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admin
Board Administrator
Username: admin
Post Number: 231
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Friday, December 31, 2004 - 9:40 pm: | 
|
(Thanks to submission by Patricia Gracian, who found this)
============================
I found the following- it looks like a case against Triad by the FEC. There's no resolution listed...
http://www.fec.gov/law/litigation_CCA_FEC_T.shtml#fec_triad
FEC v. TRIAD MANAGEMENT SERVICES (02CV1237)
On June 21, 2002, the Commission asked the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to find that Triad Management Services, Triad Management Services, Inc., (collectively Triad) and Carolyn Malenick violated the Federal Election Campaign Act (Act) during the 1996 federal election cycle. The Commission alleges that Ms. Malenick and Triad violated the Act by, among other things, failing to register and file as a political committee and accepting and making excessive and prohibited contributions. 2 U.S.C. §§ 433, 434, 441a(a)(1), 441a(f) and 441b.
Background
According to its 1996 promotional materials, Triad was a consulting firm devoted to keeping the Republican majority in Congress. From 1995 to 1996, Ms. Malenick operated Triad Management Services as a sole proprietorship, and she became the president, sole director and owner of Triad Management Services, Inc., when Triad incorporated in May 1996. The Commission began its investigation of Triad in response to a series of administrative complaints filed between 1996 and 1998. After failing to reach a conciliation agreement with the defendants, the Commission filed this court complaint.
Court Complaint
According to the Commission's court complaint, before Triad incorporated it accepted $790,215 in federal election contributions—including $200,000 in 1995 and $465,000 in 1996 from a single individual. Once Triad became a corporation, it accepted an additional $746,971 in contributions, of which $726,621 came from a single individual and $10,000 came from other corporations. The Commission alleges that during the 1995-1996 election cycle, Triad also:
Made federal election expenditures totaling approximately $1.6 million;
Solicited contributions for 1996 Congressional candidates;
Collected and forwarded 230 contribution checks made out to federal candidates or campaign committees, totaling $185,000; and
Paid for the creation and distribution of publications that expressly advocated the election or defeat of federal candidates.
Ms. Malenick and Triad did not register or report this alleged activity to the Commission.
The Commission contends that once Triad exceeded $1,000 in contributions or expenditures in a calendar year, it became a political committee under the Act and was required to register and file regular reports. 2 U.S.C. §§433 and 434. Under the Act, Triad was also required to file disclosure reports once it made independent expenditures in excess of $250. 2 U.S.C. §434(c). The Commission alleges that Triad knowingly accepted prohibited corporate contributions and contributions in excess of the Act's limits, and also made excessive contributions and in-kind contributions to federal candidates. 2 U.S.C. §441a(a). Moreover, the Commission alleges that after Triad incorporated, it made prohibited corporate contributions to and expenditures for and against federal candidates.
Triad also allegedly organized a coalition of political committees that regularly met and agreed to consult on targeted candidates and campaigns. The Commission contends that Triad solicited contributions for these political committees and collected and forwarded contributions to them.
According to the Commission's complaint, Triad was the sole source of funds for two committees, the American Free Enterprise PAC (AFE) and Citizens Allied for Free Enterprise (CAFE), which received $81,235 from Triad that was used to contribute to candidates it recommended. Triad established, financed, maintained and controlled AFE and CAFE and was thus affiliated with them. Since affiliated committees share a single contribution limit, the Commission argues that the committees exceeded the contribution limits when they each contributed the maximum legal amount to the same federal candidates. 2 U.S.C. §441a(a) and 11 CFR 110.3(1). The Commission alleges that Triad directed and controlled contributions made by AFE and CAFE that resulted in excessive contributions.
Relief
The Commission asks the court to:
Find that the defendants committed these violations of the Act;
Enjoin them from engaging in further similar violations;
Order Triad Management Services and Triad Management Services, Inc., to register as political committees with the Commission and to file disclosure reports dating back to 1995;
Order the defendants to disgorge to the U.S. Treasury all excessive and prohibited contributions that they received during 1995 and 1996; and
Assess appropriate civil penalties for each violation. See 2 U.S.C. §437g(a)(6)(B).
Source: FEC Record -- August 2002 [PDF]. http://www.fec.gov/pdf/record/2002/aug02.pdf#page=4 |
zorah
Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: zorah
Post Number: 29
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Saturday, January 1, 2005 - 2:36 am: |
|
Oooo! Have you been able to link Triad Management Services Inc. to Triad Election Systems or Triad GSI? They surely must be - hehe - but finding that real link might take awhile.
