BushCo judges protecting corrupt types like our Pat

Down With Tyranny has noted that BushCo has stacked the courts so effectively that his appointees are gutting the system that could have brought down future corruption.

From the Washington Post:

A little-noticed aspect of an appellate court decision could sharply limit investigations of members of Congress and hamper ongoing corruption probes, the Justice Department said this week in a motion seeking an emergency stay of the ruling.

The decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit was handed down in August in the case of Rep. William J. Jefferson (D-La.), but its effects complicate other investigations, including those stemming from the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal. Justice Department lawyers said in their motion that the appellate ruling represents an "unprecedented expansion" of the "speech or debate" clause of the Constitution, which was intended to protect legislators from intimidation under civil or criminal law. They said the decision calls into question the legality of investigative tools such as wiretapping, searches of home offices and voluntary interviews of congressional staffers.

All those methods have been employed by the department in ongoing investigations of current and former members of Congress, many of them over dealings with Abramoff.

So, Pat, during all your attacks on Dems over earmark transparency you were hiding your own Christmas tree earmark. Then we find out from our FEC files that during all your rants about Democrats wanting to hide the values of their homes, you were hiding two homes and illegally not reporting another land assets. And we know you love to scream and whine and moan about corruption and here the judges appointed by your man friend, George, are protecting you from future investigation and prosecution.

What about investigation and prosecution scares you the most, Pat? Your ties to Abramoff? Or your pandering for Blackwater? Or just for all the real estate "deals" you keep getting with your corrupt bidness buddies in your own district.

What else are you and your friends trying to hide? To answer that question I guess I should just check out your current rant. It seems that to get your talking point for the day, you just look in the mirror.

Here's a few 'graphs from Down with Tyranny

What do Jerry Lewis (R-CA), Tom Delay (R-TX), Ken Calvert (R-CA), Tom Feeney (R-FL), John Doolittle (R-CA), Denny Hastert (R-IL), Heather Wilson (R-NM), Gary Miller (R-CA), Patrick McHenry (R-NC), Virgil Goode (R-VA), Don Young (R-AK), Ted Stevens (R-AK) and a dozen other crooked Republican lawmakers have in common today? They're all celebrating an appellate court decision that the Justice Department says will sharply limit investigations into their criminal activities.

Bush's incompetent and overly partisan appointments to the courts have ruined the entire justice system of the United States and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia is now an outgrowth of the neo-nazi outfit known as the Federalist Society. They are making it impossible to prosecute the overt criminal activities of bribe-taking congressmen by abusing statutes "intended to protect legislators from intimidation under civil or criminal law."

The Federalist Society court has ruled the Justice Department can't use evidence against the crooked Republicans that was obtained through court-approved wiretaps, searches of home offices and voluntary interviews of congressional staffers. Of the 10 current members of the court, seven are rabid right wing fanatics appointed by Reagan, Bush, Sr and, mostly Bush, Jr, who allowed the Federalist Society to dictate each nominee, none of whom faced any serious opposition from a collaborationist Senate.

The entire Republican Culture of Corruption case and the hundreds of millions of dollars involved in the Abramoff/Delay scams will be dismissed if the decision stands. And who will overrule it? Scalia? Thomas? Roberts? Alito? Not likely. The decision makes it nearly impossible to investigate crooked congressmen.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Big Week for Pat Go Bye Bye!

Monday you learned that Pat might not live where he votes. Gee, that's what? The four cases of voter fraud he's been tied to. Either that or he's got an unreported asset and that begs the question, what is he hiding? How he acquired his Hickory condo or just the financing thereof?

Tuesday we posted and discussed McHenry's original financial disclosures from February, 2004. He has previously unreported ties to a local businessman and blogger. It reads like a trashy romance!

Wednesday was a break in things. No, it wasn't. This was the story. What IS with Republicans and their repressed sex drives?

Thursday it was all about dirty tricks and corruption. We had already learned on Friday that was Pat involved 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.

Drake has also been tied to accused murderer Harlow Cuadra, apparently works or runs an escort service or porn business out of Virginia Beach. It's all over the tubes that there exist lists of republican clients for a call-boy service and that Drake was threatening to expose them if Gonzalez didn't give him money to help pay for Cuadra's defense for a Pennsylvania murder.

