Good news (perhaps) regarding our previous story on Diebold's refusal to allow the voters of Alaska to look at their own voting data since the Electronic Voting Machine vendor claimed the file format of their GEMS tabulation software was a "company secret" in their contract with the state.

But now, according to a letter from Alaska's Election Officials, published at BlackBoxVoting.org from Alaska's election authorities, "Diebold has agreed to waive its proprietary rights to the GEMS database files."

That apparent capitulation by the Voting Machine Company may set a precedent with wider implications for other states and counties seeking access to such data and other forms of transparency in public elections. See the BBV link above for more thoughts on some of the possibilities.

That said, there is still reason to be cautious about this news for a number of reasons. Note the following --- almost incredible wording --- from the published letter [emphasis ours]...

In the September 2005 issue of Vanity Fair, a lengthy feature article on former FBI translator Sibel Edmonds discussed a number of claims that Edmonds has by and large been disallowed from expressing publicly.

Her attempts at whistleblowing on the malfeasance and cover-ups she alleges to have witnessed during her time at the bureau in late 2001 and early 2002 --- during which she translated covert wiretaps recorded prior to 9/11 --- have been silenced by the U.S. government. An arcane "states-secret privilege" has been applied to her which effectively "gag orders" her from discussing her claims including allegations which the Dept. of Justice's own Inspector General found to be "credible" and "serious" and "warrant[ing] a thorough and careful review by the FBI," according to a declassified version of their investigation into her claims.

One of the allegations discussed by reporter David Rose in the VF article concerned FBI intercepts out of Chicago that Edmonds claims to have listened to. Reportedly, those intercepts suggest that U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL), may have been bribed by a large number of small "donations" emanating from shadowy Turkish interest groups. Such donations, $199 and smaller, are not required to be itemized in public filings according to Federal Election Commission rules.

Rose's article reports that Hastert's campaign received nearly $500,000 in such "un-itemized contributions" between 1996 and 2000. By contrast, Tom DeLay (R-TX), one of the House's best fundraisers, received just under $100,000 in such contributions. Only one other congressman, Clay Shaw (R-FL), received more in such contributions than Hastert, bringing in just over $550,000, during that same period.

In late 2000, Hastert announced he would support a resolution in the House declaring the killings of Armenians in Turkey from 1915 to 1923 to have been a "genocide". Armenians have long been pushing for such a resolution in Congress to little avail until Hastert's sudden interest in the effort. The Turkish government has long opposed such a resolution.

The VF article claims the reported content of one of the Chicago wiretaps is of "a senior official at the Turkish Consulate" claiming that "the price for Hastert to withdraw the resolution would have been at least $500,000." After Hastert was able to see the resolution through the House International Relations Committee, he withdrew it just minutes before the full House was to have voted on it, citing a plea from President Bill Clinton who is said to have warned the measure would harm U.S. interests.

The February issue of Vanity Fair finally offers a rebuttal of sorts from Hastert's counsel, Randy Evans, in the form of a letter to the editor. That letter, as printed in VF, is posted below, followed by Edmonds rebuttal which she submitted to us over the weekend for publication by The BRAD BLOG...

Edmonds' reply to Evans' letter, in which she calls on Hastert to fully disclose his un-itemized contributions and explain apparent contradictions in his claims about his relationship with Turkish interest groups follows...

Guest blogged by David Edwards

London's highly respected Channel 4 provides a balanced summary of the issues surrounding the Domestic Spying Hearing which were held in the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday.

The report notes the similarities between hearings in 1975 about Nixon's abuse of wiretapping.

Most most U.S. media outlets spin the Domestic Spying scandal as a winning issue for the Bush team. In contrast, the Channel 4 reporter explains that American people are very concerned with privacy abuses. This scandal has Bush and his Congressional supporters in a very difficult position.

Video in Streaming Flash format...
Video in Windows Media format...

Guest blogged by David Edwards

Yesterday, Oprah choked up while speaking at a memorial service for Coretta Scott King.

The funeral is scheduled for noon today.

Video in Streaming Flash format...
Video in Windows Media format...

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org and VoteTrustUSA.Org

USAToday and AP report that election officials fear the 'year of the glitch'. However, when a 'glitch' is defined it has nothing to do with machine failures. Apparently they are going to stick by the misinformation from the vendors about the reliability of voting technology and they are preparing to blame all errors on elections workers and the voter. I wonder who was responsible for Diebold TSx counting more votes than voters who cast votes in Montgomery Co., OH or in Alaska?...

Have been watching the Senate Judiciary Committee Hearings on warrantless domestic NSA wire-tapping all morning (since 6:30am PT!)

All of the Cable News Channels are ignoring them for the most part. You can watch them on C-SPAN and via their website.

Feel free to use this thread to post your thoughts on the hearings. Mine: Alberto Gonzales should be investigated.

UPDATE: C-SPAN will rerun the hearings in full beginning at 8pm ET. Crooks & Liars has the opening salvo where the Republicans fought to keep Gonzales from testifying under oath (and they won). Scroll further down his page for some other high/lowlights from the hearings. Though the best parts came late in the day. Hopefully he'll have some up later. Or perhaps we will.

Diebold Inc., one of America's largest voting machine companies, likes to claim that there's never been any substantial problem with their touch-screen machines in any election in America.

You may not be surprised to hear that claim is patently untrue.

As reported in yesterday's Middletown Journal, a special "re-vote" will be held tomorrow in Montgomery county, OH on an issue where last November's election results were set aside due to more votes being cast on Diebold's AccuVote TSX touch-screen voting machines than there were actually registered voters who voted!

Montgomery County is one of 41 counties in Ohio to have added new Diebold AccuVote TSX touch-screen (DRE) voting machines for last November's election.

In that election, remarkable and virtually inexplicable results occurred across the state in regard to four Election Reform initiatives on the ballot, all of which were predicted to pass by large margins in a historically accurate poll released just prior to Election Day. We wrote about the "staggeringly impossible" results of that election back in November. Those results have still not been explained, despite 44 of 88 counties in the Buckeye State using all-new touch-screen voting machines for the first time in that election.

Guest Blogged by John Gideon, of VotersUnite and VoteTrustUSA

The "DVN Top 5" is a feature in the weekly voting newsletter of VoteTrustUSA. The January 30 edition can be found here. The selection of what will be the "Top 5" for each week and where it goes on the list is all mine. The fact that you may disagree with my choices is great because it shows that you have been reading the DVN articles that I've posted throughout the week here on The BRAD BLOG!...

Velvet Revolution's ImpeachMobile has so far received nothing but thumbs-ups and high-signs from those who've seen it! (With the exception of a few cops who have pulled it over to make sure all papers were in order. They are.)

That may change this week, as the intrepid Velvet Revolutionary drivers take the rolling billboard into a few less-friendly settings. We'll see!

In the meantime, we still (The BRAD BLOG is a co-founder of VR) welcome and appreciate your contributions to the effort. They help to fill up the gas tank, as well as to pay for future billboards. Perhaps we'll not be so subtle next time with our message

Yes, that's right. The War on Iraq is now costing the United States $100,000 of your tax dollars per minute:

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