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| 1-26-06: Elections Programmer Jeff De... |
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Bev Harris
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 3381
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box? 
Votes: 17 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Wednesday, January 25, 2006 - 11:15 pm: | 
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UPDATED 1/27 8:47 a.m.: Convicted of 23 felonies for computer crimes(1), Jeffrey Dean was sent to prison for four years. Shortly after release in 1995, Dean was awarded lucrative contracts to create elections software and print ballots. Programs developed by Dean are in use throughout the U.S.
Dean was convicted for a scam that took place in the late 1980s at the politically connected Culp, Guterson & Grader (CG&G) law firm. This small but powerful firm handled cases for King County (WA), and had some high profile partners. Watergate figure Egil "Bud" Krogh happened to be one of the CG&G partners during the time Jeffrey Dean did work for the firm. (2) Krogh had earlier headed the White House "Plumbers" unit that conducted political dirty tricks, invaded privacy to plug leaks and engaged in obstruction of justice which ultimately brought down the president of the United States in 1974.
In a 2003 deposition, Dean claims he was a scapegoat(3), left holding the bag in a series of unapproved payments from the law firm. Dean claims that he took the fall for other lawyers in the firm who were also involved in an illicit scheme. Signatures of two CG&G attorneys appeared on improper monthly checks written to Jeffrey Dean. These signatures were forgeries, according to prosecutors.
One of CG&G's clients was King County. A CG&G attorney, Bruce Hilyer, had been a King County deputy prosecutor and legal counsel to the mayor. Another attorney for the firm, Ann Schindler, later became senior deputy prosecutor for King County and a King County Superior Court judge. Cyrus Vance Jr., son of the former US secretary of state, was named a partner of CG&G in 1988.
A month before Jeffrey Dean's Aug. 1995 release from prison, the law firm Dean says he "received money" from and "took the fall for" split up.
- Egil Krogh formed a law firm with Thomas Erlichman, son of Watergate figure John Erlichman.
- Two CG&G attorneys took positions in B.C. (Canada).
- Pete Vial, one of the supposed signers of checks written to Dean, later represented Susan Barnes in an investigation connected with now-Governor Christine Gregoire
- The other signature Dean was accused of forging belonged to Robert Stewart, who is now with McNaul Ebel Nawrot & Helgren, the successor firm to CG&G.
During an investigation of Dean's assets in unrelated litigation (2003),(4) he claimed that other persons from CG&G were involved in a scheme,(5) and upon discovery of illicit payments (averaging $14,000/month)(6) he ended up taking the blame.
Jeffrey Dean has told many conflicting stories about his legal troubles. Black Box Voting is looking into Dean's circle of contacts because of his instant rise as an insider in U.S. elections after getting out of prison -- gaining government contracts that made him a millionaire, from King County and British Columbia, and developing software used nationwide.
Certainly one of the most well known characters in Dean's perimeter was Bud Krogh, who made partner of CG&G in 1984 -- some accounts say 1980 -- and reportedly became a managing partner of the firm at some point. The period while Dean was receiving illicit payments was 1985 through 1987.
Like Jeffrey Dean, Krogh did time in prison -- four months for Watergate-related crimes. Krogh, who says his involvement in Watergate was wrong, was the first to plead guilty, and the first White House staff member to go to jail. Krogh was disbarred, but after a fight from a CG&G attorney, and with support from Watergate special prosecutor Leon Jaworski, his credentials were restored.
'He [Krogh] was hired on the merits of his character, intelligence and skills as a lawyer,'' said William L. Dwyer, the firm's senior partner, who had represented Mr. Krogh in his disbarment fight. Dwyer became a U.S. district judge. (According to the New York Times, July 13, 1986 "The Success of the President's Men")
However, with such egregious infractions against a firm with such close ties to King County, it is surprising that an embezzler of CG&G could become a key insider for King County elections -- especially since CG&G was seeking restitution from Dean while he was working inside the King County Administration Building.
This would be a comedy if it wasn't so serious
For several years, while the King County prosecutor was supposedly seeking Jeffrey Dean for failure to make restitution, and while various attorneys and partners from CG&G attorneys litigated and adjudicated cases across the street and often conducted business in the same building -- Dean was programming election software in the King County Elections office in the King County Administration building. One wonders how often Dean shared the elevator with those who were seeking him, and why no one from CG&G nudged any of their King County friends to take a look at the 1992 Seattle Times article about Jeffrey Dean's conviction on 23 counts of theft.
How Jeffrey Dean's criminal background was discovered
Dean's involvement in elections was not publicly exposed until Dec. 16, 2003, by Black Box Voting founder Bev Harris and a candidate for Washington secretary of state, the late Andy Stephenson.* The elections involvement of Dean and four other felons and swindlers was exposed by Harris and Stephenson in a press conference on Dec. 16, 2003, with the story hitting The Associated Press that night.
* Stephenson was also an investigator for Black Box Voting for five months in 2004.
Jeffrey Dean's access to King County election programs was questioned by former King County Supervisor of Elections Julie Anne Kempf during her tenure (1998-2003). Kempf had been concerned about requests from King County to gain access to the Diebold GEMS central tabulator, the "mother ship" that ultimately controls ballot definitions and vote tallying. While Kempf was striving to tighten up access to the GEMS server, King County was pushing to loosen it to include remote access by King County employees outside the elections division. By this time, and at the request of King County's voting machine maker (Global Election Systems, now Diebold), Jeffrey Dean had been given a key and 24-hour access to the King County elections software. For some reason he was working inside King County offices to develop programs for his private company and for Global Election Systems.
