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Corporations 'Taking a Bazooka' to NLRB, Hoping to Declare it 'Unconstitutional': 'BradCast' 3/18/24
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Schumer Steps Up; Trump Associates Paid Biden 'Bribe' Liar $600k: 'BradCast' 3/14/24
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'Green News Report' 3/14/24
FL bans heat protections for workers; Methane leaks continue; GOP Project 2025 would ban Paris Agreement; PLUS: CA snowpack is back, but too late for salmon...
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Guest: Brady Center's Kelly Sampson; Also: Biden, Trump clinch; GA judge nixes 6 counts...
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Press quietly resets weeks of misreporting on Biden; Suggestions for NYT; Stephanopoulos v. Mace; Also: Buck quits; RNC 'bloodbath'; WI's MAGA Speaker Recall...
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GOP Voter Registration Fraud Scandal 2012...
VA GOP VOTER REG FRAUDSTER OFF HOOK
Felony charges dropped against VA Republican caught trashing voter registrations before last year's election. Did GOP AG, Prosecutor conflicts of interest play role?...

Criminal GOP Voter Registration Fraud Probe Expanding in VA
State investigators widening criminal probe of man arrested destroying registration forms, said now looking at violations of law by Nathan Sproul's RNC-hired firm...

DOJ PROBE SOUGHT AFTER VA ARREST
Arrest of RNC/Sproul man caught destroying registration forms brings official calls for wider criminal probe from compromised VA AG Cuccinelli and U.S. AG Holder...

Arrest in VA: GOP Voter Reg Scandal Widens
'RNC official' charged on 13 counts, for allegely trashing voter registration forms in a dumpster, worked for Romney consultant, 'fired' GOP operative Nathan Sproul...

ALL TOGETHER: ROVE, SPROUL, KOCHS, RNC
His Super-PAC, his voter registration (fraud) firm & their 'Americans for Prosperity' are all based out of same top RNC legal office in Virginia...

LATimes: RNC's 'Fired' Sproul Working for Repubs in 'as Many as 30 States'
So much for the RNC's 'zero tolerance' policy, as discredited Republican registration fraud operative still hiring for dozens of GOP 'Get Out The Vote' campaigns...

'Fired' Sproul Group 'Cloned', Still Working for Republicans in At Least 10 States
The other companies of Romney's GOP operative Nathan Sproul, at center of Voter Registration Fraud Scandal, still at it; Congressional Dems seek answers...

FINALLY: FOX ON GOP REG FRAUD SCANDAL
The belated and begrudging coverage by Fox' Eric Shawn includes two different video reports featuring an interview with The BRAD BLOG's Brad Friedman...

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CRIMINAL PROBE LAUNCHED INTO GOP VOTER REGISTRATION FRAUD SCANDAL IN FL
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CRIMINAL ELECTION FRAUD COMPLAINT FILED AGAINST GOP 'FRAUD' FIRM
Scandal spreads to 11 FL counties, other states; RNC, Romney try to contain damage, split from GOP operative...

RICK SCOTT GETS ROLLED IN GOP REGISTRATION FRAUD SCANDAL
Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL) sends blistering letter to Gov. Rick Scott (R) demanding bi-partisan reg fraud probe in FL; Slams 'shocking and hypocritical' silence, lack of action...

VIDEO: Brad Breaks GOP Reg Fraud Scandal on Hartmann TV
Breaking coverage as the RNC fires their Romney-tied voter registration firm, Strategic Allied Consulting...

RNC FIRES NATIONAL VOTER REGISTRATION FIRM FOR FRAUD
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EXCLUSIVE: Intvw w/ FL Official Who First Discovered GOP Reg Fraud
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GOP REGISTRATION FRAUD FOUND IN FL
State GOP fires Romney-tied registration firm after fraudulent forms found in Palm Beach; Firm hired 'at request of RNC' in FL, NC, VA, NV & CO...
The Secret Koch Brothers Tapes...

Congressman Kucinich Takes Hours to Read ALL Articles in Full on the Floor of the U.S. House of Representatives
UPDATED With Video of Articles 28 & 29 on 'Tampering with Elections' and 'Violations of Voting Rights Act'...
By Brad Friedman on 6/9/2008 6:06pm PT  

Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) is currently reading all 35 Articles of Impeachment, against George W. Bush, on the floor of the House of Representatives.

