Larisa Alexandrovna: Background on Mike Connell Case, Republican IT Who Died In Plane Crash

[Hissyspit]

http://www.atlargely.com/2008/12/one-of-my-sources-died-in-a-plane-crash-last-night.html

Larisa, who Connell had been talking with, has told me that Connell was "ready to tell everything."

White House email, elections lynchpin witness, GOP tech guru Mike Connell is dead in plane crash

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x4688139

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x4689417

Here are the reading materials in case you have not followed any of this closely. These are articles I have done over spanning over a year of investigative work:

Part 1 - Political Prisoner
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/The_Permanent_Republican_Majority_1125.html

Part 2 - Siegelman's Daughter Speaks Out
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/The_permanent_Republican_majority_Daughter_of_1127.html

Part 3 - Karl Rove Running Elections from the White House
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/The_Permanent_Republican_Majority_Part_III_1216.html

Part 4 - Mississippi Prosecution, Justice Oliver Diaz
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/How_Bush_US_attorney_riddled_with_0401.html

Part 5 - Justice Diaz Speaks
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Diaz_placeholder_0408.html

Part 6 - Break-ins plague targets of political prosecutions
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Breakins_plague_Justice_Department_whistleblowers_0430.html

Part 7 - Justice for Sale
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Justice_for_Sale_How_Big_Tobacco_0828.html


Related articles:

Judge who denied Paul Minor release was protoge of Karl Rove
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Judge_in_Paul_Minor_case_was_0821.html

DOJ Investigating 2 US Attorneys
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/DOJ_Investigating_two_US_Attorneys_involved_0604.html

60 Minutes Segemant on Siegelman "dropped" in Alabama
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/60_Minutes_broadcast_on_prosecution_of_0225.html

Abramoff said he had agreement with White House aide just a month after Bush took office
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Abramoff_said_he_had_agreement_with_1117.html

Treasury Department investigating US Attorney for leaking state Supreme Court Justice's tax returns
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Treasury_Department_investigating_US_Attorney_for_120


Republican IT Consultant Subpoenaed in Ohio election fraud case
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Republican_IT_consultant_subpoenaed_in_case_0929.html

Republican IT consultant subpoenaed in case alleging tampering with 2004 election
Larisa Alexandrovna and Muriel Kane
Published: Monday September 29, 2008

COLUMBUS -- A high-level Republican consultant has been subpoenaed in a case regarding alleged tampering with the 2004 election.

Michael L. Connell was served with a subpoena in Ohio on Sept. 22 in a case alleging that vote-tampering during the 2004 presidential election resulted in civil rights violations. Connell, president of GovTech Solutions and New Media Communications, is a website designer and IT professional who created a website for Ohio’s secretary of state that presented the results of the 2004 election in real time as they were tabulated.

At the time, Ohio’s Secretary of State, Kenneth J. Blackwell, was also chairman of Bush-Cheney 2004 reelection effort in Ohio.

Connell is refusing to testify or to produce documents relating to the system used in the 2004 and 2006 elections, lawyers say. His motion to quash the subpoena asserts that the request for documents is burdensome because the information sought should be “readily ascertainable through public records request” – but also, paradoxically, because “it seeks confidential, trade secrets, and/or proprietary information” that “have independent economic value” and “are not known to the public, or even to non-designated personnel within or working for Mr. Connell’s business.”

According to sources close to the office of Clifford Arnebeck, one of the Ohio attorneys who brought the case, Arnebeck intends to ask the court to compel Connell to testify. An emergency conference with the judge, originally scheduled for Monday, is to be rescheduled.

King Lincoln Bronzeville Neighborhood Association v. Blackwell

The case, known as King Lincoln Bronzeville Neighborhood Association v. Blackwell, was filed against Kenneth J. Blackwell on Aug. 31, 2006 by Columbus attorneys Clifford Arnebeck, Robert Fitrakis and others. It initially charged Blackwell with racially discriminatory practices -- including the selective purging of voters from the election rolls and the unequal allocation of voting machines to various districts -- and asked for measures to be taken to prevent similar problems during the November 2006 election.