Found this file:
http://www.dcd.uscourts.gov/02-1237.pdf - 20 pgs.
pg. 19-20 (selected text)
...CONCLUSION AND RELIEF
As to the first, second and fourth causes of action, no genuine issue of material fact appears of record, and the FEC is entitled to a declaratory judgment as a matter of law. As to the fifth and sixth causes of action, no genuine issues of material fact appears of record, but the record is insufficient to support a judgment for the FEC. The third and seventh causes of action are moot. Penalties will not be imposed by way of summary judgment, nor will the Court grant injunctive relief without further record development. The Clerk will set a status conference, at which the next steps in this litigation (if any) will be identified and scheduled.
James Robertson - United States District Judge
-----------
On April 18, 2003, Malenick moved for preliminary injunction (#13), to restrain the FEC from placing on the public record its administrative complaint, designated Matter Under Review 5294 ("MUR 5294"). Malenick attached MUR 5294 to her own cross-motion for summary judgment, however (Exhibit # 246A-W), thus mooting her own motion for preliminary injunction. Accordingly, this motion is denied.
---------------
Judge James Robertson
Judge Robertson was appointed United States District Judge in December 1994. He graduated from Princeton University in 1959 and received an LL.B. from George Washington University Law School in 1965 after serving in the U.S. Navy. From 1965 to 1969, he was in private practice with the law firm of Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering. From 1969 to 1972, Judge Robertson served with the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, as chief counsel of the Committee’s litigation offices in Jackson, Mississippi, and as director in Washington, D.C. Judge Robertson then returned to private practice with Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering, where he practiced until his appointment to the federal bench. While in private practice, he served as president of the District of Columbia Bar, co-chair of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and president of Southern Africa Legal Services and Legal Education Project, Inc.
===================
washingtonpost.com
When Companies Investigate Themselves
By Kathleen Day and Ben White
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, December 31, 2004; Page E01
When a whiff of accounting irregularities at Enron Corp. rocked Wall Street in the fall of 2001, the energy-trading firm's board of directors hired the law firm of Wilmer Cutler & Pickering to do an internal investigation of the company.
Board members expected the lawyers to find a few pieces of dirty laundry that, once aired, might be embarrassing. But they hoped the investigation also would allay investors' worries about widespread fraud, allowing Enron to move out of crisis mode and back to business as usual.
---------------------
Carolyn Malenick:
http://www.seekgod.ca/cnp.m.htm
The Council for National Policy:
Carolyn Malenick - CNP 1996, 1998; president, Triad Management Services; former consultant, VPAC; director of development, Freedom Alliance,5 whose contributors include CNP's Oliver North; head of National Capital Strategies; former assistant to North Defense Trust: former consultant for Oliver North; former administrative assistant to the president of The Viguerie Company, CNP's Richard Viguerie; former account assistant, The Viguerie Company; former audio service coordinator, OldTime Gospel Hour, Lynchburg, Va.; former volunteer, Kemp for President campaign; 1980 Reagan/Bush campaign work; 19801981, direct mailings for Moral Majority, Inc.
Malenick has close personal ties to both the Scaife and Koch families; 1996, Malenick worked for a number of Republican campaigns, including the campaign of Representative Bob Schafer (R-CO), who has taken the lead on “paycheck protection” legislation in the U.S. House. CNP's Senator Don Nickles (R-OK) is a close friend of Malenick's and made a promotional video for Triad Management that created controversy over the propriety of such an endorsement of their services by a U.S. senator. Nickels sponsored “paycheck protection” legislation in the U.S. Senate last year. 6
"...Democratic investigators also looked into a third organization called Triad Management Services Inc., a for-profit group run by Carolyn Malenick, a former fundraiser for Oliver L. North, the former Marine colonel who was a central figure in the Iran-Contra investigation and a 1994 Senate candidate in Virginia. Triad offered donors a choice of giving to individual candidates, a slew of conservative political action committees or two tax-exempt groups named the Citizens for the Republic Education Fund and Citizens for Reform."
"Democratic investigators found that Triad funneled money into the tax-exempt groups for the "sole purpose of running attack ads against Democratic candidates under the guise of 'issue advocacy.'" Triad "conspired with donors who had reached their maximum contribution limit to evade the law by laundering additional contributions through designated political action committees and then earmarking those contributions for certain campaigns," the minority draft says."
"While Congress' campaign finance investigation may not yield legislation, issues raised by the probe have begun to produce serious consequences for some of the major players..." 7
"... Triad was funded by a handful of wealthy Republican donors who used it as a mechanism to support the election of conservative Republican candidates to the House of Representatives and the Senate. Triad channeled millions of dollars from its backers to two tax-exempt groups it had established for the sole purpose of running attack ads against Democratic candidates under the guise of ``issue advocacy.'' By operating this way, Triad and its financial backers avoided the disclosure and campaign contribution limits of the federal election laws. Triad itself made possibly illegal contributions by providing free consulting advice and other assistance to candidates. Moreover, the evidence suggests that Triad conspired with contributors who had reached their maximum contribution limit to evade the law by laundering additional contributions through designated political action committees (``PACs'') and then earmarking these contributions..." 8
================
This page is gone – only cached at this point:
http://64.233.187.104/search?q=cache:0SrzMSqNqF8J:ignorantusa.tripod.com/id4.htm l+rapp+systems+%22triad+management%22&hl=en
Ignorant America
TRIAD
Tactical Resources In American Democracy
Way Too Many Coincidences.....