The unconfirmed allegations make for interesting speculation. What we do know is that Ralph Gonzalez is tied to several scandals with loads of documentation and McHenry has buried his political past, white washing his ties to all kinds of nasty political operations. Wonder what we'll learn this coming week?

Stay tuned, folks.

McHenry's original financial disclosure

The documents below were filed by Pat McHenry in February 11, 2004 as a candidate. To see them I had to go to the Cannon House Office building on Capitol Hill, write my name, address, occupation and employer into the computer that, of course, could keep track of what I viewed.

They're not available with the campaign finance reports at opensecrets dot org. The House Clerk's office publishes them in a four-set book that you can request for free. I've been told you can request these documents in some way but the woman in charge of these requests, Janice Glosson, has not returned my phone calls.See below for update.

So, just in case my car gets run off the road some dark and foggy eve, I decided to post the documents right here for everyone to see.

One thing I noted immediately on Page 5. See where McHenry lists Tech5 Corporation and writes "Former Partner."

Well, that's very interesting because the president of Tech5 corporation is none other than the publisher of the Lincoln Tribune. Why should we care, you ask? Well, I'll give you a couple of examples of the kind of unbaised hard-ball reporting on McHenry that comes out of that Lincoln Tribune:

Audience member William Hal Schronce took McHenry to task on the amount of communications McHenry’s office sends out in the mail.

“This is a waste of my tax dollars,” said Schronce. “There are a lot of people who feel the way I do.”’

The audience vehemently disagreed with Schronce, with many of them telling McHenry they like getting mailings from the Congressman’s office. McHenry said it’s just one of the ways his office keeps in touch with his constituents.

Yeah, of course. Everyone loves getting a bunch of expensive pr crap from their Congressman. That's believable. And another:

Several times during the night, McHenry drew applause for his stance on the hot-button issue of the war in Iraq.

Resident Judy Gilbert asked McHenry why he voted against a house bill that called for U.S. soldiers to spend equal time between combat and home. McHenry’s answer was swift, decisive and garnered a thunderous round of applause from the audience.

Of course, there's no mention that Publisher Jason Saine was and is the President of Tech5, a company that McHenry was a partner in months before he ran for Congress.

Here's the Tech 5 Corporation archived website files. They mysteriously disappeared from the intertubes the same month McHenry ex-staffer Aaron Lay was indicted on voter fraud charges but it's still listed by the NC Secretary of State as an active corporation.

We need to know these business ties so we can know who is writing the stories (pr puff pieces) in these local newspapers. Why should they write about him as if they are being objective when clearly they are not?

Citizens have the right to these documents by law. If you don't like that they only available at the House Clerk's office, let your congressman know. Oops, your congressman wants it this way! I guess you're shit out of luck.

UPDATE: According to the Clerk's office's Janice Glosson, "the clerk has done everything required by law." They send the copies to every state. In North Carolina, it's the State Board of Elections. What they do with it is up to each individual state, Glosson told me. And as to being available to the public in the district, again, "the clerk has done everything required by law. As to having them posted on line. Again, "The clerk has done everything required by law." And as to people in the actual district wanting to view or have copies. "That's up tot he individual states. As to the young gentleman who told me I could get request copies or that they published a book of these available for free? "I'm not going to go there." So your government at work. At least she returned my phone call, eh?



Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

Pat Go Bye Bye joins investigative team

A non-partisan watchdog coalition has launched a website to facilitate investigations of Congressman Patrick McHenry. So, of course, we here at Pat Go Bye Bye joined up and can't wait to get started. It's just: indicted former staff and rooomie, allegations of procuring beer for underage drinkers and the amazing stories about his campaign chair . . . where to begin?

Patrick McHenry EXPOSED was founded just this month "to hold our elected officials responsible for their own actions." Imagine that concept if it took hold. Something like democracy might really happen.

If you know of corruption or any kind of illegal activity on the part of Congressman McHenry or any of his legislative or campaign staff from even as long ago as the 2004 primary season, feel free to contact Pat Go Bye Bye or the folks at Patrick McHenry EXPOSED. And we'll get this party started . . .