While the bulk of the mainstream media seems to be sitting on their hands, the Internet-only news organization RAW STORY is actually making calls, confirming info, and advancing the story as the very model of what investigative journalism used to look like in this country.
To that end, RAW STORY followed up today on an article published by The BRAD BLOG last week, in which we issued a point-by-point reply to the “full statement” of Yang Enterprises, Inc. (YEI) in regards to the explosive Clint Curtis charges we broke here two weeks ago.
Those charges concerned, amongst other things, the allegation that Rep. Tom Feeney (R-FL) asked Curtis to create “vote-rigging software” back in a 2000 meeting at YEI where Curtis worked at the time. Feeney was then their corporate attorney and registered lobbyist, as well as a Florida state legislator who would shortly thereafter become Speaker of the Florida Legislature.
In RAW STORY’s piece this morning, editor John Byrne was able to get a short reply from a YEI Vice-President concerning the evidence we posted refuting the companies claim that Hai Lin Nee (a/k/a Henry Nee) “has never been an employee of YEI.” Nee had plead guilty in October of this year to espionage charges concerning the shipment of Hellfire Anti-Tank Missiles parts to China, and was named by Curtis in his affidavit [PDF] as being an “illegal-alien” working for YEI and having added “wiretapping routines” to software that YEI was contracted to create for NASA and other companies.
In our reply to that, we published several “Weekly Time Reports” (received via Public Records Requests) submitted by YEI to the Florida Dept. of Transportation (FDOT). The time cards with YEI stationery were signed by Nee and indicated that he worked as a “Consultant” for the company as many as 60 hours a week on the “Electronic Document Management System” contract (EDMS) that YEI had with FDOT.
“He was never an employee,” Yang Vice President Lowell Weaver said by telephone Monday. “Henry Nee was not a consultant either.”
Weaver added that Yang had never paid Nee for any services. He declined to comment further and did not say that the timecards weren’t real, deferring comment to Yang’s attorney, who is on vacation until Jan. 2.
We also posted several emails in our article replying to YEI’s “full statement” — including one from Nee himself, and another from the CEO’s exective secretary, Mike Cohen — which indicated that Nee, did in fact work at YEI in apparent contradiction to both the “full statement” on the YEI website, and the comments above from Weaver.
Additionally, RAW STORY was able to contact Tom Yowell, the Special Agent assigned to the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force in Orlando Florida, concerning his email to Clint Curtis indicating that YEI was “under investigation by another Division of the FBI.”
Yowell confirmed to RAW STORY that he did in fact send that email to Curtis on Nov. 22nd, 2004 as The BRAD BLOG first reported.
But then Yowell seemed to do a bit of interesting backtracking on the matter…
“It turns out that I’m not even sure it’s the same company,” he said. He stated that he would call another FBI office which might be able to furnish more information.
In their “full statement”, YEI had claimed they were “not under investigation by the FBI”. Which Yowell’s email to Curtis would seem to dispute.
Why a Special Agent for the FBI Joint Terorrism Task Force would tell a concerned citizen one thing via Email after he reported a number of activities concerning YEI and then begin backtracking only after the information became public knowledge is a question that we will continue to look into as this remarkable story continues to develop…
you guys have uncovered. n you know you have only scratched the surface….these idiots [fbi] cant get a memo from phoenix to d.c. ,that these guys are gonna crash airliners into buildings. why would you think they would be interested in voter fraud …at the highest levels, and basically giving our new best friend, china, free hightech military info. we gave em walmart to boot. HIGH CRIMES N TREASON…..but with these crooks in power, they’ll cry like babies on FOX, n all the whimp-ass news agencys will give it one days worth. so keep it up. this has all the makings of ‘VOTERGATE2004.’ thanx very much for your time n energy….. you also, clint curtis…. clay mills globe, az ps…loved the video
"Why a Special Agent for the FBI Joint Terorrism Task Force would tell a concerned citizen one thing […] and then begin backtracking […]"
Good question, Brad. You don’t suppose it has anything to do with political pressure, do you?
Here are some more questions that came to mind as I read your story:
What does this have to do with terrorism?
Why does it require "a Special Agent for the FBI Joint Terorrism Task Force"?
Aren’t the anti-terrorism agents supposed to be busy defending us against terrorists?
just asking…
Hello, Brad,
You know, I am absolutely, undyingly grateful that you are doing this "legwork" for us. It is a gift beyond price for the democratic ideal.
BUT…I am getting a little sensitive to the crowing on your part and it bothers me for two reasons. One, it is immodest, self-serving and boastful – the opposite of the motivations of a dedicated reporter. And two, it is transparently assailable by all enemies foreign and domestic. Do you see what I’m getting at? The scoop guy creating the scoop…?
Please do not get so carried away with your own glory that you sully the message that honest people are trying to get listened to: that the election was fixed and that Bush is an illegitimate usurper in a coup d’etat of disastrous scale and consequence.
