Velvet Revolution Calls On John McCain To Fire Michael Connell For Covering Up For Karl Rove In Federal Election
Manipulation Lawsuit
Velvet Revolution today issued a press release calling for Republican candidate John McCain to fire computer expert
Michael Connell from his campaign for covering up alleged election manipulations of Karl Rove and others. Mr. Connell,
the GOP’s top computer expert, was subpoenaed based on a September 19th court order to testify under oath in an Ohio
federal lawsuit looking into serious allegations that Mr. Rove has directed a strategy to illegally manipulate elections
through the use of computer technology. Rather than cooperate in the investigation, Mr. Connell hired attorneys close to
the Bush/Cheney Administration and refused to appear for the deposition arguing client (GOP) confidentiality. Those
attorneys have said that they will do everything possible to keep Mr. Connell from testifying before the November
general election.
Mr. Connell’s refusal to comply with a federal subpoena looking into credible evidence that the upcoming presidential
election will be manipulated is at odds with John McCain’s promise to run a clean campaign. Another GOP cyber security
expert, Stephen Spoonamore, has stated that Mr. Connell has vast experience and knowledge of the GOP computer networks
at issue in the federal lawsuit. Mr. Connell has admitted to Mr. Spoonamore that in his zeal to 'save the unborn' he may
have helped others who have compromised elections.”
Cliff Arnebeck, the Ohio election attorney who issued the subpoena, said Friday that he is aggressively moving to
enforce the subpoena. “Mr. Connell has information about how the votes are tabulated in key states in the upcoming
election. In order to ensure that the election is fair and accurate, Mr. Connell needs to testify under oath and
pursuant to a lawful subpoena about how these votes are tabulated, whether the tabulation will be compromised and
whether anyone has directed him to compromise those tabulations.”
According to federal filings, Mr. Connell is working for John McCain to help him win the election. VR believes that
until Mr. Connell testifies under oath about his apparent knowledge of election manipulations, he should not be working
for Mr. McCain. If he does, the McCain campaign will appear to be in league with Mr. Connell to cover up criminal
conduct and engaging in election tampering. This will call into question the results of the November election and again
cast a shadow over our election process.
ENDS
Velvet Revolution is an issue-based advocacy group working on Election and Media Reform, serving as an umbrella
organization to nearly 100 Voting Rights, Election Reform and Media Reform organizations. VR has recently launched our
"Divestiture for Democracy" campaign calling on America's Voting Machine companies to provide transparency and
accountability in their publicly funded role of running America's elections.