RNC member convicted as stalker resigns from RNC and reports to jail-see AP story at bottom of this---Update
While Idaho usually is not important to the East Coast and West Coast folks, it does have two Senate votes that will be sure things for the Republicans against the Democratic health care bill. Idaho also has a lesson to teach about one party domination.
Idaho's almost total political domination by the Republicans has not just produced Senator Larry Craig and allowed him to be re-elected many times, the Republican domination has also produced a Republican National Committeeman and former member of the State Board of Education who will be going to jail next week for stalking. The saga of this falling power broker, who remains on the public payroll of Idaho, thanks to the total domination of the state by the Republican Party, deserves national attention as the national Republicans continue to pretend to be the party of virtue and family values.
The latest news on RNC member Blake Hall, an Idaho Falls, Idaho, lawyer is set out, below, in excerpts from two local TV News stations:
Idaho Falls TV By LocalNews8.com Staff & Aman Chabra, Local News 8 Reporter KIFI Idaho Falls, ID
http://www.localnews8.com/...
IDAHO FALLS -
Prominent Idaho Falls Republican leader Blake Hall has pleaded guilty to misdemeanor stalking Friday afternoon. Before the end of the day, Hall was sentenced.
Hall was sentenced to six months in jail for stalking his ex-girlfriend. The two started dating in March 2008. The victim said when they broke up, Hall became a predator. She filed a no-contact order against Hall.
Because Hall worked for county prosecutor Dane Watkins Jr., an unbiased prosecutor was brought in to handle the case. He said Hall's "double-life" was his down fall.
Friday afternoon in court, the woman told of one instance when Hall put used condoms on her driveway. She said her kids were traumatized.
She also accused him of telling lies to her bishop so she could not get married.
She was so afraid of him, she told the court she would wait at night with a golf club to try and catch him.
Hall issued a statement to apologize for his actions during the hearing. He explained he was driven by heart-ache.
All but 15 days of his sentence were suspended by the judge, meaning he will spend about two week in jail. He will also be placed on probation. He will need to report to the Bonneville County Jail Monday at 8 a.m.
Also as part of the sentencing, the no contact-order was reestablished for a year.
Since 1983, Hall has worked for the Bonneville County Prosecutor's office as the chief civil deputy.
Hall was married for 33 years before he divorced in 2007. Hall is one of three Idahoans on the Republican National Committee. He served as Idaho GOP chairman in the 80s.
Another local TV Station, KIDK Idaho Falls, ID, carried this:
Although the media coverage surrounding Hall may be different because of his status in society, the judge promised his treatment in court was anything but.
"In 20 years, I've never heard anything like it," says Judge Harding.
The judge noted he has never seen anything to this extent.
On top of 15 days in jail and a suspended sentence of 6 years, Hall will also have one year supervised probation along with more than one thousand dollars in fines.
He will also have a one year no-contact-order with his victim.
http://www.kidk.com/...
Idaho's main paper, the Boise Idaho Statesman has done a series on Hall including the following data:
Hall is employed by Bonneville County Prosecutor Dane Watkins Jr. as the county's chief civil deputy, a job he's held since 1983 and pays Hall about $60,000 a year. Hall also has a private law practice that includes lobbying for the cleanup contractor at the Idaho National Lab and legal work for the Idaho Counties Risk Management Program and the state's Catastrophic Health Care Program. Hall's work for government agencies brings his firm about $600,000 annually.
http://www.idahostatesman.com/idahopolitics/story/894820.html
Blake Hall’s Law Firm web is: http://anhs.net/...
The AP story update includes the following:
Republican activist pleads guilty to stalking
- The Associated Press
Published: 11/06/09
Hall is a national committeeman for Idaho on the Republican National Committee and a former state party chairman. He stepped down in April from the Board of Education, but remains administrator of the state Catastrophic Fund, which covers medical bills for the indigent.
Dan Popkey, the Idaho Statesman reporter in Boise, who did the main investigation on Senator Larry Craig, did a series of stories on the power and decline of Blake Hall that included the following information about the money Blake Hall and his law firm made from Idaho legal work, including for the state indigent health fund, that was politically connected:
http://www.idahostatesman.com/...
Hall has administered the fund since 1985. His law firm was paid $205,000 for the contract last year, which hasn't been competitively bid since Hall got the work.
. . . . . .
(Hall's firm also represents the Idaho Counties Risk Management Program, the insurer of 672 local governments. Since 1988, Hall's firm was been paid $3.2 million by the program, $341,400 of that in 2008.)
