todd

We can't know, for sure, but we should.

GovTechSolutions.com was registered as an Internet domain in the first month of 2000

Domain: govtechsolutions.com

Cache Date:     2000-01-28

Registrar:     NETWORK SOLUTIONS, INC.

Registrant:

Govtech Solutions

    1133 21st Street, Suite M 100

    Washington, DC 20036

    US

    Domain Name: GOVTECHSOLUTIONS.COM

identifying the physical address of DCI Group (Sourcewatch) as the location of the domain registrant.  

Although the filing which organized DCI | NewMedia formally under Ken Blackwell's certification was in November 1999 and that of GovTech in April 2000, the relationship, the relationship of Connell and Synhorst (and the Bush entourage existed years before those dates.

The blurred lines defining various Connell-Synhorst teams suggest that Karl Rove's 2004 praise of another Synhorst partnership, FLS-DCI, may apply here as well:

"I know these guys well," Rove said. "They become partners with the campaigns they work with. From designing the program to drafting scripts, from selecting targets to making the calls in a professional, successful way, they work as hard to win your races as you do."

ePluribusMedia has contributed alot of effort to understand how politicized our governing process may be.  

We'd like to know how deeply the decision-making filter maybe embedded in policy and, perhaps, hidden imperceptibly, in dot Gov infrastructure.  RNC Internet guru and political strategist Mike Connell has the access and know-how.  His sworn loyalty to the Bush family begs the question, how long has dot GOP been more than a dream in a Gov-techie's eye?

by luaptifer on Mon Apr 23, 2007 at 03:53:42 AM EST
[ Parent ]

House Suspends Hill Telecom License
Va. Firm's Award Linked to Abramoff

By James V. Grimaldi
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, September 28, 2006; D03

House leaders have suspended a multimillion-dollar wireless communications license that federal prosecutors say was corruptly awarded to a Dulles telecommunications firm by Rep. Robert W. Ney (R-Ohio) in exchange for gifts from lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

The award of the license was one of a series of acts that Ney said he performed for Abramoff in exchange for campaign contributions, expensive meals, luxury travel and sports tickets. Ney agreed this month to plead guilty to corruption charges and is set to enter his plea Oct. 13.

The license to install antennas for cellular and wireless telephones in House office buildings was awarded in 2002 to MobileAccess, formerly known as Foxcom Wireless, which was based in Israel. The company, now based in Vienna, Va., later paid Abramoff $280,000 in lobbying fees and donated $50,000 to a charity operated by Abramoff that paid for a golf junket to Scotland for Ney.

That's exactly the sort of power Ney could exert in the House.  We'll have more to say on this issue, separately.

by luaptifer on Mon Apr 23, 2007 at 11:07:14 AM EST
[ Parent ]

"Electoral fraud is illegal interference with the process of an election. Acts of fraud tend to involve affecting vote counts to bring about a desired election outcome, whether by increasing the vote share of the favored candidate, depressing the vote share of the rival candidates, or both."

* "SHARP CAMPAIGN ANGRY OVER TELEMARKETING PLOY ELECTION 'SURVEY' USED FICTITIOUS CITIZENS' GROUP", Post-Tribune (Ind.), November 9, 1990:

"Employees of a Utah telemarketing firm posed as representatives of a fictitious citizens' group when it polled thousands of voters on election eve for their opinions on the 2nd District congressional race, a newspaper report said.

"The pollers, reading from a script, criticized Democratic incumbent Phil Sharp to voters who identified themselves as supporters of the congressman, said the report in the Daily Journal at Franklin."

"The callers from Matrixx Marketing Inc. of Ogden, Utah, asked voters if they supported Pence or Sharp. If the voter said Sharp, the caller read from a script attacking Sharp on various issues.

"A copy of the script showed references to apparently phony organizations, such as the "Martinsville Environmental League" and 'Family Services...'

"...A Matrixx production assistant told the Daily Journal that the telemarketers were reading from scripts provided by Mike Connell, director of voter programs for Republican Sen. Dan Coats' campaign staff."

* Fraud, Black's Law Dictionary:

"An intentional perversion of the truth for the purpose of inducing another in reliance upon it to part with some valuable thing belonging to him or to surrender a legal right; a false representation of a matter of fact, whether by words or by conduct, by false or misleading allegations, or by concealment of that which should have been disclosed, which deceives and is intended to deceive another so that he shall act upon it to his legal injury."

Push-polling is arguably a protected form of free speech. It is similar to perjury -- inherently difficult to prosecute b/c it requires proving "intent" as well as what someone "knew." But that doesn't mean it isn't illegal. Over a decade ago an FEC report noted the growing practice of using "phone bank activities or written surveys...to influence voters...by providing false or misleading information about a candidate," and recommended that Congress require disclaimers on such calls.

Of course I would never use Wikipedia as a legal reference: or for that matter to define anything in more than a cursory manner. And I am not qualified to say whether falsely representing yourself and lying about an opposition candidate is legally injurious.

I'm a journalist, not a lawyer. And I'm a citizen of this country. I believe push-polling is a "fraudulent" tactic knowingly employed to pervert the election process. As a journalist I am compelled to provide readers not only facts, but the relevant context that contributes to transparent government and informed voters. And as a citizen of a free society, I find it hard to imagine an act more offensive than profaning the sanctity of voting.

If my tone seems defiant, it is not in response to having my assertions challenged, but my utter contempt for those who manipulate and bully others and call themselves patriotic. No; it is in fact the foreknowledge that your assertions will be challenged that makes ePMedia such a great place and such a growing force.

I welcome these challenges and thank those who make them in good faith. Defending a position either strengthens it or forces you to rethink your beliefs. And in both cases, the result is personal growth.

- his own initiative:

Behind the firewall I

On November 9, 1990, Coats fired Connell for his role in a "push-polling" scheme the senator publicly denounced as "clearly unethical." From Coats' campaign office, Connell had written and provided negative and misleading scripts to telemarketers, who read them to supporters of incumbent Democratic U.S. Representative Phil Sharp in his race against Republican Mike Pence. Connell was also fired by the Indiana state GOP. [3]

- via the DCI linkage:

Behind the firewall II

Connell's ongoing alliances with Synhorst, whose firm [specializes] in push-polling are worrisome. These alliances strongly suggest that despite a decade to reflect, Connell had not renounced the crooked tactics for which he'd been fired. And that perhaps all he'd learned from the experience was to avoid getting caught.

I'm sure Todd is on the way with the reg citations.

by luaptifer on Sun Apr 22, 2007 at 06:51:57 PM EST
[ Parent ]