SUSPICIOUS plane crash
John Byrne, David Edwards and Stephen Webster
The Republican consultant accused of involvement in alleged vote-rigging
in Ohio in 2004 was warned that his plane might be sabotaged before his
death in a crash Friday night, according to a Cleveland CBS affiliate.
45-year-old Republican operative Michael Connell was killed when his
single-passenger plane crashed Friday into a home in a suburb of Akron,
Ohio (PREVIOUS REPORT). The consultant was called to testify in federal
court regarding a lawsuit alleging that he took part in tampering with
Ohio's voting results in the 2004 election.
Without getting into specific details, 19 Action News reporter Blake
Renault reported Sunday evening that 45-year-old Republican operative
and experienced pilot had been warned not to fly his plane in the days
before the crash.
"Connell...was apparently told by a close friend not to fly his plane
because his plane might be sabotaged," Renault said. "And twice in the
last two months Connell, who is an experienced pilot, cancelled two
flights because of suspicious problems with his plane."
Renault called Connell's death "untimely."
The National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation
Administration are now investigating the crash. According to the
Cleveland Plain Dealer, no new information has been made available since
the incident occurred.
Connell was the subject of a lawsuit by liberal lawyer Clifford
Arnebeck, perhaps most well known for suing on behalf of 37 Ohio
residents to block Bush's electoral college victory in 2004. Arnebeck
had alleged Connell's involvement in a ploy to "flip" votes from then
Democratic nominee Sen. John Kerry to then-President George W. Bush.
Connell was ordered to testify in the suit in October, and told a
federal court that he had no involvement and knew of no plan to switch
votes in Ohio in 2004.
The Plain Dealer made no mention at all of the suit in their article Monday.
Connell was the founder of Ohio-based New Media Communications, which
created campaign Web sites for George W. Bush and John McCain.
Arnebeck warned the Justice Department that Connell's safety was in
jeopardy earlier this year. In July, he wrote an email to Attorney
General Michael Mukasey, requesting witness protection for the GOP
operative, which was carbon copied to Democratic Congressmen John
Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) and Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), who were
sympathetic to his 2004 lawsuit over Ohio's electoral votes.
"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," Arnebeck
wrote. "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."
Connell's exploits as a top GOP IT 'guru' have been well documented by
RAW STORY's investigative team.
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 present 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.
Alternative media group ePlubibus Media further discovered in November
2006 that election.sos. state.oh. us was hosted on the servers of a
company in Chattanooga, TN called SmarTech, which also provided hosting
for a long list of Republican Internet domains.
"Since early this decade, top Internet 'gurus' in Ohio have been
coordinating web services with their GOP counterparts in Chattanooga,
wiring up a major hub that in 2004, first served as a conduit for Ohio's
live election night results," researchers at ePluribus Media wrote.
A few months after this revelation, when a scandal erupted surrounding
the firing of US Attorneys for reasons of White House policy, other
researchers found that the gwb43 domain used by members of the White
House staff to evade freedom of information laws by sending emails
outside of official White House channels was hosted on those same
SmarTech servers.
RAW STORY Investigative Editor Larisa Alexandrovna said Connell's death
should be examined carefully in a blog post Sunday, but stopped short of
alleging foul play. She reported on Arnebeck's lawsuit and Connell's
enjoined testimony earlier this year.
"He has flown his private plane for years without incident,"
Alexandrovna wrote. "I know he was going to DC last night, but I don't
know why. He apparently ran out of gas, something I find hard to
believe. I am not saying that this was a hit nor am I resigned to this
being simply an accident either. I am no expert on aviation and cannot
provide an opinion on the matter. What I am saying, however, is that
given the context, this event needs to be examined carefully."
http://rawstory. com/news/ 2008/Killed_ GOP_pilot_ suspected_ plane_had_ 1222.html
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