I'm on the radio for the moment, so see RAW STORY for details. I may have more soon.

UPDATE: Now back home, and watching Kucinich myself on C-SPAN. He's been reading for hours, and may have hours ahead still. As mentioned on the air, I was consulted for these Articles of Impeachment and submitted a number of suggestions and material concerning impeachable offenses related to election tampering by George W. Bush and his agents. Don't know whether those articles are still in the final version. We shall see. But I wanted to be sure to disclose that.

No doubt we'll be talking about this tomorrow on the PBC Show (which I'm Guest Hosting all week). We're trying to get Kucinich for tomorrow's show...if he still has any voice left.

FURTHER UPDATE: Looks like the election-related Articles of Impeachment made it into the final version, including a mention of GOP "voter fraud" sheister Mark F. "Thor" Hearne of front-group American Center for Voting Rights (ACVR). Nice to see Hearne get the recognition on the floor of the U.S. Congress that he so richly deserves.

STILL MORE: Reuters coverage notes Kucinich "defied his party leadership" in filing. AP incorrectly writes:

Kucinich introduced a resolution last year to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney. That resolution was killed, but only after Republicans initially voted in favor of taking up the measure to force a debate.

In fact, his Articles of Impeachment against Dick Cheney were not "killed," they were sent to the House Judiciary Committee, where they remain without action having been taken on them by the Dem leadership, despite best efforts by folks like Rep. Robert Wexler (D-FL), and others.

AND STILL MORE (from Alan):

Article 28 - Tampering with Free and Fair Elections (7:20)


Article 29 - Violation of the Voting Rights Act of 1965
Part 1 (8:54), Part 2 (9:39)



POST-ADJOURNMENT UPDATE: Just prior to midnight ET, Kucinich finally finished reading the list of High Crimes and Misdemeanors. Equal Justice Society writes:

"We've waited seven years to find one Member of Congress brave enough to stand up for our Constitution, for which generations of Americans have fought and died," said Bob Fertik, President of Democrats.com. "We are thrilled and honored that Dennis Kucinich has chosen to be that one genuine patriot. We congratulate him on his historic leadership, and pledge to do everything in our power to persuade Congress to adopt all 35 Articles and put George W. Bush on trial before the Senate of the United States, exactly as the Founding Fathers wanted."

"Some might question why Congressman Kucinich has done this now," continued Fertik. "My question is why 434 other Congress Members have not done it before. Despite the uncountable and unspeakable crimes this administration has committed, George Bush and Dick Cheney remain in power and immune from prosecution. Congress must impeach Bush and Cheney now - before they further abuse their power by pardoning for all of their crimes."
...
Email or call (202-224-3121) your Member of Congress to support Rep. Kucinich's Articles of Impeachment. And sign the petition at Democrats.com.

FINAL UPDATE: The entire resolution has been posted here, in both HTML and PDF format.




By Brad Friedman on 6/9/2008 12:28pm PT  

Scott McClellan has previously said he'd be "happy" to testify before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee. Looks like he's about to get his chance. On June 20th. Unlike Karl Rove, who said he'd similarly be happy to tell his story (on the Siegelman affair) to Congress, we suspect McClellan will actually keep his word.

This just in from Conyers' office...

For Immediate Release: June 9, 2008

Conyers Invites McClellan to Testify June 20th

(Washington, DC)- Today, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) invited former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan to testify before the Committee at a June 20th hearing about reported efforts to cover up the role of the White House in the Valerie Plame leak as described in his recent book, What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception.

I have extended an invitation to Mr. McClellan to testify before the Judiciary Committee after discussions between Committee staff and his attorneys, said Conyers. In his book, Mr. McClellan suggests that senior WhiteHouse officials may have obstructed justice and engaged in a cover-up regarding the Valerie Plame leak. This alleged activity could well extend beyond the scope of the offenses for which Scooter Libby has been convicted and deserves further attention. A copy of Chairman Conyers' letter is attached.

##110-JUD-060908##

The letter referred to above is just a single paragraph invitation, and largely restates the above.

UPDATE: McClellan accepts invitation. Public Record has details...