Kempf requested permission to do a background check on Jeffrey Dean. She never received permission, so she took it upon herself to look into Dean's background. What she found shocked her: Not only did Jeffrey Dean have a prison record for computer crimes, but John Elder, the head of the Diebold ballot printing plant used by King County, had been imprisoned for four years on narcotics trafficking charges.
Kempf learned that Dean had met Elder while in prison, and prior to release from prison, the two had already secured jobs at the mail-processing plant for King County absentee voting. Both had become involved in King County elections before Kempf was appointed Supervisor of Elections. Shortly before Kempf became supervisor of elections, King County signed a contract with Global Election Systems for voting machines. King County Elections had been contracting with Jeff Dean's company (Spectrum) since 1996 and with a company run by his brother (PSI Group) -- where Jeffrey Dean and John Elder also worked -- since 1995.
King County has a million voters, two-thirds of whom -- over 650,000 voters -- vote by mail-in ballot in major elections. The Dean's companies handled absentee ballot printing, mail processing, and other election functions for King County Elections.
Kempf brought her concerns with Dean and Elder's criminal records to the attention of her supervisor.
Not long afterward, Kempf experienced a mini-meltdown in an election, when a few hundred absentee ballots did not arrive on time. The Diebold ballot printing plant,* run by John Elder, was responsible for the late ballots. When asked by the press to explain the lateness, Kempf repeated the reason she'd been told by an employee at the Diebold ballot printing plant (under Elder's management). In a high profile public excoriation, Kempf was fired for the late absentee ballot delivery and for telling the press a reason that turned out to be untrue. John Elder was kept on as the ballot printer for King County, and Jeffrey Dean's programs continued to be used by King County.
*The Diebold ballot printing plant was an acquisition of Jeffrey Deans "Spectrum Print & Mail" company, first owned by Dean and then purchased by Global Election Systems (making Dean the largest stockholder of Global); Global was in turn purchased by Diebold. Elder worked for all three versions of the company, Dean supervised the first two and took a consulting arrangement for the third, Diebold.
In a separate investigation in Dec. 2003, Black Box Voting investigators Harris and Stephenson had uncovered evidence that the founders of Global Election Systems were swindlers. Global Election Systems was the firm that bought Jeffrey Dean's "Spectrum Print & Mail" operation, making Dean the largest stockholder of Global. Both Global and its subsidiary, Spectrum, were acquired by Diebold in 2002.
Around the same time that Jeffrey Dean was sent to prison, Global Elections System founder Michael K. Graye was convicted of stock fraud in the U.S. and embezzling $18 million in Canada; earlier, Global's salesperson Norton Cooper was convicted of defrauding the Canadian government, and in the mid-90s, one of Global's original directors, Charles Hong Lee, was ordered to pay over $600,000 in restitution for bilking immigrants out of their savings. While investigating this story, Harris and Stephenson learned of Kempf, interviewed her, and obtained the criminal records for Dean and Elder.
On Dec. 16, 2003, harris & Stephenson broke the story of the five felons and swindlers. That night Dean's involvement in elections made the Associated Press, a month later the Seattle Weekly, Seattle Times and the Post Intelligencer ran stories on it, the felons were mentioned in a New York Times column, and in April 2004 the story made Vanity Fair magazine. In June 2004, the now high-profile Jeffrey Dean was sent back to prison for failing to pay restitution and violating his parole.
What did King County do about Jeffrey Dean and John Elder after learning they were felons?
There appears to have been no investigation by King County as to what program changes Jeffrey Dean made to the King County software. King County continues to use at least three programs developed by Dean (Mailware, VoteRemote, and FrontEnd ballot software, which have been incorporated into Diebold's operations).
King County jettisoned Jeffrey Dean's "VoterView" voter registration program. Although King County owns the software, it refused to provide the source code for this unused program when Black Box Voting requested it in a public records request. The reason for King County's refusal was that this software is intimately tied to the Diebold software, which Diebold deems to be a proprietary secret, and therefore by its association with the Diebold software, the unused King County software's contents has been deemed by King County to be a proprietary secret of Diebold. (If it baffles you that taxpayer money can be used to create a never-used program owned by the government, somehow deemed a trade secret of a private corporation, we'd like to join you in befuddlement.)
DEAN BECOMES A BALLOT PRINTER
Jeffrey Dean was released from prison in Aug. 1995. Not long afterward, a company owned by his wife (but run by Jeffrey Dean) was awarded a massive ballot-printing contract and lucrative election-programming deals that ultimately made the Deans $3.4 million in a buyout. In SEC documents, the Dean's company (Spectrum Print & Mail Ltd.) lists assets located in the Seattle area, British Columbia, San Francisco and in the Norwalk (CA) location that houses the Los Angeles County Elections Division.(7)
DEAN DEVELOPS COMPUTERIZED ELECTION SYSTEMS
According to depositions taken in 2003, Jeffrey Dean programmed the ballot sorting software used to process incoming and outgoing mail-in ballots; he also developed the Vote Remote software used to track and authenticate mail-in ballots.
Key logs from King County Elections show that Jeffrey Dean was given intimate access to the GEMS server (Diebold central tabulating software); internal memos from Diebold refer to an ongoing consulting arrangement with Dean, and document that he had management involvement in the touch-screens, the 1.96 version of the optical scan, the votercard encoder and the Windows CE operating system used in Diebold voting machines. In addition, during recent litigation Dean called Peter G. Martin as a witness, indicating that he had worked closely with Martin, who programmed the new upcoming High Speed Central Count system.
