Pat and Nascar Driver Tony Stewart?????

From DC's Wonkette:

Sighting: little Patrick McHenry. Last night [9/26] at the America Supports You Nascar dinner at Walter Reed flirting with Tony Stewart. Really sucking up. Now, we agree that Mr. Stewart is a nice hunk o’ burning love, but face it Patrick, he’s just not that into you.

McHenry took DC resident tax deduction while voting in NC

We told you two weeks ago that our dear Congressman Pat McHenry owned a home with another man. Did you know that co-ownership of property with the same sex can trigger a Don't Ask Don't Tell investigation?

We have also uncovered that before serving in Congress Pat took a DC resident-only tax reduction on that home while, at the same time, voting in North Carolina.

I've heard federal employees often try to keep their home state residency to avoid DC's high income taxes.

Didn't tax evasion bring down Capone?

Here's the scoop at Page One Q and Mike Roger's comments at BlogActive. Enjoy.

Pat is an ass. Again.

"We're kicking ass in Iraq." The president said it. Kentucky Congressman John Yarmuth quotes it to make a point. But no. That's really bad. It's so bad, our Pat feels the urge to interrupt his fellow Congressman him to say Yarmuth is "using language unbecoming to the debate." It's obviously his job to interrupt good points. The pretense that he's the arbiter of vulgarity in the House is utterly hypocritically bizarre. What an ass.

McHenry votes no for children's health

It's called the SCHIP (ess-chip) program which stands for State Children's Health Insurance.

The House approved increases yesterday mainly along party lines. George Bush says he'll veto it. There's not enough Republicans signed on to overrule the veto so it won't happen.

According to the Seattle Times:

SCHIP is a state-federal program that provides coverage for 6.6 million children from families that live above the poverty level but have trouble affording private health insurance.

At issue is more funding for the federal-state partnership and state flexibility to help uninsured children in some middle-class families. The bill would boost federal tobacco taxes to pay for the program, raising the levy to $1 a pack on cigarettes, an increase of 61 cents.

The proposed expansion, backed by most health-industry organizations and most of the nation's governors, religious leaders and patient-advocacy groups, would add about 4 million children to the rolls.

But expanding government programs to cover more uninsured Americans has proved ideologically intolerable to Bush and to many House Republicans.

A vote on the measure is expected Thursday in the Senate, where a two-thirds majority is likely. The bill will then go to Bush. In the interim, Democrats will temporarily fund the program, possibly through mid-November, until a long-term funding agreement can be reached, one senior Democratic aide said.

. . .

Before the vote Tuesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other bill supporters seemed to accept that they would miss their goal of a two-thirds majority.

Pelosi said supporters will continue to push for the measure, hoping their political pressure will bring more Republican support and force the Bush to sign the legislation in the future.

"We're looking to make a difference. We're not looking for a fight, but we're definitely prepared to fight for America's children," Pelosi said.

Bush wants to expand the program by $1 billion a year, bringing total spending to $30 billion over five years. That's about 36 percent of what the Congressional Budget Office says is needed to preserve current program levels.

McHenry's conservative roots exposed

Crossposted at Scru Hoo and BlogActive.

Ever wonder where all these repressed Republican sex offenders learn how to be so repressed and offensive? Well, I'm starting to get the impression that their training comes from the finest conservative institutions of higher learning.

Recently someone emailed me about predatory gays at Jerry Falwell's Liberty University in Virginia. When I posted it, I started hearing all about Patrick McHenry's alma mater, Belmont Abbey College.

Check this out:

While Congressman Pat McHenry was a student there, in the late 1990s, Belmont Abbey College officials knowingly hired as head of its theology department an accused sex offender who had been relieved of his Massachusetts responsibilities. When confronted by the press they lied about it. The truth came out in depositions by Boston's then-Cardinal Bernard Law that officials at Belmont Abbey had been informed that Geroge P. Berthold was dismissed due to such accusations. But the Abbey officials lied about this until the truth came out.

And Creative Loafing Charlotte uncovered this juicy tidbit: between 1995 and 2003, the Catholic Diocese of Charlotte paid $500,000 to local victims of sexual abuse.

So, let's recap: Paying people off, not reporting the abusers, hiring abusers from elsewhere, then lying about knowingly hiring abusers. That's the atmosphere at Pat McHenry's college, from which he was graduated not all that long ago. Gee, do you think he learned more than just history at that Benedictine Abbey in Mt. Holly, North Carolina?

Supporting material:

From Creative Loafing Charlotte:

Since 1995, the Catholic Diocese of Charlotte has paid nearly a half-million dollars to local victims of alleged sexual abuse. The carefully worded disclosure was buried in its 2001-2002 annual report at the end of a description of its policy on protecting young people from sexual abuse.By our deadline on Monday, diocese spokesperson Kevin Murray was still trying to determine how many victims had received the money and the date of the alleged incidents for which they were paid. The report, which was issued in November, states that no payments were made during the last year on behalf of victims of clergy sexual misconduct with children.

Boston Globe:

The Archdiocese of Boston yesterday contradicted a statement by Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina that it was told nothing about allegations of inappropriate intimate contact against a Boston priest, the Rev. George P. Berthold, before the college hired him in 1997 to head its theology department.

Donna M. Morrissey, the spokeswoman for the archdiocese, said that church officials in Boston had notified the college and the Diocese of Charlotte ''verbally and in writing'' that Berthold had been accused of inappropriate physical behavior with adult seminarians when he was dean of the undergraduate college at St. John's Seminary in 1995.

May 18, 2002 Boston Globe

The head of a Catholic college in North Carolina acknowledged yesterday that the Archdiocese of Boston did inform him of an allegation of inappropriate behavior against a priest seeking a teaching job at the school.

Abbot Placid Solari, of Belmont Abbey College near Charlotte, said yesterday that the Boston Archdiocese had told him that an "allegation of improper conduct" had been lodged against the Rev. George Berthold while he was a dean at St. John's Seminary in Boston.
School officials earlier this week said that the Boston Archdiocese told them nothing about the allegation before the college hired Berthold in 1997 to head its theology department.

Record of Berthold's placements.

Berthold abuse of boys at bishop accountability data base.

Last week, CL requested police report numbers, or other evidence documenting that the diocese had reported the alleged abuse referred to in the report to civil authorities. It was also unclear Monday whether the alleged abusers are still actively working or volunteering for the diocese.

Photo: Congressman Pat McHenry with Belmont Abbey College Chancellor Placid Solari.

Catawba Republicans can't get it together.

At least not according to Lee Jenks of Conover who wrote the Hickory Record:

Andrew Mackie’s article about Ray Cerda proves what I have adamantly believed for several years now: the Catawba County Republican Party has massive problems.

They have, in my opinion, held on to their incumbents, specifically David Huffman, for so long that they have suffocated the very life out of their own party. When David Huffman and Patrick McHenry ran against each other on the Republican ticket for U.S. House of Representatives in 2004, their race was the beginning of the end for the Catawba County Republican Party because the party did not know how to handle a primary.

Neither candidate ran a particularly above-reproach campaign, but it was how David Huffman and the Catawba County Republican Party handled the aftermath that began their demise. Granted, Patrick McHenry has not been a gracious winner, but David Huffman is still a sore and bitter loser. A majority, if not all, candidates who lose in a primary typically congratulate the winner and throw their support his or her way for the sake of the party, but David Huffman has never to this day swallowed his pride for the greater cause, yet the Catawba County Republican Party still supports him.

I do not understand why because I have never understood why David Huffman thought he was entitled to a congressional seat and why he was offended when other candidates dared to challenge him. Public service is a privilege, and a strong republic should be able to withstand competition.

Fast forward to 2006 when David Huffman and Mike Ledford ran against each other on the Republican ticket for sheriff of Catawba County.

