Michael Connell plane crash

Surprisingly, there may be more to this story than meets the eye.

Relatively short version: Michael Connell was a key witness in King-Lincoln v. Blackwell, a lawsuit alleging fraud in the presidential election in Ohio in 2004. Lawyers in that case have described him as "a high-IQ Forrest Gump" for his knack of being on the scene at every suspicious election since 2000.

On July 24, Cliff Arnebeck, an attorney in the case, informed U.S. Attorney General Micheal Mukasey in an e-mail that:

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.

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.

Arnebeck subsequently asked Ohio's interim Attorney General Nancy H. Rogers to provide immunity protection services to Connell.

Now, reports are surfacing that the threats extended beyond prosecutions for lobby law violations:




In addition:

WMR has learned from our Ohio sources that five threats against Connell were conveyed to the election fraud plaintiff attorneys with the last tip being “Connell is in danger.” One of the threats reportedly made by Rove to Connell was that Connell could forget about a pardon from President George W. Bush if he did not “take the fall” in the event criminal charges were brought and that his wife Heather, who was used as a majority stockholder for one of Connell’s web design companies, GovTech Solutions, would be prosecuted for illegal lobbying. Connell’s other company is New Media Communications, Inc.

We have also learned that one additional tip was relayed to Connell’s wife and it was to the effect that Connell “was in danger and he should not fly his plane.”

Connell, accompanied by Bush-Cheney lawyers, was deposed on Nov. 3, the day before election day, "about his actions during the 2004 vote count and his access to Karl Rove’s e-mail files and how they went missing," and stonewalled. Since then, "Connell has indicated very clearly a desire to talk further."

I'm not saying that there was definitely foul play in this tragic case, but I think the circumstances -- and the convenient timing for certain parties -- merit an investigation.

Is Pat Fitzgerald finished with Blago yet?