White House Email Trail Grows Cold with Death of Bush IT Expert

How many licks does it take to get to the Tootise Roll center of a Tootsie Pop? The world may never know...

For those of you who remember the famous 1969 animated Tootsie Roll commercial -- the wise old owl's line is indeed applicable to the missing White House emails -- the world may never know.

Unfortunately, this holds true more than ever with the untimely death of Bush IT guru Mike Connell. Connell was killed this past Friday while attempting to land his private plane three miles outside Akron-Canton Airport. Connell, 45, was the only soul onboard the aircraft. The accident is under investigation.

The Associated Press reported Connell's death with three brief paragraphs, noting that Connell:

"was a Republican media consultant who helped operate campaign Web sites for President Bush and former presidential nominee John McCain."

The AP failed to mention that Connell was also the chief architect of George W. Bush election websites including GeorgeWBush.com and GWB43.com -- the primary email account used by Karl Rove during his tenure as Senior White House Advisor. Connell's company, GovTech Solutions, was responsible for building and managing congressional email servers and firewalls, including websites for the House Judiciary Committee, Financial Services, Ways and Means and Administration Committees. Connell also managed the servers for former Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth J. Blackwell in 2004.

Mike Connell had also been subpoenaed to testify in an Ohio lawsuit regarding his knowledge of vote rigging and the outsourcing of the vote count to Smart Tech servers in Chatanooga, Tennessee before they were rerouted back to Blackwell's office during the 2004 election. The same SmartTech servers were also used to run Connell's GeorgeWBush.com and GWB43.com websites.

Ohio attorneys Cliff Arnebeck and Bob Fitrakis were banking on Connell's testimony to substantiate their racketeering case against Karl Rove for alleged criminal wrongdoing in the 2004 election.

In a telephone interview on August 2, 2008, Arnebeck told me:

Mike Connell comes into play because he has been a common instrument in many facets of Rove's activity that we see as a criminal enterprise. He comes into play in Florida in work in 2000 and it is not clear to me what he is doing. But if you are in the State system, you've got a strategic asset to be in the system during an election and whether that is in terms of any of this Choicepoint business or any vote counting or registration data base, I don't know the answer to it but he was in the system. In 2004 he was doing web and server hosting in Chatanooga, Tennesee for the Ohio vote in the general election of 2004.

Arnebeck added:

Connell, in an oversight capacity of data processing and is in a position to tell us as a witness how things relate to another and to tell us where there may have been opportunities where corrupt activity may have been in play.

With respect to Connell's knowledge about the missing emails, Arnebeck referred to Connell's 2006 meeting with cyber security expert Stephen Spoonamore. Arnebeck said, "My understanding is that there was there was a conversation in which Mr. Connell asked about data destruction and the conversation was terminated when Spoonamore said 'if you're talking about White House emails, I will not talk about this -- discussion is over.' Connell then knowing that destruction would be illegal -- may have proceeded to destroy, although I do not know that, it could be that he went back to Rove or an intermediary to say that it would create a legal problem and Rove would then have gotten someone else to take care of data destruction. We just don't know."

One thing is certain, Arnebeck was concerned about Connell's security and said:

One of the people we're working with received a tip from someone who appeared to be credible that Rove had threatened Connell that if he did not take the fall for what happened in Ohio and keep Rove out of it, that his wife (Heather) would be prosecuted for having crossed the line for some kind of lobbying laws. And one of the people with whom we are consulting made inquiries sufficient to satisfy him that this is a credible tip and threat seems to be in play and on that basis I took steps I believe appropriate to try and protect a person we have already publicly identified as key witness against harm and threats and put Mr. Rove on notice that we don't intend to have any witness intimated by him.

One of the steps Arnebeck was referring to was a July 24, 2008 email to US Attorney General Michael Mukasey warning of Rove's threats against Connell:

Thursday, July 24, 2008 1:50 PM

From:[e-mail]
To:[e-mail]

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/ElectionFraudInOhioCourtCase.

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

Heather Connell has not returned my call but Arnebeck says the family is publicly denying any foul play or knowledge of threats against Connell or his family members. However, Arnebeck points out, Connell may have kept things to himself in order to protect his loved ones.

Connell's tragic death has dealt a real blow to Arnebeck's lawsuit. In an email dated today, Arnebeck told me he asked Dave Margolis, the Justice Department's top career organized crime fighter to "make sure the best resources are used in the investigation of the crash."

With the loss of a key witness, it's unclear whether Arnebeck's lawsuit will reach trial. But there may be still a way to determine Karl Rove's involvement in the missing White House emails and the US Attorney Purge -- President-elect Barack Obama could demand the backup tapes from the Secret Service.

Comments

[BuzzingAlong]

Something to consider:

Connell might not have felt the need to keep his own personal copies of records of his and the other criminals' involvement in the election tampering because at that time he believed he was doing God's work in giving Bush/Cheney control of the country. By the time of the alledged threat it might have been too late to compile his own copies.

Connell seems to have been involved in every dubious election of the last eight years from Florida in 2000, Alabama in 2002 (stealing the election from Don Siegelman), Georgia in 2002 (stealing the election from Max Cleland for Saxby Chambliss) and Ohio in 2004. Read and/or listen to Mark Krispin Miller's interview with Amy Goodman on Democrcy Now http://www.democracynow.org for insite into the three groups involved with Rove to steal the elections.

Heather Connell and the family are denying that this guy was involved in stealing elections (maybe they thought he was playin tidley winks for Rove/Bush/Cheney).

Maybe because of all of the money he probable made doing the dirty, the family could care less about some stinking stolen election; they weren't affected.