Again, neither candidate ran a particularly above-reproach campaign, it is politics after all, but what did David Huffman and the Catawba County Republican Party do? David Huffman cried to the party about Mike Ledford bringing certain public budgetary irregularities to light, and the Catawba County Republican Party censured Mike Ledford. Well, I suppose I should not say the party, because it was only five members within the party who thought the voting public was unable to make a decision about for whom to vote without the party’s input.

Unlike David Huffman when he lost in 2004, Mike Ledford, who lost in 2006, displayed a lot of class. Mike Ledford attended Catawba County Republican Unity Day at Catawba Valley Community College despite the Catawba County Republican Party’s action toward him because Mike Ledford has always been a Republican.

I have always been a Republican, too; however, the Catawba County Republican Party does not define me, does not speak for me and definitely does not represent me.

Years ago, the Catawba County Republican Party truly was a big, magnificent elephant; now, it is an infected, rotting and dying shell. May it rest in peace!

K. Lee Jenks
Conover

McHenry's chief consultant and voter fraud

Meet Douglas F. Stewart III, known as "Dee." He served as Congressman Pat McHenry's first chief of staff from January to May 2005. But he'd already started up a company called The Stewart Group. It's url was thestewartgrouponline dot com.

Funny thing, the week that McHenry's former housemate (and staffer) Aaron Lay was indicted, The Stewart Group Online disappeared from the internets tubes.

Another funny thing: Dee Stewart's connection to the McHenry voter fraud case isn't his only brush with questionable voter registrations. While the Lay case ended in a deferred plea, the other case still rests in the hands of Moore County District Attorney Maureen Kruger, the Gaston Gazette reported in May.

The Moore County Independent covered that story extensively but is no longer in business so I'm linking to the North Carolina Conservative's reprint of their article quoting the questionably registered voters and the candidate:

Pinehurst- A paid staff member of Joe Boylan’s May primary campaign said last week that she never intended to move to Moore County as a permanent resident but registered to vote here so she could cast a ballot for her boss. That could be a violation of state voting laws, elections experts say.

Reitler and Powell both got their positions with the Boylan campaign through connections with Dee Stewart, Boylan’s Raleigh-based campaign consultant. Stewart also served as campaign consultant for Congressman Patrick McHenry, first elected to represent the 10th Congressional district in the western part of NC in 2004. Some in the district have alleged that the McHenry campaign registered campaign workers from outside the state who were living temporarily in a Cherryville house owned by the Congressman during the race. According to the Gaston County Board of Elections, no challenges or official complaints were ever filed surrounding the allegations.

Reitler worked as a field operative for McHenry in 2004, but did not change her registration during the election. Powell is a political neophyte. The Boylan job was her first out of college, and came, she says, through a cousin who worked for Stewart’s consulting group. Reitler said the current scrutiny of her voting record reminded her of the allegations surrounding the McHenry campaign, which she called “silly.” She says her decision not to register to vote in the 10th District in 2004 shows that she acted legally when she registered to vote here late last year.

North Carolina Conservative wrote:

A confidential source, speaking on background, contacted NC Christian Coalition Chairman Donnie Young earlier this year. This source claims to have worked closely with persons involved in the McHenry and Boylan campaigns. The source has also been a candidate. He claims that certain persons volunteered to help his campaign, saying “We will poll to find out how many votes you need. Then, we will bring enough college students into your district, and register them to vote, so you’ll win.” The NCC contacted the source who spoke with Mr. Young, and he verified the information, saying “It wasn’t quite that explicit, but that was the general idea.” The source asked us to maintain his anonymity for fear of reprisal.

And for a guy who's worked for two congressmen (Robin Hayes and Patrick McHenry), who's appeared on every major television network, and who has worked for numerous North Carolina state legislature campaigns like Joe Boylan's, it's odd that when you google his name, not much shows up.

It's not like he's out of business. According to McHenry's campaign disclosures, Pat paid the Stewart Group $6,000 for "Development and Planning" every month for the last year.

Here's the current website "coming soon."

Here's the archives of The Stewart Group's webpages from December 12,2001 to April 23, 2007

Here's what Dee Stewart used to want people to know about him:

Dee Stewart is an experienced political strategist, prolific fundraiser and talented speaker. He lives in Raleigh, North Carolina and serves as President of The Stewart Group, Inc., specializing in campaign consulting, fundraising and public affairs.

Dee was born in Winchester, Virginia and was raised in Martinsburg, West Virginia, located in the Shenandoah Valley, a region where the Stewart family has lived since the early eighteenth century. He received his undergraduate degree in Government from Campbell University, located in Buies Creek, North Carolina. His honors included: Omicron Delta Kappa, Pi Gamma Mu, Dean’s List, Presidential Scholars, Student Body Treasurer, 1992 North Carolina Bush/Quayle Youth Chairman and State Chairman of College Republicans. Also, Stewart received a Master of Business Administration with a concentration in Management from the Lundy-Fetterman School of Business at Campbell University.

After graduating from Campbell, Stewart was appointed National Youth Coordinator of the 1996 Phil Gramm for President campaign, based in Washington, DC. In addition to creating collegiate political organizations for Senator Gramm (R-TX) in seventeen states crucial to the presidential nomination process, Stewart managed the youth caucus turnout operation in Iowa that accounted for 10% of the total caucus vote of the campaign.

Stewart served as a Field Director of the 1996 Robin Hayes for Governor campaign, based in Raleigh, North Carolina. In the primary election, the campaign was victorious in 43 of 44 counties in which he oversaw grassroots operations for Representative Hayes (R-NC), thereby helping to provide the statewide primary margin of victory, 50%-46%.

In 1997, Stewart served as the Legislative Liaison of the North Carolina Automobile Dealers Association. In this capacity, he raised a record amount of money for AUTOPAC, the Association’s political action committee. In addition, by fostering relationships between dealers and legislators, he helped guide landmark legislation through the General Assembly that strengthened North Carolina’s motor vehicle franchise laws.

From late 1997 until early 1999, Stewart served as Finance Director of the North Carolina Republican Party (NCGOP). Through aggressive solicitation and prospecting, he retired the 1996 campaign debt (in excess of $300,000) in less than eleven months, while funding all fixed and variable expenses of the 1998 election cycle. In addition, Stewart organized the most successful NCGOP fundraising event on record, the Jesse Helms Silver Anniversary Tribute, which raised in excess of $100,000.

In early 1999, Stewart was named Executive Director of the Republican Party of Iowa (RPI), based in Des Moines. As Executive Director, he managed and coordinated the 1999 Iowa Straw Poll, which was the best-attended paid political event in American history, drawing over 40,000 Republicans. The event raised over $1 million for RPI, a record amount for any political fundraiser in Iowa’s history. In addition, he oversaw the 2000 Iowa Caucuses, which were attended by more than 88,000 Republicans at 2,131 precincts. During Stewart’s tenure, the Iowa GOP maintained its congressional majority and its majority in the State House and State Senate. Also, George W. Bush attained over 48% of the presidential vote, the most of any GOP nominee since 1984. Stewart held the post of Executive Director until early 2001, when he returned to Raleigh and founded The Stewart Group, Inc.

In 2005, Stewart served as Chief of Staff to U.S. Congressman Patrick McHenry of North Carolina. In this capacity, he was charged with hiring and managing a successful staff in the Congressman�s offices on Capitol Hill and in the Congressional District. He also developed and implemented policies and procedures that help the staff effectively assist Congressman McHenry.

Stewart has appeared on the CBS Evening News, ABC’s World News Tonight, NBC’s Today, CNN’s Inside Politics, MSNBC’s Equal Time, the Fox News Network, and C-SPAN.

He is married to the former Angela Joan Miller of High Point, North Carolina.

I guess the only question left is, why would someone work for years in politics and then all of a sudden remove any trace of existence from the public media?

Pat McHenry, an overview

[This is my first post at Blog Active, a site founded by Mike Rogers. BlogActive reports on hypocritical homophobes. I thought you all wouldn't mind reading my brief review of our wonderful Pat and scroll down for the latest details on one of Pat's Peeps, Jason J. Deans. Or go over to the post at BlogActive to see Mike's responses and his reader's comments.]