The only direct tie to the Ohio based Triad GSI is the Citrus Times article (bottom of blog) from 1992, in which the validity of Triad GSI's software used in FL in the 1988 election is questioned. But I recommend taking a look at and further investigating everything below. Other than the Citrus Times article, most of the following is regarding a Triad company that was used to illegally finance millions to Republican campaigns in the 90s and several other activities that raise some serious questions. With this Triad, I haven't found a direct link to the 2004 election, but every path I follow leads to either elections, software, computer programming or something very suspicious.....
-more-
=================
http://www.ftc.gov/os/1997/02/ccitriad.htm
The Federal Trade Commission ("Commission"), having initiated an investigation of the proposed merger of Cooperative Computing, Inc. ("CCI"), and Triad Systems Corporation ("Triad"), and it now appearing that CCI, hereinafter sometimes referred to as the "proposed Respondent," is willing to enter into an agreement containing an order to divest certain assets and providing for other relief:
-more-
(Message edited by zorah on January 01, 2005)
(Message edited by Zorah on January 01, 2005) |
bev_harris
Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: bev_harris
Post Number: 70
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Saturday, January 1, 2005 - 8:16 am: |
|
In fact, I doubt that this Triad is related to that Triad, at least in a direct, traceable way. It is, however, a valid exercise to examine all Triad companies that have political connotations, to see if there are links.
The name "Triad" comes up many places, of course. In addition, there are many separate listings for "Triad Management Systems" and "Triad Management Systems Inc."
I have been exploring some of these. It is of course interesting that the name "Triad" comes up as a significant player in punch card voting machines, and also as a right-wing PAC, but that does not necessarily mean they are related. There are actually thousands of corporations with the name "Triad." The above relates to a Washington D.C. PAC and the voting machines are a Xenia Ohio-based punch card company. The two companies don't have obvious personnel in common.
Below, I've unearthed information about Triad Management Systems Inc., the one referenced in the above case.
-- Bev
============================================
Right-Wing Matchmaker
28 September 1996
National Journal
In the crowded world of political consultants, Triad Management Services is a different kind of animal. It's a matchmaking service that puts conservative givers in touch with political candidates.
Washington-based Triad provides its wealthy clients with tips about where and how to funnel campaign contributions to get the biggest bang for the buck.
Founded several years ago by Carolyn Malenick, a conservative activist and fund raiser, Triad recently began specializing in providing analysis and intelligence on congressional campaigns to conservative donors. The firm's forte is to tell contributors which candidates look like winners and which ones need help.
``We do research on campaigns for our clients,'' Malenick said. ``One of our goals is to help the Republican freshmen. Some clients might want us to make recommendations about which candidates need cash.''
Triad is also playing other consulting roles this political season. It is trying to organize a television advertising blitz to help counter the union money that's gushing in to try to defeat the GOP freshmen. Triad has retained Stevens & Co., the Alexandria (Va.)-based consultants, to produce two TV spots. The ads are expected to run in a number of districts.
Leaders of conservative political action committees (PACs) tout Malenick's networking skills. ``Carolyn knows everybody,'' said Peter Flaherty, the chairman of the Conservative Campaign Fund, a Vienna (Va.)-based PAC that has worked with Triad on some races. ``She's been getting donors interested in key races.''
Flaherty noted that for almost a decade, the conservative PAC community has been an ``embarrassment,'' in part because of poor planning and lack of coordination. ``This year there's been new life breathed into it,'' he added, giving Triad some credit for boosting conservatives' fortunes.
In the past year, some Triad clients have poured tens of thousands of dollars into a few prominent conservative PACs, including the leadership PACs affiliated with Sens. Don Nickles, R-Okla., and Rick Santorum, R-Pa., and Rep. David McIntosh, R- Ind.
Triad donors, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) records and congressional sources, have also provided money in several key 1996 primaries to help conservative challengers and candidates such as John Thune, a GOP House candidate in South Dakota; Joe Pitts, a GOP House candidate in Pennsylvania; Rep. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., who's running for Robert Dole's Senate seat; and Louisiana state Rep. Woody Jenkins, who's running for the Senate.
