This is Friday, June 3rd, 2005. Welcome to PART II (Afternoon Coverage) of the LAST edition of the LIVE Trial Diary.
Back in January, Dino "Saur Loser" Rossi decided to contest the results of the 2004 WA state gubernatorial election and filed a lawsuit in Chelan County Superior Court, hoping to toss out the election of Christine Gregoire.
The trial in the case is taking place this week as well as last week.
As usual, Pacific NW Portal has all the information you need to brief yourself on the trial. It is always updated daily with the latest information.
I will provide updates from the Chelan County courthouse as often as I can. I am not actually there, but I am watching the trial.
This morning, both sides took care of some "housekeeping" - entering exhibits into evidence. Also, John Pearson who works for the Secretary of State, testified, as did Dan Brady, the chief GOP observer during the 2004 election. The judge has announced that he will issue an oral ruling on this case next Monday morning. I'll be doing a special LIVE diary to cover that announcement.
Once again, updates will be posted here. I'll also post links to other relevant sites throughout the day.
You can watch the feeds here, courtesy of TVW.
Today is the last day in the trial. On Monday, I'll have a special diary covering Judge Bridges' ruling in the case LIVE. Subscribe to my diary so you can be sure to follow along as the courtroom decision is announced here the moment it's made.
[1:03 PM] Court has reconvened.
[1:10 PM] Democratic attorney Kevin Hamilton is really grilling Dan Brady in cross examination. He's being extra-especially sharp and critical of Brady. Hamilton is reminding Brady that he filed two declarations in lawsuits last fall (lawsuits filed during the recounts) and Brady doesn't seem to recall the state Supreme Court's opinion issued on Dec. 22nd of last year, which ultimately paved the way for counting of King County ballots which put Christine Gregoire over the top by 129 votes. (Brady, FYI, was the chief observer in the 2004 elections for the GOP)
[1:15 PM] Brady seems to be a pretty clueless guy. We've learned that he was campaign manager for Diane Tebelius' campaign and that he didn't know who some of the Republican National Committee lawyers were who were present during the recounts last fall/winter. At least a third of his answers, if not more, are "I don't know" or "I don't recall that".
[1:25 PM] The Seattle Times' David Postman details this better than I could:
Democratic party attorney Kevin Hamilton played a video of state Republican Party Chairman Chris Vance from last November in which Vance says he does not think there is any fraud in King County's election division.
He asked Dan Brady about it, but Brady said he never heard the statement.
Republican party attorney Rob Maguire objected, saying court rules do not allow the introduction of the video at this point in the trial.
The video is from a post-election town hall meeting sponsored by The Seattle Times.
Bridges would not allow it as evidence, but said Hamilton could play it.
Maguire wanted the judge to watch it in chambers, but after Hamilton pointed out it was already broadcast on TV, the judge allowed it.
In the excerpt, Vance says he is intimately knowledgeable about King County election administration and said, "There is no fraud. There is nothing nefarious going on in Washington state."
"I've been as close to it as you can be and it's just not true," Vance said in the video.
Hamilton then offered the video as evidence again and Bridges allowed it.
[1:30 PM] Hamilton is done questioning Dan Brady. GOP lawyer Rob Maguire begins followup questioning. Maguire is trying to talk about Chris Vance, but Hamilton has objected...and Bridges has sustained his objection. Maguire is moving on.
[1:35 PM] Brady is done. The GOP is calling Kim Wyman, who is the Thurston County Auditor (a Republican). She admits she is very nervous about testifying after seeing the exchange with Brady...she was appointed auditor in 2001. She has served on the state Republican executive committee previously, but isn't doing so now.
[1:40 PM] GOP attorney Dale Foreman is asking the questions here.
[1:50 PM] Foreman is asking Wyman about election policies and procedures, and how Thurston County conducts its election. Hamilton has been objecting to Foreman's line of questioning. Bridges has both sustained and overruled him.
[1:55 PM] Kevin Hamilton is now cross examining Kim Wyman. Opens with a friendly exchange.
[2:20 PM] Wyman is done. They're going to recess shortly....
[2:25 PM] Court is in recess.
[2:40 PM] Court has reconvened. Closing arguments are now beginning. GOP is up first. Korrell will be reading the statement for them.
[2:55 PM] Korrell is reading a statement full of B.S. It's basically a rehash of all the crap the GOP has alleged, mixed in with fraud charges and lots of whining that the election was FUBAR.
[3:20 PM] Korrell is arguing that the election was stolen.
[3:28 PM] Durkan is now presenting the Democrats' closing statement.
[3:38 PM] Durkan'a statement is very strong, conclusive, and powerful. I don't want to try repeating it, but it's worth listening/watching to. Go here to get a stream.
[4:14 PM] This is a very powerful statement. I am transfixed to my TV screen, this is not at all boring. I strongly encourage you to watch or listen to Ms. Durkan's closing statement. Go here to get a stream. She's blowing the GOP's conclusions out of the sky, covering everything from absentees to provisionals to ballot security to fraud and beyond.
[4:34 PM] Indeed, this is a powerful concluding statement. Lots of specifics, yet it's easy for me to follow, and I am watching intently. There's a lot of data and information to cover here and she seems to be hitting all the bases. The conclusions she's made are hardly debatable. After what I'm hearing here, there's no doubt in my mind that the GOP's case is going to collapse like a house of cards when the ruling is made on Monday.
[4:48 PM] Jenny Durkan has finished her powerful closing argument. Let me tell you, I am awed and impressed by her presentation. Even John Carlson, conservative KVI AM talkshow host, is admitting that Durkan's presentation was superior to GOP lawyer Harry Korrell's. Wow.
[4:48 PM] Court has recessed for five to ten minutes.
[4:58 PM] Court has reconvened. Thomas Ahearne is up to deliver the closing statement for the Secretary of State.
[5:10 PM] Ahearne is making strong statements on behalf of the Secretary of State, arguing that the Secretary of State has been fair and impartial throughout the entire process. He is criticizing both sides.
[5:15 PM] Korrell has come up for rebuttal - to rebut Ahearne and Durkan.
[5:30 PM] Last minute housekeeping has been taken care of. Judge is congratulating everyone for their participation in the trial because he says he knows no one will want to hear it on Monday.
[5:33 PM] Court is in recess until Monday when a decision will be announced.
---- END OF THE LIVE TRIAL DIARIES ----
I want to thank everyone who has been following along for their participation here. I will be posting a short analysis of the trial this weekend, likely tomorrow, and on Monday, I'll be doing a special LIVE diary to cover the decision as it's announced. Don't miss out - be sure to be following along starting at 9 AM on Monday morning.