In addition to his full-time private law and lobbying practice, Blake Hall is a full-time employee of Bonneville County, where he is paid $59,800 a year.
. . . . .
As George W. Bush prepared to accept his party's nomination for president in 2000 in Philadelphia, an Idaho Falls lawyer was nearby, making sure everything went as planned.
Blake Hall, former chairman of the Idaho GOP, was sergeant-at-arms at the Republican National Convention, working with the Secret Service and police to assure a smooth launch for Bush.
. . . .
The convention marked a high point in Blake Hall's remarkable career. In addition to helping elect presidents, Hall, 56, has advised governors and secured government clients that pay his law firm $600,000 a year. He recently earned $20,000 a month as a lobbyist for the contractor cleaning up the Idaho National Laboratory.
Powerful insider Blake Hall dials it back
Blake Hall had sweeping influence in Idaho Republican politics, but since a divorce, his footprint has diminished
BY DAN POPKEY - dpopkey@idahostatesman.com
Published: 07/19/09
All the statewide offices in Idaho are held by Republicans. The legislature has an overwhelming Republican majority in both houses.
Even conduct like that of Blake Hall and Larry Craig seems to make little difference. The bulk of the voters, R, D and independent, get all their information from Fox and right wing talk radio and you will not see or hear about Blake Hall going to jail next Monday on those "news" outlets. It is unlikely the MSM will cover it either, as Idaho is of no importance other than as a source of bad jokes, unfortunately. It is also an example of the evils of one party domination.
update---RNC Stalker resigns and reports to jail
•
Hall steps down from national GOP committee
By TODD DVORAK - Associated Press Writer
Published: 11/09/09
BOISE, Idaho — Blake Hall, a lawyer and longtime power broker in the state and national Republican Party, has stepped down from his position representing Idaho on the party's national committee.
Idaho Republican Party Chairman Norm Semanko announced Hall's resignation Monday, three days after Hall pleaded guilty and was sentenced in an eastern Idaho courtroom for stalking a former girlfriend. Semanko said Hall, who was the RNC's chief legal counsel from 2007 until resigning in January, made his intentions known over the weekend.
"I am grateful for Blake's many years of service to the Republican Party and appreciate that he put the party first by submitting his resignation," Semanko said in a statement.
Hall's successor will be chosen by the Republican State Central Committee when it meets Jan. 9 in Boise, said Jonathan Parker, executive director of the Idaho Republican Party.
The 56-year-old former state GOP chairman was convicted of misdemeanor stalking and sentenced by District Judge Don Harding to six months in jail, with all but 15 days suspended. He was also fined $1,000 and ordered to one year probation.
Hall reported Saturday to the Bonneville County Jail to begin serving his sentence.
Idaho Falls police began investigating Hall's behavior in August after the 37-year-old woman filed a complaint alleging she was repeatedly being stalked by him, sometimes at restaurants, movie theaters or in their neighborhoods after their relationship ended.
In court Friday, the woman told the judge she was "so tired of being victimized. It is unimaginable that a 56-year-old would be so deviant," the Post Register reported.
Hall apologized to the court, the woman and the community for his actions and vowed better behavior in the future.
"I can assure the court and the community that my conduct will be more than exemplary," Hall told the judge.
Hall has also been active in policy-making at the state level for decades. In April, he stepped down after serving nine years on the state Board of Education, which oversees public and higher education statewide. He was appointed to the state board by former Interior Secretary and Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne, and remains administrator of the state Catastrophic Fund, which covers medical bills for the indigent.
Hall also practices law in a private firm in Idaho Falls. Hall had also served for more than 20 years in the civil division for the Bonneville County attorney's office, but was terminated Monday, according to Bonneveille County Attorney Dane Watkins Jr.
In 1985, Hall, at age 32, was nominated to be chairman of the Idaho Republican Party, taking over after the death of Dennis Olson. He resigned from that post four years later, and with it the position on the national Republican National Committee.
But a year later he was elected by Idaho Republicans to be a national committeeman, and his tenure made him one of the highest in seniority among the RNC's 168 members.
His exit from the state political stage over the last year also comes at a period of tension within the party, specifically between moderates and those on the more conservative wing.
Three years ago, Hall worked with former state party chairman Kirk Sullivan to beat back a measure that would have required ever Idaho GOP candidate to pledge allegiance to the entire state party platform, or explain areas where they dissented.
. . . . . .
http://www.idahostatesman.com/...