Malenick, who worked for four and a half years for Oliver L. North and was his PAC's first finance director, tapped into the conservative network to get help in setting up Triad. And she has recruited several consulting and fund-raising professionals to help run the consulting firm. For help with political analysis of campaigns, Triad turned to Carlos Rodriguez, a Sacramento (Calif.)- based consultant who worked on Ronald Reagan's campaigns in the 1980s and recently was a consultant to former Rep. Michael Huffington, R-Calif., in his losing 1994 Senate race. Malenick has also hired Meredith O'Rourke, a former state GOP finance director in Virginia and South Carolina, as a Triad fund raiser.
Malenick says that she has dozens of donor clients. But she won't disclose their names. Other conservatives maintained that Triad's clients include some very prominent high rollers on the Right.
For instance, Robert L. Cone, an Elverson (Pa.)-based executive who is the former chairman of Graco Children's Products Inc. and now runs Conetex, a management consulting firm, has given lavishly in the past year to several prominent conservative PACs that Triad has touted.
Last December, according to FEC records, Cone contributed $2,500 each to the New Republican Majority, a leadership PAC for Nickles; Fight PAC, a leadership PAC for Santorum.; and Faith, Family & Freedom PAC, a leadership PAC affiliated with McIntosh. Last December, Cone also gave $2,500 each to Flaherty's Conservative Campaign Fund and to the Eagle Forum PAC, which is affiliated with the conservative traditional values group. Cone did not return phone calls.
Interestingly, Cone's brother, Edward, who is Graco's current chief executive officer, also gave $2,500 each to McIntosh's and Santorum's PACs and $1,000 to Nickles's PAC last December. It's not known whether he is a Triad client.
Leslie J. Brorsen, Nickles's administrative assistant, recalled that he met about a year ago with Malenick and Robert Cone when they were trying to promote Triad's operations. ``Cone was concerned that there were a lot of people out there who were disaffected, and he set out to try to change that,'' Brorsen said. ``They've got good intelligence about where candidates are in terms of whether they're running a good operation or not.''
According to a congressional source and a PAC director, Triad has also advised a wealthy Florida couple, Lorena and Robert Jaeb. In January, the Jaebs gave a total of $5,000 to Nickles's PAC, and last year they chipped in the same amount to McIntosh's PAC. The Jaebs did not return phone calls.
Triad and Malenick have also helped ARENA PAC, the new PAC that was launched early this year by actor Charlton Heston, a longtime conservative activist.
To enable donors and conservative PACs better coordinate their activities, Malenick and Rodriguez also attend the monthly meetings that leaders of conservative PACs and grass-roots groups have been holding for about a year to exchange intelligence on election campaigns and to discuss what each group is doing.
``I'd say that there's been a focus on people who are vulnerable,'' a lobbyist who attends the sessions said. ``Everybody's trying to find out which campaigns have problems and which don't.''
Lobbyists from the Christian Coalition, the Eagle Forum, the National Federation of Independent Business and the National Rifle Association attend the meetings.
Triad's networking for wealthy conservatives has been aided by Malenick's involvement with the Council for National Policy, a conservative group founded more than a decade ago by leading conservative activists that attracts big donors to its quarterly meetings. |
zorah
Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: zorah
Post Number: 30
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Saturday, January 1, 2005 - 2:52 pm: |
|
Here's what looks like the final decision on the Triad Litigation. Republican Bradley A. Smith is currently the Chairman of the FEC.
FEC Trims Proposed $4.5 Million Fine
Updated: Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2003 - 7:58 PM
WASHINGTON (AP) _ Rejecting the record $4.5 million penalty its lawyers recommended, the Federal Election Commission has fined a Republican consulting firm $200,000 for political donations it made in the 1996 congressional elections.
Democrats accused Triad Management Services of illegally using nonprofit groups to run pro-GOP ads and of helping donors get around federal contribution limits by directing them to political action committees that then gave the money to Republican candidates.
Triad Management is owned by Carolyn Malenick, once the chief fund-raiser for Iran-Contra figure Oliver North's unsuccessful Senate campaign. Triad denies wrongdoing and has refused to pay the fine; the FEC is suing the company for it in federal court in Washington.
FEC attorneys recommended that the commission fine Triad $1.15 million for making illegal contributions and failing to report contributions and spending.
It sought an additional $3.4 million in fines against two nonprofit groups Triad controlled, the Citizens for the Republic Education Fund and Citizens for Reform. They were accused of spending about $3 million on pro-Republican TV, radio, phone bank and direct-mail advertising despite a federal ban on partisan political activity by such nonprofits.
Democrats on the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee investigating Triad's activities said in a 1998 report that the two nonprofit groups' spending included $1 million to promote four Kansas campaigns, those of Sen. Sam Brownback and Reps. Vince Snowbarger, Todd Tiahrt and Jim Ryun. They have denied any wrongdoing.
