The Suspicious, Disturbing Death of Election Rigger Michael Connell (Fitrakis and Wasserman)

The Suspicious, Disturbing Death of Election Rigger Michael Connell

by By Bob Fitrakis & Harvey Wasserman
December 20, 2008

EXCERPT...

Ohio Republican Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell hired Connell in 2004 to create a real-time computer data compilation for counting Ohio’s votes. Under Connell's supervision, Ohio’s presidential vote count was transmitted to private, partisan computer servers owned by SmartTech housed in the basement of the Old Pioneer Bank building in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Connell’s company, New Media Communications worked closely with SmartTech in building Republican and right-wing websites that were hosted on SmartTech servers. Among Connell’s clients were the Republican National Committee, Swift Boat Veterans for Truth and gwb43.com, that housed at one point Karl Rove's missing emails. Rove's email files have since mysteriously disappeared despite repeated court-sanctioned attempts to review them.

In 2001, Michael Connell’s GovTech Solutions, LLC was selected to reorganize the Capitol Hill IT network, the only private-sector company to gain permission from HIR to place its server behind the firewall, he bragged.

At 12:20 am on the night of the 2004 election exit polls and initial vote counts showed John Kerry the clear winner of Ohio's presidential campaign. The Buckeye State's 20 electoral votes would have given Kerry the presidency.

But from then until around 2am, the flow of information mysteriously ceased. After that, the vote count shifted dramatically to George W. Bush, ultimately giving him a second term. In the end there was a 6.7 percent diversion---in Bush's favor---between highly professional, nationally funded exit polls and the final official vote count as tabulated by Blackwell and Connell.

Until his death Connell remained the IT supervisor for six Congressional committees. But on the day before the 2008 election, Connell was deposed by attorneys Cliff Arnebeck and Bob Fitrakis about his actions during the 2004 vote count, and his continued involvement in IT operations for the GOP, including his access to Rove's e-mail files and the circumstances behind their disappearance.

CONTINUED...

http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2008/3320

Election Protection In Ohio (and America) Isn't Over

By Bob Fitrakis & Harvey Wasserman , The Free Press
November 17, 2008

EXCERPT...

On Election Night 2004, Blackwell e-mailed Ohio's electronic vote count to a basement in Chattanooga, Tennessee that also housed the servers for the Republican National Committee. The tally "miraculously" shifted from Kerry to Bush between 12:30 and 2 am, ultimately giving Bush a second term.

The data was handled under a state contract funneled by Blackwell to Michael Connell, a shadowy Bush family IT specialist who programmed the official Bush-Cheney website in 2000 and 2004.

On the day before the 2008 election, Connell was forced to testify under oath under cross-examination by King-Lincoln-Bronzeville attorneys Cliff Arnebeck and Bob Fitrakis. Among the questions at issue was whether Connell left any "Trojan Horse" programs in place in the Ohio electronic vote count structure through which he could have hacked the 2008 outcome.

There has yet to be a definitive answer to that question, or to what he actually may have done to the 2004 vote count. But, for what it's worth, Karl Rove did shift his predictions from a McCain victory to one for Obama shortly after the federal court agreed to force Connell to testify.

CONTINUED...

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0811/S00266.htm

Behind the firewall: Bush loyalist Mike Connell controls Congressional secrets as his email sites serve Karl Rove

FreePress.org
July 29, 2008

In 2001, Michael L. Connell of GovTech Solutions, L.L.C., a notoriously partisan GOP operative and Bush family confidant, was selected to re-organize the Capitol Hill IT network. Under the guise of selecting a female-owned IT company (Connell’s wife Heather is listed as the owner), former Congressman and convicted felon Bob Ney reportedly arranged for Connell to be the man behind the firewall for the U.S. House of Representatives. Connell’s role and activities need to be investigated by putting Connell under oath and examining how arguably one of the country’s most zealously partisan IT specialists managed to land the contract and be allowed access to this electronic communication system.

