Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News Thursday 7/7/05

[MelissaB]

All members welcome and encouraged to participate.





If you can:

1. Post stories and announcements you find on the web.

2. Post stories using the "Election Fraud and Reform News Sources" listed here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x371233

3. Re-post stories and announcements you find on DU, providing a link to the original thread with thanks to the Original Poster, too.

4. Start a discussion thread by re-posting a story you see on this thread.



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Link to previous Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x381154

All previous daily threads are available here:

http://www.independentmediasource.com/DU_archives/du_2004erd_el_ref_fr_thr_calenders.htm




Please "Recommend" for the Greatest Page (it's the link just below).

[MelissaB]

1. Conyers blogs about "Coingate"

Wednesday, July 6th, 2005

Coingate Scandal
My Letter to the U.S. Attorney in Ohio

Many of you not from Ohio may not have followed the growing scandal enveloping the Ohio GOP, also known as "coingate." If ever there was a case of truth being stranger than fiction, or absolute power leading to absolute corruption, this is it. Every single statewide office in Ohio is held by the Repubicans, along with the State Senate, State House, and the Supreme Court (sort of scary, but not too dissimilar from DC). Anyway, a big time GOP fundraiser, Tom Noe, from Toledo, somehow convinced these Republicans that it would be good idea to invest state workers' compensation funds in his rare coins. Not surprisingly, this has proven to be a bad investment for everyone but Noe, and many of the coins are now missing. Noe is under investigation for illegal campaign donations as well. Nearly every Republican in the state is involved in some way or another, and state and federal investigations are pending.

What caught my attention was that the U.S. Attorney in Northern Ohio -- Gregory White -- a Bush appointee, appears to have sat on the investigation for several months. He learned about it before the election, yet did not appear to pursue the matter in earnest until fairly recently. (It goes without saying that if this story had broke before the election, it could have changed tens, if not hundreds of thousands of GOP votes in Ohio to the Democratic column.) Yesteday, I asked Mr. White to explain the delay as well as describe the extent and nature of any contacts he has had with the GOP in DC. The Toledo Blade -- which has done a superb job in investigating and reporting this matter -- has a story on my letter and White's response. I will be interested to see whether and how he responds to me. Given that White was willing to go on the record with the Blade to challenge my letter, I think he owes me the courtesy of a formal response as well.


Link: http://www.conyersblog.us/


Discussion here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4032529

and here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x382759

[MelissaB]

2. Gov. Taft sued over ‘Coingate' scandal

Gov. Taft sued over ‘Coingate' scandal

POSTED: Wednesday, July 06, 2005 7:40:51 PM
UPDATED: Wednesday, July 06, 2005 10:41:24 PM
COLUMBUS -- Governor Bob Taft has been sued over the “Coingate” scandal … he’s accused of covering it up.

Democratic State Senator Marc Dann is demanding Taft provide e-mails and memos from his staff.

The senator is one of many clamoring for information about the state’s bad investments and about Taft’s relationship with coin dealer and republican fundraiser Tom Noe.


So far, the governor is withholding some records. He’s claiming “executive privilege.”

“This is not a matter of national security,” Dann said. “This is a matter of what did the governor’s staff tell him about the job we were paying the governor’s staff to do, what did the governor know about what we were paying him to oversee. Executive privilege is not a concept recognized in Ohio’s Public Records Law.”

More: http://www.wkyc.com/news/news_fullstory.asp?id=37541

[MelissaB]

4. Another one: Senator takes Taft to court

Senator takes Taft to court

Associated Press


COLUMBUS, Ohio - A Democratic state senator has taken his fight with Gov. Bob Taft over access to records in a Bureau of Workers' Compensation investment scandal to the Ohio Supreme Court.

Sen. Marc Dann of suburban Youngstown wants weekly reports former bureau administrator James Conrad sent to Taft dating to 1998. He asked the court on Wednesday to order Taft to release the records.

"It's important for the public to understand what information is flowing to the governor," Dann said.

Taft, a Republican, says he didn't know about bureau investments in rare coins managed by top GOP donor Tom Noe until he read about it in a newspaper. Noe's lawyer has said the rare coin fund had a shortfall that could reach $13 million, based on the value of coins that cannot be found.

More: http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/news/state/12068664.htm

[MelissaB]

3. "Coingate" Experts trace origin of missing gold coins

Experts trace origin of missing gold coins
BWC pieces not from dePont heist

By CHRISTOPHER D. KIRKPATRICK
BLADE STAFF WRITER


From Lincoln to Nixon, from slavery to Watergate, a set of three U.S. gold coins sat in a vault in England, undisturbed and unaware of the sometimes-turbulent American history unfolding across the ocean.

The uncirculated coins, struck in the mid-1800s, emerged after their century hiatus valuable and sought after in the 1970s, and by this month, controversial as the focus of several investigations into what has become known as Coingate.

