2008 5:37 PM:

But, I can give you a redaction of the testimony now.

"I cannot recall, but if I could, my notes on the matter are here, under this blanket labeled 'executive priviledge'."

JohnJ wrote on January 29, 2008 5:50 PM:

Uhh, he thought about talking to Chimpy, therefore, it's under Executive Privilege.

DickTater wrote on January 29, 2008 6:03 PM:

Yeah, wouldn't want all that Chilling Effect.
And we wouldn't want any consultants/advisors/cabinet members/sec.states/cabana boys in the future feeling constrained about giving their open and forthright opinion on matters of importance...if their criminal intent and incompetence is disclosed for the public record.

Did you see the video on Stewart/DailyShow recently? You Don't Know Dick.
It covers the tragic irony of TheCheney going before the HeritageFoundation the other day and pounding the table about when we will get "hit" next...and how we absolutely must forge ahead with all deliberate speed towards monitoring each and every communication that is uttered on american soil; meanwhile we find out recently that all his emails have gone missing from critical time periods while in office. Like his secret energy cabal meetings. And when he was directing the USATTY firings and plame incident.

modmom wrote on January 29, 2008 6:03 PM:

I wish that Conyers would get the Noes- Tom (in fed prison for money laundering to bush/cheney '04 + his coingate scandal) and his wife Bernadette -who was Chair of the Lucas County BOE -a Dem stronghold that had such serious problems that even Blackwell was forced to investigate. The Toledo Blade ran an article saying that Bernadette was very angry over Tom's treatment in prison.) Since the NH phone jammer decided to do a tell-all after being slighted, perhaps the Noes would care to share their version of the events surrounding the OH '04.

"Noe was Regional Chairman of Bush-Cheney Campaign and Frequently Spoke with Rove. As a regional chairman of the campaign, Mr. Noe had frequent contact with Karl Rove, the architect of the President's re-election. And Ohio, it turned out, was the pivotal state in the election, narrowly pushing President Bush to victory." [Toledo Blade, 4/28/05]

modmom wrote on January 29, 2008 6:09 PM:

Lucas Co Investigation:

Blackwell, OH SOS Investigation of the Lucas County BOE

includes the fact that REPUBLICAN VOLUNTEERS were allowed UNSUPERVISED ACCESS to UNSECURED BALLOTS prior to the election, as well as this list:

*failure to maintain ballot security
*Inability to implement and maintain a trackable system for voter ballot reconciliation .
*failure to prepare and develop a plan for the processing of the voluminous amount of voter registration forms received.
*issuance and acceptance of incorrect absentee ballot forms.
*manipulation of the process involving the 3% recount.
*disjointed implementation of the Directive regarding the removal of Nader and Camejo from the ballot .
*failure to properly issue hospital ballots in accordance with statutory requirements.
*failure to maintain the security of poll books during the official canvass
*failure to examine campaign finance reports in a timely manner.
*failure to guard and protect public documents ....etc.

-One-half of the ballots printed and used in the 2004 general election in Lucas county were stored in an open space on the fhird floor of the county warehouse with no security measures in place.
SOURCE: SOS Investigation on Lucas County BOE page 4

-Live ballots were delivered to polling locations a week in advance of the election. Although the ballots were retrieved, one board employee who was assigned to the warehouse informed the SOS staff that he did not believe all the ballots were successfully retrieved.
SOURCE; SOS Investigation, page 5

-Lucas County BOE failed to record or retrieve ballot stub numbers of absentee voters’ ballots as required by statute OH Revised Code 3505.23. It was reported by an elector that her mother had received not one, but three absentee voter ballots. there was no way to determine if similar incidents occurred and if so how many.
SOURCE: SOS Investigation, page 7

-October 4, 2004 was filing deadline for new voter registrations. At that point there were approximately 20,000 unprocessed voter registration applications with less than a month before the election. One mail tray containing 4,500-7,000 (estimates vary) unprocessed “Project Voter” registrations were discovered on or about October 18,2004.
SOURCE: SOS Investigation pg 10

***Of interest here is information obtained from the SOS website entitled ElectionsVoter/results 2003 and 2004 which show the # of registered voters number change from ‘03-’04 was 11,947 in Lucas County: reg voters 2003 in Lucas=288,190 ; registered voter in 2004=300,137.