Initially, Connell’s forays into partisan politics had very public ups and downs. Connell got his big break in 1987 as a staff member for former CIA Director and Vice President George H.W. Bush’s successful campaign for president. He programmed and developed an advanced delegate tracking system for Republican National Convention in 1988. With no presidential campaign in 1990, Connell emerged in partisan politics, this time in a well-publicized scandal. On November 11, 1990, Senator Dan Coats (R-IN) fired Connell for his role in a “push polling” scheme that Coats denounced as “clearly unethical.” Next, Connell resurfaced as a congressional staffer and mouthpiece as U.S. Rep. Martin R. Hoke’s (R-OH) Communication Director in 1993-4.

In 1996 election year, Connell’s back at partisan campaign IT activity. His newly formed New Media Communications began providing design makeovers and software for Republican candidates and organizations in Ohio and Illinois. Public records reflect that he specifically worked on implementing databases and web services for John Bohner’s (R-OH) Freedom Project PAC, John Kasich’s (R-OH) Pioneer PAC, and Dick Armey’s (R-TX) Majority Leaders Fund. Also during this period he did computer work for right-wing ideologue David Horowitz’s Center for the Study of Popular Culture and the website FrontPageMag.com.

Tom Brazatis of the Cleveland Plain Dealer described Connell as “an Internet consultant in 1998 for the winning campaigns of governors Bob Taft in Ohio and Jeb Bush in Florida.” The article stated that Connell told the Plain Dealer that he had been hired to do “special internet projects” for George W. Bush. “Connell declined to be more specific,” noted the Plain Dealer’s 2000 article.

After Jeb Bush won the governor’s office, Connell received various Florida IT contracts from the governor’s office, Florida Department of Education and Community Affairs, and did computer work for the Florida Republican Party. A few months after Bush’s 1998 Florida victory, New Media Communications merged with GOP lobbyist and operative Thomas J. Synhorst and formed DCI/New Media L.L.C. in Richfield, Ohio. Synhorst is listed as a co-founder of GovTech. Connell designed Jeb.org, JebWear.com, and GOPWear.com during that election cycle.

“I’m loyal to my friends and I’m loyal to the Bush family…” read a Connell quote in Inside Business magazine, November 2, 1999.

Crain’s Cleveland Business reported when Connell created GovTech Solutions in 2001 he told them he had “…decided to roll out a separate company for its political work because government and corporations are ‘two animals different enough to have it make sense.’” Connell told Crain’s that his “GovTech Solutions is the only private-sector company to gain permission from HIR to place its servers behind the firewall”

One has to wonder about the implications of the premier partisan campaign IT man, steadfastly loyal to the country’s most well-known security-industrial complex and CIA family, serving as the man behind the U.S. Congress’ firewall.

According to the Federal Election Commission, Connell’s company New Media Communications received more than $800,000 from the Bush-Cheney Re-Election Campaign between January 2003 and October 2004. During the same period New Media Communications brought in $1.2 million in contracts from Republican congressional candidates, political parties, and the National Rifle Association, according to the Akron Beacon Journal on November 24, 2004.

SourceWatch notes that Connell developed the websites for the House Intelligence, Judiciary, Financial Services, Ways and Means, and Administration Committees. According to SourceWatch, Connell teamed up with R. Rebecca Donatelli, Chair of the D.C.-based Campaign Solutions, to form Connell Donatelli Inc. (CD Inc.) as a specialized online advertising agency in July 2004. One of CD, Inc.’s first activities was to become the registrant, administrator and tech organizer for the anti-Kerry group Swiftboat Veterans for Truth’s website swiftboatvetsfortruth.org.

