Rubio has family ties to narco-trafficking. Just can't make this stuff up

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/10/01/2434296/the-inside-story-univisions-war.html

<snip>Univision, headquartered in Doral, is a top-rated network, reaching 95 percent of the 13.3 million Hispanic households in the United States. Its ratings are tops in prime-time in such cities as Los Angeles, San Antonio and Miami — regardless of language. It recently created an investigative team.

The Rubio brother-in-law story was its first investigation. The story about Rubio and his brother-in-law was broadcast in English and Spanish on television and the web over two days.

Univision also pointed the story out to the governor, and emailed reporters from Washington to Miami to highlight “Rubio’s families ties to narco-trafficking.” Univision hyped it on Twitter with the hashtag code "#rubio, # drugs."

Mainstream media sources and bloggers barely gave it play due to the quarter century-old nature of the case and the fact it had no apparent peg to current news.

[n2doc]

1. No wonder the Bushies love him n/t

[EFerrari]

4. Yep.

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. How surprised should I feign to be?

[rurallib]

3. just as surprised as you were when you heard of Perry's rock

[peace frog]

8. I can't muster a feint

Only a matter of time before Rubio's skeletons started tumbling out of the closet. Not that his GOPer criminal cronies give a flying fig.

[malaise]

5. Delish like blue mountain coffee

:rofl:

[Scurrilous]

6. K & R

:thumbsup:

[True Earthling]

7. This sounds bad for Univision.. not Rubio

Why are people gloating over this?

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/10/01/2434296_p2/the-inside-story-univisions-war.html#ixzz1ZpaGu9Yq

On the night of July 5, Rubio received a call from his sister, Barbara Cicilia. She was distraught. A Univision reporter had called her about the arrest and incarceration of her husband, Orlando Cicilia, in the 1987 federal bust called “Operation Cobra.” Rubio was 16 at the time. Before Rubio was elected to his first legislative seat, in 2000, Cicilia was cleared for early release.
Mrs. Cicilia refused comment. Univision then sent a news truck to sit outside their West Miami home.
On July 7, Alex Burgos, Rubio’s communications director, and Rubio’s political advisor, Todd Harris, held a 45-minute conference call with a handful of top Univision editorial staffers, including Lee, the news chief who handled most of the discussions for Univision. Harris represented Rubio as Burgos took notes. Rubio was not on the call.
Toward the end of the conversation, Lee brought up Ramos’ show and suggested the drug-bust story could change — or not run at all, according to Harris and Burgos’ notes.
Said Harris: “You’re saying that if Marco does an interview with Ramos, that you will drop this investigation into his family and the story will never air?"
Lee, they say, responded with this statement: "While there are no guarantees, your understanding of the proposal is fair.”

[NNN0LHI]

10. Then I think the networks and big newspapers like WaPo and NYT should do an in depth investigation

Wonder why they don't?

Any ideas why the national media would stay away from this story?

Don

[xchrom]

9. I love scandals like & I will gloat as his faces repeatedly rubbed in it. Nt

[Octafish]

11. The great DUer seafan has Rubio and his minder Jebthro pegged flat.

F'r instance:

Jeb Inc.

[UTUSN]

12. Unfortunately, the drug incident was a bro-in-law & RUBIO was 16 & not involved & Univision

comes off as looking like blackmailing: Give us an interview and we won't run the story.

But then, Caroline KENNEDY pulled the stunt of trading her mother's tapes to keep the networks from running the miniseries.


The media outlet looks bad; RUBIO looks like he's sparing his mother and sister pain; and the culprit is a brother-in-law, not involving RUBIO. But the "narco trafficking" label *does* look bad for RUBIO to explain everywhere.

On the other-OTHER hand, the BUSHes have "ties" like: (Jeb: ) suitcases of cash with Cuban-exile/CIA business partners flying who knows where and to whom, and Medicare fraud with Cuban-exile/CIA partners. Neil with busting the taxpayers with savings and loan busts plus "education" businesses. (Shrub: ) Various insider-trading schemes, not to mention, oh, illegal wars and inhumane violations, but who's counting.


Sort of makes the RUBIO thing shrink.

[JHB]

13. So the BIL was arrested at age 16 in 1987?

Without more, that's stretching it to call it "ties to narco-trafficing".

Unless, of course, it was the BIL of a Democratic pol, particularly the president. Then FOX would have been blaring about it for years and every teabagger would go on and on and on and on about him, etc.

Speaking of teabaggers, what do they think of the BIL getting off light? (Don't know how long he did time, but to a teabagger, out of jail = got off light)

[UTUSN]

14. When RUBIO was 16... n/t

[EC]

15. Well, duh...

Most of the earlier Cuban refugees were the rich families who could buy their way off the island...so I'm guessing there were many who made money not so legally since there was a revolution against the rich.

[Scurrilous]

16. Perry, Romney, Huntsman, Bachmann are boycotting Univision debate over Rubio

<snip>

"Four Republican presidential candidates are boycotting a proposed Univision debate due to allegations that the Spanish-language media giant tried to strong-arm Sen. Marco Rubio, a vice-presidential shortlister, with a controversial story about a relative.

Mitt Romney, Rick Perry, Jon Huntsman and Michele Bachmann all issued statements Tuesday saying that Univision needs to make amends before they would appear at the debate, tentatively scheduled for two days before Florida’s Jan. 31 primary.

The four made their separate announcements throughout the day at the behest of three Florida Hispanic Republican lawmakers who noted that Rubio’s office and Univision insiders said the network publicized an embarrassing story about the senator’s brother-in-law because Rubio wouldn’t sit down for an interview on the show Al Punto, which has espoused a liberal line on the hot-topic of immigration.

Univision has called the allegations of a quid-pro-quo “absurd,” and said that the July story of the 24-year-old drug bust was reported fairly and accurately.

But Romney, Perry, Bachmann and Huntsman apparently believed the reports from Rubio’s office and the Univision insiders, which were first revealed Sunday in a Miami Herald story. The five other candidates, including Florida straw poll winner Herman Cain, couldn’t be reached for comment."

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/10/04/2438183/rick-perry-john-huntsman-are-boycotting.html#ixzz1ZqiwPgC2

[NNN0LHI]

17. Thank you for the update Scurrilous

Appears up thread we have a DUer who has this all figured out and actually believes the Republicans version of the story over the version from Univision. He is concerned as to, "Why are people gloating over this?"

Wonder why someone would believe the Republicans about anything? Its easy to tell when they are lying. Their lips are moving.

Don