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THIISTIIATINGOFAilIBBIOA

A shocking investigation...

.IAilII}S M. COIII!]NBIITINNI]TH F. COI,illIIB

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JeuEs M. ConmnKeNNsru E CorLrER

Votescam: The Stealing Of America

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used orreproduced in any manner whatsoever without writtenpermission except in the case of brief quotationsembodied in critical afticles or reviews. For information:Victoria House Press, 67 WaIt Street, New York. Ny 10005Copyright 2000 O byJames M. Collier(21,2)809-9090v/w-w.votescam.com

ISBN: 0-9634163-0-8

Library of Congress Catalogue Number 93-09381.4Cover Design & Illustration: Steve Gordon

To ourdaughtersAmy, UnityandVictoria

Votescam

CoNmNrsBook One: 197O-t959

The Premise1.

2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9.10.1.7.

1.2.

1.3.

1.4.

Electronic HoodwinkBallots Not BulletsThe Silent PressIt Takes a ThiefA Tangled WebHounds of HellThe Petersen MemoVideo VigilantesShots in the Dark'Watergatetown

Power CorruptsStrange BedfellowsFull CircleStar Chamber Session

1.

4255882

100'],28

1407441.661.84203234248269

28829831.4

362

376

Book Tnro: 199O-1992

15. Pieces Of The Ptzzle16. Thc 13th Floor17. The Last Dispatch

Epilogue

Reflections

Appendix

Knowledge Is Power 325Can't You Hear The I7histle Blowin'? 339

18,19.

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Boor< Oxe7g701ggg

"Wlto sball stand. guard,to tbe guards tbemselues?"

--Juvenal

YOTESCAM

THn PnnursE

Votescam asserts the unthinkable.It is a strange and frightening true detective

story. It contains fact, film, documents andvisions seldom seen by the public. It is atroubling look at the corruption of the Americanvote that most Americans cannot bear to believeis even partly true.

The authors assert, and back it up with daringreporting, that your vote and mine may now bea meaningless bit of energy directed by pre-programmed computers - which can be fixedto select certain pre-ordained candidates andleave no footprints or paper trail.

In.short, computers are covertly stealing yourvote.

. For almost three decades the American votehas been subject to government-sponsoredelectronic theft.

.The vote has been stolen from you by a cartelof federal "national security" bureaucrdts, whoinclude higher-ups in the Central IntelligenceAgency political party leaders, Congressmen,co-opted journalists

- and the owners andmanagers of the major Establishment newsmedia, who have decided in concert that howAmerica's votes are counted. bv whom thev are

counted and how the results are verified anddelivered to the public is, as one of them putit, "Not a proper a,rea of inquiry."

.By means of an unofficial private corporationnamed News Election Service (NES), theEstablishment press has actual physical controlof the counting and dissemination of the vote,and it refuses to let the public know how it isdone.

This book also contends that the theft ofyour vote or Votescam, is part of a supposedlypatriotic "collaboration" between federalofficials and the news media that beganshortly after the assassination of John F.

Kennedy in 7963, when the "responsible"American press was persuaded by Americanintelligence services to hide from theAmerican people the actual implications ofthe Kennedy murder.

My brothers, Jim and Ken Collier, report thisstory as if the "hounds of hell," as Ken used toput it, were snapping at their journalisticheels.

I, too, am a journalist and editor byprofession , and a skeptic by training. yet, ashard as I have tried not to, I now believe theywere actually holding the tail of anelephantine conspiracy that they uncovered,inch by heart-rending inch.

After reading Votescam, the impatient

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citizen may well ask: "\7hy if there is truth inthe charges, are there no indictments?"

That question is one of many provoked byVotescamls reporting, and if Americans actuallyvalue their vote then there will be indictmentsbased on this book's data and documentation.

My brothers peeked behind Oz's curtain andinto a voting booth where people of power hadsecret hold of all the levers

- as well as all thekeys on the computer keyboard.

Yes, that's one hell of a conspiracy, and it - as

Jim and Ken uncorked it - 6lss5n't stop there.You may be shocked, annoyed, angry, astoundedor alarmed to find out where and how deep mybrothers feel it penetrates.

Votescam is one of the weirdest trips 1990sAmericans may take. My hope is that you willsuspend disbelief for a while and readit with anopen mind. If it raises questions you willdemand answers.

Answers to "improper inquiries"is what thisbook is about. It's what excellent journalism, inits best days, is also about.

Barnard L. CollierNew York City,1992

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ErncrRoNrc HoonwrNK

"We ca.nnou) speaktbe rnost majesticutord.s a d.ernocracy canolffer:'Tbe peoplc ltante spoken'...o

First words spoken byPresident-elect, George Bush,November 8, 1988 victory speechin Houston, Texas, 11:30 pM EST

oOnce, d,urtngtbe time uben days u)ered.arkery I made a promise. Tbanks,New llannpsltire?