CONTINUED...

http://www.freepress.org/columns/display/3/2008/1665

Lawyer to AG Mukasey Rove Threatened GOP IT Guru If He Does Not 'Take the Fall' for Election Fraud in Ohio

The Huffington PostDecember 21, 2008

Posted July 31, 2008 | 03:50 PM (EST)

[]Letter Sent to Attorney General Mukasey Requesting 'Protection for Mr. Connell and His Family From This Reported Attempt to Intimidate a Witness' After Tip from 'Credible Source'

UPDATED: OH AG Reportedly Asked to Provide Immunity Protection...

Karl Rove has threatened a GOP high-tech guru and his wife, if he does not "'take the fall' for election fraud in Ohio," according to a letter sent Thursday morning to Attorney General Michael Mukasey, by Ohio election attorney Cliff Arnebeck.

The email, posted in full below, details threats against Mike Connell of the Republican firm New Media Communications, which describes itself on its website as "a powerhouse in the field of Republican website development and Internet services" and having "played a strategic role in helping the GOP expand its technological supremacy."

Connell was described in a recent interview with the plaintiff's attorneys in Ohio as a "high IQ Forrest Gump" for his appearance "at the scene of every crime" from Florida 2000 to Ohio 2004 to the RNC email system to the installation of the currently-used Congressional computer network firewall.

Connell and his firm are currently employed by the John McCain campaign, as well as the RNC and other Republican and so-called "faith-based" organizations.

In a phone call this afternoon, Arnebeck could not publicly reveal specific details of the information that triggered his concern about the threats to Connell. The message to the IT man from Rove is said to have been sent via a go-between in Ohio. That information led Arnebeck to contact Mukasey after he found the reports to be credible and troubling.

SNIP...

The motion was made following the discovery of new information, including details from a Republican data security expert, leading Arnebeck towards seeking depositions of Rove, Connell, and other GOP operatives believed to have participated in the gaming of election results in 2004. A letter was sent to Mukasey at the same time last week, asking him to retain email and other documents from Rove...

"Mr. Rove's e-mails from the White House to the Justice Department, the FBI, the Pentagon, Congress and various federal regulatory agencies are obviously relevant to the factual issues that we intend to address in this case," Arnebeck wrote last week to the Attorney General. "We are concerned about reports that Mr. Rove not only destroyed e-mails, but also took steps to destroy the hard drives from which they had been sent."

In his email to Mukasey today, Arnebeck writes: "We have been confidentially informed by a source we believe to be credible that Karl Rove has threatened Michael Connell, a principal witness we have identified in our King Lincoln case in federal court in Columbus, Ohio, that if he does not agree to 'take the fall' for election fraud in Ohio, his wife Heather will be prosecuted for supposed lobby law violations."

"This appears to be in response to our designation of Rove as the principal perpetrator in the Ohio Corrupt Practices Act/RICO claim with respect to which we issued document hold notices last Thursday to you and to the US Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform," the Ohio attorney writes, before going on to link to The BRAD BLOG's coverage of his press conference last week and requesting "protection for Mr. Connell and his family from this reported attempt to intimidate a witness."

CONTINUED with LINKS...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brad-friedman/lawyer-to-ag-mukasey-rove_b_115036.html

GOP Tech Guru Mike Connell 'High IQ Forrest Gump...At Scene of Every Single Crime' Say Ohio Attorneys

'Whether He's Pulling the Gun or Not...He's the Guy Who Made the Gun,' Allege Buckeye Lawyers About Man Said to Have Been Behind Florida 2000, Ohio 2004, RNC Emails, Congressional Computer Networks, & More...
-- Brad Friedman

Last week Ohio Attorney Cliff Arnebeck held a press conference in Columbus to announce his motion to lift the stay on the long-running King Lincoln Bronzeville v. Blackwell lawsuit in which massive improprieties, irregularities, and violations of the Voting Rights Act are alleged to have taken place in the 2004 Presidential Election in Ohio.

In the wake of the failure by the Buckeye State's Attorney General to properly investigate the allegations, and new evidence and testimony unearthed by Arnebeck and other private investigators, he is now asking that the stay on the lawsuit be lifted by the court in order to refocus the case and depose Karl Rove, and a number of other top GOP operatives believed to be involved in manipulating the results of the '04 election.