-In late September or early October an employee of the Ohio Republican Party contacted Sam Thurber (*involved with politician wife Maggie Thurber in Noe scandal.) wanting to inspect and have copies made of all recently returned voter registrations, Ohio Republican Party offered to furnish volunteers to assist with copying postcards. No one at the Lucas County BOE can confirm that anyone was assigned to supervise Republican volunteers. On their second day of copying, a BOE employee, Jennifer Bernath, Democratic Booth Official) saw republican party volunteers peeling off the yellow return stickers applied by the post office. (Violation of RC 149.43 (B) (I) , and agruably a violation of 149.351.
SOURCE: SOS Investigation, pgs 18-19

-The Swanton 3 poll book turned up missing and has never been recovered.
SOURCE: SOS Investigation pg 16

http://www.solarbus.org/election/docs/lucas.pdf

bh wrote on January 29, 2008 6:20 PM:

Mr. Kenneth Blackwell
Family Research Council

Gotta love wingnut welfare.

Citzen92 wrote on January 29, 2008 6:28 PM:

@Modmom

Did you see my notes above?

Looks like the White House may have been coordinating with Tom Noe using their secret e-mail system (all the records at the RNC).

And just a coincedence that all the bad actors in the Ohio voting mess were tied into the White House?

Secret email, corrupt election officials, embezzled Ohio state money going into the Bush-Cheney campaign all the while coordinating with the Noes?

Oh you betcha there's a link.

nellieh wrote on January 29, 2008 7:04 PM:

I'm betting Blackwell will weasel out. They will have to subpeona him.

modmom wrote on January 29, 2008 7:11 PM:

Conyers/Kaptur letter to AG Gonzales:

Conyers-Kaptur seek special counsel for Noe probe
by John Conyers, Jr. and Marcy Kaptur
August 4, 2005

The Honorable Alberto Gonzales
Attorney General of the United States
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530

Dear Mr. Attorney General:

We write to request that the U.S. Department of Justice immediately appoint an outside special counsel to assume the Department's investigation into alleged illegal contributions by Mr. Thomas Noe to federal and state political campaigns. In light of recent disclosures that Governor Taft's office, which is a subject of the investigation, made a direct political appeal to Karl Rove for Gregory White, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio to receive his job, there is little doubt that this is a textbook case for the appointment of a special counsel.

We understand and appreciate that it is not unusual for local and state politicians to use their influence to obtain presidential appointments for their friends and political allies; however, it is unusual, and indeed inappropriate and violative of your regulations, for prosecutors who obtain such appointments to review the conduct of those same individuals and their friends. Regardless of the actual or perceived sincerity or motives of any particular prosecutor, to ask an individual who owes his job to certain politicians to pursue legal actions against those same politicians places the prosecutor in an untenable situation. Whatever actions he or she takes will inevitably be subject to questions of favoritism and bias, calling the entire prosecution into question. This is why the special counsel regulations were promulgated to begin with.

At the outset, we should note that Mr. Noe, who chaired the 2004 Bush-Cheney Campaign for northwest Ohio and managed the State of Ohio's Bureau of Workers Compensation Fund, appears to have been involved in the diversion of millions of dollars from the Fund to unsecured investments in coins and other collectibles.1 Over $12 million in coins purportedly owned by the State of Ohio, and perhaps other collectibles, are missing, including two coins valued at $300,000.2 Further, the State of Ohio now has claimed losses of $215 million dollars as a result of unsecured hedge fund transactions involving MDL Enterprises of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.3 It appears very likely that political contributions to both federal and state officeholders and candidates were channeled from these state funds.4 Mr. Noe himself was a Bush Pioneer who raise over $100,000 for the Bush campaign.5 Many political officials have recognized the impropriety of these contributions and thus have returned them, including Ohio Governor Bob Taft and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.6

As you are no doubt aware, under the Department's regulations, you are required to appoint a special counsel when (1) a "criminal investigation of a person or matter is warranted," (2) the investigation "by a United States Attorney's Office or litigating Division of the Department of Justice would present a conflict of interest for the Department," and (3) "it would be in the public interest to appoint an outside Special Counsel to assume responsibility for the matter."7 There is little doubt that all three factors are met in the Noe case.

In this situation, a criminal investigation is clearly warranted and, as a matter of fact, the Department has initiated one. A grand jury has been seated in the Northern District of Ohio and has been deposing dozens of individuals who may have been involved in these illegal activities. Moreover, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has been seizing computers, files, and assets of some of the individuals involved.

Second, there are myriad conflicts of interest for Department prosecutors to continue the investigation on their own. To begin with, the United States Attorneys investigating the case, those for the Northern and Southern Districts for Ohio, both of whom were appointed by President Bush, would be in the untenable position of investigating a leading official of the 2004 Bush-Cheney campaign. We now know that Mr. White has very close connections with the Governor's office and the White House. In fact, recently released records show that Mr. White sought Governor Taft's help in obtaining the U.S. Attorney position.8 The Governor's Chief of Staff, Brian Hicks, apparently communicated with Karl Rove, then a counselor to the President, about Mr. White's interest in the post.9 In an e-mail to Mr. Hicks, Mr. White wrote, "'I believe that my record speaks for itself, and I doubt there are too many county chairs for the Bush campaign that worked harder.'"10 This is the same Brian Hicks who was convicted along with his executive assistant, Cherie Carroll for accepting gifts from Mr. Noe in violation of state law (both are now lobbyists).11 In assessing this prong of the regulations, the test for appointment of a special counsel does not rest on the prosecutor in question's perceived reputation or the characterization of his reputation by others, regardless of their political stripe; it is based on whether the conflict of interest exists at all, which is clearly the case in the present instance.

