Copies of this article (which is cross-posted at The Cincinnati Beacon) and a cover letter requesting an investigation have been sent to the United States Secret Service. We’ll keep readers updated as new information becomes available.
January 22, 2009
Joseph T. Deters, Prosecuting Attorney
Hamilton County
230 E. Ninth Street, Suite 4000
Cincinnati, Ohio 45202
Mr. Deters:
Reportedly you recently shared a joke about the potential assassination of Barack Obama. I’m writing today in an attempt to verify the facts.
The report was published last week in "The Whistleblower," a hardcore racist newsletter written by Cincinnatian Jim Schifrin who writes under the pen name "Charles Foster Kane."
You’ll recall I’ve repeatedly written you to ask about your relationship with Schifrin because he regularly reports items about lunch dates with you. Here are the May 2008 e-mails I wrote you (to which I never received a reply):
Here’s my July 16, 2008 e-mail asking you to verify Schifrin’s claim that the two of you made racist jokes about then-Senator Obama the same week the NAACP’s national convention was held in Cincinnati.
I never received a reply to that either, but when our camera caught up with you that week at the McCain for President rally on Fountain Square, you said your relationship with Schifrin was "your personal life." You then walked away and two of your associates blocked our camera.
Last week, the January 17 issue of "The Whistleblower" included:
Hamilton County Prosecutor "JayWalking Joe" Deters...McCain’s Southwest Ohio Chairman did find time to sample the hot and sour soup at the King Wok in Clifton on Friday with Beloved Whistleblower Publisher Charles Foster Kane, where the pair compared the latest tasteless Obama jokes, such as:
Q: What do Abe Lincoln, JFK, Martin Luther King Jr. and Obama have in common?
A: Nothing, yet!
As you may know, Schifrin and Steve Fritsch, whose website hosts "The Whistleblower," have a history of publishing similar material, samples of which are copied below my signature.
Here are my questions:
- Were you present when an assassination remark was made about Barack Obama?
- If so, did you report the information to authorities, such as the United States Secret Service?
I look forward to your reply.
Sincerely,
[The Dean of Cincinnati]
The Cincinnati Beacon
cc:
The United States Secret Service
Mark Sullivan, Director
Kurt Douglass, Special Agent In Charge, Cincinnati
Hamilton County Board of Commissioners
David Pepper
Todd Portune
Greg Hartmann