On Oct. 9, 2006, an amended complaint added charges of various forms of ballot-rigging as also having the effect of "depriving the Plaintiffs of their voting rights, including the right to have their votes successfully cast without intimidation, dilution, cancellation or reversal by voting machine or ballot tampering." A motion to dismiss the case as moot was filed following the November 2006 election, but it was instead stayed to allow for settlement discussions.

The case took on fresh momentum earlier this year when Arnebeck announced in July that he was filing to "lift the stay in the case proceed with targeted discovery in order to help protect the integrity of the 2008 election." The new filing was inspired in part by the coming forward as a whistleblower of GOP IT security expert Stephen Spoonamore, who said he was prepared to testify to the plausibility of electronic vote-rigging having been carried out in 2004.

Arnebeck’s hope was that in the course of the discovery procedure it would be possible to subpoena Michael Connell, former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove, and others to obtain additional information and improve the focus of the case. The stay was lifted Sept. 19, 2008 by an order from Magistrate Judge Terrence P. Kemp of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, and a subpoena was served to Connell on the following Monday, Sept. 22.
Allegations against Connell

The interest in Mike Connell stems from his association with a firm called GovTech, which he had spun off from his own New Media Communications under his wife Heather Connell’s name. GovTech was hired by Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell to set up an official election website at election.sos.state.oh.us to presente the 2004 presidential returns as they came in.

Connell is a long-time GOP operative, whose New Media Communications provided web services for the Bush-Cheney ’04 campaign, the US Chamber of Commerce, the Republican National Committee and many Republican candidates. This in itself might have raised questions about his involvement in creating Ohio’s official state election website.

MORE

[fascisthunter]

1. Oh my...

Yes, this is extremely suspicious.

[Blackhatjack]

2. Larisa has been on this for some time...

... and I expect she will not reveal all she knows since the investigations are ongoing even though Connell has been eliminated as a cooperating witness.

[Swamp Rat]

3. k&r

[Blackhatjack]

4. K & R for an excellent compilation .... n/t

[bananas]

5. k&r nt

[libertypirate]

6. Wake up, Wake up, Wake up

Secrets always get people killed!

The truth will set you free... Literally

You're only a threat when you keep quiet. Once you spill the beans the threat is gone, situation has changed, and you are no longer the target. Yes they will chump you, call you names, say things about you sure. History is repetitive and it is on the side of those who expose the wrong doings of government.

You're a threat becuase the act of exposure makes you a hero!

[formercia]

7. If Mike Connell 's plane ran out of gas

why did it burst into flame on impact?

I don't fly small planes anymore. I had too many suspicious incidents to chalk it up to random.

[druidity33]

15. WOW

That really is an excellent point!

How DID it burst into flames if there was no gas in it?

[HillbillyBob]

23. C-4 Plastique -plastic explosives or a bit of titanium oxide explosive

NT

[formercia]

27. It's a lot simpler than that

I was flying a Piper Cherokee from Ft. Smith AR to London KY when I ran into some heavy clouds. There's a big stack in the area, so I decided to divert to Nashville. I tuned in to their frequency and heard them calling me. Apparently, the search teams were already looking for me. When I touched down, the brake shoe came off on the right wheel and seized up the tire, so I had to land it on one wheel. Since the runway was wide, the ground loop didn't do any damage and I was able to free the wheel and taxi to the service area. When I stopped, the ground crew ran up and told me that gas was pouring out from under the engine. Someone had loosened the gas line and fuel was pouring out.
When I got that repaired, I went to taxi out and my radio speaker went dead. Another repair.

Someone wanted me really dead. They were so sure they had me that the search crews were already looking.

[file83]

29. Interesting - who do you think "they" were?

And can you give us a hint as to why they would want you dead? You can't tell a great story like that and leave out those "beg the question" details!!!

:popcorn:

[formercia]

30. The powers that be.

As one former boss put it: "You piss off people that don't even know you."

I have a bad habit of telling people things they don't want to hear.

[HillbillyBob]

8. We pray for Larisas safety too.

No big corpse media coverage at all. Not that I am stuck to the tv today, just have NPR on and if there was any mention of it I may have missed it.
It is so very odd that anyone who objects or rats out the big rat bastards gets "suicided" or plane crashed. When are we going to see some justice?
If he was smart he left the evidence somewhere to be found jic.