With Guests: David Sirota, Taylor Marsh, Larry Johnson, John Gideon, & More!
By Brad Friedman on 6/9/2008 8:05am PT  

I'll be Guest Hosting the syndicated Peter B. Collins Show every day this week, except for Wednesday, while the good PBC enjoys some down time (in Ohio of all places!)

We'll be BradCasting live from the studios of KTLK AM1150 in Los Angeles from 3p - 6p PT (6p - 9p ET). Please tune in, call in, stream in, blog in...whatever ya got!

My guests for today (Monday) include...

  • DAVID SIROTA: Columnist, investigative journalist, and author of The Uprising: An Unauthorized Tour of the Populist Revolt Scaring Wall Street and Washington will join me in-studio. He survived Colbert (twice), so this should be easy for him. We may even give away a signed copy of the new book!

  • TAYLOR MARSH: The blogger, radio host, and Hillary Clinton supporter will check in to discuss why (and if) she'll now be supporting Barrack Obama following the NY Senator's weekend announcement that she's "suspending" her campaign.
  • LARRY JOHNSON: We'll talk with the former CIA analyst, Hillary Clinton supporter, and classmate of Valerie Plame Wilson about why he's not likely to be supporting Obama.
  • MICHAEL OSTROLENK: A conservative who opposes attacking Iran, supporting the transpartisan coalition calling for a new diplomatic effort via tomorrow's "National Call-In Day". Ostrolenk works with the American Conservative Defense Alliance and the Liberty Coalition in support of true conservative values. We'll find out what they are and who still has them!
  • Plus Daily Voting News with JOHN GIDEON, a Green News Report from DESI DOYEN, YOUR calls, and much more!

Listen live on air, or via the Internets, and call in with your questions at 888-5-PeterB (888-573-8372)! Or post your questions here in this Open Show Thread and I'll try to keep my eye on 'em while on air!


POST-SHOW UPDATE: Audio archives from today's show. Commercials removed courtesy of PBC affiliate, San Francisco's Green 960am!

HOUR 1: David Sirota (and tons of technical snafu fun!) Download MP3 or listen online...

HOUR 2: Taylor Marsh and Larry Johnson. Download MP3 or listen online...

HOUR 3: Green News Report w/ Desi Doyen, Daily Voting News w/ John Gideon, Michael Ostrolenk on conservative attempts at diplomacy in Iran and David Swanson on the BREAKING news that Kucinich has taken to the floor of the U.S. House to read 35 Articles of Impeachment against George W. Bush. Download MP3 or listen online...




By Brad Friedman on 6/8/2008 11:22am PT  

The hunter becomes the hunted as Bill Moyers --- and then a bunch of other actual reporters --- turn the tables on Bill O'Reilly's henchman/ambush "journalist", Porter Barry, at this weekend's National Conference for Media Reform in Minneapolis (courtesy of Josh Nelson at The Seminal)...





By Brad Friedman on 6/7/2008 3:18pm PT  


Jim McKay 1922 - 2008

AP coverage
ABC's video retrospective




Cook Political Report Flips Ratings for 10 House Races at Once in Direction of Dems...
By Brad Friedman on 6/6/2008 12:12pm PT  

From Eric Kleefeld at TPM...

Bloodbath Alert: GOP Losing Its Grip On Multiple House Seats

This is really something. We already knew that House Dems are expected to rack up major victories this fall, but this latest development is really eye-opening.

The Cook Political Report, whose ratings of Congressional races are well-respected by political pros, has just changed its ratings on ten House races --- and has changed them all in favor of the Dems.

It's very rare that Cook flips so many ratings at once --- much less flipping them all in favor of the same political party.
...
According to Cook's ratings, Republicans now occupy 21 out of 27 seats in the Toss-Up category, painting a very stark picture of GOP vulnerability.

What could possibly go wrong?




The Entire Brad Friedman Exposé, as Published, In-Full for the First Time, in Hustler Magazine...
By Brad Friedman on 6/6/2008 10:24am PT  

While the conspiracy theorists at Fox "News" ramp up their "special investigation" into the exceedingly rare crime of voter fraud, misleading their viewers before the upcoming election with breathless reports of "illegal immigrants" and "people who are not even citizens voting for whomever they want" in order to "sway an election," I thought it might be useful to publish the complete cover-story, detailing Ann Coulter's no-uncertain-terms felony voter fraud, as it was published in the recent exposé I wrote for Hustler magazine.

