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.)

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.

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.

Drake's ties to the gay porn videos and escort services

Jason Robert Drake has been named the shooter by police in the Florida murder/suicide of three Republican political operatives with ties to Patrick McHenry.

[Before you read on, never forget that victim Ralph Gonzalez has close ties to Ralph Reed and has been repeatedly connected with Jack Abramoff. Never forget that Patrick McHenry trained at the knees of Karl Rove. Now you may continue.]

Somewhere along the line the murder case has been abandoned by the traditional media. On crime and political blogs, several people (or one person using several names) have gone around posting rebuttals to initial reports tying Drake to the Pennsylvania porn-related murder trial of Harlow Cuadra and Joe Kerekes. Several people (or one person using several names) have posted here and at Scrutiny Hooligans that the Jason Drake they know had nothing to do with gay porn videos or an escort service in Virginia.

At first, I found it hard to take their comments seriously. For example, someone calling himself "dunkin' " wrote at Scrutiny Hooligans:

Jason never voted in his life. He had nothing to do with politics…EVER. He did not live or work in western North Carolina, or in any part of North Carolina, period.

Jason was a laborer working in the tile floor industry in the Orlando FL area.

These are facts, not speculation.

The problem with dunkin's comment is that Jason Drake's ex-wife has confirmed to me from an email (from her blog's web addy) that Jason Drake does have ties to Rutherford County.

Hi. I’ve been reading all the blogs, and I wanted to correct something you said. Jason was not born in NC. He was not from NC….he has family ties to the state, but not actually FROM there.

I emailed her back, asking for her to let me know if anything else is inaccurate. This was her reply:

Yes, I am in in fact his exwife. Let me look it over again, and I’ll let you know. Thank you.

I know he did a horrible thing, but I am just trying my hardest to make sure the facts that I am reading are correct. I feel like it’s the least I can do. Thanks again.

She hasn't gotten back to me or confirmed any ties to the Pennsylvania murder or an escort service or the gay porn industry.

However, McHenry's office has confirmed the tie to Drake to Howie Klein, so unless Klein is a blatant liar, dunkin is looking an awful lot like someone who has some reason to comment other than a deep concern for accuracy.

And if Drake's tie to McHenry is nonpolitical and only personal, then why would McHenry's office know all about it?

Because of this apparent disinformation campaign (on both sides of the porn tie to this story) I decided to post the research a Crimblog writer appears to have done on Drake, Cuadra, and Gonzalez potential ties. If this information is accurate, it doesn't prove anything but it certainly appears to add a feather more of weight to the potential truth of the gay porn connection.

From Crimeblog:

Someone named Harlow R. Cuadra lived in Florida until at least 2002, about 90-100 miles from Orlando. The Harlow Cuadra who lived in Florida was born in the same month and year as the man in jail in Pennsylvania for the murder of Bryan Kocis. Several Florida addresses from the first 5 years of this decade for a Jason R. Drake put him as close as 25 miles from street addresses for Harlow Cuadra.

For what it’s worth, there were also Florida addresses in the same area as Harlow Cuadra for a Joe Kerekes whose age was the same as the Kerekes jailed in Pennsylvania.

Also for what it’s worth — one Jason R. Drake address put him in Oviedo, the same hometown as congressman Tom Feeney, a Strategum Group/Ralph Gonzalez client.

Either someone is busy on a disinformation campaign tying Drake to the Pennsylvania murders (and the gay porn world) or someone is busy falsely denying the connection. Who gains from this disinformation campaign? I don't know.

This is what I do know:

1. McHenry is a known ally of high level murdered Republican dirty tricks consultant Ralph Gonzalez and of his alleged shooter Jason Robert Drake.


2. Something is hinky about the police investigation. (Perhaps it’s just the way they talk* about it but it just doesn’t seem authentic.)


3. The traditional media’s response to this is totally suspicious and inexplicable. Google and see for yourself. (Imagine them ignoring the murder of two prominent young gay Democratic operatives. You can’t do it.)


4. A disinformation campaign of some kind has begun particularly concerning Jason Drake, whether it’s the initial reports that were false or the subsequent rebuttals, I can’t say at this point. I’m doubting the responses but I don’t have any primary sources on the initial reports.


5. We know from experience that no media outlets in the 10th Congressional District will cover, much less research this story.

Until enough trained professional investigators take on this case, I am going to do what I can to keep it alive. Once more experienced researchers with better resources take this on, I’ll pass on everything they report and do my best to assist them.

*Addendum about police comments from my post yesterday:

They originally said August 23 that the murder/suicide was the result of a lover's triangle. On August 27 they're saying

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.

McHenry admits ties to Drake, Drake's tie to porn murder called a ruse

The story of the Florida double murder and suicide of three Republican activists with ties to McHenry gets stranger and stranger every day. We were the first to report off-the-record sources tying McHenry to victim and dirty-tricks operative Ralph Gonzalez.