One of the persistent mysteries of the state’s $50 million investment into rare coins with Toledo dealer Tom Noe was the location and pedigree of the two U.S. gold coins.

Half of the mystery has been solved.

The set was bought — along with a fourth rare coin — with Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation money in 2003 as part of an investment scheme to squeeze profit. The plan was to have the four coins revalued by graders and then resold for a healthy margin.

More: http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050705/NEWS24/50705001/0/NEWS16

[MelissaB]

5. Counting coins, not benefits, in Ohio

Counting coins, not benefits, in Ohio
$50 million from the state’s workers’ comp fund invested in rare coins

By Michelle Caruso-Cabrera
NBC News


COLUMBUS, Ohio - It's the talk of Ohio: Why did the state invest $50 million from the workers' comp fund — meant for helping injured workers — in rare coins?

"Only fools and politicians would do something like that," says one Columbus resident.

"It's a dumb idea," agrees Tom Hayes, who normally works as director of the Ohio Lottery Commission and was asked to sort it all out.

...snip


Ohio Democrats are crying foul, focusing on Noe's Republican connections. He's given money to the governor, the president, six of the seven state Supreme Court justices — not to mention California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Ordinary Ohioans are just rolling their eyes, calling it politics "more so than usual."


More: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8473954/

[MelissaB]

6. State party paid $10,500 fine for Leon County Democrats

State party paid $10,500 fine for Leon County Democrats

BRENT KALLESTAD

Associated Press


TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - State party funds were used to cover the cost of a fine levied against the Leon County Democratic Party last year when gubernatorial hopeful Scott Maddox served as chairman for both, new state party Chairwoman Karen Thurman said Wednesday.

The revelations showed the party cut a pair of checks for $5,000 and a third for $500 on Dec. 16, 2004 to People's First Community Bank in Tallahassee, which in turn issued a $10,500 cashier's check payable to the Leon County Supervisor of Elections to satisfy a fine for failing to timely file a required financial report.

The checks, Thurman said, were consecutively numbered and signature-stamped, not signed.

Maddox and Paige Carter-Smith, who was Maddox' executive director in both state and local posts, have both said they were unaware that the checks had been issued.

More: http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/local/12068517.htm

[MelissaB]

7. Police union files charges against Maddox

Police union files charges against Maddox

By Bill Cotterell

DEMOCRAT POLITICAL EDITOR


A police union founded by his father that now leans Republican filed charges against Scott Maddox on Tuesday, accusing him of felonious mismanagement of Leon County Democratic Party finances.

The manager of Maddox's campaign for governor called the Florida Police Benevolent Association's allegations "politically motivated." The PBA has endorsed Attorney General Charlie Crist for governor and has disliked Maddox since his time as mayor of Tallahassee and president of the Florida League of Cities, when Maddox crossed the powerful police union on a pension issue in the Legislature.



A 'politically motivated' move

Maddox and Griffin-Bruton were unavailable for comment. Maddox's campaign manager, Sallie Stohler, accused the PBA of seeking to stir a new financial controversy since the Democratic Party audit confirmed Maddox was not told by Griffin-Bruton about the non-payment.

"Last week, it was Jeb Bush issuing personal attacks on Scott Maddox and now it is allies of Charlie Crist issuing personal attacks on him," said Stohler. "This is just a politically motivated move by a group that has a personal ax to grind."


More: http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/tallahassee/news/12061902.htm

[MelissaB]

8. CA: Budget deal frees governor, Democrats to seek election compromise

Budget deal frees governor, Democrats to seek election compromise

By: BETH FOUHY - Associated Press

...snip

Schwarzenegger's redistricting proposal would take the power of drawing legislative boundaries away from lawmakers and give the responsibility to a panel of retired judges. Democrats want to tie the changes to an easing of California's term limits law and to entertain the possibility of a giving redistricting power to a broader panel of citizens.

Complicating the process are interest groups on both sides who are moving forward with a high-stakes ballot fight.


More: http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2005/07/07/news/state/20_16_267_6_05.txt

[Tigress DEM]

9. Backlog on Conyers "What Went Wrong in Ohio?" easing up.

Those of us who rushed out to support JC with a $50 or more donation to help his effort to give us "due process" on the Downing Street Memo were promised a copy of "What Went Wrong in Ohio?" and the response was so huge that those books are just now coming in. So the rest of you on DU who are looking for your signed copy should get it soon.

I've read it all in bits and pieces, but I'm looking forward to seeing the actual report and showing it to my friends and family who still think we should "get over it!"

Get over it. Not likely. If WE the People "get over this" we might as well bend over for another 4 years. Sigh. At least Air America Radio taught us the soap in a sock trick today (Al Franken show.) So if it comes to US of A as a prison society we can at least take showers with less fear than before.