Diebold's mail-in voting system warrants far more scrutiny than it's getting. Recent information obtained by Black Box Voting shows that Diebold has now stripped out security protections that previously existed in the firmware that counts and creates the absentee ballot audit trail.
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS WITH THE DEAN FAMILY
Black Box Voting has learned that in Dec. 2005 Jeffrey Dean and his wife Deborah were ordered into Chapter 7 bankruptcy by a trustee who become fed up with their "gamesmanship" in obstructing discovery of their assets. Jeffrey and Deborah Dean had attempted to reorganize their assets under Chapter 11, and Chapter 13, filed separately from one another and frequently attempting to change the status (i.e. from Chapter 11 to Chapter 13 for one spouse, with a different category for the other).
In addition to a court order to pay past-due restitution to CG&G (over $600,000), they were ordered to pay $500,000 to Tae Yon Kim, a former programmer who they fired just days after the 2000 election.
The Deans had lost or fired nearly all of their programmers shortly before and after the 2000 election. One of their programmers, Brian Clubb, came back to work for that division under Diebold.
It is curious that the Deans chose to file for bankruptcy at all (even Chapter 13 and/or Chapter 11, which allow reorganization of assets rather than the total liquidation required by Chapter 7). The Deans have now paid the Culp Guterson & Grader judgment. They still would have had over $2 million in assets to pay the Tae Yon Kim judgement. Instead, they transferred $1.8 million to family members (which may ultimately be deemed to be a fraudulent transfer); they obstructed production of various records, and have still not fully accounted for or explained their income stream, which includes murky "$8000 per quarter" payments from an entity they call "Spectrum Digital" in British Columbia.
Three different "Spectrums" and convoluted answers on the Dean's current income stream
1. The Deans sold "Spectrum Print & Mail" including the Canadian branch of Spectrum Print & Mail, to Global Election Systems in Sept. 2000.
2. The Deans formed a Delaware corporation, "Spectrum NW LLC" after selling Spectrum Print & Mail.
3. The Deans provided $45,000, which they said they "gave" and which appears in more recent documents as a debenture, to an entity they call "Spectrum Digital" in Canada. For the past several years, this entity has reportedly been sending about $8000 per quarter back to the Deans' "Spectrum NW" entity. This seems an unusually generous loan repayment arrangement, since the Deans say they do not have stock in "Spectrum Digital," so Black Box Voting went to Canada to examine this income stream more closely. The Deans say that "Spectrum Digital" is a printing operation, but we could find no evidence of such a printing operation.
"Spectrum Digital" does not appear to be registered in the town where we found its address. No business license for such an entity has ever been filed there. Following the Maple Ridge address for Spectrum leads to a house in a posh residential area. The address is also listed as belonging to Erica [Jacobsen] Cardas, to whom Deborah Dean says she gave the $45,000, and Mark Cardas, who shows up listed as a Realtor and at one time used an email belonging to Spectrum NW.
There was once a Spectrum Print & Mail in Burnaby, B.C. (which was owned by the Deans), but that was the one sold to Global Election Systems in 2000. The Canadian business for that operation, as reported to Global Election Systems by the Deans, was "printing and other services" for ICBC, a quasi-public auto insurance company. ICBC, the firm that prints all the drivers licenses in B.C., revealed to Black Box Voting that the annual contractual payments to Spectrum Print & Mail were about $540,000. However, only half that amount appears on the Spectrum financial statements provided to Global by the Deans. Global Election Systems purchased the British Columbia operations for Spectrum Print & Mail, including the ICBC contract.
Thus, the "Spectrum" in the house in Maple Ridge, which has been sending money to the Deans, appears to be a new or different Spectrum, and it is unclear what its business operation does or where its printing presses would be located.
Black Box Voting has been unable to confirm that there was ever a physical address for any Spectrum or Spectrum Digital associated with the Deans or Erica Cardas, other than a residence. An unrelated map-printing company goes by the name "Spectrum Digital," located about an hour away. We spoke with the owners, who told us they had also become curious after receiving phone calls about Cardas's Spectrum. They drove to Maple Ridge about a year ago trying to locate the operation. They could not find it.
Depositions of Deborah Dean in Oct. 2004 are quite vague about the income from the Canadian "Spectrum" operation, run by a former employee of the Deans, Erica Cardas. Ms. Dean seemed unable to remember whether, when she handed over $45,000 to Cardas, it was a loan or not; she was unsure whether she (Dean) was a director of the Spectrum in Canada.
Ms. Dean also claimed to be unsure of how many bank accounts were held by Spectrum NW -- the Delaware corporaton owned by the Deans and, by gifts of money or stock, their sons. This entity is a Delaware corporation called "Spectrum NW." Deborah Dean claimed in depositions that she did not know how much money was in Spectrum NW accounts, because "Jeff does the books."
When asked what the purpose of U.S.-based Spectrum NW is, the Deans say it is doing land development. They purchased a 750 acres ranch in Idaho and an RV Park. One of the depositions states that work was done to create computer network connections between U.S.-based "Spectrum NW," Canadian-based "Spectrum Digital" and their Idaho properties.
Does any of the Dean's income stream come from Diebold?
The Deans at one point stated that they have had no ongoing relationship with Diebold, but when asked in a formal interrogatory to reveal all past and current payments from Diebold, and any due in the future, they ommitted that answer.