We've reported that the North Carolina Conservative has tied McHenry to the shooter, Jason Robert Drake (who has ties to Rutherford County and was buried there.

But now, according to Howie Klein Down With Tyranny McHenry's staff is admitting the connection:

As we mentioned yesterday, Drake, a former marine, also is alleged to have a strong relationship-- both intimate and business/political-- with right-wing Congressman Patrick McHenry (R-NC). When I spoke to McHenry's office about this they at first insisted they never heard of Drake then, confronted with specifics, admitted they know him. They refused to put Congressman McHenry on the phone. There is every indication that McHenry may have been one of the Republican elected officials who was using the services of the gay prostitution agency connected to Drake. Our pals over at the BradBlog points out the connections between Florida's ultra-corrupt, vote-tampering congressman, Tom Feeney, and Gonzalez and reports the threat to expose the list of Republican elected officials who were using the gay escort service.

I have several sources connecting McHenry professionally with shooter Drake and with victim Gonzalez. This is the first on-the-record confirmation of a relationship of any kind. The escort service/gay porn connection has yet to be made on the record as far as I know.

Again, this story is so bizarre. I can't reiterate enough the oddity of the police comments. They originally said August 23 that the murder/suicide was the result of a lover's triangle. On August 27 they're saying

"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.

On another front, the source who repeatedly tied Jason Drake to the porn industry and escort service now says he made it all up. Or someone posted on my site using his name . . . Damon Kruezer, a blogger who covers the gay porn industry, has written repeatedly that Jason Drake was attempting to blackmail the murder victims Gonzalez for money to pay for the legal case of his supposed lover, Harlow Cuadra. Someone using his name (but blocking his profile) commented on my earlier post:

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

Sorry.

I have no idea if this is the actual Damon Kreuzer. I have seen several comments by him and others denouncing his story. I have heard off-the-record sources confirm that it is true. Howie Klein has the same information I do and continues to post that McHenry and Drake were lovers.

Even if it's the real Damon Kruezer who is denying his original story, the points he made on his website, and also at the Howie Klein's post at Down With Tyranny, (who had linked to my BlueNC post) are still valid:

The fact that prominent Republicans were liquidated in this manner should raise major warning signs . . . Yet, the mainstream media have consistently downplayed it and done no followup. You have to wonder why.

And let's not forget that, more importantly, Gonzalez, who was out to his friends, had ties to Ralph Reed when he took over the Georgia Republican Party and used unethical tactics to beat Senator Max Cleland. He was also the campaign chair for the ethically-challenged Tom Feeney's  congressional campaign as well as his state rep campaign after which Feeney became house speaker and got involved in a  software-buying scandal involving Yang Enterprise.   Feeney is best known for his vote-rigging scheme (which has ties to an unexplained death of a Florida state investigator in Valdosta GA), Jack Abramoff, and a variety of unethical smear tactics against Democratic candidates.

Meanwhile, others are still looking for the tie between Drake and the Pennsylvania porn murder trial. I have other sources who say McHenry has ties to organized homosexual predatory behavior. Nothing on this particular gay escort service out of Norfolk/Virginia Beach.

So far.

Traditional media ignores Gonzalez/Abrami/Drake murder suicide, much less its tie to prominent republicans

Several national blogs have picked up on Pat Go Bye Bye's Thursday report on the McHenry connection to a Florida murder/suicide involving three Republican political consultants with ties to gay porn, gay escort service, lists of Republican clients, dirty political tricks, as well as software manipulation of the Florida vote.

But where's the traditional press?

What isn't being discussed, however, is that the murder/suicide is not being treated respectfully by the local police or by the traditional media. Even if Jason Drake has no connection with the murder trial in Pennsylvania, he certainly has ties to Republican 

In one of the comment threads at Down With Tyranny, I noted this:

The fact that prominent Republicans with so many interesting connections were liquidated in this manner should raise major warning signs. This thing has black ops written all over it. Yet the mainstream media have consistently downplayed it and done no followup. You have to wonder why.

Many on the internet who claim to know about Drake's back story say Drake shot his friend and business partner Ralph Gonzalez over requests for money for the defense of his accused lover Harlow Cuadra. Cuadro has been charged with the murder of a fellow porn producer Bryan Kocis. He allegedly was in need of funds because the state of Virginia had recent seized his assets (because they were the results of illegal activity, a homosexual escort service out of Virginia Beach as well as the homosexual video porn). His probable cause hearing for the Pennsylvania murder is ongoing.

There's also lots of chatter about Drake having Cuadro's list of the escort service's Republican clients of the escort service.

Where's the traditional media? Kruezer's site (which covers the porn industry) gets three million hits a month (with interviews and no nudity) so he's clearly being read by somebody. You can't tell me that reporters and editors all up and down the east coast don't know all about this stuff.

Why aren't they reporting on how odd the police have been acting?First, they say the murder/suicide is a lover's triangle gone bad. Then they say that they have so much conflicting information they might never figure out what was the motivation. Both conclusions are ridiculously premature and unprofessional. Why doesn''t the media talk about that, at the very least?

