December 22, 2:15 PM
by Michael Richardson, Boston Progressive Examiner
William Mark Felt was 'Deep Throat' of Watergate infamy, but he was not the hero some have portrayed him for his disclosures of Richard Nixon's 'Plumbers' squad. Felt was a counter-intelligence agent during WWII as a new recruit to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. For years leading up to the Watergate burglary, Felt was chief of the Inspection Division at the Bureau and oversaw a massive, clandestine operation against domestic political targets code-named COINTELPRO.
At the time of Watergate, J. Edgar Hoover was director of the FBI and was responsible for the creation of COINTELPRO. Felt's role was quality-control over field operations. Felt sat on the COINTELPRO directorate and never blew the whistle on illegal conduct by FBI agents nationwide that went on for years.
As chief inspector, Felt monitored and approved a host of illegal operations nationwide directed at hundreds of individual targets including harassment, false prosecutions, threats, blackmail, and inciting violence.
Hoover's secret war on domestic political activists had a lethal ferocity against the main targets, the Black Panther Party. The undercover operation functioned at full steam from the mid-60's until a break-in at the Media, Pennsylvania satellite FBI office in March 1971 which revealed COINTELPRO memos.
Noam Chomsky recently put Watergate and COINTELPRO in context during an interview with journalist Hans Bennett. Chomsky explained, "The information about COINTELPRO actually came out at the same time as the Watergate crisis (mid-70's)."
"Here's the national political police--for four administrations--carrying out a massive campaign of repression leading all the way to assassinations. It targeted everyone--including the women's-New Left-and Black movements--and the media simply didn't care."
Chomsky continued, "That shows how human and civil rights are valued by the political and intellectual elite."
Felt was hauled before a U.S. Senate committee investigating COINTELPRO five times but stonewalled the committee. In his autobiographical memoir, Felt was unrepentant calling the investigation "an exercise in futility and frustration."
Felt advocated continuing COINTELPRO's illegal tactics. "I emphasized as strongly as I could that our country's complacency against domestic terrorism would eventually lead to disaster."
Felt's enthusiasm for dirty tricks caused him to order illegal wiretaps after Hoover's death. Felt was prosecuted and convicted for his misdeeds but pardoned by President Ronald Reagan and escaped punishment for his crimes.
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Mike Connell was warned not to fly before plane crash -- By Wayne Madsen
Dec 22, 2008, 00:27
(WMR) -- WMR has learned from knowledgeable sources in Ohio that Republican Party computer networking guru Mike Connell was warned not to fly in anonymous warnings conveyed to principals in the ongoing federal civil lawsuit of King Lincoln Bronzeville Neighborhood Association v. Blackwell, stemming from GOP-engineered vote fraud in the 2004 Ohio presidential election, as well as a potential Ohio racketeer-influenced criminal organization (RICO) criminal proceeding against former Bush White House aide Karl Rove and Blackwell, in the conspiracy to illegally steer Ohio.s 20 electoral votes to the Bush column in 2004.
Connell.s Piper Saratoga single-engine plane crashed during the evening of December 19 in Uniontown, Ohio, as it was preparing to land at Akron-Canton airport. There were no other passengers and Connell was killed in the crash. Connell had flown to College Park, Maryland, the previous day. Connell, who lived in Akron with his wife Heather and four children, often flew to Washington for activities related to his IT businesses.
Connell.s name surfaced as a key player in Rove.s election fraud conspiracy after this year.s July 17 Columbus news conference hosted by Cliff Arnebeck, the Ohio attorney who has been representing plaintiffs in the federal civil suit against former Republican Secretay of State J. Kenneth Blackwell. On the phone at the conference was John McCain campaign adviser and computer security specialist Stephen Spoonamore who identified Connell as a key player, as well as potential trial witness, in the GOP.s conspiracy to flip Ohio votes in the 2004 election.
Spoonamore and Connell had reportedly worked together on foreign elections in programs sponsored by the International Republican Institute (ISI) and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). Both had traveled abroad together on special election projects to ensure .fair voting. procedures.
For the first time, WMR has learned that the GOP vote flipping conspiracy was in place earlier than the November 2004 general election and was used to deny votes to Democratic candidates John Edwards and Dennis Kucinich in the March 2, 2004, Democratic primary. John Kerry won the primary with 52 percent of the vote to 34 percent for Edwards and 9 percent for Kucinich.
After Connell was identified as a potential witness in the civil case against Blackwell and a possible criminal Ohio RICO case against Rove, Blackwell, and perhaps others, the plaintiff attorneys received a tip from a high-level source in the McCain presidential campaign that Rove had issued a threat against Connell. Connell had worked for the 2008 McCain presidential campaign on the development of its web pages.