In Jan. 2005, the courts ordered Deborah Dean to produce documents or face jail time. In April 2005, a trustee advised merging the husband and wife Jeffrey and Deborah Dean's bankruptcy cases together, putting the merged case under Chapter 7 bankruptcy requirements which gives the trustee more control over their estate. Due to the criminal history, he said, the Dean's warrant especially close supervision and examination of assets.
A 25 YEAR HISTORY OF TROUBLE
Jeffrey Dean has a 25-year history of financial problems, tax liens and litigation, going back to a company he formed while working for Boeing. Though he refers to this company in recent depositions as "Astec," its real name was Advanced Systems Technology, Inc., a company run by Dean and partner Michael C. Redman. Dean represents that this company did aircraft design, and says that he sold it to Raleigh-Durham Aviation in 1980. Legal documents show that he had a $700,000 tax lien imposed on him in connection with the "failed business" in 1984, and several creditors filed civil suits against him in 1979 and 1980.
By 1982, Dean was a contractor for Culp, Guterson & Grader. Assets began accumulating under his wifes' names. When Dean divorced his first wife and married wife #2, Lorimay, she began accumulating real estate under an entity called "JAL Investments Inc." This entity and its real estate was transferred to Dean's third wife, Deborah M. [Pederson] Dean. Culp, Guterson & Grader represented Dean in both of his divorces (1982 and 1984).
Efforts to shield assets through Jeff Dean's wife failed when it was revealed that over $180,000 of inappropriately received funds were spent on Deborah Dean's house, and that Deborah had been cashing checks as large as $10,000 at a time from the illicit funds.
Although she was involved in litigation over restitution issues, Deborah Dean was not prosecuted in the thefts from Culp, Guterson & Grader.
Jeffrey Dean entered an Alford Plea admitting to 23 felony counts, and was ordered to appear at the Shelton Correctional facility to begin his incarceration. Instead, he failed to show up and went to Oregon, where he apparently lived under a different name. Bench warrants were issued and he went to prison.
Meanwhile, wife Deborah began "Spectrum Print & Mail Ltd." According to depositions, this firm was mostly delivering newspapers to contract deals like the Washington ferries.
Shortly after Jeffrey Dean got out of prison, however, Spectrum Print & Mail got into ballot printing and designing software for elections.
This ballot printing plant, using software Dean claims to have developed, handles ballot printing and mail-ballot processing for counties like King County (WA) and Los Angeles County, Fresno County, San Diego County, Alameda County (CA), and for the state of Georgia and many other locations.
The Deans were rewarded for Jeffrey Dean's ballot printing and election software programming work in a $4 million buyout by Global Election Systems shortly before election 2000. The Deans became the largest stockholders of Global Election Systems, and Jeffrey Dean took a position on the board of directors. Part of the $4 million was in stock; when Diebold bought Global, a devaluation occured that doesn't seem clearly explained in the SEC documents. The result was that the Deans got $3.4 million instead of $4 million.
In January 2002, Diebold Inc. purchased Global Election Systems. Oddly, in a 2003 deposition, Jeffrey Dean claims that his contact with Global was always Pat Green -- but Green is a Diebold employee, not a Global Election Systems employee. Yet Diebold claims it hasn't worked with Jeffrey Dean. Since Dean began interfacing quite intimately with Global in 1998, and acquisition talks between Global and Diebold didn't start until 2001, this indicates that:
- Diebold was involved years earlier than was disclosed
or
- Dean is shielding or lying about who his real contact at Global was.
or
- Pat Green worked for Global before he worked for Diebold. This seems unlikely. Black Box Voting was told by a well-placed source that Pat Green was considered a particularly inept employee of the Diebold ATM division, and thus it was surprising to some when he was given the assignment of overseeing Diebold Election Systems R&D department. It was also considered strange that, while the programmers for Diebold Election Systems are in Vancouver Canada and the manufacturing is done in McKinney Texas, Pat Green remains in Canton Ohio.
WHY ARE WE DOING THIS?
The Vote Remote software and the absentee ballot processing software developed by Jeffrey Dean was never submitted for certification, has not been examined by anyone, and due to technicalities in the certification regulations, is not subject to certification. Several counties have recently announced plans to force voters into all mail-in voting, including King County, Jeffrey Dean's first elections client.
Exactly what Jeffrey Dean was doing to the GEMS database program, what "oversight" he was providing to the touch-screen technology purchased by Diebold, and what expertise he provided for the votercard encoder, the optical scan 1.96 series, and the upcoming High Speed Central Count are not publicly known at this time.
DIEBOLD CLAIMS MERIT FURTHER SCRUTINY
Diebold claims that it did not work with Jeffrey Dean after acquiring Global Election Systems in 2002. However, the Dean depositions reveal that in May and June 2002, during the time the "rob-georgia" patch was created, Jeffrey Dean was called back to do consulting for Diebold. The Deans have been accused of obstructiveness and evasion by attorneys seeking to recover funds in a pending bankruptcy case. Specifically, when asked to identify monies paid by or due from Diebold Election Systems, they omitted answers.
DOCUMENTATION BELOW
Depositions, documents, and supporting documentation will be posted on the Black Box Voting Web site this week. These documents include bankruptcy papers, depositions, civil litigation, criminal litigation, SEC filings, and information received from Canada.
Jeffrey Dean prison records: http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/2197/14323.html
(by Black Box Voting investigators Bev Harris, Kathleen Wynne, and Jim March, with assistance from Black Box Voting members Pat Vesely and John Howard.)