Mike and I finally had a long overdue sit-down today. For three hours I delineated all the current well-sourced and not-so-well sourced dirt on our youngest Congressman, Pat McHenry of North Carolina's 1oth Congressional district.

(And we didn't even get to his advocacy for ousted College Republican Glenn Murphy, giver of unwanted blowjobs . . . how could we have overlooked that one, Mike?)

Mike tried to chart all of it. He really did. What happened to that chart, Mike? I seem to have misplaced it. It's not on my "action plan." Well, I guess mere words will have to do.

To start with, we've got several financial disclosure reporting irregularities (details to come on that), and nearly $200,000 of improperly reported 527 (Citizens Club for Growth PAC) funding in 2004. Also, Pat takes money from the gay Republican message master Arthur Finkelstein, who is married to a man in Massachusetts, as he foments ill will towards gays in his district and promotes the "sanctity of marriage."

Here's the webpage, click here or on the image below for a larger version:

Then there's a wide assortment of unsavory colleagues, high-level staff with drinking and assorting driving problems (below). Three different documented voter fraud cases starting with his former roomie and staffer. Then there's the repeated co-habitation with men well past his college years.

For this post, I don't want to make only promises, I start with Pat's current campaign spokesman Jason Jent Deans, left. He was Pat's chief of staff from May, 2005 to January 2007. Before that he worked as District Director and on the campaign staff. This is what we've uncovered of the vehicular charges he's faced in North Carolina since 1995 . . . Including death by vehicle.

2/21/04 GASTON County, NC
Expired Registration card/ tag, expired/no inspection sticker
C4181647

9/03/04 PITT County, NC
Expired/no inspection sticker, no insurance
3231043

9/03/04 PITT County, NC
Expired Registration card/tag
3231044

3/21/02 MECKLENBERG County, NC
Expired registration tag, no insurance
C2581182

12/15/00 WAKE County, NC
No license, no insurance
C0618098

9/06/00 WAKE County, NC
Expired registration card/tag, no insurance
C0265873

9/06/00 WAKE County, NC
Expired/no inspection sticker, no registration card
C0265874

5/06/00 MECKLENBERG County, NC
Speeding, expired/no inspection sticker
9593445

6/03/99 JOHNSTON County, NC
Simple worthless check
007258, complainant Golden House Restaurant

5/20/99 WAKE County, NC
no registration card
C8855533

6/20/99 WAKE County, NC
Expired Registration
C9500844

4/09/98 WAKE County, NC
Speeding
C8416644

2/21/95 NASH County, NC
Misdemeanor Death by Vehicle

With a track record like this, the GOP is likely to consider appointing him to a post managing the nation's driver education instructors . . .

About Pat's very special "Peeps"

Yesterday I started a series called "Pat's Peeps." It's about all the people Pat McHenry has surrounded himself with in the years since he graduated from Belmont Abbey College. They're an "impressive" crowd, as you will see.



Start with Scott G. Stewart (top center) harasser of women, bilker of the elderly. He worked for the Interior Department. You'll remember Abramoff and Steven Griles, I'm sure who basically ruled there to the detriment of the country. Just like Interior Secretary Gale Norton, Stewart has taken inappropriate employment with a company that does a lot of "bidness" with said department, Shell Oil.

But even before Pat moved in with Scott in 2001, his dear alma mater, Belmont Abbey has an interesting history of hiring a sex offender and then lying about knowing he was a sex offender. George P. Berthold was hired in 1997 (right when Pat was there) to run it's Theology Department. According to the Boston Globe:

Donna M. Morrissey, the spokeswoman for the archdiocese, said that church officials in Boston had notified the college and the Diocese of Charlotte "verbally and in writing" that Berthold had been accused of inappropriate physical behavior with adult seminarians when he was dean of the undergraduate college at St. John's Seminary in 1995.

Morrissey said the notifications were made before the college in Belmont, N.C., hired Berthold.

Morrissey, however, refused to make public any of the notifications. And neither she nor the college would release a copy of the 1997 letter from Cardinal Bernard F. Law that, according to Belmont Abbey, said Berthold's record was unblemished.

Told of Morrissey's statement, the college spokeswoman, Teresa Sowers McKinney, insisted again that the college was told nothing about Berthold's misbehavior. She repeated her earlier statement that Belmont Abbey would not have hired Berthold if it had been made aware of the allegations.

According to Donnie Young, other major campaign peeps, Willliam Duffy and Bernard Sullivan, are under investigation by the the FBI [or perhaps the SBI?] for Medicaid fraud.

The North Carolina Conservative's Judson Cox, writes that Florida shooter* Jason Drake (middle left) worked for McHenry. I have sources tying McHenry to Drake's alleged victim and Republican dirty tricks operator, gay Ralph Gonzalez* (lower right).

Michael Aaron Lay (upper left), a former staffer and housemate got deferred a plea deal on voter fraud. Deputy Field Director Brett Keeter (upper right) blew a point one three over Labor Day (and got a pat on the wrist).

There's even more at the North Carolina Conservative.

So, we'll be keeping you informed on the kinds of people Patrick McHenry does business with.

As he says on his House-provided website:



Click to enlarge. It's a screengrab of the McHenry's "Issue Page" labeled Sanctity of Marriage.

*For those of you who didn't follow those links for the Florida Gonzalez/Abrami/Drake murder/suicide story's details, I'll just sum up the political end of things for you:

Gonzales (as Georgia Republican Party Executive Director) has close ties to Ralph Reed and the dirty tricks that defeated Senator Max Cleland in Georgia. Never forget they employed the confederate flag wedge issue hysteria. Never forget that Ralph Reed took over the Georgian Republican Party using Abramoff-forced Choctaw "donations."

And never forget that Abramoff knows all these guys. (Ever wonder why McHenry defends Charles Taylor so often and vehemently?)

Ralph Gonzalez also worked as now-Representative Tom Feeney's campaign manager who created a smear site against his Democratic opponent, Clint Curtis. Gonzalez was also Feeney's campaign manager when he ran for Florida state house to become it's speaker. He stayed on as a strategist and spokesman. There the ethics scandal involving influencing software purchases. He's tied to another indicted legislator, former Rep. Sheri McInvale.

And here's a new tidbit I hadn't seen before from political hotwire

When Gonzalez filed an annual report for Strategum with the State of Florida Division of Corporations in January, 2007, Schnick was listed as one of his business partners. (Note: Todd Schnick is a name that you might remember if you believe the 2000 presidential election was stolen, and that said theft occurred in Florida.)

Pat's Peeps: Sexual harasser, bilker of seniors, Scott Stewart

[This is the first in a series of posts about the people closest to NC Congressman Pat McHenry, (R-11). Logo by Zombie Birdhouse.]

According to the Washington DC Recorder of Deeds, (you must register to search), from 2/27/2001 to 1/9/2002, Patrick T McHenry co-owned a residence in Washington DC with Scott G Stewart, pictured below left, former chair of the College Republication National Committee 1999-2003.

There are dozens of links to a variety of articles about three women who filed charges of sexual harassment (and misappropriation of funds) against Scott in January 2001, a month before Pat and he bought that DC home together.

The investigation was delayed for months but eventually the RNC demanded that Stewart apologize. Yeah, that'll do it.

Then, as chair of the CRNC, Stewart presided over the most despicable tactics against seniors (in their 80s and 90s) to raise money (at least $6.3 million). And the worst of it: the bulk (90 percent) of the bilked funds went to the vendor or expenses.

No word on whether he was expected to apologize for this one to the dozens of seniors who gave all of their money and had to scrounge for living expenses.