Up until now, the story --- along with complete documentation, such as the voter registration form on which she purposely lied and the evidence proving she knowingly voted in the wrong location --- has been told piece-meal in smaller stories as the scandal unfolded over the last two years (all indexed in full here.)

But, with Fox "News" requesting tips via their special VoterFraud@foxnews.com address, I thought it might be nice to help them out by publishing, for the first time online, the entire story of Coulter's purposeful voter fraud: What she did, how she publicly used Fox and other media to lie about it, and how she's gotten away with her several felonies and at least one misdemeanor...so far.

Hopefully the crime fighters at Fox will help enforce the rule of law, and bring this documented fugitive to justice once and for all! Especially since, as you'll see in the following story, she used the network's own airwaves to lie to Alan Colmes and others. Please do your civic duty and let them know!

Download the PDF version, as published in the magazine, or read the full story, with helpful links added, online below...

--- Click here for REST OF STORY!... ---




By Brad Friedman on 6/5/2008 10:34am PT  

From the St. Petersburg Times...

Two pieces of malicious software detected Thursday have been removed from Pinellas County's voting tabulation system.

The two bugs, known as Flush.G and W32.SillyDC, work in tandem and go from computer to computer redirecting Internet browsers to sites the user hasn't selected, officials said. The worm is carried through removable media like USB drives, is easily detected and, officials say, rather harmless.

Pinellas Deputy Supervisor of Elections Rick Becker said the worm isn't the kind of Trojan horse that would be used to corrupt a computer voting system and was unsure just where it came from.

And yet, we're often told by voting machine companies that viruses can't get into these systems. Then there are the election officials who have bought into these systems, yet know nothing about them, who respond to the public and the media as if they do, regularly making ridiculous claims that such problems can't happen because "at no time are our systems connected to the Internet."

Whether they are or aren't, it's an absurd response. Malicious software can get into the system any number of ways, via non-Internet networking, USB thumb drives, etc. It can then undedectably affect an election without detection.

In the Summer of 2006, after my organization, VelvetRevolution.us, was given a Diebold touch-screen system from an insider source, we loaned it to Prinecton for testing and they were able to insert a vote-flipping virus via the memory card which could pass itself from machine to machine and flip an entire election without detection.

And, of course, on the first day of Early Voting in the now-infamous FL-13 Congressional race in 2006 where 18,000 votes mysteriously and still-inexplicably disappeared, a malicious viral worm took down a key part of the network infrastructure on which the registration system ran, grinding voting to a halt that day.

Similarly, exclusively reported thereafter, the scientists who studied the ES&S voting machines used in that FL-13 election discovered that the ES&S touchscreen systems --- used in some 16 different states --- were also vulnerable to the same type of virus that Prinecton was able to insert into the Diebold machines. To this day, despite being told about it by the scientists who discovered the problem, the U.S. Elections Assistance Commission (EAC) refuses to warn jurisdictions that use the same machine model about its vulnerability, even though it was described as potentially even more serious than the one discovered in the Diebold systems.

Other than that, everything's fine. Nothing to see here. Move along, folks.




4 Out of 12 Ballot Selections Printed Out Incorrectly, Myriad Other Laws Violated
ES&S InkaVOTE Plus System Fails Miserably, Mars What Should Have Been a Simple Voting Experience During L.A. County's Very Low Turnout State Primary Election...
By Brad Friedman on 6/4/2008 8:04pm PT  

-- Brad Friedman, The BRAD BLOG

As a fairly well-known Election Integrity journalist who has personally covered, for years, the myriad election woes of thousands (if not millions) of voters around the country who have tried to bring seemingly endless stories of votes flipped on e-voting systems to the attention of officials, these stories always continue to be remarkable to me, even if not to many others in the rest of the mainstream media.

It's even more troubling when one realizes that so little ever seems to be done in light of so many of these horror stories, as those very same failed systems are still deployed across the nation, with little or no modification to correct the mountains of documented problems even now, as we head towards an election likely to be of historic proportions this November.