Citizen research & investigations section now available: http://www.bbvforums.org/cgi-bin/forums/board-auth.cgi?file=/17141/17141.html (you must register and log in to use this)
PERMISSION TO REPRINT GRANTED, WITH LINK TO http://www.blackboxvoting.org |
Bev Harris
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 3382
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box? 
Votes: 2 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Thursday, January 26, 2006 - 3:45 pm: |
|
(1) Document: 23 counts
Source: Jeffrey Dean prison documents
http://bbvdocs.org/dean.pdf
 |
Bev Harris
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 3384
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box?
Votes: 1 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Thursday, January 26, 2006 - 4:13 pm: |
|
(3) New York Times articles:
THE SUCCESS OF THE 'PRESIDENT'S MEN'
13 July 1986
The New York Times
...EGIL KROGH JR.
''Bud'' Krogh, the White House aide who headed the ''plumbers'' team and who was disbarred, fought for the right to practice law again and eventually won his case before the Washington State Supreme Court. In 1980, he joined the prestigious firm of Culp, Dwyer, Guterson & Grader in Seattle, where he now lives.
Named a partner two years ago, the 46-year-old Mr. Krogh, who served four months in prison, works for such clients as the Washington State Convention Center and the Pacific Northwest Utilities Conference.
''He was hired on the merits of his character, intelligence and skills as a lawyer,'' said William L. Dwyer, the firm's senior partner, who had represented Mr. Krogh in his disbarment fight. ''All of us believed he was a good man who had made a very serious mistake and atoned for it. We were entirely willing to accept him on his merits; our clients have been willing to do the same.''
Mr. Krogh's old White House links are sometimes useful - for example, when he assists companies wanting to do business with China. ''Before I went to China the first time, President Nixon wrote a letter on my behalf,'' he said. ''It was very helpful.''
Except for that, the White House years matter little, he said, though his Watergate links may have helped him attract students and win a job teaching law and public policy at Golden Gate University in San Francisco in the late 1970's.
Today, he is happy to fade into private life. ''There's not a whole lot of interest in it these days,'' he said, referring to Watergate. ''If people recognize the name, they ask, 'Did you play for the Cincinnati Reds?' I usually say I didn't play for the Reds and let it drop.''
WATERGATE, THEN AND NOW; Who Was Who in the Cover-Up and Uncovering of Watergate
Special to The New York Times
Mr. Krogh headed the Special Investigations Unit, known as "the Plumbers," organized to plug leaks to the press at the time of the break-in of the office of Daniel Ellsberg's psychiatrist. Mr. Krogh admitted authorizing the break-in and served four months in prison on a conspiracy conviction. "At the time, in 1971, I thought that what we were doing was dictated inescapably by the national security interests," he said. Mr. Krogh said Watergate taught him that "You have to remain true to your deepest sense of what is right. You have to be willing to question what you're being asked to do. I wasn't willing to question what I was doing." He said he sees President Nixon, John Ehrlichman, Donald Segretti and other players in the Watergate affair perhaps once a year. Since 1980, Mr. Krogh, 52, has been a partner with Culp, Dwyer, Guterson & Grader law firm in Seattle, where he lives.
Egil Krogh Takes Post At Law Firm in Seattle
14 December 1980
The New York Times
SEATTLE, Dec. 13 -- Egil Krogh, former head of the White House ''plumbers'' unit that worked to stop disclosures of information in the Administration of President Nixon, has returned to the practice of law.
Mr. Krogh, 40 years old, joined one of Seattle's top law firms, Culp, Dwyer, Guterson & Grader. Mr. Krogh headed the ''plumbers'' unit at the time of the 1971 burglary of the office of Dr. Lewis Fielding, the psychiatrist of Daniel Ellsberg, who said he disclosed the Pentagon Papers, classified information about American involvement in the war in Vietnam. Mr. Krogh was later convicted of conspiring to violate Mr. Ellsberg's civil rights and served four months in prison. |
Bev Harris
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 3383
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box? 
Votes: 1 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Thursday, January 26, 2006 - 4:01 pm: |
|
(3) Documents: scapegoat
Source document: Dean Declaration
http://www.bbvdocs.org/dean/dean-declaration.pdf
Dean says lawyers inside Culp Guterson & Grader were involved:
 |
Bev Harris
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 3385
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Thursday, January 26, 2006 - 4:23 pm: |
|
(4) Litigation between Tae Yon Kim & Jeffrey/Deborah Dean
http://www.bbvdocs.org/dean/kim-complaint.pdf |
Bev Harris
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 3386
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Thursday, January 26, 2006 - 4:47 pm: |
|
(5) Document - description of the alleged scheme
Source document: Dean Declaration
http://www.bbvdocs.org/dean/dean-declaration.pdf
 |
Bev Harris
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 3387
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box?
Votes: 1 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Thursday, January 26, 2006 - 5:06 pm: |
|
(6) Documents: "Received" checks
Several stories have been put forth by Mr. Dean about the origin of these checks, and others like them.
In one statement, he says that the checks were stolen from Culp Guterson & Grader, he forged them and paid himself.
In more recent statements (see above) he says that he had permission to "receive" the checks from certain lawyers in Culp, Guterson & Grader, but not with the knowledge of others in the firm's management. Such a scenario could explain Dean's immediate good fortune, after as he puts it, "taking the fall" -- upon being released from prison, securing lucrative contracts that enabled him to turn around and sell a business for $4 million 48 months later. We'll let you complete the rest of such a movie script. In the real world, of course, Jeffrey Dean has quite a checkered history with both financial dealings and telling the truth.
 |
Bev Harris
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 3388
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Thursday, January 26, 2006 - 5:20 pm: |
|
(7) Documents: Locations for Spectrum assets
Source document:
SEC filings during acquisition of Spectrum Print & Mail by Global Election Systems
http://www.bbvdocs.org/dean/assets.pdf
We were particularly interested to note the address for one set of equipment listed by Dean's company:
12400 Imperial Hwy
Norwalk, CA
This is the address for Conny Drake McCormack's offices at the Los Angeles County Elections Division. Hmm.
 |
Bev Harris
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 3389
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box?