But Pat didn't let any of that impede their relationship. I'll start with the sexual harassment charges:

According to the Associated Press:

Jennifer Gorski, Kathleen Kirst and Youmna Salameh alleged in affidavits that Stewart made frequent unwanted sexual advances and regularly spoke obscenely to and about female employees. They also alleged Stewart authorized the use of several thousand dollars in GOP funds to pay for his and others' personal expenses, such as cellular telephone bills, plane tickets and campaign mailings.

Gorski was an office manager who was fired by Stewart last year. Kirst was an intern in 1999. Salameh worked at another RNC-affiliated organization next door to the college Republicans.

Their accusations did not result in Stewart's ouster at a college Republicans meeting in New Orleans in mid-November, so they took their sworn statements to the Republican National Committee in January.

In mid-February, the RNC promised prompt action but then postponed the case by referring its six-week inquiry to the law firm.

But they did come to a decision in April, long after Stewart had been reelected to anther two-year term as head College Repugnican. According to the AP, all Scott needed to do was apologize. Yeah, that'll do it:

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican Party is allowing the head of its college recruitment arm, accused of sexually harassing female colleagues and misusing party funds, to keep his job with an apology.

The Republican National Committee said Wednesday it found no evidence that the actions of Scott Stewart, who holds the $50,000-a-year post of chairman of the college Republicans organization, met the legal definition of sexual harassment. However, the investigation by the party and an outside law firm concluded Stewart's conduct was ``unprofessional and inappropriate for a work setting.''

The RNC gave Stewart a warning and ordered him to apologize in writing to the three women whose complaints, first reported by The Associated Press, led to the inquiry.

. . .

The RNC provides the College Republican National Committee, which has 1,000 campus chapters and 100,000 members who recruit, register and train students for GOP causes, with office space and a majority of its $200,000-a-year budget.

Stewart, who previously denied what he called "frivolous'' allegations, said in a statement he was relieved the investigation was over. He did not return calls requesting further comment.

That was in April, 2001. But the delays over the prosecution of this case were reported as six weeks old as early as February 2001. Hard to believe McHenry didn't know about them. This is from USA Today.

WASHINGTON - The Republican National Committee indefinitely delayed action Thursday on allegations that the head of the party's college recruitment arm sexually harassed female colleagues and misused party funds.

The indefinite postponement came a week after the committee said the matter would be resolved quickly.

Three women who presented the RNC with affidavits alleging misconduct said they are happy the party did not dismiss the case but expressed frustration that repeated RNC promises of a swift decision have not been kept.

"As the weeks go by, it is apparent that there is some foot-dragging going on," said Jason Zanetti, the College Republican National Committee's Northeastern caucus chairman, who spoke on the women's behalf.

. . .

The RNC, which provides the college Republicans with office space and about $100,000 a year for operations, was given the affidavits Jan. 10. On Thursday, RNC chief counsel Michael Toner referred the matter to a Virginia law firm with labor expertise, asking in a letter for a comprehensive investigation and a recommended course of action

More on the harassment from American Politics dot com:

The RNC, which finances the CRNC, received copies of the affidavits in January. Meanwhile, Stewart is running for another two-year term as CNRC boss.

Given the allegations of abusive horndogging and financial impropriety, The Doc feels that Stewart should abandon his run for the CNRC and instead run for a high-profile state or federal legislative seat, where he'll feel right at home with his fellow GOP "moralists."

Don't you think Pat is a great guy to move in with his buddy, even though he was getting all that bad publicity? And the bad press wasn't just over harassing women and misappropriating funds (and then apologizing for it).

Pat's friend, Stewart, conned millions of dollars out of seniors

. . . and was so stupid the mail-order company ran off with most of the proceeds!

There are a zillion stories about this even more despicable situation. I'll clip some of the most telling paragraphs. You can follow the links to read more sordid details.

The Seattle Times:

The College Republican National Committee has raised $6.3 million this year through an aggressive and misleading fund-raising campaign that collected money from senior citizens who thought they were giving to the election efforts of President Bush and other top Republicans.

Many of the top donors were in their 80s and 90s. The donors wrote checks — sometimes hundreds and, in at least one case, totaling more than $100,000 — to groups with official sounding-names such as "Republican Headquarters 2004," "Republican Elections Committee" and the "National Republican Campaign Fund."

But all of those groups, according to the small print on the letters, were simply projects of the College Republicans, who collected all of the checks.

And little of the money went to election efforts.

Of the money spent by the group this year, nearly 90 percent went to direct-mail vendors and postage expenses, according to records filed with the Internal Revenue Service.

Some of the elderly donors, meanwhile, wound up bouncing checks and emptying their bank accounts.

"I don't have any more money," said Cecilia Barbier, a 90-year-old retired church council worker in New York City. "I'm stopping giving to everybody. That was all my savings that they got."

Barbier said she "wised up." But not before she made more than 300 donations totaling nearly $100,000 this year, the group's fund-raising records show.

Now, she said, "I'm really scrounging."

Here's more from the Seattle Times article:

"We felt their fund-raising practices were deceptive, to say the least," said George Gunning, former treasurer of the College Republicans.

Gunning said he and two other board members fought to cut ties with Response Dynamics but were blocked by other leaders led by Scott Stewart, the chairman of the College Republicans from 1999 to 2003. As chairman, Stewart was the paid, full-time manager of the organization. Gunning said he was assured that fund-raising tactics would change.

Stewart is the director of Bush's Nevada campaign operation, and campaign officials said he would not be available to comment for this story.

The Times was able to determine the ages of 49 of the top 50 individual donors to the College Republicans. The median age of the donors is 85, and 14 of them are 90 or older.

. . .

"That can't be true"

Donors interviewed this week frequently expressed disbelief when they were told how much they gave to the College Republicans.

"That can't be true," said Francis Lehar, a 91-year-old retired music publisher, when he was told records showed he gave the College Republicans nearly $23,000. "I have donated to dozens of Republican causes. Some of them might be the Republican Party organizations."

The College Republicans had another warning in September 2003, when the Center for Public Integrity, a Washington, D.C.-based watchdog group, issued a report on the explosive fund-raising growth by the College Republicans. The report noted that several elderly donors who were contacted did not appear to know to whom they had given money.

Response Dynamics, its affiliates and other companies related to the fund raising get most of the money raised by the College Republicans.

About $9 million of the College Republicans' reported spending this year appeared to go into fund-raising expenses, according to a Times analysis of reports filed with the IRS.

About $313,000, roughly 3 percent, went for travel, convention expenses and "hospitality." About $210,000 went to payroll expenses, helping pay for campus organizers who have been drumming up support for the GOP ticket among young people.

The large amount of money devoted to fund raising, and the small amount for political activities, is unusual among the top ranks of the burgeoning field of so-called 527 independent political groups.

Look for this Ft Wayne article by scrolling a quarter to half-way down once you click on the link:

Groups returning donations to woman; Senior with dementia doesn't remember writing checks.

An 82-year-old Fort Wayne woman with dementia is getting back more than $38,000 in donations she made - but doesn't remember - to the College Republican National Committee, Republican Strategy Headquarters and affiliated groups. But her family wants more. They want the organizations to change how they solicit for funds.

. . .

CRNC attorney Mackenzie Canter III said paying back the money is not an admission of wrongdoing by his client but because of the "compelling presentation" the woman's dementia affected her judgment in making the donations.

. . .

"Unless they've changed what they're doing, it's not going to affect anybody else but my aunt," Rediger said. "We're still extremely upset about their technique and the number of letters they send."

For example, letters signed by CRNC Chairman Scott Stewart and addressed to their aunt by name, said critical Republican programs would be shut down if she didn't send $200 immediately.

Stewart also wrote: "Rush me back $300 right now . . . if we delay then the Rule of Law may be dead and America may turn into a Communist police state."

Cantor said such letters are "standard, direct-mail process . . . very much in the mainstream.

"The mail is opened in these sorting rooms. These (checks) are deposited and put into an account. The bottom line is we have no way of knowing someone is not competent."

But the family doubts that's true.