What follows is yet another one of those stories, where a voter had vote selections flipped by the electronic voting system, such that candidates were chosen other than the ones intended to be selected by the voter, though no fault of his own.

But this time, the voter is me.

Though I've covered so many of these stories, it was nonetheless remarkable to see it happen before ones very eyes, as occurred yesterday when I voted here in Los Angeles during our very low turnout California state Primary election.

The ES&S electronic voting system that I used to try to vote on yesterday, ended up flipping a total of 4 out of the 12 contests and initiatives for which I had attempted to vote.

Right before my very eyes, the computer-printed ballot produced by the voting system I was using, incorrectly filled in bubbles for four of the races I was voting in. Had I not been incredibly careful, after the ballot was printed out, to painstakingly compare what was printed to what I actually voted for, I'd have never known my votes were being given to candidates I did not vote for.

Had I been a blind voter --- as the system I was using is largely intended for use by the disabled --- I would have cast my ballot without having a clue that a full 40% of the votes I'd tried to cast for various California Superior Court judges were flipped to other candidates...

--- Click here for REST OF STORY!... ---




By Brad Friedman on 6/4/2008 2:06pm PT  

Yes, four different selections, on my very own ballot, were flipped before my very eyes when I went to vote in yesterday's California state Primary Election.

One might think that someone might have been smart enough to make damned sure, at the very least, that the equipment where that widely-known Election Integrity muckraking journalist jerk, Brad Friedman of The BRAD BLOG goes to vote, would have been thoroughly tested and working as it was supposed to. One might think that. But if so, one would be wrong.

Full story soon...

UPDATE: Full story now posted here...




By Brad Friedman on 6/3/2008 6:50pm PT  

There was a very low-turnout state Primary Election in New Mexico today. And yet, it brought more November tea leaves....

Computer problems affected ballot verification procedures in some counties across the state earlier Tuesday.

The Secretary of State's office started getting calls around noon from smaller counties saying their computer connection to Santa Fe wasn't working. By 1 p.m., no county in the state was connected to the system that allows counties to access voter registrations and also report results.
...
Cibola County also experienced some computer problems. Election officials there said they only had one computer to verify where people should go to vote, as all other computers crashed.

Last we had checked (and no time to re-check for the moment), ES&S ran the voter registration system in NM. During the state's Democratic Caucus last February, thousands of voters were reportedly dumped from the newly-privatized voting rolls. If you live in New Mexico, or anywhere else, please check your voter registration status soon!

See the full article for details on today's failures in other counties across the state.




Do-it-Yourself Election Results...
By Brad Friedman on 6/3/2008 12:31pm PT  

How easy is it to enter any election results you want into the Diebold central tabulator? When you use Diebold's "Manual Override" option, it's exactly this easy...


The video above was shot on the night of the recent Primary at the election headquarters in Florida's Sarasota County, home of the infamous 2006 13th Congressional District where 18,000 votes disappeared on ES&S iVotronic touch-screens in an election decided by a 369 vote margin. The county now uses Diebold's paper-based optical-scan system, which failed to work as it was supposed to on Election Night. So, as seen in the above, the county election staff used Diebold's "Manual Override" to enter voting results into the tabulator with none of the party observers or board of election commissioners bothering to watch.

Kudos to one of Florida's Election Integrity citizen activist/video heroes, Jeannie Dean, for shooting and compiling the above.

Please note her advice tips, at the end of the video, instructing how you can similarly help out big time this November!




By Brad Friedman on 6/2/2008 9:00pm PT  

O'Reilly uses every bully-boy, tough-guy, strong-arm tactic in his thuggish satchel. McClellan didn't blink. To his credit, he's standing by his book. All. of. it. In fact, the deer-in-the-headlights glaze he had for years at the WH press podium seems now to be entirely gone. We're impressed.

Here's O'Reilly's complete, three-segment, testosterone-amped, failed attempt to take down McClellan on tonight's O'Reilly Factor...




BTW, some on the supposedly-Progressive side --- such as the folks at MoveOn and other friends of ours --- have condemned McClellan for not speaking up sooner and for "profiting from lying to the public" during his time at the White House. While we understand that general impulse, we think the knee-jerk reaction may be a mistake. McClellan himself said last Sunday on Meet The Press that he hopes others will step forward to do as he did. So do we.