Of course, we here at Pat Go Bye Bye are more interested in McHenry's ties to all this. Ralph Gonzalez consulted for McHenry, has done dirty tricks for Rep. Tom Feeney when he ran for state house and also when he ran for Congress. He helped defeat Max Cleland with more dirty tricks. Jason Drake is tied to Rutherford County and was reported to work for McHenry on local races of interest to the McHenry gang. What other ties did these dirty tricksters and sexually active homosexuals have to McHenry? Perhaps the traditional media could start by giving Aaron Latham a call and asking for an on-the-record response.

Here's more from Damon Kruezer:

DAMON's TAKE: Something is rotten in Denmark. I don't buy the story so far. An investigation is what's needed, by neutral parties and without diversions and distractions. In the KRUEZER VIEW, Gonzalez and Abrami were not murdered as a result of some emotional extremes, but were deliberately executed as a result of a pre-arranged plan using Drake as the apparent triggerman, quite possibly not realizing he was to die too until his "suicide" could not be stopped.

The fact that prominent Republicans with so many interesting connections were liquidated in this manner should raise major warning signs. This thing has black ops written all over it. Yet the mainstream media have consistently downplayed it and done no followup. You have to wonder why.

If this was a gay Democratic consultant and his housemate being murdered by a possibly gay ex Marine who may have worked for Harlow Cuadra and Joe Kerekes, you know the media would be all over this. We'll be watching this situation closely as the official Florida investigation proceeds.

More from Kruezer:

About the triple murder involving a former Marine named "Drake" and the Republican bigwig . . . I suggest that we should not forget the Feeney angle. He was implicated in the 2004 vote rigging situation. Could it be that Gonzalez was getting ready to let it all come out?

From the Orange County sheriff comes word that ex-Marine Jason Robert Drake killed the 2 Republican consultants before turning the gun on himself. They claim to have discovered no motivation for the double murder/suicide and there's nothing that Drake left behind that might help.

The kingpin of this skein, Ralph Gonzalez was apparently gay, and early reports made tantalizing mention of a "love triangle," but now it’s subject to interpretation.

The other murder victim, David Abrami, a former political consultant, was Gonzalez’s "housemate" - a probable bisexual.

Several emails have come in claiming that the "Drake" involved performed in several Boybatter films in 2006. Hard to confirm given the current state of BBatter.

Ties Between Florida Murder/Suicide, McHenry

Buried in a terribly sad story over at the North Carolina Conservative are some interesting local tidbits.

Florida police are saying that Jason Robert Drake,* left, shot two republican political consultants, Ralph Gonzalez and David Abrami, and then himself last week. What they're not saying is why. After first calling it a lover's triangle, they're now saying:

Drake was found carrying a firearm and backpack full of ammunition. Deputies said in a short statement witnesses had mentioned "a number of potential motives."

NCC editor Judson Cox has done some digging and come up with a convoluted story that involves another murder in Pennsylvania, several video and still male-on-male porn sites, and a call-boy service in Virginia. Go read for yourself but I'd advise you not to follow the some of the links in the articles I link to unless you don't mind male nudity and more at your computer.

What caught my eye in the locally-oriented NCC article was the last paragraph and I'll quote it here:

Sources tell The North Carolina Conservative that Drake volunteered on several Republican campaigns in western North Carolina, and was an associate of Congressman Patrick McHenry. Gonzalez is also believed to have been associated with McHenry in the past. Since being elected, McHenry has attempted to insure that all elected officials in his district are his supporters and cronies. This has caused a very nasty political war of attrition in the 10th District. Sources say that Drake worked on these campaigns as a surrogate of McHenry.

Pat Go Bye Bye readers will recall that I wrote of the McHenry connection last Friday. I have two off-the-record sources tying Gonzales to McHenry (and one wacky dude.) At the time I didn't have the information that Drake had ties to Rutherford County. (I've since read where he was coming there to be buried but can no longer find the link.)

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.

Drake's history is less obtainable on the internet unless you follow blogs to porn sites which I do not have any interest in doing. Since he's from Rutherford County it's not hard to believe NCC's story that he worked on local campaigns.

All of this will give you some taste of what we're dealing with here. Even if the call boy Republican client list/gay porn movie actor/homosexual lovers triangles stories turn out to be completely fallacious, we're steal dealing with some ugly customers. And they're friends of Pat McHenry's.

Now, we know why, even though he's never bought or sold property (except for twice when he used a power of attorney), McHenry still perpetuates the myth that he's a real estate small businessman. He really really doesn't want anyone to know what he's been doing all these years. He wouldn't have won the primary if people knew. And he wouldn't get reelected.

[One thing adding to the confusion: The police call him Robert Jason Drake, his ex-wife calls him Jason Robert Drake. I went with the woman.]

NOTE: This text has some slight changes from the original due to new information. See comment numbers 3 & 4. -DQ