Hopefully, Congressman Feeney’s home town newspaper will continue to report on the Curtis story. I took the liberty of sending the following to the editor:
I found your paper’s article on Congressman Feeney very intriguing and deserving of more in depth coverage. According to Clinton Curtis, Raymond Camillo Lemme was found dead just after advising him that his investigation went all the way to the top and the lid was about to come off. Mr. Lemme was a Florida Department of Transportation Inspector General and was investigating alleged Yang and Feeney maleficence. His body was discovered in a Valdosta, GA motel with one wrist slashed – rather odd method for a male to commit suicide. There
are a few questions that come to mind: Was there (1) a suicide note; (2) enough blood lost to cause death; (3) an autopsy performed; and (4) prior erratic
behavior leading up to his death? Maybe this incident needs to be reopened quietly. Could be just as dangerous the second time around.
Might generate some additional heat on the honorable representative.
Peg –
I appreciate your kind words, concerns and criticism all.
Please correct me (or give specifics) if I’m missing what you’re speaking to re: "crowing" specifically.
But to explain a bit (without giving an apology here), long-time BRAD BLOG readers will recognize that much of the language used on this site is sometimes half-satire and half-omage to sites like Drudge etc. (hence the use of the sirens where appropriate).
That has been the tone of the joint for long before the Curtis story ever surfaced here.
As well (and I’m just trying to guess to what you’re referring specifically, since you didn’t mention) many of the references to "the story we broke here two weeks ago" or whatever are two-fold, above and beyond the satirical element I mentioned above. 1) Many folks are just jumping into this story every day, and need quick reference points to *all* of the material that has come before it that they may not yet be familiar with and 2) a longtime BRAD BLOG axe-to-grind has been with the Mainstream Media and their frequently condescending view towards "bloggers" and Internet-based reporting in general (as with RAW STORY, for example). Hence, it’s important to remind both users and the many MSM folks who now frequent this blog, that it was in fact the BLOGGERS who have gotten this story *correct* from the get go (me, in this case).
As you’ve noticed, it’s a remarkable story, and the fact that the biggest players in the Mainstream have not yet *publicly* begun reporting on it is — in my personal opinion — nearly as much of a scandal as the story being reported on!
The fact that they have also similarly failed the country in their coverage of *all* of these Election 2004 issues from Nov. 3rd through today is also an outrage.
Anything I can do to highlight that fact, I will continue to do.
I hope that makes some sense and offers some explanation.
As always, I welcome your further comments either here or via Email if that may be more appropriate (since it is *somewhat* off topic to the actual information in this particular article…but I leave it to you).
Either way, your input is always appreciated!
Qualar –
I have some of the answers to some of the questions you asked in re: Raymond Lemme.
I hope to reporting on some of the specifics in the not too distant future, but (for the moment anyway) have chosen to focus on the specifics concerning Feeney, Yang, Curtis and the "vote-rigging" charges as much as possible.
I made the decision earlier so as not to supply those would (appropriately) be skeptical with a reason to toss out the entire issue as one of those "crazy conspiracy theories" akin to so many we heard in the Clinton era about the various deaths that Rightwingers were attributing somehow to him.
In the case of Lemme, however, there are a few troubling things that deserve focus, and I have been looking at them with the hopes of reporting on them in the not-too-distant future.
In other words, you have asked good questions, and I hope to supply good answers soon, at least once the meat and potatos of the central Curtis charges have been made exceedingly clear to all interested parties.
Just a quick opinion on what Peg C wrote and Brad’s reply. . .
Just as mainstream news has their slants. Obviously BradBlog has theirs. Being that this site has "Blog" in the name it would infer that it might be even less objective than a "news" site.
But either way you are getting the story out andf doing it as well as "mainstream media" could. Being that they seem to be avoiding it at all costs. 😉
Plus I’d like to see you get answers to your questions from a New York Times reporter. . .
Conspiracy! Conpiracy! There is a conspiracy to hide the conspiracy! Somebody "got" to the agent! That is the line we use from now on. The Bushies got to the agent!
If this conspiracy crap was not so hillarious to watch it would be sad.
re: FBI "investigation", and Lemme– first, 4 individuals who have investigated and/or written tell all books about bush,(including G.Webb), have now committed suicide– someone did the math, and the odds are 1 in 10 QUADRILLION! of such a coincidence!– no surprise that Lemme did as well–
maybe the FBI is too busy with their new
"Assisted Suicide Program" to do any investigating–
look how well they’re "investigating" OHIOvote–
look how well they’ve "investigated" bush/911–
FBI is complicit up to their eyeballs– James JR.
I sent this to a list of news media:
Is the mainstream media becoming irretrievably lost to critical issues? Are they overly "cautious"?
They have not touched a solid story that has official and sworn testimony behind it.
Take for instance the triple-shocker vote-machine rigging / red china spy / death of a government agent story.
There are official federal court records showing that a chinese spy was convicted of the federal crime of transferring weapons technology to Communist China.
The communist spy admitted to doing it 20 times. It could be more since spies don’t always tell it all.