In a decision backed by the three Democratic commissioners and opposed by two of the three Republicans, the FEC fined Triad $200,000 and took no action against the nonprofits. The commission's third Republican member, Michael Toner, removed himself from the case because he joined the commission only days before the vote.
Details of the April vote, not yet released by the commission, were made public in a written statement from Republican Commissioner Bradley Smith released Thursday by PoliticalMoneyLine, a nonpartisan Web site that tracks campaign finance. It got the statement from the FEC, which briefly placed it on the public record Wednesday before withdrawing it.
Smith, whose statement outlines his reasons for opposing the fine, said his statement was made available inadvertently and should have been withheld until the commission released its decision and documents in the case, expected in the near future.
Commission Chairman David Mason, also a Republican, said the Triad penalty is just one of the fines the FEC has issued in the case.
"It's going to look a lot different when the whole file is out there because there are other respondents and some of those other respondents did pay significant fines," Mason said. "They'll be significant in comparison to other FEC cases in the recent past."
Mason declined to say whether the total penalties would eclipse record fines of at least $719,000 the FEC announced two weeks ago. In that case, Democrats were accused of soliciting illegal contributions in the 1996 election from foreign nationals in China, Venezuela and other countries, and of promising meetings with then-President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore in return.
Those penalized in that case include the Democratic National Committee, fined $115,000; the Buddhist Progressive Society, $120,000; and the Clinton-Gore campaign, fined $2,000.
___
FEC: http://www.fec.gov/
--------------------------------
(It looks like Clinton helped prepare the way for this takeover, whether unintentional or not, we are suffering now from the disasterous effects of these appointments.)
Republican, Bradley A. Smith was nominated to the Federal Election Commission by President William Clinton on February 9, 2000, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on May 24, 2000.
Prior to his appointment, Smith was Professor of Law at Capital University Law School in Columbus, Ohio, where he taught Election Law, Comparative Election Law, Jurisprudence, Law & Economics, and Civil Procedure. Smith’s writings on campaign finance and other election issues have appeared in the Yale Law Journal, the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, the Georgetown Law Journal, the Harvard Journal of Legislation, the Cornell Journal of Law & Public Policy, and other academic journals. As a law professor, Smith was a much sought-after witness in Congress on matters of campaign finance reform, and also a frequent guest on radio and television and a contributor to popular publications such as the Wall Street Journal and USA Today.
Republican, David M. Mason was nominated to the Federal Election Commission by President William Clinton on March 4, 1998 and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on July 30, 1998. He currently is a member of the Commission’s Litigation Committee.
Prior to his appointment, Mr. Mason was Senior Fellow in Congressional Studies at the Heritage Foundation. He joined Heritage in 1990 and served at various times as Director of Executive Branch Liaison, Director of the Foundation’s U.S. Congress Assessment Project, and Vice President, Government Relations.
(Message edited by Zorah on January 01, 2005) |
zorah
Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: zorah
Post Number: 31
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Saturday, January 1, 2005 - 3:42 pm: |
|
Here's a link to an 80-page doc. that is well worth reading regarding the Triad Litigation.
Our government is being bought by the Neocon Republican Party. The legal avenues we are relying on to judge these cases regarding our free & fair elections may already be so bought out that we won't have a chance - I hope that's not true.
http://www.ipsn.org/court_cases/part_5_investigation.htm
105th Congress; 2nd Session
Senate Report 105-167 Part 5
105 S. Rpt. 167; Prt. 5
INVESTIGATION OF ILLEGAL OR IMPROPER ACTIVITIES IN CONNECTION WITH 1996 FEDEELECTION CAMPAIGNS
DATE: Ordered to be printed March 10, 1998
SPONSOR: Mr. Thompson submitted the following report
COMMITTEE: from the Committee on Governmental Affairs
TEXT:
PREFACE
PART 2 INDEPENDENT GROUPS Chapter 12: Triad
Triad Management, Inc., is a for-profit corporation owned by Republican fundraiser Carolyn Malenick. Malenick incorporated Triad in the spring of 1996 but appears to have operated the business as an unincorporated entity since at least early 1995. Triad holds itself out as a consulting business that provides advice to conservative donors about how to maximize their political contributions. Triad oversaw advertising in 26 campaigns for the House of Representatives and three Senate races. Triad's spending may have affected the outcome of some elections. Because Triad is an unusual corporation directly involved in federal campaigns, the Committee investigated its work. Despite the refusal by Triad and its lawyers to comply fully with the Committee's subpoenas for both documents and testimony, the Minority developed substantial evidence of wrongdoing by Triad.