[Name removed]

11. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[HillbillyBob]

22. Are you referring to me? If so stfu.

As a witness to the shredding of our ballots in Fla At our polling place.
I and several others spoke out about it. We were threatened, put on no fly lists, had our homes invaded, phone calls tapped, emails intercepted and returned with threats attached, also phone calls telling me to shut up if I knew what was good for me and my family.
When we contacted a senator investigating he was threatened and was told that FIOA requests were not honored on open dossiers.
Mr Connell apparently did not fully disclose he was in process of or threatening to....
I have not seen anywhere that he did provide full information, I would hope that he did that or other wise made provision for all of it to be public if something did happen to him.
BTW the 2000 election was not the first time I have been threatened and also witnessed govt wrong doing that I spoke out about to other authorities. I have had other interference. I now live up on the woods to protect myself and family, I have been hauled in and interrogated threatened verbally and been shot at and had associates get dead.
PS I am also acquainted with many of the players in the Don Siegelman case I was a neighbor of Geo Wallace who spoke about how the Booshes made the mob look like church deacons.
So instead of insulting try to find the truth here. We need to get control of our government back in the hands of responsible people and out of criminal enterprise hands.

[Octafish]

9. Wow. We may never know if Ohio was stolen in 2004.

Now who wouldn't want the People to know that?

Thank you for the outstanding links, Hissyspit.

BTB: Along with lala_rawraw, Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman have done an excellent job of bringing light to the Connell story.

http://www.freepress.org/index2.php

[bottomtheweaver]

18. I think we know. I think we've known for some time.

I recall an interview with Fitrakis where he reported that the uncounted provisional ballots alone, STILL uncounted, would have put Kerry over the top. Whether the media or Congress ever acknowledge that it was stolen is another question.

[L. Coyote]

19. We already know enough. But noone acts on the evidence.

Stealing Ohio was as simple as moving ballots to the next pile to change a Kerry punch to a Bush vote!
It all happened before the counting, so this event is not relevant to the Ohio vote switching inquiry.

http://jqjacobs.net/politics/ohio.html
How Kerry Votes Were Switched to Bush Votes

[beac]

10. Why, why, WHY do people with vital information and enemies b/c of it fly in small planes??

We can only hope that this guy left a disk or a video or SOMETHING marked "in case of my untimely death". :mad:

[creeksneakers2]

12. One reason I doubt Larisa's story

She wrote, " I know he was going to DC last night, but I don't know why."

Connell flew to College Park, MD, which is fairly close to DC, the day before. When he crashed, he was returning to the Akron-Canton airport, and only a few miles short of making it the whole way.

I'm suspicious of Larisa's claim that after years this man was about to spill the beans. The claim that he was "headed to Washington" makes it sound like he was going somewhere to tell all to officials who would blow the whole thing wide open. In fact he was returning home, so if he told all he knew in College Park then somebody would know it, except of course, that would be covered up by Karl Rove too.

http://www.ohio.com/news/36486224.html

Its also puzzling how an act of sabotage would be timed for when the pilot was only a few miles from completing his trip. A little difference in tailwinds would change arrival times, so it wouldn't make sense to time the sabotage like that. In fact, whoever the would be saboteur could be, they probably wouldn't know where he was going, so wouldn't know how to time it. If one was to sabotage a plane, he'd want it to fail soon after takeoff, so the timing problem would be eliminated.

It doesn't make sense that this was sabotage.

[libertypirate]

13. Wow after years of reading the shoved crap of facts after certain

events I would think ya'll would have a better handle on reality.

There is no need for ambiguity in the reporting of true accidents. Except when guilty troglodytes need to move the facts away from themselves and make it difficult to discern. Such ambiguity turns the average person away from wanting to understand what happened. Takes advantage of the intellectually laziness of our culture. To confuse people turns them off.

[creeksneakers2]

14. I don't believe I'm intellectually lazy

The proof is I looked at the facts here, and even further in another post.

It is normal that the cause of a plane crash isn't given until after an FAA investigation, which takes place after every plane crash.

[bottomtheweaver]

17. Yes, let's wait until the government issues its official report

before drawing the obvious conclusion, as if there's any doubt as to what it will say.