Votes: 2 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Thursday, January 26, 2006 - 5:47 pm: |
|
Requesting any observations you have on page load time. There are many more graphics that can go here, if it isn't slowing it down too much. More tomorrow.
Bev |
John Howard
Frequent Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Harmonyguy
Post Number: 243
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Thursday, January 26, 2006 - 8:18 pm: |
|
Load time is good - and I'm wireless!
Can you do the small graphic with a 'click' for a larger graphic? |
Bruce Marshall
Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Bcmarshall
Post Number: 1
Registered: 01-2006
Best of Black Box?
Votes: 1 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Friday, January 27, 2006 - 7:16 am: |
|
Thank you, Bev, for all the work you do to keep us informed. I think one day you will be recognized as a true American hero. I certainly think you are.
I can only speak for myself, but I imagine there are a lot of others who agree with me. I love you, Bev. Thanks for caring enough to try to make a difference.
Here's a quote that I think you'll enjoy.
"Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules and they have no respect for the status quo. You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them, disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing that you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They invent. They imagine. They heal. They explore. They create. They inspire. They push the human race forward. Maybe they have to be crazy. How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art? Or sit in silence and hear a song that's never been written? Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels? We make tools for these kinds of people. While some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do." – Apple Computer ad, c 1999 |
Bev Harris
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 3391
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box?
Votes: 1 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Friday, January 27, 2006 - 7:39 am: |
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Bruce,
Welcome to Black Box Voting, and thank you so very much for your kind words. That's a wonderful quote. And it appears that it applies to about 350,000 of us now, because there are a whole lot of citizens who are starting to see the picture on the canvas, despite being assured by public officials that there's nothing there.
Each one teach one. |
Jim March
Frequent Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Jimmarch
Post Number: 108
Registered: 01-2005
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Friday, January 27, 2006 - 7:58 am: |
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Comment from Bev - and the official position of Black Box Voting -- What Jim is describing, below, explains why we are investing time and resources to learn more about this situation. Speculation serves investigative reporting in the same way a hypothesis serves science. You wonder about something. You seek to prove or disprove the validity of your hypothesis. We hope to see what we have learned so far investigated in a formal public setting, with subpoena power. There are more questions that need to be asked under oath, of the Deans, of Urosevich, of certain King County officials, of Diebold.
Back to Jim...
I just have to comment here in a "sum it up" fashion for anybody feeling overwhelmed.
What we KNOW is that a criminal went from jail straight to an important role in elections for THE dominant county in Washington state.
How did that happen? Why? What were the political connections involved?
These questions *matter*.
King County WA dominates this state's politics the way Chicago dominates Illinois politics or NYC dominates NY. The software Dean was developing ended up being used by the dominant election systems vendor in the United States.
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Now let's look at it from Jeffrey Dean's point of view right after he was busted in the criminal case. Let's assume he's telling the truth about the embezzlement, that he was one cog in a machine pulling money out, investing it, keeping the profit and putting the original amount back into the law firm.
He has two choices: he can rat out the bigger players for less time in the pokey (maybe) and get a lot of very politically connected people mad at him...or he can keep quiet, do two to four years and come out of the pen with friends in high places. *Maybe* friends he still has dirt on, although that's speculation.
Which should he do? Which DID he do?
Understand, when we first came across this claim by Dean that he was just a bit player in a bigger scam, I for one assumed at first glance that he was lying. But then we looked at the timeline, at how quickly he landed on his feet in a politically sensitive field right after jail.
Following the hypothesis that Dean is telling the truth, questions must be asked about who his guardian angel(s) were, why King County seemed to be protecting him, and exactly what it was that he created in his election software.
Just add it up, folks.
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One more point: if this is correct, and that Dean was a known computer-savvy crook who protected higher-ups...and you were somebody who wanted elections rigged...well then Dean is your golden child, right?
You couldn't *possibly* find a better qualified fraudster, not in a million years.
And this clown is tied into the products of the biggest voting machine vendor in America?
* * * * * *
* * * * * *
* * * * * *
* * * * * *
TRIPLE PROTECTION FOR ELECTION 2006 - STARTING NOW:
(1) Use Freedom of Information, public records requests ("All American Paper Chase")
(2) Try Dumpster Diving for Democracy
(3) Candid America Project - Don't leave home without your camcorder
HOW TO DO IT: http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/6/6.html
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Phil McCracken
Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Phil_mccracken
Post Number: 12
Registered: 01-2006
Best of Black Box?
Votes: 2 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Friday, January 27, 2006 - 10:22 am: |
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Jim:
I think your last sentence is a little misleading. Jeff Dean has not worked for Diebold for several years, according to my research. Check it out if you not believe me.
I appreciate your passion Jim, but please let us be careful with our use of words. I am concerned just like everyone of you about these issues, but I am also concerned about mass hysteria resulting from bad rumors, etc. The Internet is a great tool for disseminating information, but with this tool comes great responsibility to be careful with our thoughts and facts. I would love to see the day when all media sources check out their facts from several sources, not just one, and have those sources independently confirm the stories.
