The following diary entry is from Paddy Shaffer,
In an attempt to move Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner and Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray to action on the unresolved election criminal issues remaining from the Ohio 2004 election, the Ohio Election Justice Campaign sent the following letters on November 5, 2010.
Legacy or lethargy? Ohio officials Brunner and Cordray asked to deal with 2004 election fraud in their final hours in office:
In an attempt to move Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner and Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray to action on the unresolved election criminal issues remaining from the Ohio 2004 election, the Ohio Election Justice Campaign sent the following letters on November 5, 2010. The letters speak for themselves. What follows is a brief background on why these letters are more urgent than ever.
Brunner and Cordray have much in common. Both are Ohio Democrats in their final days in office. Both lost elections this year. Both offices will be returned to Republican control in January 2011. Their offices are located in downtown Columbus, Ohio, not far from the federal courthouse. Both are younger politicians, who entered office with much promise.
Of the two, Richard Cordray has dedicated his life to public service, holding many lower political offices until appointed to the Ohio Attorney General's office by Governor Ted Strickland (D) following the exit of the elected Attorney General in 2006, Marc Dann. Richard Cordray, before he was Ohio Attorney General, also helped Jennifer Brunner campaign for her position as Secretary of State.
Both are also, largely, from Central Ohio. They are both hugely Midwestern in demeanor and attitude.
Both of them were also involved, through their offices, in blocking eight members of The Ohio Election Justice Campaign from participating in the federal lawsuit that seeks election justice, King-Lincoln v. Brunner (formerly King-Lincoln v. Blackwell).
Although the Democrats have, perhaps, not been watching this lawsuit, the Republicans have been keenly interested in its progress (or rather, lack thereof).
Because of the self-generated and narcissistic media attention they have produced for themselves, not to mention the unique and theatrically paranoid blend of disinformation mixed with truth that they so skillfully spin around the hopeful, the disenfranchised, and the curious, we must regretfully include the names of Robert Fitrakis and Clifford Arnebeck in this introduction.
Because neither the offices of Jennifer Brunner nor the offices of Richard Cordray would have been successful in blocking eight members of The Ohio Election Justice Campaign from participating in this federal lawsuit without the active (if not eager) cooperation of these two attorneys.
Bear in mind, that the point of blocking The Ohio Election Justice Campaign was also to delete, entirely, the evidence we had submitted to federal court. Over a thousand pages of evidence is now entirely gone from the court record, evidence we believed would compel the federal court to convene a grand jury.
And not long after ordering the evidence stricken, the federal judge assigned to this case, a newly appointed O.S.U. trustee, sat happily in an airplane, flying to watch the Rose Bowl game on O.S.U.'s (i.e. taxpayer) dime with, really, could it be, Wally O'Dell??? Wally is the infamous Diebold (election machine company) CEO who in 2004 promised to deliver Ohio to George W. Bush in a fundraising letter. Other such characters who had an interest in seeing this lawsuit and the whole election mess fade from memory also were on that plane to the Rose Bowl. OH-IO!.
Had Fitrakis and Arnebeck done the work themselves, or just not blocked us, Ohio election officials could have been dished out legal justice years ago. Arnebeck... a man so full of hot air he can’t resist expanding.
Six years have passed, legal deadlines have passed, members of Congress that stood up for Ohio have passed on (to heaven, blessings to them), and yet no one has served a day in jail, and there has been no accountability for the theft of the Ohio 2004 Presidential election.
So when you hear of Arnebeck and Fitrakis’s multi-year yet unsuccessful work chasing Carl Rove, remember nothing has been accomplished that held even one person accountable in Ohio, not one person. Yet they blocked many from receiving justice. Why? For whom?
Imagine the world we would live in today if the Ohio election thieves (and thus, presidential election thieves) had met with a reckoning.
Would former Delaware County Prosecutor, David Yost, a Republican who blocked and delayed the recount while Kenneth Blackwell certified the election now be elected to statewide office? Consider that our elected auditor is also the same person whose office blocked public record requests for election records, refused to answer record requests, wanted to charge nearly $2,000 to access public election records, allowed a technician to manipulate the tabulators during the 2004 election recount, and blocked election observers in 2008. Not only will he be the new State of Ohio Auditor, but also Mr. Yost will have a seat on the apportionment board, which determines the electoral districts in Ohio for the next ten years. Quite a reward -- and only possible with the continued lethargy or complicity of those we elected (or whom we trust) to deal precisely with these issues. Should we wonder what new unsightly gifts will come from his office, "possibly even more intense gerrymandering" or hope that his election to higher office is the Peter Principle in politics?
Much of our evidence and legal writing pertaining to the real history of Ohio is available for viewing at: http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/...
Sadly it is no longer in federal court. Gee, who benefited from that?