He's taken a huge hit from "his own" side by coming out as he has in a rather extraordinary and unprecedented way. His realizations, late in coming or otherwise, seem to be quite legit, heartfelt and rather courageous. It seems to us we should be more interested in making those who might do the same feel safe to do so, rather than kick them from all sides. Just our .02.




By John Gideon on 6/2/2008 8:00pm PT  

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org

I’m back after a much needed rest and with a freezer re-stocked with fish. Today, in catch-up mode, I am running some of what I think are important items from the last week. In two cases these items come from VotersUnite.

One is a recount of public hearings here in Washington state with regards to an upgraded voting system to count the “Ranked Choice Voting” ballots in one county’s upcoming primary and general elections. We were very pleased with the openness and willingness of state and local election officials to work with us and listen to our concerns, and then to act on those concerns. I would also like to give a plug to a book review done by my associate, Ellen Theisen, for a book called “Cassandra, Chanting.” The book is an excellent piece of fiction and I recommend it to anyone who has any interest in elections and electronic ballots. The author is “Anonymous” but is part of the NIST team so his or her concerns should be all of our concerns. This fiction could easily be fact and we may never know it.

Also please note the call for help from Arizona. Activists there have a ton of data given to them by the courts but they need technical help wading through it.

NOTE FROM BRAD: We interrupt this DVN to note we're happy to have Big John back safely on dry land! Thought you all might enjoy you're once-yearly look at the man who makes it happen every day. Apparently his trip to Alaska wasn't just for the halibut this year. Though this year's champion catch came in at "about 121 lbs.," John tells us, making last year's King Salmon seem downright puny.

"The deckhand [in orange] is the one holding the bigger of the two fish which weighs nearly as much as he does," says Gideon the Giant. Mind you, John is, himself, about 7 foot 13 inches. Both literally, and figuratively...

...And now back to your regularly scheduled Daily Voting News...As usual, notable stories are all linked below...

--- Click here for REST OF STORY!... ---




New Job Seen as Payoff for 'Services Rendered'...
By Luke Ryland on 6/2/2008 11:45am PT  

Guest Blogged by Luke Ryland of Let Sibel Edmonds Speak...

So, former FBI translator Sibel Edmonds is again proven right. For more than a year Sibel has been predicting that Dennis Hastert will join a lobbying firm involved with Turkey, and now we learn that Hastert is joining Dickstein Shapiro.

In the "Representative Engagements" section of Dickstein's website, we learn that they represented "the government of Turkey in connection with the development and financing by private sponsors of the Baku-Ceyhan oil pipeline and TransCaspian gas pipeline spanning from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean."


Dennis Hastert, who is listed in Sibel's "Rogues Gallery," was referred to in FBI wiretaps as apparently accepting bribes from Turkish criminal elements associated with the Turkish government, as documented in Vanity Fair in 2005 and elsewhere.

The short clip at left is from Kill The Messenger, a documentary about Sibel's case, where they discuss some of Hastert's involvement as mentioned in Vanity Fair.

In researching the Vanity Fair article, as mentioned in the clip, journalist David Rose interviewed various congressional staffers and counter-intelligence officials who are familiar with the case. He reported that there were three separate types of bribes allegedly paid to Hastert:

  1. "(T)ens of thousands of dollars to be paid to Hastert’s campaign funds in small checks."
  2. "(T)ens of thousands of dollars in surreptitious payments in exchange for political favors and information."
  3. "(A)t least $500,000"

Hastert was lucky that there was literally zero follow-up in the mainstream media to these most serious charges. Hastert did not sue Vanity Fair for libel; instead, Hastert got his spokesman to send Vanity Fair a bizarre Letter to the Editor in response, 6 months later. The BRAD BLOG has the letter here, along with Sibel's effective debunking of Hastert's response.

The only action taken in response to the startling revelations in Vanity Fair was by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) which filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) asking them to investigate the "(T)ens of thousands of dollars to be paid to Hastert’s campaign funds in small checks"...

--- Click here for REST OF STORY!... ---




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Brad is an independent investigative
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VelvetRevolution.us co-founder,
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