"I know they go after people. If (people) donate a little, they aggressively go after them for more," Rediger said.

. . .

The family and The News-Sentinel have been unable to reach anyone from that organization.

Talking Points Memo:

Local and national GOP officials are distancing themselves from a Washington, D.C.-based college Republican group that has used aggressive and misleading tactics to raise millions of dollars from elderly people.
...

The Herald-Sun reported Thursday that the College Republican National Committee has received at least 87 percent of its North Carolina donations from people who list their occupation as retired. Most of those contacted by The Herald-Sun were in their 80s.

This campaign season, the CRNC has raised more than $6.3 million nationally, putting it in the top 15 political groups tracked by the IRS. The group raised $93,280 in North Carolina.

Because the CRNC solicits under different names, such as the National Republican Task Force and the National Republican Victory Campaign, many seniors have donated to the group repeatedly, often several times in a single day or week. Many had made more than 50 donations since January, sometimes totaling thousands of dollars.

When asked about their giving, many of them had little understanding of how much they had donated or where their money was going. The group's high-pressure mailings, which often play on senior citizens' emotions, suggest that the money would help re-elect President Bush and other Republicans. But according to the Center for Public Integrity, which monitors campaign spending, the CRNC has spent at least 83 percent of its proceeds since 2000 on direct mailings and other fund-raising expenses.

McHenry, Foxx, Myrick hang NC farmers out to dry

At least they tried to . . .

Republican Congressmen Patrick McHenry, Virginia Foxx, and Sue Myrick refused to sign a letter to help North Carolina farmers get federal disaster assistance, the Winston-Salem Journal reports.

A bipartisan coalition of 10 of North Carolina’s 13 congressional members wrote a letter to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. and House Minority Leader Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, asking for help.

The letter comes as the state’s soybean, peanut, and Irish potato production are down by 31, 21, and 15 percent, respectively, from last year.

"This is not a partisan problem, and both parties’ leaderships need to be aware of the severity of the problem," Rep. Mike McIntyre, D-7th, told the Winston-Salem Journal.

McIntyre spearheaded the effort.

But Republican obstructionists McHenry, Foxx, and Myrick all allowed partisanship to get in the way of helping their constituents.

Foxx refused to speak to the Journal and had a spokesman respond by e-mail.

Their silence is deafening to the numbers of North Carolina farmers who will face hard times this year.

"It’s severe," Blake Brown, a professor of agricultural economics at NC State, told the Winston-Salem Journal. "There are people who have to sell their cattle because they don’t have enough grass or hay to feed them through the winter."

From Jerimee's post at BlueNC

Fellow Republican Benfield Questions McHenry's Finances

Forgive me if this information has already been posted here. McHenry generates such a wide variety of scandal and misconduct that I honestly can't keep up. This Letter was submitted to news@norman -Jerimee

[Jerimee-this ran in the Hickory Record several weeks ago and we posted it here but the questions Benfield raise bear repeating. Anyone who wants to look closely at McHenry's finances can start by going to open secrets dot org and click on his personal finances reports.

The original filings as a candidate are only available onlinehere. Be sure to scroll down to the bottom of the post --DQ]

Dear Editor:

I’ve been looking at Patrick McHenry’s recent U.S. House of Representatives Financial Disclosure Statement on the internet. It’s a form that he’s required to file each year by May 15, and he signed and filed this year’s document on May 7.

The Center for Responsive Politics (opensecrets.org) posts these disclosures, which cover the previous year. One form really isn’t so revealing by itself, because it reports income, net worth, assets, etc. in so-called “brackets.” You know, “at least” as much as one number, but “less than” a second, higher figure.

If you look at two or three of these reports, you get a rather disturbing picture. Our representative has done real well since entering Congress.
McHenry’s financial reports show, for instance, that he went from owning virtually nothing—he said—when he ran for Congress in 2004 to having a net worth in the bracket of “$720,000-$1.2 million.”

Wow! Where did that kind of net worth come from in just three years? If any other 30-year-old had done that, he’d be on the cover of Fortune Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, etc.—or there would be a federal investigation. Maybe there should be one here, too!

Who is the financial advisor for this brilliant young public servant? McHenry has a degree from Belmont Abby College and a real estate license, but nothing in his background that would bolt him to a million dollars so fast!

When McHenry first entered Congress, according to his filing, the Gastonia whiz kid reported “$68,009-$281,000” in net worth. That ranked 337th out of 435 members of Congress; in other words, only 98 members of Congress actually were “poorer” than he was.

But in the reports since, the august representative of the 10th District has seen his net worth skyrocket to the “$301,018-$877,000” bracket—on its way to “$720,000-$1.2 million.” By any measure, on paper, he’s become a wealthy young man very quickly.

Not just wealthy, but every young adult’s financial dream—having a net worth of over a million dollars by your early 30s!

Would it be too much to ask the enterprising and wildly successful congressman to address publicly what has gone so terribly right in his financial life since he first ran for Congress in 2004 as “the only small businessman in this race”?

That year, the owner of McHenry Real Estate of Cherryville listed zero assets in his business—same as he does now. Could it be that “McHenry Real Estate” never really was a serious “business” three years ago, as his opponents claimed?

But the disclosure forms apparently, don’t tell the whole McHenry financial story.

According to the Catawba County Geospatial Information Services (GIS) system, there’s a condo on Lake Hickory at 2200 6th St. NW (#2), Hickory, for which McHenry is listed as the owner since April 27, 2005. If you know the area, it’s located between the former sites of the old Rock House and the old Moose Club on “the lake road.”

This residence is not listed among his apparent real estate rental properties in Gastonia, Cherryville and Charlotte on Schedule III—Assets and “Unearned” Income that he reported on May 7. And yet, there it is, big as day in Deed Book 2658, Page 496, Parcel ID 3704170122320002, showing Patrick T. McHenry as the owner.

Is it barely possible that this young public servant, who likes to have his friends register and vote illegally in places where they don’t actually live, is hiding some of his assets from the public? Maybe he thinks we might object to his amassing too much of a fortune too fast?

So, for sure, something is amiss. Both the deed for 2200 6th St. NW (#2) and the House ethics reports bear McHenry’s signature. What gives here, Congressman? Can he explain this?

Am I the only one around who actually watches him closely enough to know that he will say or write whatever he wants, even on official ethics reports, depending on whether it helps him or hurts him at the time? Why is no one else paying attention?

If my name were Patrick Timothy McHenry, a law degree would be nice to have. I think I would finally try to get used to telling “the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.”

Dennis A. Benfield
Hudson, NC

[As to the Hickory condo, McHenry's spokesman Aaron Latham has told the Gaston Gazette that he lives in Cherryville AND Hickory. Therefore the condo is a residence and by House rules, members do not have to report the existence of or transactions to do with residence(s) that do not bring in any rental income. Of course, he's never admitted to living in Hickory before. And hiding a large banking transaction when your largest donors are banks and you sit on the Finances Committee certainly violates the spirit and reasons for financial disclosures. --DQ]

Navy hero considers running against McHenry

According to the Hickory Record:

HICKORY - A Hickory military hero may enter the 2008 race for Congress.

Daniel Johnson, 31, confirmed Wednesday he is considering a run for the seat held by U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry.

. . .

Johnson received the Navy Marine Corps Medal, the highest honor awarded to an officer during peacetime, following a 1999 accident on the USS Blue Ridge during which Johnson saved a fellow crewmate.

. . .

A graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Johnson returned there to attend law school a year later.

Johnson said a run for Congress, like his Navy and legal careers, would be another avenue of service.

“So far, my entire professional career, I’ve been in one type of service or another,” Johnson said. “(A congressional run) would be another way to serve a lot of people in a wide range of issues. It’s very appealing and something worth considering.”