[Mind_your_head]

24. You're not intellectually lazy....you are intentionally attempting to confuse/disrupt

rational thought. I'd bet you have more than one 'name' here (and elsewhere).

Shame on you!

[creeksneakers2]

25. Correct

My real name is not Creeksneakers2.

[bottomtheweaver]

16. Whoa.

What a story. But I'm sure the timely plane crash is just a big coincidence, not.

[Hissyspit]

20. Update from Mark Crispin Miller:

Edited on Sat Dec-20-08 08:55 PM by Hissyspit
http://markcrispinmiller.com/2008/12/mike-connells-deat...

Mike Connell’s death and Karl Rove’s threats

Posted by mcmDecember 20, 2008

CORRECTION: Connell was not flying a Piper Cub. He was flying a Piper Lance Saratoga, a sophisticated airplane with de-icing capabilities.

Connell flew out of Washington yesterday afternoon. Airport personnel there claim that he waited on the runway for two hours, because of the weather, and did not take off until it cleared.
At roughly 6:00 p.m., his plane crashed in a vacant lot just a few miles from the Akron airport, where he was headed for a landing. (He lived in Akron.) It was a residential neighborhood. Witnesses say that the plane exploded in a ball of fire.

Below is an email from Jeff Adams, noting that the Piper Super Cub has an excellent safety record. Right now we’re looking for more information, which I will provide as it comes in.

Meanwhile, let’s recall that it was not a secret that Karl Rove had threatened Connell, and that both Cliff Arnebeck, the lead attorney in the Ohio lawsuit, and Brett Kimberlin of Velvet Revolution had alerted the authorities–including the Attorney General–to Rove’s theats, demanding that Connell be protected. Here’s a blog from last July, concerning the request sent to Mukasey:

Ohio Attorneys Seek Protection for Mike Connell and his Family against Alleged Threats from Karl Rove
Posted Thu, 07/24/2008 - 10:18 by cho
http://discuss.epluribusmedia.net/node/2164

Sources close to the Ohio Corrupt Practices Act/RICO claim sent us a copy of the following 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-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.
Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2008 13:50:55 EDT Subject: Report of Rove threats against witness Michael Connell

Dear Attorney General Mukasey:

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. See: http://www.bradblog.com/?p=6189 and http://www.archive.org/details/ElectionFraudInOhioCourt... .

I have informed court chambers and am in the process of informing the Ohio Attorney General’s and US Attorney’s offices in Columbus for the purpose, among other things, of seeking protection for Mr. Connell and his family from this reported attempt to intimidate a witness. Concurrently herewith, I am informing Mr. Conyers and Mr. Kucinich in connection with their Congressional oversight responsibilities related to these matters. Because of the serious engagement in this matter that began in 2000 of the Ohio Statehouse Press Corps, 60 Minutes, the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, C-Span and Jim VandeHei, and the public’s right to know of gross attempts to subvert the rule of law, I am forwarding this information to them, as well.

Cliff Arnebeck, Attorney
cc: Robert Fitrakis, Esq. Henry Eckhart, Esq

And now we need to push hard for serious investigations, not just of Connell’s death per se but of all his dealings with Karl Rove and Bush/Cheney.

MCM

Hello Mark,

Amateur pilots clearly have a higher accident rate than professionals. But this death looks suspicious*. And a responsible family man with a wife and 4 children would seem to be a low suicide risk even under the worst conditions.
Check with your friends and contacts that are knowledgeable pilots — the Piper Super Cub has an extremely safe record. It was first manufactured since 1949. And it has been subjected to all kinds of individual pilot skill and maintenance attention. But all-in-all expert pilots will rate it as easy to fly and a very “forgiving” plane to as to pilot skill.
Jeff Adams
Berkeley, CA

*Wikipedia gives a concise recap of another whistle-blower’s suspicious death which some may still try to write off as “conspiracy theory” bunk. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_Silkwood
For Aircraft Stats: http://www.ntsb.gov/

[creeksneakers2]

28. self delete

self delete

[Dystopian]

21. KandR. Outstanding work...thank you, once again. n/t

peace~

[Norrin Radd]

26. kr

[SalmonChantedEvening]

31. Kicked for lala & Hissy

:yourock: :kick:

HoHo ;)