PM |
Bev Harris
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 3396
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box?
Votes: 2 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Friday, January 27, 2006 - 10:46 am: |
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Phil,
Please share your "research" that shows Jeff Dean has not worked for Diebold for several years. What is the last date you have him working for Diebold? What is your source on that?
And have you gotten him to answer what compensation he has gotten, is recieving now, and will receive in the future from Diebold? If so, I'm sure the lawyer for Tae Yon Kim and the bankruptcy trustee would like to have it, since they haven't been able to get Jeff Dean to answer that question.
It's a bit of a pet peeve of mine, these folks that say "according to my research" when their research is not sourced, identified, made public, or qualified in any way.
Jim is not causing mass hysteria. He's posting a question, and he's basing it on personally reviewing 2,000 pages of court documents and depositions. It's a valid question.
Jim's last sentence, which you take issue with, is supported by the documents, including Jeff Dean's own depositions and his answers to interrogatories. Even if you can provide sourced, documented research showing Jeff Dean has not continued to work for Diebold, that is a different question than whether software he designed continued to be used by Diebold.
quote:I would love to see the day when all media sources check out their facts from several sources, not just one, and have those sources independently confirm the stories.
Phil, that's why we are relying on DOCUMENTS. We currently have two unnamed sources from within Diebold telling us that Jeff Dean is still receiving money, indicating it needs a look. The key here is the documents. We have his own words, and his own dodging of the question while under oath which, after repeated dodging, becomes more and more relevant.
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Catherine Ansbro
Frequent Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Catherine_a
Post Number: 1593
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box?
Votes: 1 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Friday, January 27, 2006 - 10:48 am: |
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Phil,
You read something into Jim's final sentence that I didn't. To me it was clear that Jim was commenting on how Dean is, in fact, tied into Diebold currently because Diebold products that are being used and sold utilize his programming, and furthermore these programs have not been, and will not be, scrutinized or tested by the ITAs. It is for this reason that Dean is very much "tied into the products".
This is a different issue from whether or not Dean currently works for Diebold, which is not what Jim meant. Dean's programming is his "legacy" and it is unfortunately a very live and current legacy. With its numerous wide-open back doors it has the potential to allow people to manipulate elections wherever these systems are deployed.
Unfortunately Jim's sentence was not an understatement at all.
You are correct to ensure clarity that there is no evidence (to my knowledge, anyways) to suggest that Dean is currently on the Diebold payroll as staff or contractor.
That said, it is possible and plausible that some political heavy-weights may be protecting Dean and/or Diebold now or in the past. Based on the information presented on BBV of original documents relating to Dean's history, Jim's hypothesis seems well-reasoned. Further documentation will be required to know more. |
Bev Harris
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 3397
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Friday, January 27, 2006 - 10:58 am: |
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Catherine:
Ommission is often relevant. Jeff Dean was specifically asked in a written interrogatory in 2005 to identify all monies paid to him in the past, current and scheduled to be paid in the future. This was part (b) and (c) of a three part question. He answered (a) only.
The attorney then chided him for failing to answer part (b) and (c), in writing, and re-asked the question, in writing.
I read each document and so did Jim, seeking anyplace, anywhere, that Jeff Dean or Deborah Dean answered that question, even after it was pointed out that they ommitted answering it and being asked again. We could not find any evidence that they have ever answered this question.
Until they do, their ommission should be considered evidence that they may still be receiving payments from Diebold.
This is also why we are seeking to learn more about funds coming in through the non-registered, no physical address, so-called "printing" operation in Canada. What are those funds for, what is the source of income that is driving those funds, and what is the contract or business arrangement behind that? It certainly might not be relevant, but right now it needs a closer look. |
Catherine Ansbro
Frequent Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Catherine_a
Post Number: 1594
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Friday, January 27, 2006 - 11:15 am: |
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I stand corrected that BBV may indeed have documentation pointing to Dean's continued involvement (e.g. his persistent refusal to declare whether or not he is receiving any money from Diebold).
I haven't read all 2,000 pages of court documents yet, so I defer to those who have. |
Edward Robles
Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Tedeger
Post Number: 28
Registered: 11-2005
Best of Black Box?
Votes: 2 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Friday, January 27, 2006 - 11:17 am: |
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Well, let's look at it this way - we all know about Georgia, don't we? I know that no matter how the electorate actually votes, the 'results' favor the right wing candidates; Dean may or may not be responsible for that, but who actually wrote the 'robgeorgia' programs that resulted in the crazily skewed results we've seen ever since? If Dean did it, maybe that's legal cause for a court-ordered examination of the programs he wrote - might be interesting - but is the AG of Georgia likely to pursue such a move? Maybe someone should alert the Atlanta Journal-Constitution about it? Their Editorial policy seems to be moderately sane. |
Phil McCracken
Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Phil_mccracken
Post Number: 13
Registered: 01-2006
Best of Black Box?
Votes: 2 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Friday, January 27, 2006 - 11:33 am: |
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Bev:
Do those two unnamed sources within Diebold "temporary" or "full-time" employees? Where are those unnamed resources. I would find some credibility if those individuals are involved in management, rather than a couple of individuals who worked as temporary employees (e.g., election day rovers, temporary print personnel).
It is also a pet peeve of mine too Bev about individuals who claim to "have research" on a given topic. However, according to my sources, Jeff Dean has not been involved with Diebold since they were purchased by Global.
"Until they do, their ommission should be considered evidence that they may still be receiving payments from Diebold." How can you claim that, based on a statement?...Come on Bev, you are better than that...I know you are...I like your writing and research, but why tender him guilty based on that?