Maybe they think that if they remain silent, the Bushies will leave them alone.

Either way this guy a stain on this country.

[Sundialsvc4]

Any, and every, public e-mail system HAS to be designed to be in compliance with a wide variety of laws: HIPAA, Sarbanes-Oxeley, public records disclosure ... the list goes on. And they cannot be such that any "one person" can genuinely wipe-away the trail.

So... do not believe that "whups, the geek is dead, so the records are all gone, too bad." Especially(!) not in the case of a United States Government system.

[ReHoover51]

its too bad that the truth is irrelevant and immaterial in court ... we all know that they lied, its the proof that is the problem here ... and even with the proof, they still get away with it cuz the prez has a bud on the supCourt

[ReHoover51]

As the history of the world proves, the truth has no bearing on anything. It's irrelevant and immaterial, as the lawyers say.

[Keith52]

Thank you Rebecca! Please stay with this and keep us updated.

[FreedomAgain]

Thanks for bringing some focus to this Huffpost - Somehow, Someday, they need to bring down this crime ring.

[headstrong]

I have three words to add - "Wag The Dog".

[lvdragonlady]

All the Dems have to do is bring in some of those Silicon valley geeks, they will be able to find those missing emails and probably a lot more then that......­....

[stardog2012]

What Huff Post should be investigating further is why the mainstream media - CNN, WaPo, NY Times, etc - have an almost total media blackout on this story so far. Operation Mockingbird, anyone? I bet they drop a short superficial story on Xmas Eve when no one's looking...

[petey64]

maybe just maybe the MSM doesn't feel like wearing a tin foil hat for this one,

[Solja]

They haven't read it yet on HuffPo. Have you realized yet that more than half of their domestic stories come from here? I read the stuff here first, THEN the MSM reports it a day or two later.

[deminmo]

Star,
You brought out exactly my thoughts. There is a gag order somewhere on
covering negative stories. Right now, Chaney and Bush are opening up
to a lot of things that justify an investigation into war crimes. Almost
thumbing their noses at such an investigation. So far Congress seems
to be afraid of proceeding. It's mind boggling how much has gone on in
8 years, how close we are to losing our democracy, and possibly depression,
and yet no one wants to get accountability.

[littlepitcher]

Possible reason for the gag order? Computer hacking was done from Chattanooga. Ted Turner (Dem) and Robert Wright (GOP) (Fox, NBC) relatives are influential in that city.
Al Capone's brother Ralph has a great-grandchild who is the US Senator from that city--and he is GOP.
Major industry in that town makes nuclear power plant equipment--and is owned by White-Westinghouse, owner of CBS.
Sarah Palin's e-mail was hacked from that city. The city government owns the major Internet service in that city so undoubtedly, what politicians want, politicians get in the way of hack privileges.
Daily paper, now closed, was owned by NY Times, and the Ochs family still lives in Chattanooga and pulls many strings there.

[disjectamembra]

I agree with leclerke twice in a row. there has been a systemic infiltration by a toxic mindset into our great halls of power. and it will continue if biden and obama are serious to only look forward, unless they mean looking forward to the prosecution of bush admnistration crimes. if we let this slide in our hazy cloud of unity and hope we will be going through this again.

haramogoti, to your insistence "he was a good man" over and over i say so what? i am tired of all these right wing crooks and conspirators efforts to white wash their actions, hide their crimes. this is more revisionist attempts to make many who showed a willingness to subvert the Constitution into innocent rubes or contritionary patriots. "i see the light now!" if this guy has come to his senses it was still too late, unless he was just flat out lied to. and given rove, that would be possible. still, obama, if you are reading this, you must demand the full prosecution of many crimes committed by this admnistration or tell us why we can trust all is well.

[AmeriGus]

Despite Rebecca's pessimistic tone, Arnebeck issued the statement that the investigation continues undeterred.

[MyAudacity]

I've read the Clinton Chronicles. It appears there may be a Bush Chronicle in the works. And, all we can do is read'em an weep, or so it seems.

[BuzzingAlong]

You read the Clinton Chronicles?

Why?

Never mind, I don't really wnat to know. The fact the you are not embarrassed to admit that you read this garbage says all anyone need to know about you.

[ProfessorDuh]

The man who knew too much?

[Thrombeldinbar]

If the official FAA investigation of the "accident" is done by the current administration, the actual cause will never see the light of day, or a whitewash will occur in an effort to blur reality. I hope that the family has the forsight to have an independent investigative team perform a thorough and comprehensive study of the aircraft before it is destroyed.

His loss is devestating for his family.

If it is murder, it is devestating for the country.

[fishgirl26]

I notice Karl hasn't been on TV since this happened. Perhaps he's getting ready to head to a foreign location w/ Cheney & Bush??? These figures need to go to jail!

[vigilantwarrior]

You can't kill the truth.

Gary Webb and Ray Lemme are watching.

http://michaelfury.wordpress.com/2008/10/21/coke-or-pepsi/

[Mazinga]

Connell was a source for Larisa Alexandrovna.

"You see, Mike Connell set-up the alternate email and communications system for the White House. He was responsible for creating the system that hosted the infamous GWB43.com accounts that Karl Rove and others used. When asked by Congress to provide these emails, the White House said that they were destroyed. But in reality, what Connell is alleged to have done is move these files to other servers after having allegedly scrubbed the files from all "known" Karl Rove accounts."

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

Thanks for also writing about this sad development, Rebecca.

[hoodie]

Wellstone was the one lone Senator that was going to make life miserable for the W administration if they went to war. Funny how he met an untimely death in a plane, too.

[ProfessorDuh]

That was my thought, too.