Del Ali

Research 2000 President Has Two Degrees In Recreation

Justin Elliott | July 2, 2010, 12:10PM

Markos Moulitsas of Daily Kos and Del Ali of Research 2000 (inset)

As the allegations that polling firm Research 2000 produced bogus or flawed data continue to rock the political world, it's worth taking a moment to look at the somewhat unorthodox background of the man behind R2K, Del Ali.

"I consider myself a political scientist," Ali told TPMmuckraker in an interview today. "If you want to call me a statistical wiz, I am not."

Ali's academic history is primarily in recreation. He graduated from the University of Maryland with a BS in Recreation (Public Health) in 1983, according to a university spokesman. Records show he also got an MA in Recreation from Maryland in 1991.

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Research 2000

Research 2000 Prez Lashes Out At Kos In Detailed Response To Fraud Suit

Justin Elliott | July 1, 2010, 6:10PM

DailyKos founder Markos Moulitsas and Del Ali (inset), founder of Research 2000.

In response to the lawsuit filed by Daily Kos against him this week, Research 2000 president Del Ali is accusing Kos of owing him money "in the six figure category" and of using "Kos bloggers posing as statisticians" to slander R2K.

"Every charge against my company and myself are pure lies, plain and simple and the motives as to why Kos is doing it will be revealed in the legal process and not before that," Ali writes in a lengthy, at times discursive statement to TPMmuckraker, which you can read in full below.

(Kos, by the way, has said he paid for all the polling he received.)

He also delves into the statistical analysis at the heart of the dispute, which Kos says proves R2K's polls are fraudulent. It was written by three so-called "statistics wizards" who contacted Kos after finding what they call extreme anomalies in R2K's poll data.

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Research 2000

Daily Kos Files Suit Against Research 2000

Justin Elliott | July 1, 2010, 10:36AM

Markos Moulitsas of Daily Kos and Del Ali of Research 2000 (inset)

Via Greg Sargent, Markos Moulitsas of Daily Kos has now sued polling firm Research 2000 for allegedly "fraudulently manufacturing phony results."

Kos' lawyer, Adam Bonin, confirmed to TPMmuckraker that the suit was filed late yesterday. Del Ali of Research 2000, who has vehemently denied Kos' claims, told us this morning that he has not yet seen the suit. (For more on the backstory, check out our past coverage.)

The suit, which you can read below, alleges breach of contract, unfair business practices, breach of implied warranty, intentional misrepresentation, negligent misrepresentation, constructive fraud, and conversion.

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Research 2000

Research 2000 Chief Says Business Has Taken 'A Fatal Hit,' Promises 'Criminal Sanctions' For Kos

Justin Elliott | June 30, 2010, 10:09AM

Markos Moulitsas of Daily Kos and Del Ali of Research 2000 (inset)

Research 2000 President Del Ali tells TPMmuckraker in an email that the explosive claim by Daily Kos Tuesday that the firm fabricated poll data has dealt a "fatal" blow to his business, and, "Several long time clients who believe in us have stated that even after we are cleared and criminal sanctions are imposed on Kos, that they can not do business with us due to perception."

It's not clear how Kos' accusing the firm of making up data would result in "criminal sanctions," but the charge is another sign of Ali amping up his pushback against Kos since the allegations were initially leveled.

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polling

Kos Lawyer On R2K: 'He Handed Daily Kos Fiction And Claimed It Was Fact'

Justin Elliott | June 29, 2010, 3:21PM

Markos Moulitsas

The lawyer for Daily Kos is not mincing words when it comes to accusing Research 2000 of outright fraud in its poll data.

"He handed Daily Kos fiction and claimed it was fact and got us to put our name on it," said Attorney Adam Bonin of R2K president Del Ali.

In an interview with TPMmuckraker, Bonin, of the firm Cozen O'Connor in Philadelphia, says he will file suit against Research 2000 in the next week in the Northern District of California, where Kos is based. The suit will allege "breach of contract, fraud, negligent misrepresentation, and a number of other counts." It will seek damages for "the amount that was paid for this polling, and ... things like reputational harm and punitive damages." Ali and his attorney have forcefully denied the allegations.

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Del Ali

Research 2000 President: 'We Conducted EVERY Poll Properly' For Kos

Justin Elliott | June 29, 2010, 2:46PM

Research 2000 President Del Ali, responding to the allegation today by Daily Kos that his firm provided bogus poll data, tells TPMmuckraker in an email, "I will tell you unequivocally that we conducted EVERY poll properly for the Daily Kos."

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Daily Kos

Kos Alleges Top Pollster Provided Bogus Data, Will Sue

Justin Elliott | June 29, 2010, 2:09PM

Markos Moulitsas

Calling into question years worth of polls, Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas said today his site will sue pollster Research 2000 after a statistical analysis showed that R2K allegedly "fabricated or manipulated" poll data commissioned by Kos.

Two weeks ago, after Kos dropped R2K for inaccuracy, a group of three of what Kos calls "statistics wizards" began looking at some of the firm's data and found a number of "extreme anomalies" that they claim may be the result of some kind of randomizer.

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