There are official state records to show:
1) allegations were made by software programmers within the same state department that the same communist spy wrote software containing internal functionality that sent sensitive information back to the communist spy’s company from a state department and from NASA.
2) This the communist spy did while working at a company who’s lawyer was a congressman who now sits on the judiciary committee. This the communist spy did while the same company did work for NASA. This the communist spy did while the communist spy was an illegal alien.
3) An investigation was commenced by a state agent with the last name of Lemme. Soon after he replied back to the state employee who had informed him and stated to that reporting employee "it goes to the top", he was found dead.
But no one cares that voting machines could be rigged and communist china gets sensitive secrets?
That means it is still going on … and that the mainstream press is silent … except they do tell us when the "terrorist threat" colors change before elections.
For this the mainstream press is a shame to the american people. (I include ABC, NBC, CBS, and Drudge Report as mainstream press).
Boycott them and visit the BLOG news regularly until they get it right … if you want the whole story.
The story can be read at:
https://bradblog.com/archives/0...7.htm#comments
http://www.bluelemur.com/index.php?p=507
IMO,
[name]
NOTE: Copies also given to (other than by email):
cbsnews.com "feedback" form
(http://www.cbsnews.com/sections.../main100.shtml, click on "Contact us")
>>
Somebody should tell James R that perhaps the reason if it is factual that 4 people that wrote or investigated tell all books about Bush committed suicide; that would indicate to many of Americans that to many UNSTABLE people are writing tell books in America.
Now we have a conpiracy over Bush tell all books? Hahahahahahahahahhaha.
Good GOD you people have screws loose.
attorney jim:
You would make a good mainstream reporter jim.
The facts are that they were found dead.
We do not know if they were unstable or not … psychiatrist jim.
You have less evidence for your analytical conclusion that they are unstable than we do for saying the four of them are dead.
For heaven sake the Ukraine is more democratic than that … right? A guy gets a serious case of acne and they think he was poisioned! Those commies even ordered a new election!
Good GOD they turn democracy upside down … huh preacher jim?
With all respect, Dredd, I think it might be better if we stopped feeding this idiot troll.
The commies never "ordered" a new election, the parliamentary powers did. Get your facts right.
Estimates vary, but some put the number of Americans that will believe ANY conspiracy theory, no matter how wacky, at 3% simply because they are the nitwits they are and cannot think beyond the end of their nose, and now we have bloggers making money off these 3%.
The commies never "ordered" a new election, the parliamentary powers did. Get your facts right.
Estimates vary, but some put the number of Americans that will believe ANY conspiracy theory, no matter how wacky, at 3% simply because they are the nitwits they are and cannot think beyond the end of their nose, and now we have bloggers making money off these 3%.
With all due respect winter patriot, I think you are right. The troll is starting to stutter …
BTW estimates vary but some put the number of Americans that will NOT believe any conspiracy theory (including those proven in courts) at 6%.
:blush:
Neo-cons like to quote the Federalist Papers. They also tend to condemn any notion of the concept of "conspiracy". The phrase "conspiracy theory" is a buzz-word phrase for them. Somehow they equate "conspiracy theory" with "unpatriotic".
The truth is, however, that conspiracy theories are recognized as real things in the Federalist papers, and true americans think "conspiracy"!!!
Lets look at some of the comments of Alexander Hamilton, a true american patriot:
"The success of it would require not merely a factious majority in the legislature, but the concurrence of the courts of justice and of the body of the people. If the judges were not embarked in a *CONSPIRACY* with the legislature, they would pronounce the resolutions of such a majority to be contrary to the supreme law of the land, unconstitutional, and void." (Federalist #16, emphasis added)
"Is it presumable, that every man, the instant he took his seat in the national Senate or House of Representatives, would commence a traitor to his constituents and to his country? Can it be supposed that there would not be found one man, discerning enough to detect so atrocious a *CONSPIRACY*, or bold or honest enough to apprise his constituents of their danger?" (Federalist #26, emphasis added)
"Schemes to subvert the liberties of a great community REQUIRE TIME to mature them for execution. An army, so large as seriously to menace those liberties, could only be formed by progressive augmentations; which would suppose, not merely a temporary combination between the legislature and executive, but a continued *CONSPIRACY* for a series of time." (Federalist #26, emphasis added)
"I am unable to conceive that the State legislatures, which must feel so many motives to watch, and which possess so many means of counteracting, the federal legislature, would fail either to detect or to defeat a *CONSPIRACY* of the latter against the liberties of their common constituents" (Federalist #55, emphasis added)
"… if the leaders of a few of the most important States should have entered into a previous *CONSPIRACY* to prevent an election." (Federalist #59, emphasis added)
"If a governor of New York, therefore, should be at the head of any such *CONSPIRACY* … All *CONSPIRACIES* and plots …" (Federalist #69, emphasis added)
"The charge of a *CONSPIRACY* against the liberties of the people …" (Federalist #89, emphasis added)
Look out. The sky is falling.