WMR has learned from our Ohio sources that five threats against Connell were conveyed to the election fraud plaintiff attorneys with the last tip being .Connell is in danger.. One of the threats reportedly made by Rove to Connell was that Connell could forget about a pardon from President George W. Bush if he did not .take the fall. in the event criminal charges were brought and that his wife Heather, who was used as a majority stockholder for one of Connell.s web design companies, GovTech Solutions, would be prosecuted for illegal lobbying. Connell.s other company is New Media Communications, Inc.
We have also learned that one additional tip was relayed to Connell.s wife and it was to the effect that Connell .was in danger and he should not fly his plane..
Connell.s firms received contracts to place its servers behind the House of Representatives firewall courtesy of then-House Administration Committee Chairman Bob Ney (R-OH), later jailed for his role in the Jack Abramoff lobbying-influence peddling scandal. Connell also designed and ran the web sites for the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the House Judiciary Committee. WMR has learned that through effective GOP control of these web sites, the Bush White House was able to monitor all committee e-mails and documents, including planning documents for House Judiciary Committee impeachment hearings against Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.
We have also learned that Connell.s IT firm did classified web site development work for the CIA.
Based on the threats against Connell, the federal judge hearing the civil suit King Lincoln v. Blackwell, conveyed to Connell that the court would protect him if he came forward. On October 17, 2008, Connell.s attorneys attempted to quash an October 8, 2008, plaintiff subpoena for his court appearance. On October 31, U.S. Judge Solomon Oliver denied the motion to quash the subpoena and ordered Connell.s deposition to proceed on November 3, the day before Election Day. WMR has learned that on Friday, October 31, Connell was nervous and .beet red. during the hearing to quash the subpoena. On Monday, November 3, Connell was composed and it is believed that his top shelf law firm had been selected by Rove to represent Connell for the deposition. Rove.s intent was to ensure that there would be no deposition from Connell before the November 4 election.
WMR has also learned that Connell was prepared to testify before the House Judiciary Committee about the election fraud in Ohio and other states but that the offer of testimony was not acted upon senior staffers for House Judiciary Committee Rep. John Conyers (D-MI). A source in Columbus told us that some of Conyers. senior staffers on his committee and in is office are not to be trusted on issues related to election fraud.
In addition, Rove and the Bush White House attempted to forestall testimony by election officials in Mahoning County and Youngstown, Ohio, on election fraud in 2004 by promising to have former Rep. James Traficant (D-OH), who is currently imprisoned after being convicted of corruption, released early in return for their silence. Traficant is not scheduled for release from federal prison until Sept, 2, 2009.
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IT firm's president killed in plane crash
New Media Communications -- By CHUCK SODER
2:41 pm, December 22, 2008
The pilot who died in the private plane that crashed Friday in Stark County was president of a politically connected information technology firm and had provided information to plaintiffs in a lawsuit accusing the Ohio Secretary of State.s office of committing voter fraud during the 2004 presidential election.
Michael Connell, 45, was president of Richfield-based New Media Communications Inc., which designed web sites and helped develop campaign strategies for Republican politicians, including President Bush. Also, his wife, Heather, owns Akron-based GovTech Solutions, a spinoff of New Media Communications that provides IT services to government agencies.
Mr. Connell.s death has drawn international media attention and sparked plenty of Internet-based conspiracy theories.
For instance, The Telegraph in the United Kingdom noted that Mr. Connell worked on President Bush's two presidential campaigns, advised John McCain this year .and was also linked to allegedly missing White House emails in the 2006 controversy over a string of firings of U.S. attorneys..
His death .immediately triggered conspiracy theories amid speculation that he had been about to reveal embarrassing details of the complicity of senior members of the Bush administration in fixing an election and destroying incriminating e-mails,. The Telegraph reported.
A web site chronicling various aspects of these alleged conspiracies is here.
Mr. Connell on Nov. 3 had given information to plaintiffs in the voter fraud lawsuit, said Cliff Arnebeck, a Columbus lawyer representing King Lincoln Bronzeville Neighborhood Association and several other plaintiffs listed in the lawsuit.
Mr. Connell would have appeared as a witness if the case had gone to trial, Mr. Arnebeck said in a phone conversation with Crain.s Cleveland Business this afternoon. He declined to say what information he revealed during his deposition.
No contact information was listed on New Media Communications. web site. The site on Monday afternoon featured a collage of pictures of Mr. Connell, most of them including family members. The years .1963-2008. appeared below his name.
Mr. Connell in 2000 was a member of Crain's 40 Under 40 class.
www.crainscleveland.com/article/20081222/FREE/812229967/1022
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White House consultant who rigged 2004 election dies suspiciously
by Larisa Alexandrovna
One of my sources died in a plane crash last night...
UPDATED BELOW
I don't usually reveal sources, but I think this is incredibly important. Michael Connell died in a plane crash last night. He was a key witness in the Ohio election fraud case that I have been reporting on. More importantly, however, he had information that he was ready to share.