In addition, on October 1, 2004, one month before the election, the Bush administration appointed Mr. Noe as Chair of the U.S. Mint's Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee.12 Federal legislation was passed for the specific purpose of allowing Mr. Noe's appointment.13 That legislation moved through the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services, before which Mr. Noe had testified14 and to whose Members Mr. Noe had contributed financially. Mr. Noe resigned the U.S. Mint position on May 26, 2005,15 after the circumstances of the appointment were publicized in the media.

Finally, the appointment of a special counsel for this matter would undoubtedly serve the public interest. The allegations of improper conduct reach to the highest-possible levels of federal and state government and pertain to a serious corruption of our democratic system of government. The appointment of a special counsel would demonstrate to the American public the Department's understanding of the importance of and need for impartiality in this case. Also, an investigation by a single special counsel would not be subject to any jurisdictional issues that may be present under the current scenario of two prosecutors. There is little question that high-ranking political officials nationally and at the state level were knowledgeable and involved in these activities. Many questions must be addressed involving the link between alleged illegal campaign contributions, diversion of State funds, their relation to 2005 elections, as well as the federal appointment of Mr. Noe to a federal advisory committee.

As a matter of fact, the numerous delays in the investigation have already raised the specter of political favoritism. From documents that have been made public, we know that the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, Gregory White, who is leading the federal investigation, had prior knowledge of the losses before the 2004 presidential election, as did the Governor of Ohio and other officials.16 At the same time, no investigation was initiated on these matters until spring of this year.17

The fact pattern present in this case, particularly with the new disclosure that the lead federal prosecutor may well have gotten his job as a result of a political appeal by Governor Taft's office to Karl Rove, make it abundantly clear that a special counsel is necessitated. We urge you to make such a designation immediately to help restore public trust in this very important investigation.

We look forward to promptly hearing whether you will appoint a special counsel and, if not, the reason for your decision. Please reply through the House Judiciary Committee Minority Office, 2142 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515 (tel 202-225-6504; fax: 202-225-4423).

Sincerely,
John Conyers, Jr.
Marcy Kaptur

letter found at:
http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2005/1400

modmom wrote on January 29, 2008 7:36 PM:

Thanks Citizen92-Blackwell outsourced design of the Election Night Project to Mike Connell (New Media communications & GovTech Solutions) epluribus provided great background:

Who is Michael L. Connell? Part I: The Atwater School of Politics
by Todd Johnston
Wed Mar 28, 2007 at 04:18:08 PM EST
Contributed by Todd Johnston and Luaptifer

As reported yesterday, in 2001 a GOP operative and close confidant of the Bush family was tapped to re-program the Capitol Hill IT network for the 21st century, after George W. Bush's controversial victory over Vice President Al Gore completed the Republican revolution of 1994.

The "Mayor of Capitol Hill" and fellow Ohioan Bob Ney opened the door for Michael "Mike" L. Connell after the GOP put House IT under the control of the Committee on House Administration. Ney, who chaired the committee from 2001 to 2006 is now serving 30 months in federal prison for conspiracy to defraud the United States and falsifying financial disclosure forms.

So who is Mike Connell? Who is the man behind New Media Communications, called "the Bell Labs of the Republican Party," and GovTech Solutions, the company whose custom-made proprietary databases and content management systems run silently and deep beneath the powerful Intelligence, Judiciary, and Ways and Means committees at the U.S. House of Representatives?

In this Part I: The Atwater School of Politics, ePluribus Media presents Connell's time line leading up to the formation of New Media Communications: his fast-tracked and early indoctrination into the no-holds-barred style of Bush family politics.

-sniphttp://scoop.epluribusmedia.org/story/2007/3/28/143050/889

Anonymous wrote on January 29, 2008 8:11 PM:

And GovTech Solutions is associated with SmarTech Corporation, which hosts all of the RNC and GOP related websites including GWB43.com. GWB43.com of course being the backbone of Rove's "secret" email communications system that was widely used by senior White House aides.

It all comes full circle.

nofltwlt wrote on January 29, 2008 8:36 PM:

Ken Blackwell should be in jail for his crimes against Americans. Blackwell participated in the GOP strategy to subvert the will of American voters.

For this he should be hanged along with everyone else who participated in the GOP voter suppression, voter intimidata and vote switching.