The two letters to Brunner and Cordray are contained below. If you are reading this, please also join us in asking Brunner and Cordray to take action on the 2004 election fraud in their final hours. It's no more than what the governor does before he leaves (grants a bunch of pardons) but in reverse.
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>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Next from Paddy Shaffer
New court order from Magistrate Kemp on King Lincoln v Brunner case, this is fourteen pages - http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/...
Some items to be looked at:
- The deposition of Michael Connell has not been submitted to the court, from two years ago. This is one reason this discovery request was denied. Magistrate Kemp does not have access to it.
(Has that transcript ever been transcribed? If not, why? Wouldn't we all like to read it? How much time and energy has been spent with the name "Michael Connell, Michael Connell" beaten on like a drum? So where is the transcript, what stopped it from entering the court? Money? At this site Bob and Cliff are aiming to have people donate to them $23,000.
http://fraudbusterbob.com/... If any part of the case ever was resolved, they would need some money. But 6 years after the election, not one person has been held accountable. They stopped others who would have had some justice by now. Shouldn't the funds raised pay for things like the Connell deposition to be transcribed? Or do they just pay for office rent and "attorney fees" to be paid to discuss the case for year after year? Has any kind of public accounting ever been given as to how the fundraising dollars have been spent? If you donated, you should have a right to ask. I donated years of my life to the effort assisting Bob and Cliff, many have.)
- The Rove subpoena will be decided in a Washington D.C. court.
- This was a request for discovery on campaign financing from business groups such as the Chamber of Commerce. Magistrate Kemp ruled against Arnebeck based on 1. the dubious stay (That same stay is one that me and my group of eight intervenors repeatedly brought to the court's attention that it had expired, that there was no current stay. If Arnebeck and Fitrakis had agreed with us, and the court would admit they could not produce the stay for us, then Cliff couldn't have the stay used as a reason not to proceed. Karma!), 2. the fact that the discovery is unrelated to the case.
- The group of pro se litigants and others in Ohio are really looking forward to reading what the D.C. judges do with the Rove subpoena. Given how dated this case is, how the legal work has been done in this case, and all the procedural problems (i.e. the stay that was requested but the court never ruled on, the fact that the case was never certified as a class action, Kenneth Blackwell was never served a subpoena, etc.), we hope that a really smart judge/judges get to review this and we wonder what they will do with it.
Paddy
Letters:>>>>>>>>> to Attny Gen. Ohio And Sos Ohio
Richard Cordray, Ohio Attorney General 30 East Broad Street Columbus, Ohio 43215
By e-mail and by fax: richard.cordray@ag.state.oh.us (866) 347-9194
November 5, 2010
Dear Richard Cordray,
I am writing on behalf of The Ohio Election Justice Campaign, a non-partisan, statewide group of concerned citizens, to request a meeting with your office as soon as possible to discuss the unresolved alleged election crimes from 2004 and to present citizen-documented evidence to your office. This would indeed be a boost to a struggling nation and a fitting tribute to your legacy in the office of The Ohio Attorney General.
We met with senior officials from Marc Dann's office shortly after he was elected. Upon review of our evidence, they committed to take action. As you know, Mr. Dann and his senior officials left office shortly after his election (and our meeting). These issues remain unresolved.
Although some people believe these election issues remain unresolved for lack of evidence, the hard truth is that some of this evidence has been kept from the public for partisan reasons. Both your office and the federal court have been provided with evidence. Sad but true, the evidence was stricken from the court record in King-Lincoln v. Brunner (S.D. Ohio, Marbley, J.). This makes little common sense, but it was the attorneys for the plaintiffs, Clifford Arnebeck and Bob Fitrakis who had the evidence stricken. Evidence they could have used, and some of it which they could have submitted themselves but failed to. In our group opinion, they have failed to do many things, thus failing the plaintiffs, the nation, and the world.
For example, the Delaware County ballots that were submitted to the court that show fraud were part of the stricken records. Remember, it was Delaware County and Delaware County Prosecutor David Yost that blocked the statewide recount, and it was Delaware County that apparently rigged the recount while I was there as the Delaware County Recount Coordinator for the Green Party. Evidence and data analysis show that both the 2004 presidential election and the Ohio Supreme Court races were rigged in Delaware. Delaware went to county and federal court claiming they couldn’t afford the recount. The final cost given to me from former Delaware County Board of Elections (BOE) Director Kim Spangler was $0. They did it with office staff, on office time. Delaware’s Board of Elections had a budget of just under a million dollars a year in 2004. Yost had six prosecutors in federal court to fight that recount. His office has been unable or unwilling to give me a cost for that, and the names of all the prosecutors involved.
Further, the letters from election officials written to the Secretary of State in April of 2007 admitting to their alleged crimes of the destruction of the "public records" of the 2004 election were stricken from the court record. Neither your office, the Ohio Secretary of State, nor the attorneys for the plaintiffs gave these to the court; it was done by myself and seven other Ohio citizens from 4 counties. So far my personal research shows 59 of Ohio’s 88 counties destroyed records. This destruction was in direct violation of a federal court order. Have you read those letters? They are both important and disturbing.