Sorry for the large blockquote but I seriously don't know what to edit out of what national columnist George Will wrote about Johnson in October 1999:

In his eighth month on board, on Aug. 23, he was the safety observer at the aft mooring station as Korean tugs pulled the Blue Ridge into position to leave the harbor at Pusan. A tug was reeling in the messenger line, a rope about an inch and a half in diameter that is attached to the hawser, the big rope -- about eight inches in diameter -- that bears the weight in tugging and mooring. The tug was moving away and reeling unusually fast. Too fast.

What happened next happened very fast. The leg of Seaman Steven Wright, 21, from Pine Bluff, Ark., became tangled in a loop of the messenger line which, under extreme tension from the tug, dragged Wright across the deck and pulled his leg into a "chock,'' an oval opening about a foot long and eight inches wide through which ropes pass. The tremendous torque from the tug could have pulled Wright through the chock, ripping him apart.

"This part is a little bit fuzzy to me,'' says Johnson about what he did. "I tried to free him up.'' The official "summary of action'' recommending the Navy and Marine Corps Medal says:

"Immediately, without hesitation, and in the face of known risk to his own life, Ensign Johnson ran to the assistance of the entrapped line handler who was in imminent peril of losing the lower part of his leg. ... None of the other seven personnel on scene attempted any similar act or endangered themselves to such a degree to come to the entangled Sailor's aid.''

Wright's life was saved because his leg was not. He was freed when the rope severed his leg (and four fingers above the knuckles). But before that happened, as Johnson struggled to help Wright, the violently jerking line entangled both of Johnson's legs, dragged him to the chock, and severed both limbs below the knee. He also lost a finger.

Why did he act as he did? He says, matter-of-factly, that officers are trained to be responsible for the well-being of their men, and besides, that's the way his parents -- they are at his bedside this day, having made the seven-hour drive from Hickory for another stay with their son -- raised him. He would rather talk about the prostheses that will soon be fitted to the stumps of his legs.

"They say that if I want to I can run a marathon. The only thing that will limit me is myself.'' He is thinking of going to medical school.

What lies are you going to tell about this fine man, Pat? What lies are you going to perpetrate this time? Because that's the only way you're going to win. It's the only way you beat Huffman in 04 and it's the only way you could possibly win against this guy.

The Company Pat Keeps

Check out the North Carolina Conservative's rundown of McHenry's close political allies, staffers and friends. Editor Judson Cox labels his piece "Judged by the company you keep."

[Thanks to Zombie Birdhouse for the awesome graphic.]

Are conservative colleges breeding predatory gays?

[Graphic by AsheVillein]

Two weeks ago I posed the question "What's with Republicans and their repressed sex drives?" In response, I got the following email from a conservative independent who gave me permission to reprint it without attribution:

"There were/are a lot of closeted gay Republicans in and around the Ralph Reed crowd. I did two semesters at (Falwell's) Liberty University after leaving the University of Georgia. There were so many more gays at tiny LU than at the 30,000 student UGA! A lot of them at LU were really creepy too. I had friend who refused to live on campus because of all the predatory gay dorm leaders and prayer group leaders.

"One of the main reasons I didn't stay there long was due to how they handled that situation. Basically, if someone complained about a homosexual on campus, they would bring both people in and try to convince the complainant that it he or she was mistaken. Only once the situation became un-cover-up-able, like after repeated complaints, would they really confront the gay guy. Then, he would "repent" and cry and beg forgiveness, and everyone would gather around him supporting his great Christian conversion. Folks would kind of keep an eye on him for a month or two, and then it was back to business as usual.

"However, if a guy was caught fooling around with his girlfriend, he (sometimes both of them, but girls are viewed as more innocent) would be kicked out! They viewed pre-marital sex as a horrible sin, but homosexual sex as a moral failing that required prayer and counseling to bring the person back into he fold. Frankly, I think they just didn't want anyone to find out their school is a giant closet for Baptist and Pentecostal gays. Of course, the Ralph Reed crowd, Leadership Institute and all of the Republican organizations recruit big time out of Liberty and Regent. It totally fits the pattern."

Maybe you know about a school or organization where this type of behavior is allowed to flourish. If so, I'd like to hear from you. Post a comment or click on EMAIL US at the left of this post (sixth item down from the top.)

More from my email friend:

"I think a lot of kids are dumb and are easy prey for a few predators. In an atmosphere like that, any misstep can be held over someone to keep them silent. I heard about a guy who was caught drinking, and was gradually blackmailed into a gay group. All I know is that people are human and make mistakes. The problem arises when it is a leader who will lie and hurt others to keep from being found out. Also, when it is a congressman or senator, that opens the door for major security risks."

Now, Patrick McHenry didn't attend Liberty University. But a variety of sources have described this kind of behavior as the norm among him and his closest advisers. Recently murdered Republican political operative Ralph Gonzalez worked with Ralph Reed in Georgia. Accused shooter Jason Robert Drake has been tied to an escort service in Virginia Beach. Ralph Gonzalez reportedly consulted with McHenry on his 2004 campaign. Drake reportedly worked on several small North Carolina campaigns in McHenry's 10th District.

Basket of Puppies has compiled a shockingly long list of Republican sex criminals and other offenders.

This is more info from my post of two weeks ago:

In July, MySpace kicked out 29,000 Republican perverts.

Yeah. Here's the July 25th story. I thought it was a joke like this other FruitFly post on GOP importing prostitutes for the 08 convention. (And maybe that one is not a joke!) But, no, the MySpace story is in the freakin' Christian Post. And NC's own Roy Cooper leads the charge:

MySpace.com has found and removed more than 29,000 sex offenders with profiles on the popular social networking site, according to state officials on Tuesday.

The newly released figure was a huge jump from 7,000 profiles of sex offenders just two months ago on a site with about 180 million profiles. Roy Cooper, North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper along with several others had demanded data on the number of registered sex offenders using the social networking site, owned by News Corp.

"I'm absolutely astonished and appalled because the number has grown so exponentially over so short of time with no explanation," said Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, according to The Associated Press.

So maybe it's time to probe deeper. I mean, look at Larry Craig and read the endless stories of Republican Sex Offenders, like North Carolina's own Coy Privette and David Almond, and don't forget Pat McHenry's friend, the National College Republican Chair Glenn Murphy, who likes to give blow jobs to sleeping heterosexual acquaintances.

It's not like there aren't sexual predators and perverts in the Democratic Party but come on. Things are getting obvious here. Exactly why are so many Republicans perverts? I mean, we all know perverts are around every corner. Down every dark alley. And there seems to be quite a large subset of them which are what I call PRiGs: Predatory Republican Gays.

Obviously, we aren't going to answer all the questions about Republicans, their repressed sexuality and the need for their leaders to be sexually predatory whether gay, bi or hetero.

But I thought that it's time to get this conversation started.

And here's more background on the suicide/murder:

For those of you who didn't follow those links for the Florida Gonzalez/Abrami/Drake murder/suicide story's details, I'll just sum up the political end of things for you:

Gonzales (as Georgia Republican Party Executive Director) has close ties to Ralph Reed and the dirty tricks that defeated Senator Max Cleland in Georgia. Never forget they employed the confederate flag wedge issue hysteria. Never forget that Ralph Reed took over the Georgian Republican Party using Abramoff-forced Choctaw "donations."

And never forget that Abramoff knows all these guys. (Ever wonder why McHenry defends Charles Taylor so often and vehemently?)

Ralph Gonzalez also worked as now-Representative Tom Feeney's campaign manager who created a smear site against his Democratic opponent, Clint Curtis. Gonzalez was also Feeney's campaign manager when he ran for Florida state house to become it's speaker. He stayed on as a strategist and spokesman. There the ethics scandal involving influencing software purchases. He's tied to another indicted legislator, former Rep. Sheri McInvale.

Major McHenry 04 funding fraudulent

Delay-related funding almost $200,000, nearly 20% of McHenry's campaign total

Also, two major in-district fundraisers reportedly under investigation for Medicaid fraud [scroll to bottom for this one]

Why McHenry's Delay-related chunk of funds was not covered during the 2004 primary season lies at the hands of the pathetic 10th District press and the Charlotte Observer's total incompetence. And the whole sordid story certainly makes you wonder about Pat's Republican opponents. Of course, Delay wasn't in trouble then.