Just a guy trying to find the truth,
Phil |
Jim March
Frequent Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Jimmarch
Post Number: 111
Registered: 01-2005
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Friday, January 27, 2006 - 12:02 pm: |
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Phil: the Global/Diebold EMail stash from the summer of '03 make it very clear that Dean was the project manager for Diebold's "GEMS" product by October of 2000. His depositions and other sources make clear that he was a key figure in the creation of "VoteRemote" which is another current Diebold product, and the software that does mail sorting for absentee ballots at both PSI and what is now the Everett WA Diebold printing plant and Lord knows where else.
Also note that none of that mail sorting software has been considered in need of certification or any sort of oversight, yet funky sorting along demographics lines is a key potential "cheat point" in absentee voting.
Even if Jeff Dean really is gone completely from Diebold today (and that is NOT established unless you can do so?), his "legacy" very much remains.
------
While I was writing the above I started a search through the mailing list archive which ends around Feb. 2003, looking for the word "Dean".
As late as Jan. 24th 2002 we see important internal EMails that include Jeff Dean in the distribution list:
http://www.cs.grinnell.edu/~laiu/lists/support.w3archive/200204/msg00055.html
What connection did Dean have with Diebold after that? We don't know for sure.
Regardless, his connections to both the current Diebold products and processes are undisputable.
* * * * * *
* * * * * *
* * * * * *
* * * * * *
TRIPLE PROTECTION FOR ELECTION 2006 - STARTING NOW:
(1) Use Freedom of Information, public records requests ("All American Paper Chase")
(2) Try Dumpster Diving for Democracy
(3) Candid America Project - Don't leave home without your camcorder
HOW TO DO IT: http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/6/6.html
|
Phil McCracken
Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Phil_mccracken
Post Number: 14
Registered: 01-2006
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Friday, January 27, 2006 - 12:08 pm: |
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Jim:
The Vote Remote process does not "sort" along demographic lines...according to people I have spoken. It does not sort in that manner...And why should an absentee mail process for envelopes be subject to certification? You would open all mail sorters from PSI to be subject to certification? How far do you want to go?
Jim, what do YOU propose...as a solution. Let's be part of the solution... |
Catherine Ansbro
Frequent Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: Catherine_a
Post Number: 1596
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Friday, January 27, 2006 - 12:08 pm: |
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The Deans' repeated refusal to answer questions about whether or not they are still being paid by Diebold doesn't seem more than a little suspicious?
It's possible that Phil's unnamed sources may not be aware of any payments or don't want him to believe there are any--but that doesn't mean it's not happening.
BBV's unnamed sources claim the Deans are continuing to receive payments from Diebold, and this is combined with both Deans' refusal to answer a simple, straightforward question on the matter. The combination makes it seem more likely that the payments are continuing in some form or another. The trick will be to track down the evidence.
(Message edited by catherine_a on January 27, 2006) |
Bev Harris
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 3399
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Friday, January 27, 2006 - 12:29 pm: |
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quote:Do those two unnamed sources within Diebold "temporary" or "full-time" employees? Where are those unnamed resources. I would find some credibility if those individuals are involved in management, rather than a couple of individuals who worked as temporary employees (e.g., election day rovers, temporary print personnel).
Changing the subject. What I said was these statements caused us to look for documentation, and that the article we wrote relies on the documents. The unnamed sources were the catalyst to look for the documents. Why would we identify protected sources on an Internet forum? We are not asking you to believe us based on protected sources, so why should we give you information on who they are? Obviously we found them credible enough to begin searching for corroborating information.
quote: according to my sources, Jeff Dean has not been involved with Diebold since they were purchased by Global.
What are your sources? Are they human beings or are they documents? Second request for your documentation or sources on this.
quote:"Until they do, their ommission should be considered evidence that they may still be receiving payments from Diebold." How can you claim that, based on a statement?...Come on Bev, you are better than that...I know you are...I like your writing and research, but why tender him guilty based on that?
My statement was "their ommission should be considered evidence that they may still be receiving payments from Diebold" not "evidence that they are guilty."
When asked specifically and in writing, especially if one is required by law to provide an answer, under oath, omitting the answer repeatedly will cause any decent investigator to suspect that the respondent is hiding something.
Until that question is answered, yes, based on their history, we should assume they are hiding something. Especially since some of their other answers about the same topic -- income stream -- led us to a so-called "printing business" that had never been registered in the area where its address is listed, that turned out to have no physical address other than a residence in a posh residential area. |
Bev Harris
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 3400
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Friday, January 27, 2006 - 12:45 pm: |
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Phil:
quote:The Vote Remote process does not "sort" along demographic lines
No one said it did.
quote:And why should an absentee mail process for envelopes be subject to certification?
Because it opens up the absentee balloting process to demographic attacks.
quote:Let's be part of the solution
This particular thread exposes the complete failure of the perimeter defense. Jeffrey Dean represents a nightmare of an insider and we now know he had intimate access over a period of years. We also know he had intimate access at many different stages along the chain of custody.
Phil, why don't you map out the chain of custody of absentee and polling place voting and show each place where Jeffrey Dean had access? I think you would be an ideal person to do this because you have done so much research with your "sources." (You still have not provided any information on whether your sources are documents or human beings, or what evidence leads you to your conclusions).
When you sketch out the chain of custody points where Jeff Dean had inside access, post it in the general discussion area and we'll be happy to kick around solutions for each of the attack points with you. |
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