Looks like John Conyers Jr. has responded to Blackwell's crappy letter that addressed none of their concerns.
The letter is from today, 12/14/04.
See Blackwell's letter from Nicholas Phillips' diary: here.
SEE PDF of today's letter from Conyers : http://www.house.gov/judiciary_democrats/ohblackwellrespfollowup121404.pdf
The Honorable J. Kenneth Blackwell
Ohio Secretary of State
180 East Broad Street, 16th Floor
Columbus, OH 43215
Dear Secretary Blackwell:
I am in receipt of your December 14 response to the letter I, and eleven other Members of the House Judiciary Committee, w-rote to you on December 2. Frankly, I find your response disappointing and unacceptable and I am dismayed that it took nearly two weeks for you to proffer a letter that does not respond to a single one of our 36 questions.
In light of comments made by your spokesman, our decision to not respond to a single question we posed to you is surprising. Your spokesman had led the media to believe you would be "more than happy to fill in the gaps" for us' and that "most" issued had already been explained
in "news reports."* I have yet to see answers to any of our 36 questions in news reports or
anywhere else and I was very much looking forward to your assistance in locating such reports.
I was also looking forward to your filling "in the gaps" between what the Government
Accountability Office is assessing and what we are investigating. I am sure you are aware that
the Comptroller General has indicated that the GAO is "not authorized to engage in enforcement
efforts relating to specific allegations of voting irregularities.`" In contrast, our letter contained a number of very specific allegations of such irregularities, which we are currently investigating, along with additional troubling information we have received since our letters to you.
Nor is it compelling to argue that Congress cannot investigate a matter simultaneously
with the GAO and/or the Department of Justice. In the past year alone, while the GAO was
studying a number of issues, Congress was concurrently investigating? Similarly, a Department of Justice investigation has also never served as a bar to a congressional investigation.
Your refusal to answer the 36 questions we posed to you is unfortunate and part of a pattern of decisions that have worked to obstruct and stonewall a search for the truth about Ohio voting irregularities. If these allegations are as obviously baseless as you have claimed, it would seem that you could perform a public service by dispelling them. The voters deserve no less.
I, therefore, renew my request for you to respond to these inquiries and remain faithful to the commitment you made, through your spokesman, to assist our search for the truth.
Sincerely,
John Conyers, Jr.
Ranking Member
cc: Democratic Members, House Judiciary Committee
F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr., Chairman
December 14,2004