And still, when the organization funneling so much money to NC's 10th district settled an FEC lawsuit last week, the Charlotte Observer failed to mention McHenry's faulty funding even then. When you think that the 85-vote 2004 margin of victory is already suspect by one, you have to consider that the local newspapers have something to gain by covering up negative McHenry-related news.

Last week the Citizens Club for Growth PAC paid $350,000 to settle an FEC lawsuit which

arose after the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee filed a complaint with the FEC in 2003 alleging that the group was violating federal election laws. After an investigation, the FEC concluded that the 527 was required to register as a political action committee because it was accepting contributions and engaging in activities intended to influence the outcome of federal elections.

According to FEC Schedule E report the Citizens Club for Growth had funneled the McHenry donations through an organization called Red Sea LLC:

Red Sea LLC
1111 19th Street NW
Suite 211
Washington, DC 20036

Purpose of Expenditure: tv air buy
This Committee SUPPORTS The Following Candidate: PATRICK TIMOTHY MCHENRY
Candidate ID: H4NC10047
Office Sought: House of Representatives
State is North Carolina in District 10
Date Expended = 08/12/2004
Amount Expended = $49790.00
Calendar YTD Per Election for Office Sought = $182440.7

Red Sea is an invention of a former communications director for the disgraced Tom Delay, Jonathan M. Baron.

This information is right there in the FEC's Schedule E for the Citizens Club for Growth PAC. From Sourcewatch when the lawsuit was filed:

"The Federal Election Commission filed a lawsuit Monday [September 20, 2005,] in U.S. District Court in Washington against the Club for Growth, the first case of its kind to arise from high-dollar fundraising during the 2004 elections. The pro-Republican group spent at least $21 million in the 2003-2004 election cycle. ... The FEC contends the club spent enough in federal races to require it to file with the commission as a political committee and to follow contribution and spending limits. It wants the court to fine the group and order it to comply with campaign finance rules." --Associated Press, September 19, 2005

So, at least $182,000 of McHenry's $923,975 came from an organization donating fraudulently.

And now former North Carolina Conservative Coalition Chair Donnie Young is reporting that two of Pat's fundraisers, two Gaston County businessmen, are under investigation for Medicare fraud.

Admin: the remaining material from this post has been deleted. May, 2008.

WaPo calls McHenry an Iraq War veteran

Or he claimed to be. One or the other. I saw it first in the Dallas Morning News. The article says the Washington Post and McClatchy contributed. That reminds me of the Fox news penchant for labeling disgraced Republicans as Democrats!

It was corrected in the Post's online edition but has appeared in other papers that ran the story like the Indianapolis Star, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Arizona Republic, The Birmingham News, the Honolulu Advertiser and Albany NY's Times-Union.

It's in an article about Petraeus' House testimony:

Leading Democrats rejected Gen. Petraeus' vision.

"Removing a brigade is nothing but a political whisper, and it is unacceptable to the American people and a majority of Congress," said Rep. Tom Lantos, D-Calif., chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, which sponsored the hearing with the House Armed Services Committee.

Republicans, in contrast, seized on the plan as a political lifeboat after months of being forced to vote against measures repudiating Mr. Bush's policy.

"Let the generals in the field dictate," said Rep. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina, an Iraq war veteran.

I'm sure McHenry wishes he was a veteran. I'm sure he presented himself as if he were a veteran. Great reporting, national media. What boneheads!

This is what McHenry said last month when asked by a constituent why he hasn't served and has no relatives serving in Iraq:

Shelby resident Betsy Wells asked about the Iraq War. She mentioned her nephew, who joined the Army after 9/11, and is on his third tour of duty in Iraq. She explained that this young man had changed his life goal because of the threat to the country. She asked, with your constant support of George Bush’s requests for the War, why aren’t you in uniform fighting in Iraq?

McHenry's response: My life's plan in my 20s did not include that. I serve my country in other ways. I wouldn't want to say that my sacrifice is near what the troops have sacrificed.

Betsy: Are any of your brothers or sisters in Iraq? McHenry: No.

Betsy: Do you have family or cousins in Iraq? McHenry: Yes, (but he did not elaborate).

Betsy: “Would you support a withdrawal date for removing troops from Iraq? McHenry: Emphatic No. "That would mean we lose." He said, it's better to fight them over there than here.

Betsy: “Why are more Congressman’s children not serving?” McHenry: "I don’t have any children, yet." He said he hopes to have children some day "after I meet the right woman."

He said he's looking forward to the General Petraeus report.

He told citizens that he want the bi-partisan bickering to stop. Failing to distinguish between parties, he went on to say that the situation gone on for too long. The only thing to fix it, is "throw the bums out."

Pressure builds for Pat

If last week and the week before weren't bad enough for 10th District disgrace Pat McHenry, now a national and highly respected blogger Pam Spaulding has turned her internet attention to McHenry's involvement in the bizarrely underreported Florida murder suicide.

She's written the best overview yet and crossposted it at Americablog.

What with this last week's extreme DUI of his Deputy Field Director Brett Keeter. Then the subsequent two-week suspension without pay. But as MissM points out at BlueNC, why not wait until a verdict? Innocent until proven guilty and all that American patriotic stuff.

I wondered if a 31-year-old blows a point one three perhaps he should be fired. It's not like it's the first overindulgence of a young man, new to college or trying to recover from his first big break-up. But Robert P and lcloud at BlueNC make the find points that McHenry should be helping this guy get the therapy he needs. That we as democrats might want to practice what we preach and think in terms of rehabilitation. Good ideas, if we were dealing with people who could consider that others can change and improve. That, of course is the obvious solution. Just not likely.

Then, we have to look at the week before last, which might have led to this overindulgence of mind-altering substances in a staffer.

The week before last you learned that Pat might not live where he votes. That's potentially the fourth case voter fraud he's been tied to. And over the weekend, McHenry spokesman Aaron Latham tried to put that pesky old voter fraud/residency question to rest. Latham told the Gaston Gazette's Amanda Millard that Pat "lives in Cherryville. That's still his primary residence." But, he told her, McHenry splits his time between Cherryville and Hickory when he comes home on weekends. Boy, Pat, that's a lot of splitting. You live in DC, you split your weekend time between Cherryville and Hickory. You own the Hickory condo but your legal residence for voting is a house in Cherryville you don't own and that other people use. I wonder what the North Carolina laws regard as a legal residence. We'll have to find out.

And the one question still unanswered: how'd you get that financing for the Hickory condo. Since you're on the House banking committee, I think your banking deals (especially ones you've been trying to cover up) should be public record. After all, you were all excited about disclosing the people behind earmarks. What about disclosing the financing deal on an asset you haven't told anyone about. Because if the Hickory condo was your legal residence and as Latham told Millard, it's been this way for some time, you had plenty of time to update your bio and your website to say you live in Cherryville AND Hickory, not just Cherryville.

There are a lot of reports from the week before last that still have not been cleared up. Like Pat's involvement with recent murder victim Ralph Gonzalez of Florida and Georgia ethics issues (including ties to Jack Abramoff and vote manipulation. But the North Carolina Conservative told us that not only McHenry was also tied to Jason Drake, who police say was the shooter.

People have commented extensively on this website and elsewhere that Drake's ties to a gay porn murder in Pennsylvania have only one source. That source has a lot of people who hate him OR he's a lying, website-destroyer.

Either way, these questions are not dependent on tying Drake to other murders and the porn industry, are extremely relevant and remain unanswered:

1. What exactly are McHenry ties to high level murdered Republican dirty tricks consultant Ralph Gonzalez and of his alleged shooter Jason Robert Drake. And why has McHenry tried to hide his political past by stating on his website and official bio that he is either a real estate broker, a small businessman or in sales.
   