You see, Mike Connell set-up the alternate email and communications system for the White House. He was responsible for creating the system that hosted the infamous GWB43.com accounts that Karl Rove and others used. When asked by Congress to provide these emails, the White House said that they were destroyed. But in reality, what Connell is alleged to have done is move these files to other servers after having allegedly scrubbed the files from all "known" Karl Rove accounts.
In addition, I have reason to believe that the alternate accounts were used to communicate with US Attorneys involved in political prosecutions, like that of Don Siegelman. This is what I have been working on to prove for over a year. In fact, it was through following the Siegelman-Rove trail that I found evidence leading to Connell. That is how I became aware of him. Mike was getting ready to talk. He was frightened.
He has flown his private plane for years without incident. I know he was going to DC last night, but I don't know why. He apparently ran out of gas, something I find hard to believe. I am not saying that this was a hit nor am I resigned to this being simply an accident either. I am no expert on aviation and cannot provide an opinion on the matter. What I am saying, however, is that given the context, this event needs to be examined carefully. If you want to understand the context more broadly, I suggest you read this article I did a while back about the break-ins and arson cases that Siegelman and others have experienced.
Just to be very clear and state again, I am not claiming conspiracy theory or direct relation to Karl Rove or the White House in any of these events. What I am saying, however, is that these possible relationships cannot and should not be overlooked by investigators. There are far too many serious and reasonable questions that must be answered for the public.
I have been to Mr. Connell's home. Mr. Connell has confided that he was being threatened, something that his attorneys also told the judge in the Ohio election fraud case. When I met with Heather, his wife, I did so carefully because of the threats he was getting.
I left a note for her in her mailbox and asked her to meet me in a local park near their home. Heather came and through our conversation I got the sense that these were not bad people or corrupt people. The Connell's really believed that what they were involved in served God's plan. Regardless of of what any of us think about their religious views or allegations relating to Connell's involvement in various things, I do think these were good people who got caught up in something bigger than themselves. My heart goes out to Heather and the children.
UPDATE ONE
Okay children - because that is what I am going to call adults who willfully mis-read information. I will say this AGAIN (as I have twice in the above entry and also used bold case so that no one would miss the caveat), I am NOT - I repeat NOT - saying this was a). a murder, b). that it was in any way connected to the White House or to Karl Rove, and c). that I am convinced of any of the above three.
On the contrary, I have said - AND AM NOTING AGAIN - that I don't know what happened. I am NOT an aviation expert. What I am saying - AGAIN - is that the context is important and must be considered. Investigators must conduct their work transparently on this case as to address the many serious and reasonable (not remotely CT-based questions) relating to this crash and the person who died. The public has a right to know and investigators must address these questions by conducting a very open investigation of the crash.
The facts are not all in yet and so I have no answers for you - AS I HAVE ALREADY NOTED. But I felt it important to share the context, obligated even to share it. Now if you folks (you know who you are) want to read this as me rolling myself in tin-foil, then that is your choice. Obviously that is not my hope, but I cannot help the lunacy that people want to engage in.
UPDATE TWO
Here are the reading materials in case you have not followed any of this closely. These are articles I have done over spanning over a year of investigative work:
Part 1 - Political Prisoner
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/The_Permanent_Republican_Majority_1125.html
Part 2 - Siegelman's Daughter Speaks Out
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/The_permanent_Republican_majority_Daughter_of_1127.html
Part 3 - Karl Rove Running Elections from the White House
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/The_Permanent_Republican_Majority_Part_III_1216.html
Part 4 - Mississippi Prosecution, Justice Oliver Diaz
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/How_Bush_US_attorney_riddled_with_0401.html
Part 5 - Justice Diaz Speaks
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Diaz_placeholder_0408.html
Part 6 - Break-ins plague targets of political prosecutions
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Breakins_plague_Justice_Department_whistleblowers_0430.html
Part 7 - Justice for Sale
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Justice_for_Sale_How_Big_Tobacco_0828.html
Related articles:
Judge who denied Paul Minor release was protoge of Karl Rove
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Judge_in_Paul_Minor_case_was_0821.html
DOJ Investigating 2 US Attorneys
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/DOJ_Investigating_two_US_Attorneys_involved_0604.html
60 Minutes Segemant on Siegelman "dropped" in Alabama
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/60_Minutes_broadcast_on_prosecution_of_0225.html
Republican IT Consultant Subpoenaed in Ohio election fraud case
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Republican_IT_consultant_subpoenaed_in_case_0929.html
Abramoff said he had agreement with White House aide just a month after Bush took office http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Abramoff_said_he_had_agreement_with_1117.html Treasury
Department investigating US Attorney for leaking state Supreme Court Justice's tax returns http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Treasury_Department_investigating_US_Attorney_for_1201.html
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