We harbor concerns that what remains of the 2004 ballots that the Secretary of State has in custody on the OSU campus will remain protected as you leave office. What can you legally do to assure that? They are evidence, and it was staff of your office that assured us they would be safe prior to the massive destruction of so much of them. From the evidence we submitted to the federal court, it appears there was a statewide, coordinated effort to destroy the 2004 records/evidence in 2006. The destruction of the remaining 2004 records that the counties should retain has continued, and evidence of this was also submitted to court and likewise stricken.
The serious and detrimental actions taken by the Assistant Attorney General assigned to the King-Lincoln case and charged with protecting this evidence and the ballots are also a matter of grave concern to us. We understand that your office has an obligation to defend the Office of the Ohio Secretary of State, but we have followed the proper procedures so that the election crimes we allege are rightfully now under the jurisdiction of your office.
We request a meeting with you as soon as possible since your days in office and the impact they can have for the good of this state and nation are now numbered. So far we have been very disappointed by many who sat as the Ohio Attorney General: Jim Petro, Marc Dann, and Nancy Rogers.
We are still deeply concerned and waiting for your response to meet. We request an hour, although we could work with less time, but would prefer more if possible. Please lets talk and move with lightning speed to take action in your final days in office. If anyone has the intelligence, integrity, and courage to resolve at least a few of the unresolved election crimes, we believe it would be you, a fitting legacy to your tenure as Ohio Attorney General.
Sincerely,
Members of the Ohio Election Justice Campaign
Paddy Shaffer
Founder, The Ohio Election Justice Campaign
(614) 266-5283
paddy@columbus.rr.com
>>>>>>>>>> To SOS Brunner Ohio
Jennifer Brunner, Ohio Secretary of State
180 East Broad Street
Columbus, Ohio 43215
By e-mail and by fax: jbrunner@sos.state.oh.us (614) 644-0649
November 5, 2010
Dear Jennifer Brunner,
Once again members of The Ohio Election Justice Campaign stand united to request a meeting and action from you in capacity as the Ohio Secretary of State in your few remaining days. The issue of the alleged crimes of the 2004 election and the destruction of the election records in defiance of the federal court still sits in the room with us all, and the pile stinks of decay and neglect at a time that it could be a shining beacon of justice coming from the Ohio Secretary of State to the state of Ohio, the United States, and the world.
In your final days, will you do this? Or will you do continue to do nothing? Will we remember it that while the Democrats ruled Ohio, the election fraud and those who committed it were intentionally and with effort in court ignored? Will we only remember that elected Democrats in Ohio helped to cover-up the election crimes that put George Bush in office for his second term? We all know that he was never elected, not in 2000 and not in 2004.
I do not know if you personally reviewed the evidence that myself and seven other members of my organization submitted to the federal court in the King Lincoln v. Brunner case. Did you? If not, will you do this now?
Apparently incompetent or else corrupted plaintiffs' attorneys Clifford Arnebeck and Bob Fitrakis had thousands of pages of evidence stricken from the court record, records we submitted, rather than allowing it to stay, or better yet, using it. As we have been blocked from entering the case, of which you were part of blocking us, would you now be willing to resubmit it and use our evidence?
This evidence included the letters from the County Board of Election (BOE) officials regarding destruction of the 2004 records that they sent to you. My research shows that 59 of Ohio’s 88 Counties are missing records. In 2007, you told the Voting Rights Institute those records had been given to the court, and yet they were not in the court record until we submitted them in July of 2008. Then they were stricken. You could still submit them. The court should, for the sake of the citizens of this nation, take seriously the deliberate defiance of the court order to protect the 2004 election records. It was illegal.
Included in the stricken court records were photocopies of ballots from Delaware County’s Genoa I precinct. These show what appears to be fraud. Will you look? Will you resubmit them? What were all the real reasons that it was Delaware that fought in county and federal court to block the recount? Can we talk about what we have learned? Do you care enough to pull this and other 2004 election issues from the depths of intentional darkness into the light in your final days as the Ohio Secretary of State?
We today received an email from you encouraging action and presenting your view of your preferred legacy. Quick action at this late date, rather than a continuation of the cover-up, will be the greatest legacy you can leave as Ohio Secretary of State.
I phoned in a request to meet with you this morning to your staff member Brian Morgan. We are available for a meeting at your earliest convenience to discuss these issues in more detail. It has now been 1,186 days since we first in 2007 requested a meeting with you over these very issues.
Sincerely,
Members of The Ohio Election Justice Campaign
Paddy Shaffer
Founder, The Ohio Election Justice Campaign
(614) 266-5283