One of those operatives is Republican tech-guru Mike Connell.

Steve Heller covered last week's press conference for us, which featured comments from data security expert Stephen Spoonamore alleging fraud in the '04 election and Arnebeck's assertion that he believes "Rove will be identified as having engaged in a corrupt, ongoing pattern of corrupt activities specifically affecting the situation here in Ohio."

The following day, RAW STORY's Larisa Alexandrovna detailed related concerns by Arnebeck and Spoonamore concerning Diebold's questionable involvement in the 2002 Senate race in Georgia.


After last week's presser, Velvet Revolution's Brett Kimberlin sat down to follow up with Arnebeck and attorney/investigative journalist Bob Fitrakis, who participated in both the original '04 election lawsuits and has reported in detail on the related matters continuously since then at the Columbus Free Press.

In the video-taped interview, posted at right (appx. 10 mins), the two attorneys focus specifically on their concerns about GOP operative/IT specialist Connell, who, they allege, has been found to have been "at the scene of the crime" for numerous questionable elections since 2000. Connell's firm was also responsible for creating the RNC email systems used by Karl Rove and others. He is also said to have installed the existing Congressional computer networks for high-security House and Senate committees such as Judiciary and Intelligence.

CONTINUED...

http://www.bradblog.com/?p=6206

Recently subpoenaed Bush/Rove IT expert, is Wellstoned:

by LORI PRICE (Posted by Stephen Fox) Page 1 of 1 page(s)

Recently subpoenaed Bush/Rove IT expert, is Wellstoned: Pilot killed as plane crashes in Lake Twp. --Witness: 'It blew up and shook the ground a little bit.' 19 Dec 2008 (OH) A single-prop, private airplane crashed next to a vacant house on Charolais Street Northwest Friday evening, exploding into flames and killing the pilot. Michael Connell, 45, of Bath Township, was alone in the plane, according to State Highway Patrol Lt. Eric Sheppard. Connell was a prominent Republican political consultant. He founded New Media Communications in Richfield, which developed campaign Web sites for Republican presidential candidate John McCain and President (sic) George W. Bush.

Ohio Attorneys Seek Protection for Mike Connell and his Family against Alleged Threats from Karl Rove 24 Jul 2008 Sources close to the Ohio Corrupt Practices Act/RICO claim sent us a copy of a letter that asks Attorney General Mukasey for protection for Michael Connell and his family who have been allegedly threatened by Karl Rove. Rove is believed to be the strategic mastermind behind the Bush 2004 re-(s)-election campaign and the possible Ohio election improprieties. The alleged threats appear to be the result of the re-opening, through the Ohio Corrupt Practices Act/RICO claim, of the stalled investigation into the 2004 Ohio Elections.

Stark Co. plane crash: Who was Michael Connell? 20 Dec 2008 Michael Connell was killed when the Piper Supercub he was piloting crashed three miles short of an Akron-Canton Airport runway. He leaves behind a wife and four children. Connell, of Bath Township, is considered to be one of the Republican Party's top computer experts. He led the companies that designed websites for the GOP and a virtual who's-who list of republican political leaders including President (sic) George W. Bush, Senator John McCain, as well as national organizations. Connell developed a host of federal government software and data management systems. Connell is also said to be a close confidant of the Bush family. Earlier this year, Connell was subpoenaed to testify in an Ohio federal court regarding voter fraud just days before the November presidential election. His alleged intimate knowledge of White House and Capitol Hill email systems has been a hot topic of conversation for Washington insiders regarding the Karl Rove/White House email scandal.