Based on the evidence before the Committee, we make the following findings with respect to Triad and the two non-profit organizations that it established:
FINDINGS
(1) The evidence before the Committee suggests that Triad exists for the sole purpose of influencing federal elections. Triad is not a political consulting business: it issues no invoices, charges no fees, and makes no profit. It is a corporate shell funded by a few wealthy conservative Republican activists.
(2) Triad used a variety of improper and possibly illegal tactics to help Republican candidates win election in 1996 including the following: (A) Triad provided free services to Republican campaigns in possible violation of the federal prohibition against direct corporate contributions to candidates. These services included raising funds for candidates, providing consulting advice on fundraising and political strategy, and providing staff to assist candidates, (B) The evidence before the Committee suggests that Triad was involved in a scheme to direct funds from supporters who could not legally give more money directly to candidates, through political action committees (''PACs''), and back to candidates. Triad obtained from Republican candidates names of supporters who had already made the maximum permissible contributions and solicited those supporters for contributions to a network of conservative PACs. In many instances, the PACs then made contributions to the same candidates. (C) Triad operated two non-profit organizations--Citizens for Reform and Citizens for the Republic Education Fund--as allegedly nonpartisan social welfare organizations under 501(c)(4) of the tax code and used these organizations to broadcast over $3 million in televised ads on behalf of Republican candidates in 29 House and Senate races. Using these organizations as the named sponsors of the ads provided the appearance of nonpartisan sponsorship of what was in fact a partisan effort conducted by Triad. Neither organization has a staff or an office, and both are controlled by Triad. Over half of the advertising campaign was paid for and controlled by the Economic Education Trust, an organization which appears to be financed by a small number of conservative Republicans.
-more- |
bev_harris
Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: bev_harris
Post Number: 79
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Saturday, January 1, 2005 - 11:34 pm: |
|
While fussing around with some corporate searches on various Triads, I did unearth a couple new names:
Rapp Systems was the prior name of Triad Governmental Systems
Another name surfaces in connection with this group, from around 1992, and that is Gary Easterling.
Gary Easterling is currently VP of a bank in the area, and at one time incorporated two religious organizations.
Tod A. Rapp, one of the principals with Triad Governmental Systems, is also a principal with the Miami Valley Evangelical something-or-other.
Could be a good thing or a bad thing. If these Triad people are actually following Christian teachings, such as "thou shalt not bear false witness" and "thou shalt not steal" that would be a good thing. If they are zealots who view vote-rigging as an act of religious obedience, that's a bad thing. |
zorah
Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: zorah
Post Number: 39
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Sunday, January 2, 2005 - 1:57 am: |
|
Hmm - Which group did Gary Easterling's name come up with - Triad?? I couldn't find any link there - seems Google is losing a lot of info recently. I toggle back & forth with Yahoo search, now. What kind of connection were you looking for here?
I'm afraid it's a bad sign to see Evangelical, Christian Coalition, Pentacostal - any of the fundamentalist names.
Here's a little info that links Easterling with Republican Representative Michael R. Turner:
Photo of Rep.Mike Turner (R-OH) with Gary Easterling of Wright-Patt Credit Union and John Florian of the Ohio Credit Union League Photo of Rep. Turner with Tom Nikolai of Mark Fornes Realty, Bruce Pearson of Miami Valley Research Park, John Chambers of Coolidge Wal
http://www.house.gov/miketurner/photo1.htm
Wright Patt Credit Union
PO Box 286
Fairborn OH 45324
- Gary Easterling
Vendor ID: 799
Rep. Mike(Michael R.) Turner (R-OH) Rated 100% by the Christian Coalition: a pro-family voting record. (Dec 2003)-- http://www.issues2000.org/OH/Mike_Turner.htm#Education
http://www.jerryforohio.com/user/kos
…Given the composition of the newly redistricted CD, Turner won fairly easily against a weak Democratic opponent. In the subsequent two years, Turner has molded himself into a Tom Delay clone, voting with him 96 percent of the time
A little on Easterling:
http://www.wcpl.lib.oh.us/adults/erma_winners.html
3rd Place - Gary Easterling of Huber Heights
Gary Easterling is a lifelong resident of Dayton and a graduate of Fairborn High School and Capital University. He is the C.O.O. for Wright-Patt Credit Union and the Associate Minister of Faith Hill Church of God in Fairborn.
And this church with a Gary Easterling listed as Pastor(the spelling mistakes make me wonder if this is the same Easterling - but the person who put up the website might be wholly responsible.)
