Vance talked to Rove's office and McKay
An article attributed to The Seattle Times, and reporter Les Blumenthal, details how former GOP chair Chris Vance talked to both John McKay and Karl Rove's assistant about the recount in the 2004 governor's race. I'm not trying to be discourteous to the Times, but the only place I can seem to find it on-line right now is via the (Fort Wayne) News-Sentinel.
(CLARIFICATION: We've received word that Les Blumenthal works for McClatchy rather than The Seattle Times and that the story was erroneously attributed.)
(excerpts in this post are out of order from the article)
MORE-- The AP via The Columbian moves an article concerning why McKay was fired, and it mentions how Dale Foreman was afforded the chance to present evidence to McKay, as was Tom McCabe, who apparently showed up with a shoebox full of ballots he claimed were suspicious.
In other words, most of the claims made to the media and that are still repeated on conservative blogs to this day did not have much, if any, merit, in the eyes of an honest prosecutor or an honest judge.
I'm afraid the GOP has dug itself such a deep hole in this matter that they are going to need a ladder. A tall one.
(CLARIFICATION: We've received word that Les Blumenthal works for McClatchy rather than The Seattle Times and that the story was erroneously attributed.)
(excerpts in this post are out of order from the article)
Vance said he talked about the governor's race frequently with Glynda Becker, the western states contact in Karl Rove's political office at the White House. Vance said he didn't remember if McKay was discussed.So here's what you are to believe, if you go read the whole article: Chris Vance called John McKay and was shut down:
Chris Vance said then-U.S. Attorney John McKay made it clear he would not discuss whether his office was investigating allegations of voter fraud in the election. He said McKay cut off the conversation.But he can't recall if he mentioned it to Rove's assistant, to whom he spoke "frequently."
"I thought it was part of my job, to be a conduit," Vance, who now operates a consulting business, said in a telephone interview. "We had a Republican secretary of state, a Republican prosecutor in King County and a Republican U.S. attorney, and no one was doing anything."
MORE-- The AP via The Columbian moves an article concerning why McKay was fired, and it mentions how Dale Foreman was afforded the chance to present evidence to McKay, as was Tom McCabe, who apparently showed up with a shoebox full of ballots he claimed were suspicious.
Nevertheless, McKay did conduct a preliminary review of the allegations. He assembled a team of four lawyers in his office, plus FBI agents, to review fraud claims, such as by debriefing Republican Party lawyer Dale Foreman about any evidence the party had, and by examining a shoebox of allegedly forged absentee ballots provided by Tom McCabe, executive vice president of the Building Industry Association of Washington.So even though they had a chance to present their claims to McKay, they didn't have anything legitimate, as was born out in court.
"There wasn't one bit of solid evidence," McKay said.
Eventually, a Chelan County judge threw out the GOP's election challenge, saying that even under the lesser burden of proof required in civil, rather than criminal, cases, "There is no evidence that ballots were changed, the ballot box stuffed or that lawful votes were removed from either candidate's ballot box."
In other words, most of the claims made to the media and that are still repeated on conservative blogs to this day did not have much, if any, merit, in the eyes of an honest prosecutor or an honest judge.
I'm afraid the GOP has dug itself such a deep hole in this matter that they are going to need a ladder. A tall one.