SOURCE:

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Recently-subpoenaed-Bush-R-by-LORI-PRICE-081220-507.html

http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNumSQL.asp?NNumbertxt=9299N&cmndfind.x=15&cmndfind.y=8

N9299N

Aircraft Description

Serial Number 3257018
Type Registration Corporation
Manufacturer Name PIPER
Certificate Issue Date 08/21/2007
Model PA-32R-301T
Status Valid
Type Aircraft Fixed Wing Single-Engine
Type Engine Reciprocating
Pending Number Change None
Dealer No
Date Change Authorized None
Mode S Code 53161471
MFR Year 1997
Fractional Owner NO


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Registered Owner

Name SIERRA-NOVEMBER AVIATION INC
Street 3046 BRECKSVILLE RD
City RICHFIELD State OHIO Zip Code 44286-9399
County SUMMIT
Country UNITED STATES

http://www.thesuburbanite.com/communities/x1060481746/Pilot-dies-in-Lake-Township-airplane-crash

Pilot dies in Lake Township airplane crash

By Madelin Reinersmann
The Suburbanite
Sat Dec 20, 2008, 02:58 PM EST


(MY OBSERVATION - wreckage is charred, indicating there was fuel on board at the time of the crash)

Lake Township -
The sound of an engine cutting out, the buzz of an airplane, an explosion and a burst of flame startled a quiet Lake Township neighborhood Friday night.

A single engine Piper Saratoga crashed into the front yard of a home. It ripped up a flagpole, slid across a yard and came to rest near some pines.

Dead is the pilot, Michael Connell of Akron. He was the only passenger in the seven-passenger plane.

The house, located at 2017 Charolais St., is in foreclosure. No one was living in the home at the time of the crash.

Debris from the crash was scattered over 100 yards.

According to Kristie Van Auken, director of communications at the Akron Canton Airport, Connell was en route to runway 23.

Greentown Fire Department Capt. Lorin Geiser said they believed Connell had to make an emergency landing was attempting to avoid the homes along Charolais.

The crash occurred shortly before 6 p.m. Greentown Fire Department received an emergency call at 5:55 p.m. and arrived on the scene in four minutes, according to department officials. Within five minutes the department extinguished the flames of the wreckage and the fire that involved the garage area of the house. Uniontown, Hartville, Plain and North Canton fire departments also assisted in the call. The Stark County Sheriff also responded.

Stark County Coroner Investigator Harry Campbell said Connell, 45, was wearing a business suit. Apparently, according to Campbell, Connell had breakfast in Washington D.C. Investigators found receipts in Connell’s wallet.

(MY OBSERVATION - The aircraft was unnattended by Connell - during his DC visit - while at College Park Airport, MD. Also, the report of "an engine cutting out" means likely mechanical error, not pilot error - unless, of course, the pilot failed to properly fuel the aircraft or check its oil quantity during pre-flight inspection)

From http://www.fltplan.com/AwTrackSelectToHistoricalMap.exe?a=1 (with aircraft registration data entered)



(MY OBSERVATION - No precipitation shown on the radar returns at the accident site)

Ohio TV station: Was Connell crash an accident or murder?

David Edwards and Muriel Kane
RawStory.com
Published: Tuesday December 23, 2008

The death of Republican "IT guru" Mike Connell last Friday in a fiery plane crash has been the subject of intense speculation online about whether it might have been murder -- but very little of that speculation has made it into the national media. Now one local TV station in Connell's home state of Ohio is acknowledging that there are questions about his death.

"Well, this sounds like a made up story," Scott Taylor of 19 Action News in Cleveland began. "One man rigging state elections to help his boss, President George Bush. After it's done, power players in Washington say 'Get rid of the guy.' Do I believe it? No -- for now."

Taylor noted that "bad weather could have played a part in the crash" but "some in Washington have a different opinion."

"Some say Connell was about to reveal embarrassing details involving senior members of the Bush Administration," Taylor explained, "including their involvement in destroying incriminating emails and rigging elections. Connell died on impact, and was only 3 miles from the Akron-Canton Airport. He was an experienced pilot. Was it an accident, or murder?"

CONTINUED...

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Local_TV_news_Connell_crash_accident_1223.html