Apostolic Lighthouse Church of Vienna, Ohio
http://64.233.179.104/search?q=cache:MKt8leZiSdgJ:www.geocities.com/chrispace13/ +%22gary+easterling%22+ohio&hl=en
Pastor: Gary Easterling
324 Niles Vienna Road
Vienna, OH 44473
(330) 856-4556
My Favorite Links:
Apostolic Network
United Pentecostal Church
Assemblies of our Lord Jesus Christ
A Beacon to a Lost and Dieing World
Name: Apostolic Lighthouse Church of Vienna
Email apostolic_lighthouse@hotmail.com
Linked on page:What are Government needs to here! (?? possibly What our Gov. needs to hear ??)
Kansas Senate Prayer - http://www.geocities.com/chrispace13/kansasprayer.html )
When Minister Joe Wright was asked to open the new session of the Kansas Senate, everyone was expecting the usual generalities, but this is what they heard:
"Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask Your forgiveness and to seek Your direction and guidance.
We know Your Word says, "Woe to those who call evil good" but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values. We confess that:
We have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it Pluralism;
We have worshipped other gods and called it multiculturalism;
We have endorsed perversion and called it alternative lifestyle;
We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery;
We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare;
We have killed our unborn and called it choice;
We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable;
We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem;
We have abused power and called it politics;
We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition;
We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression;
We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.
Search us, Oh, God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Guide and bless these men and women who have been sent to direct us to the center of Your will, to open ask it in the name of Your Son, the living Savior, Jesus Christ.
Amen"
(Message edited by Zorah on January 02, 2005) |
zorah
Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: zorah
Post Number: 40
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Sunday, January 2, 2005 - 2:29 am: |
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Interesting stuff:
http://www.technomania.com/News.asp?Type=latestnews&For..
New Media Communications is a high-tech marketing firm using the latest computer technology to create interactive, functional and visually engaging Internet products and services. We create online solutions that get results. Under the leadership of Mike Connell, New Media Communications has been on the leading edge of Internet and database development since 1994. We build sophisticated websites and applications that inform, inspire, teach, persuade, motivate and mobilize key audiences.
November 3, 2004
NMC CLIENTS WIN BIG IN KEY RACES
You might call it a "November Surprise" in the best possible way for New Media Communications. With today’s declaration of President George W. Bush as the winner of the presidential election, New Media Communications emerges from the 2004 General Election with a perfect score -- every political candidate client on the ballot won!
===============
New Media Communications Unveils GOP.com
Continuing its tradition as the premier developer of high-profile GOP sites, New Media Communications and the Republican National Committee have deployed www.gop.com, setting another benchmark for political online communications and raising the bar for 2004’s statewide races.
This research was done by someone who was looking into the connection between Triad and Datamaxx. The link to his research is: http://www.commongroundcommonsense.org/lofiversion/index.php/t12092.html |
bev_harris
Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: bev_harris
Post Number: 82
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Sunday, January 2, 2005 - 9:14 am: |
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Gary Easterling was a principal with the predecessor company to Triad Governmental Systems, a company called Rapp Systems Inc.
I'm sorry, I don't think we can draw a conclusion that evangelical ties match up with vote fraud, though. That would be in direct conflict with Christian teachings.
Now, I do notice one thing in my church community -- there are certain churches, and a small number of individuals within my denomination, who seem so insecure about religion that they do follow the idea, blindly, that if a particular candidate proclaims himself to be Christian, and says "if you are Christian you'll follow me" they actually DO think they have to vote for that candidate.
And to that I say: Hitler was a Christian (or claimed to be).
Other very devout Christians I have met say they don't vote, because they let the Lord take care of it and they are looking to the afterlife anyway.
I think it is a big leap to think any of these groups would commit felonies and rig votes to put a Christian in office. That is such a clear violation of the teachings of the church that it's hard to imagine. Certain individuals, yes -- but I simply cannot imagine a whole group of Christians agreeing that vote-rigging is a good idea.
All I am saying is, question the popular belief (among some liberals) that Christianity is to blame. Again, according to a study by an Ohio professor, more than 50% of Christians vote Democrat.
Black Box Voting is truly nonpartisan, and I've gotten to know many people involved, and can tell you that the one person who happens to be the most evangelical Christian related to this organization is actually a left-leaning radical, and the person who is the most right-wing is an agnostic.
Most of America has succumbed to "spin" about certain political figures and religion. That appears to be due to certain political individuals using religion for marketing purposes.
(Message edited by Bev Harris on January 02, 2005) |
wcs_bill
Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: wcs_bill
Post Number: 15
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Sunday, January 2, 2005 - 10:22 am: |
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Thanks Bev,
We should not get diverted by religeous political spin. Our country's system is a system based on laws and "supposedly" pronouncement of fact.
Seperation of Church and State.
Every one please remember the reason our country was founded this way.
In England: First came Henry the VIII'th. Created the Church of England, a protestant, pseudo catholic religeon to divorce his wife since the Catholic church would not absolve it.
To all his people, you either believed it or were imprisoned or burned at the stake.