What punishment is sufficient for someone who prevents us from freely election our representatives? I can think of no greater crime.

modmom wrote on January 29, 2008 9:23 PM:

nofltwlt, just sending Blackwell to fed prison would suffice for me, however, I would inform fellow inmates that Mr Blackwell attempted to suppress the ex-felon vote:

Representatives from Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell's office, the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction and State Sen. Mark Mallory met this week to discuss the issue and hope to recommend some changes to the registration system soon.

Their interest in the voting rights of ex-convicts grew Tuesday when a prisoners' advocacy group sued Ohio elections officials, claiming they routinely give bad advice that discourages felons from voting.

The lawsuit accused them of telling felons they must complete parole, apply for registration in person or fill out unnecessary paperwork before registering to vote.

Ohio law allows felons to register like anyone else, as long as they are no longer in prison.

-snip
http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/08/19/loc_felonvote19.html

Bert wrote on January 30, 2008 12:49 AM:

IG BushCo has been fly-by-night from day one, one of the CBS career talking heads was generally observing that there were 'issues' with the Y2K election.
Brave new world...

Goldspinner wrote on January 30, 2008 12:54 AM:

New Media Communications is also hooked up with the DCI Group. The plot thickens.

Al in Austex wrote on January 30, 2008 4:41 AM:

Have there been any elected federal officals come up as potential perps in the Ohio voter suppression investigation ? If so can the Ohio state investigation be used as basis for a state level ,state initiated impeachment of a federal official . We need a work around for the Vichy Democratic Leadership obstruction of justice - so we can impeach some of these wannabe fascist - If Dear MADAM Speaker will not go after impeachment of said officials then lets get the state office holders to do that - and find some good qualified candidates to run against Pelosi & Possee.
Also John Kerry should have stood firm on this illegal 2004 election activity in Ohio and elsewhere. Whether its Clinton or Obama is our candidate this time out , unlike last time our side better be ready to RUMBLE.. we cannot bring another "knife "to this 2008 election "gunfight" ..
BTW- Cong lewis fired 100 congressional investigators before the 2006 election -were these 100 re-instated after the Dems took back the majority -anyone know ?

Anonymous wrote on January 30, 2008 9:26 AM:

It was a federal case that put Noe behind bars - prosecuted by the US Attorney's Office. Any evidence of politlcal interference by the White House in this one? Did they go easy on him?

chabuka wrote on January 30, 2008 9:59 AM:

I am underwhelmed...Nadler is the one who is "blocking" the Cheney impeachment hearings...

modmom wrote on January 30, 2008 10:09 AM:

To Al in Austex:

Thanks to years of gerrymandering, Ohio has a strong GOP hold on their legislature and Supreme Court. Since '06, after years of GOP scandals including the Noe coingate, Ohio has elected a Dem Governor (Strickland who ran against Blackwell), AG (Marc Dann) and a Democratic SOS (Jennifer Brunner who is fighting to restore integrity to our election process)

To anonymous @ 9:26 am Read the Conyers/Kaptur letter posted here in regards to WH political interference.

3reddogs wrote on January 30, 2008 10:24 AM:

There isn't a doubt in my mind that J. Kenneth Blackwell, Ohio Secretary of State AND chief elections officer (AND co-chair of Bush's 2004 Ohio re-election campaign) is responsible for Bush winning Ohio, which, of course, gave him the White House. There were so many "irregularities" and so many attempts by Blackwell to disenfrachise and suppress Democratic voters here in Ohio that I would be astounded if Blackwell agreed to appear absent a subpoena.

On a brighter note, Blackwell ran for governor 2 years later (all the while steadfastly refusing to step aside as chief elections officer, of course) and he lost in a landslide to Democrat Ted Strickland. I'm sure I'm not the only Ohio resident who would love to see Ken Blackwell's 2004 machinations exposed for all the world to see. (Too bad most of our 2004 ballots were "accidentally destroyed" despite a court order prohibiting their destruction.)

Ishew wrote on January 30, 2008 10:25 AM:

....and Blackwell and DeLay are not dead! They are starting a republican grassroots moveon type organization. They just held a meeting here in Henderson, Nevada last night. It may be called codered.

Anonymous wrote on January 30, 2008 10:47 AM:

@modmom

Thanks. So we've got the confluence of email scandal, vote stealing scandal, US attorneys scandal and money laundering all connected.

Sure sounds like something Rove might want to make 'go away.'

djcrow22 wrote on January 30, 2008 1:42 PM:

Blackwell refused to appear before, he really deserves some serious jailtime...
And the ballots from Ohio 2004 were destroyed??? Have you seen the Black Box video of ballot security in the New Hampshire primary?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHL_YMBolRs
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/1228-01.htm