Maryland prosecutor charges two for robocall about openly gay candidate

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: Baltimore Sun via Joe.My.God

By Erin Cox
[e-mail]
twitter.com/ErinatTheSun
The Baltimore Sun

April 14, 2016, 1:15 PM

Maryland's state prosecutor on Thursday charged two Republican strategists with distributing an illegal robocall considered by many an attempt to smear an openly gay local candidate in 2014. ... Prosecutor Emmet Davitt announced charges against Dennis Fusaro, a national Republican figure best known for leaking internal emails and phone calls from Ron Paul's 2012 presidential campaign, and Stephen Waters, a Republican political consultant based in Virginia.

The alleged election law violations stem from a robocall that went to about 5,000 Anne Arundel County residents the weekend before the 2014 election, congratulating Democratic County Council candidate Patrick Armstrong "for his bravery in coming out of the closet" and linking him to a controversial measure that banned discrimination against transgender people in public areas, including restrooms. ... The recording gave the home phone number of Armstrong's mother and invited residents to call about Armstrong's support of "the bathroom bill." Many did.

Prosecutors said the call lacked the appropriate identification and came from what they described as "an untraceable" prepaid cell phone purchased with cash by Waters and Fusaro at Walmart in Fredericksburg, Va.
....

Fusaro was the campaign manager of Armstrong's opponent, Republican Councilman Michael Anthony Peroutka, a former member of the neo-Confederate group League of the South.

PDF: State prosecutor's statement of charges in 2014 robocall in Anne Arundel

Copyright © 2016, The Baltimore Sun

Read more: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/bs-md-robo-call-indictment-20160414-story.html

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Hat tip, Joe.My.God: MARYLAND: Republican Operatives Charged With Illegal Anti-Trans Robocalls Against Gay Candidate

Dennis Fusaro, Grassroots Solutions, Inc.

Experience

President
Grassroots Solutions, Inc. (VA)
June 2002 – Present (13 years 11 months)
Grassroots organizing, fundraising and communications work for public policy groups and political campaigns.

Education
George Mason University
Bachelor of Science, Economics
1990 – 1993

I think this is Stephen/Steve Waters:

Steven Waters, the Virginia First Foundation

Steve Waters is a Founding Board Member of the Virginia First Foundation. Mr. Waters came to Virginia by way of North Carolina where he moved to Richmond, VA after working with various conservative candidates in NC and spending a brief stint in Washington, DC, working with Phyllis Schlafy’s, Eagle Forum.

Mr. Waters served as the Statewide Grassroots Director with The Family Foundation, the Virginia Family Policy Council for Focus on The Family. In 2006, Mr. Waters served as a statewide campaign manager for the 2006 Virginia Marriage Amendment. He was a co-founder of Pastors for Family Values, a group that spun out of the Virginia Marriage Amendment that mobilized pastors across Virginia from all Faiths and Ethnical backgrounds. While with TFF, he served as a lobbyist in Virginia General Assembly for Family Values, Limited and Constitutional Government and Second Amendment Rights.

Mr. Waters has advised and consulted local, state and federal conservative candidates across Virginia. He served as the Family Policy Advisor to former Governor George Allen in the 2012 U.S. Senate race and most recently was a Senior Advisor to Congressman Dave Brat in his successful victory over Eric Cantor in the VA-7th Congressional Primary in 2014.

Steve Waters on Facebook

Favorites

Steve Waters, Fred Gruber District 7 Chair VA, Reporter Jordan Lindsay, GotNews, Day of Tears, Kate Obenshain, Dump Norment, ACT for America Virginia, Jim Gilmore, Dick Black for State Senate, Dakota Meyer, Ted Cruz for Virginia, Techworks, Breitbart, Cynthia Noland Dunbar, Dinesh D'Souza, Lepanto Institute, Race to Richmond, Dan Forest, NumbersUSA, RadEdge, Jay Sekulow, MRC Business, Senator Ben Sasse, Ben Sasse, Media Research Center, Rare News, The Conservative Update, Ted Cruz Is The Man, Jeff Frederick, Corey Stewart, Matt Ames, LaVoy Finicum's Stand For Freedom #LibertyRising, Patrick Henry Tea Party Patriots, John Adams, Draft John Adams for Virginia Attorney General, Arizona Border Recon, Highways and Hedges Ministries, The Hosea Initiative, Virginia Christian Alliance, Sidewalk Advocates for Life RVA, Deborah Pauly for Assembly 2016, STAND, Correll Law Firm, PLC, Suzanne Obenshain, Ben Cline, Bundy Ranch, Virginia First Foundation, Courageous Conservatives PAC, Ian Lovejoy For Manassas

Greensboro man charged with violating election law in Maryland

[Kingofalldems]

1. GOP has not changed since Watergate.

Permanent Special Counsel needed just for them.

[northernsouthern]

2. That is dirty.

So dirty I would need to go in to the bathroom just to wash my eyes after reading this and my finger for clicking on the story. It is good there is some accountability.

[TeamPooka]

3. This event goes to the top of their resumes, right? nt

[Tempest]

4. They'll be working for Cruz or Drumpf by the end of next week. n/t

[Ford_Prefect]

5. Too bad the worst they can get is 1 year in jail and $5,000 fine. The civil suit from this might be

much more damaging.

It will be interesting to see how they do 12 months in jail. Talk about sending a message to the rest of those swine.

I wonder if possible federal charges could apply since neither man is from Maryland and both appear to have accepted payment for the "service" they provided? Crossing state lines to incite?