Enter, Mary, Queen of Scots, the next in line. She was a devout Catholic: Her proclomation, everyone must worship Catholocism, or be imprisoned or burned at the stake. All protestants were heretics.
All this in one's lifetime. Back and forth, forced by "law and punishment" to worship a certain way.
Who made the leaders correct in their proclomation of right and wrong.
So, sadly we start again with our zealots, like Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell. And Jerry Falwell, who when asked about everyone, non-born again christian, said, "Who cares!!!"
I'm sorry that's not my religeon. I pray we can stay focused and keep to our founding father's principles and get to the bottom of all this where the American citizen knows a correct electoral choice was put into office.
Kind Regards,
Bill Swain |
zorah
Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: zorah
Post Number: 43
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Sunday, January 2, 2005 - 3:37 pm: |
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I’m sure I didn’t express myself very well in my post. I had a “brain fog” by the time I did my cut & paste of the little info I was able to find on Gary Easterling & his connections to Rapp/Triad et al or the 2 possible religious connections as you mentioned in your earlier post. Google has really dropped a lot of info lately.
So far it’s not connecting, and I’m certainly not hung up on forcing a connection with the religious aspect. Just collecting data – hoping something will connect a dot or two eventually.
I’m still a bit confused at your most recent post because I wasn’t trying to make disparaging remarks about Christians. It is unfortunate for Christians in this country that a handful of fundamentalist, extremist, Zealots is shaping the message to sound like a Christian one. Many Christians are able to see past the emotional sound-bite message, but many are not.
You said, “I'm sorry, I don't think we can draw a conclusion that evangelical ties match up with vote fraud, though. That would be in direct conflict with Christian teachings.”
I, like you, don’t believe Christians (for the most part) would ever knowingly approve of vote-rigging or committing felonious acts. But I do believe what is happening now is the same thing that has permitted the commission of unChristian acts by Christians, ever since Christianity came into being.
How did Christians commit such atrocities during the Spanish Inquisition or the Salem Witch Trials? How have Christians been able to condone and support Slavery (nevermind all the atrocities committed against the African race)? How were Christians able to commit the genocide against the Native Americans and the Jews in Nazi Germany? (These examples are all in direct conflict with Christian Teachings.)
How did all this happen? Were Christians able to comfort themselves by believing the words of Manifest Destiny? Could it be, the only way Christians could justify their commission of such atrocities was to decide that their targets were less than human; therefore it was ok? I must stress here that I am Christian. I have been soul-searching since childhood, hoping that I might never fall into this same trap. Christians must be ever vigilant to discern truth from deceit so they never commit crimes against humanity.
You said, “All I am saying is, question the popular belief (among some liberals) that Christianity is to blame. Again, according to a study by an Ohio professor, more than 50% of Christians vote Democrat.”
I do not believe Christianity is to blame, but I think we all need to look very closely at the dogma (and fascism) that is taking hold in our country via the extremely powerful pseudo-Christian organizations founded by Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell and other neocon dominionists. (They are not following Christ’s teachings.) There are several organizations working together to achieve this goal of world domination and the orchestration of the most massive ever vote fraud is one method to assure their power sits in the White House. I believe they are in on the Vote Fraud Conspiracy.
I believe Christian leaders must be educated about what vote fraud means and that vote fraud occurred. They should be very interested in knowing what really happened and they should be bellowing from the pulpits that vote fraud and voter suppression is a sin and a crime against all humanity. Casting a blind eye is, in itself, a form of acceptance.
I agree with you that, “Most of America has succumbed to "spin" about certain political figures and religion. That appears to be due to certain political individuals using religion for marketing purposes.” Yes, it’s the hypnotizing of America. |
bev_harris
Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: bev_harris
Post Number: 83
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Sunday, January 2, 2005 - 6:31 pm: |
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Zorah - I agree with all you've said. Just wanted to put in a word of balance to offset the stereotyping that's going on in some circles.
By the way, after a pretty exhaustive search, I find no relationship at all between the two Triad groups. The voting machine Triad certainly seems to be a family enterprise, and it would be of interest to find other information on political connections and enterprises this family is involved in.
I now have an audiotape of an interview with Mr. Rapp -- the one who is the president -- and he comes off as much more straightforward and open than most voting machine execs I've had contact with. Usually, they are slick and evasive and -- well -- liars. He at least seemed to try to cooperate.
Bev |
wcs_bill
Voting Rights Forum Participant
Username: wcs_bill
Post Number: 16
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?) | | Posted on Sunday, January 2, 2005 - 8:37 pm: |
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Correction to my last post. I had inadevertantly stated "Mary, Queen of Scots". In fact it was "Mary Tudor", or also known as "Bloody Mary".
Sorry for the confusion if someone picked up on that.
Bill |
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