Feds Investigating Ney, Abramoff, HAVA Negotiations

[Wilms]

Feds Investigating Ney, Abramoff, HAVA Negotiations

Case Links Ney and Abramoff, a Tribe, a Casino, Millions of Dollars and a Transparent Lie

Guest blogged by Winter Patriot

7/26/2006

We've been reading some very interesting news today from John Stanton at Roll Call.

Justice Department investigators have begun a review of Senate Rules and Administration Committee records relating to negotiations over the Help America Vote Act, involving then-Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and former House Administration Chairman Bob Ney (R-Ohio), as they wrap up their investigation into Ney's connections to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, Senate sources said Tuesday.

Senate aides familiar with the review said Justice officials indicated the inquiry was not focused on Dodd, who now serves as the committee's ranking member, and the type of information investigators were seeking - while not specific enough to indicate they were looking for a smoking gun - appear to point directly at Ney.

snip

Senate Rules Chairman Trent Lott (R-Miss.) acknowledged that the review by Justice was centered on the HAVA negotiations, which occurred in 2001 and 2002, and that it appears to be directed at Ney rather than Dodd.

snip

Abramoff, who pleaded guilty to bribery charges late last year, had pushed Ney to include provisions in the act that would have given federal tribal recognition to the Tigua Tribe and to allow it to reopen a casino in Texas. Abramoff represented the Tiguas. Although e-mails that have surfaced as part of the Abramoff scandal revealed the disgraced lobbyist bragged that he was close to Dodd and Ney, the provision did not make it into HAVA.

snip/links

http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3128&print=1

[NVMojo]

1. I think all the HAVA stuff needs to be negotiated, especially Nevada ...

[Melissa G]

2. I will love it if the truth about the Lies of HAVA come out!

I hope America gets to see the way certain corporate elite operatives have stolen our election process.
I hope we as a country wake up to the importance of Free, Fair, transparently counted and audited elections.


edit to correct 'republican' for 'corporate elite' which i suspect is more accurate..

[Peace Patriot]

3. Here's my read on it: They didn't include the Tigua bribe because HAVA

was too important. They couldn't risk it for ordinary corruption. HAVA was the fascist coup that destroyed our democracy--with a $4 billion electronic voting boondoggle that would put Bushite corporations, Diebold and ES&S, in control of our elections, using TRADE SECRET, PROPRIETARY programming code for vote tabulation, with virtually no audit/recount controls.

They COULD HAVE created a transparent, verifiable electronic voting system. They deliberately did not. They furthermore used that $4 billion, and permitted lavish lobbying of election officials and legislators, to bribe, entice, and where necessary, bully and threaten, to get it all fast-tracked for the 2004 election. These crapass, insecure, extremely insider hackable voting systems were purchased all over the country--enriching Bush's buds at Diebold and ES&S--before many officials even knew what they were purchasing. Only corporate personnel could run the damn things or fix them when they (frequently) broke down. They have created a "culture of secrecy" around elections that has infected every aspect of our voting process. The vote counting process now occurs behind both technical and literal barricades, with arrogant officials keeping us OUT. We, the voters, are now the enemy.

Christopher Dodd is dirty on this. And so are other Democratic leaders--including the pre-Dean DNC leadership. Dodd was Kerry's adviser on electronic voting--talk about the fox guarding the hen house. And it's all about the Mideast war, in my opinion. There was no other way to shove this Mideast-wide corporate oil war down the throats of the American people without taking away our right to vote.

And I wouldn't trust the FBI on this investigation any further than I could throw them. You think the Bush junta's FBI are going to go after the BIG crooks--the ones who stole our democracy?

[bleever]

4. So very recommended. nt

[MissWaverly]

5. I hope there is a tiny crumb something that opens a HAVA

review, this is one thing that should be looked at. The Republicans do nothing that will not
benefit them or their friends. Do you think they shed any tears over any democrats who were
kept from voting in 2000. NOT. This should be called Help American Vote Republican all the time Act.

[Peace Patriot]

6. Yup, I'm hoping that, too. HAVA was passing over Ney's the desk at the

same time as the bribes were. Maybe some of those deals got mixed up, hm? A person can dream. And I would dearly love to see Christopher Dodd removed from power. Of all the Dems collusive on HAVA, he is the worst. He was a chief architect of it. I have a feeling about him, that he is profoundly corrupt. Any Dem who could do to us what HAVA did cannot have done it for good reasons. This bill was patently evil. It destroyed 230 years of democracy, in one fell swoop. But he's a clever cookie, with a somewhat dumb and innocent look. I think he's fooled a lot of people. And his money is untouchable. He attends the secretive Bilderberg meetings, where the biggest corporate players and war profiteers meet.

Somebody here the other day (I won't name names) promoted a story about Christopher Dodd's kindness to his young son in an airport. Kind to little children, see. Just a soft, stuffed animal grandpa. It might as well have been a 30-sec TV ad. I felt that DU was being used for this ad. And the poster got very huffy when I mentioned the prospects for this youngster's future under the Bush junta, because of HAVA. Nice grandpa.

The problem is the bad guys have control of EVERYTHING--the investigative agencies, the military, the police, the courts, Congress, the election system--so I don't put much faith in the real perps coming to justice. Justice like that has to be voter-driven. It has to be the will of the people. And HAVA took that away from us.

My solution is a citizen rebellion of Absentee Ballot voting this fall. Boycott the machines! It's already a growing rebellion (up to 50% in Los Angeles). If enough people do it--and we've got 65% to 70% of Americans totally disgusted with the Bush junta--it could bring this rigged election system down. I'm sure it would send a panic through the election theft industry. And that's what we want, a panicked enemy. Then we can negotiate.

Bumpersticker: Bust the Machines--Vote Absentee!

[MissWaverly]

7. Let's hope there's something to hang an indictment on

about the pr fuzzy piece; I have noticed some really odd posts both here and at Daily Kos;
I think that they are done by congressional staffers and you are right to be dubious.

[flyarm]

8. i pray for an indictment..but for those of us in fla the absentee ballot

doesn't help us any more than the machines.,.since our soe didn't count a shit load of absentee ballots..supposedly lost a shit load..and they have to go through the tabulators anyway..and we can not audit those to know if they counted...
and now the soe's can't even question whats going on leagally in fla..

so we are just royally screwed!

[Patsy Stone]

9. I love it when a plan comes together

K&R!

This is the last piece of the puzzle.

[Land Shark]

10. Investigating as to a casino deal, but how about as to HAVA itself?