2. Why have the police given such premature and unprofessional comments to the media in this case?*


3. What is going on with the traditional media’s response to this news item. Google and see for yourself. Can you imagine them ignoring the murder of two prominent young gay Democratic operatives. Of course not.
   


4. Is the disinformation campaign about Drake initiated by a gay porn blogger or by McHenry's staff? The former makes not sense, the latter is sheer stupidity but IS muddying the waters somewhat. And is one more reason for questioning a traditional media's response. Who can ignore a story that includes a gay porn blogger? Come on.
   


5. Why have no media outlets in the 10th Congressional District will covered, much less done any research on this story.
   

*The police said August 23 that the murder/suicide was the result of a lover's triangle. On August 27 they told the Orlando Sentinel:

What prompted him to go in and commit that crime remains undetermined and may never be known," Picanzo said. "We have had so many different and conflicting statements from people.

Since when do the police say the crime motive will never been known this early in an investigation? It makes no sense.

Larry Flynt called Mad Miss Mattie!

I thought it was worth reposting for a fun Saturday morning!-ED

You knew this week has just been too crazy not to ask what Mad Miss Mattie thinks. So here you have it.



Read about all this in the previous posts, particularly Thursday's. And you can find out what Mad Miss Mattie is talking about re: Ralph Gonzales, Patrick McHenry, Jason Drake, and escort service client lists of Republicans and a tragic murder/suicide.

Kruezer denounces disinformation campaign launched at this site and others

I really thought this story couldn't get any weirder. Well, it has. Apparently, we at Pat Go Bye bye have struck a nerve. A big one. At this post and this one.

And now Pat Go Bye Bye is officially the target of a McHenry-related disinformation campaign to discredit, of all people, a gay porn blogger. Damon Kruezer.

Why would McHenry's friends spend energy trying to discredit a gay porn blogger, you might ask? After all, you'd think they would be pretty busy thinking up ways to defend him from his obvious connection to a staffer guilty of voter fraud, (in an election Pat won by only 85 votes). Then there's the problem with his friend Ralph Gonzalez being murdered allegedly by his other friend Jason Drake. Let's not forget his financial disclosure debacles, and the ass he made of himself nationally over earmarks. And then this weekend his freaked-out-looking deputy field director blew a point one three.

But you know political consultants these days. I guess they just sat him down (maybe over drinks with Brett) and said something like "Hey Pat, things are bad but really you need to focus on this dude, Damon Kruezer, who interviews hot young homosexual pornographic video actors.

"Yeah, Pat, think about it. He's saying your buddy Jason Drake, now accused of a double murder, also has a connection to some other murder case in Pennsylvania no one in North Carolina has heard of.

"So here's the plan, honey child. If anyone writes about the gay porn blogger's allegations tying Florida shooter Jason to nearly-beheaded porn king Bryan Kocis, you get your buddies to comment at those blog posts in four or five other identities what a liar this Kruezer porn guy is. Then, post as the gay porn blogger himself admitting that you did it to increase web traffic to your gay porn site where people can see tons of photos of truly gorgeous young gay porn actors.

That'll really take the attention away from the story."

If I was a professional political consultant I would certainly advocate that any Congressman get his friends to impersonate gay porn bloggers to make a story go away.

So, McHenry's buds came to my site (and Scrutiny Hooligans) and call Kruezer a known liar. And, as if that wasn't enough, then they had to post at this site (twice) an apparent confession using Damon's full name.

Here's what the actual gay porn blogger, Damon Kruezer, who has been impersonated twice here has to say:

WARNING: Beware the disinformation campaign involving phony emails and posts by impersonators trying to steal my identity. Purpose of these schemers is to distract you and deflect attention away from a powerful nationally known closeted Republican politician with everything to lose if the true story of his unsavory connections comes out. This is the reason why I have received a lucrative offer for my original May 14, 2007 interview with Harlow Cuadra and Joe Kerekes because in the interview, on tape, Harlow reveals the identity of his VIP Republican client, the man who actually funded BoyBatter in order to placate Harlow and Joe after at least 3 trysts with them and then-active duty military personnel working for them including Jason Drake. The only email I use is damon@kruezeratnight.com and I do not block my profile. This is yet another sign of just how hot this story and my documented involvement in it is getting. Critical mass this week I believe.

[Have you noticed that I keep repeated the phrase "gay porn blogger?" At first, I was a little leery of quoting from him. If you go back to the post, you'll see that mostly I quoted him on his common sense, not the most salacious allegations. But now that McHenry's buddies have come to my site impersonating him, I've decided to embrace the underbelly of American's ridiculous prudishness. Maybe I'll become a gay porn blogger myself one day. If you scroll down at his site (www.kruezeratnight.com), there are photos and interviews with some extremely hot looking young men . . . not a bad way to make a living, eh?]

But back to Kruezer's comments. FYI: Harlow Cuadra and Joseph Kerekes are accused murderers currently involved in a preliminary hearings for the Pennsylvania murder (and near decapitation) of rival gay porn video producer Bryan Kocis. Kruezer has repeatedly asserted that Jason Drake allegedly shot Republican political operative Ralph Gonzalez in Florida last month in connection to that murder trial. Cuadra and Kerekes are reported to have lists of Republican officials who are clients to their Virginia Beach or Norfolk gay escort service.

How this convoluted story turned into motivation for a murder suicide is beyond me. What I do know is once I even hinted at the potential connection between Drake and the Kocis murder, I became the target of a series of comments attacking Kruezer's veracity.

[I'm way too lazy tonight to do links. You'll have to google this names and sort through the information on your own.]

In both Monday and Tuesday's posts, my point was that it's highly suspicious that the traditional media has basically ignored the Florida murder suicide: a sensational story that juicily combines fundamentalist Christian politicians and homosexual consultants, election software tampering and this potential tie to a gay porn-related murder in Pennsylvania. I quoted Kruezer particularly on his observations about the media and specifics of the three involved.

Someone named Marc commented at that post that Kruezer was a known liar.

And someone using the blogger identity Damon Kruezer with a blocked profile posted this:

I must admit that I made the story up... it was simply done to try and draw more viewers to my blog.

Sorry.

Tuesday, I wrote that McHenry had confirmed the tie to Drake to Howie Klein at Down With Tyranny and also that the tie of Drake to the Pennsylvania murders had been questioned. More comments denouncing Kruezer followed as well as another supposed denial by Kruezer himself. The impostor this time had unblocked his profile but it still had no link to the website which was the supposed reason for the supposed lies.

This was the thread where someone named Jon defended Kruezer:

Damon Kruezer is indisputably the last reporter to talk with the Pennsylvania murder defendants in a recorded 90 minute interview before their arrest the next day.

He also received letters from them.

Damon Kruezer knew and did some copy writing/editing work for Bryan Kocis, the gayporn producer and murder victim, and may have received crucial files for safekeeping on a USB key sent to him by Kocis.

Damon Kruezer talked with Grant Roy and Sean Lockhart aka Brent Corrigan extensively.

Damon Kruezer has been interviewed by at least 7 different reporters for print and broadcast media, whether they quote him directly or use his material as deep background in their reports.

And you say Kruezer isn't a credible source? How is that?

BOTTOM LINE:

The disinformation and impersonation campaign against him proves he's on to something. Jealous queens are a dime a dozen in the gayporn industry, and Kruezer has stood the test of time.

September 6, 2007 8:41 PM

Then a blogger once again using DK's name:

Jon,

I appreciate your support, but the truth is... I did lie.

There are commenters named walter, marc, wesley and Dunkin' on my posts here and at Scrutiny Hooligans.

An awful lot of work to denounce a story, don't you think? If I was predisposed to think the whole thing sensationally unbelievable before, I certainly am not now. Since I have other sources tying the Florida murder to McHenry long before I'd ever heard of Drake or Gonzalez, methinks these folks are protesting a bit too much.