Same speech, final words.

f, *", not "the people" of the United States ofAmerica who did "the speaking" on that electionday although most of them believed it was, andstill believe so.

In fact, the People did not speak at all, and,George Bush may have known it or, at least,strongly suspected it.

1

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The voices most of us really heard that davwere the voices of comput"ri - strong, loud,authoritative, unquestioned in their electronicfinality The computers counted more than 55million American votes in 1988 - more thanenough to swing election after election acrossthe nation. In that election, a difference of just535,000 or so votes would have put Dukakis intothe Vhite House.

The computers that spoke in November 198gheld in their inner workings small boxes thatcontained secret codes that onlv the sellers ofthe computers could read.. The programs, or"source codes," were regarded as "ttade secrets."'Ihe sellers of the vote-counting softwarezealously guarded their programs from thepublic, from election officials, from everyone -on the dubious grounds that competitors could.steal their ideas if the source codes were opento inspection.

You may ask: \ffhat "ideas" does it require tocount something as simple as ballots?

Can the "ideas" be much mofe complex than,let's say, a supermarket computerized cashregister or an automatic bank teller machine?

The computer voting machines do not have todo anything complicared at all; they simply mustbe able to register votes for the correct candidateor party or proposal, tabulate them, count themup, and deliver arithmetically correct additions.People with no formal training, even children,used to do it all the time.

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So why can't the public know what thosesecret source codes instruct the computers todo? It only makes common sense that everygea4 every mechanism, every nook and crannyof every part of the voting process ought to bein the sunlight, wide open to public view

How else can the public be reasonablyassured that they are participating in anunrigged election where their vote actuallv-means something?

Yet one of the most mysterious, low-profile,covert, shadowy questionable mechanisms ofAmerican democracy is the American votecount.

There is so profound a public despair aboutkeeping the vote system honest that a man withimmaculate academic credentials can sound thealarm on Dan Rather's CBS Evening News -charging that America's elections are beingcompromised by computer felons - and still getonly three calls about it.

Dr. Howard Strauss, a Princeton computersciences professor and a member of a tinynationwide group of worried citizens who cailthemselves "Election'W'atch." savs :

"Tbepresidential electio, of t992, witbout toomucb dfficulty and witb little cbance of tbefelons getting caugbt, could be stolen bycornputersfor one candidate or anotber. Tbecandidate wbo can uin by computer basworkedfar enough abead to rig tbe election bygetting bis 'consultants'to write tbe software tbat

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runs tbousands of uote-counting conxputersfrom coast to coasL Tbere are so rnanycomputers tbat use the same softuare nou tbat apresidential election can be tampered witb - infact, may already be tampered uitb. Because oftbe trade secrecy, nobody can be tbe wiser"

Computers in voting machines are effectivelyimmune from checking and rechecking. If theyare fixed, you cannot know it, and you cannotbe at all sure of an honest tally

In the 1988 Republican primary in NewHampshire, there was no panel of computerexperts who worked for the people andthoroughly examined the source codes beforeand after the voting. It is likely that a notoriouslyriggable collection of "shouptronic" computers"preordained'voting results to give George Bushhis "Hail Mary" victory in New Hampshire.

Nobody save a small group of computerengineers, like John Sununu, the state'sRepublican governo4 would be the wiserTI f you think back carefully to November 8,1988, it may strike you that your belief in whowon at the polls was not formed as the result ofopenly voiced "ayes" or "nays" in a public forum.

Nor was your perception of who won or lostbased on the honest and visible marks on paperballots that were checked and rechecked by allconcerned parties or their chosenrepresentatives,

The truth, if you recall it clearly, is that you

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learned about George Bush's astounding victoryin New Hampshire from a television program ornewspaper, which supposedly learned about itfrom a computer center into which othercomputers fed information.

You learned the "predicted outcome', withinminutes after the polls in New Hampshireclosed, and by andlarge you believed wliat youheard because you had no cause, it seemeci, tobe skeptical or suspicious.

If you had any doubts about how the votewas counted, you probably dismissed them afterasking yourself questions like:

1) Why would tbe computerpeople lie?2) Hot^u could tbey lie? Tbere must be pubtic

cbecks and balances.D If they lie, bou can tbey get away uith it?

Tbe losers uill surely raise bell.Because you, and most of us, dismiss the

possibility that the American vote is routinelvstolen, distorted or otherwise monkeyed with bycorrupt computer wizards, you resistquestioning further and dismiss as crackpots orfanatics those who do.

Yet, not -long ago, Robert Flaherty, thepresident of News Election Services (NeS), theprivate company that compiles voting resultsand feeds them to the malor media, was askedto make it clear how the NES system works.

As usual when asked about how NES countsand disseminates the votg he replied:

"Tbis is not aproper a,rea of inqutry"

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Can it be that the methods used to accept,tally and broadcast the results of the Americanvote are improper areas for questioning?

"Yes," says Mr. Flaherty "that is a ptoprietaryrnatter not open to the public."

\7e will describe the operations of thesecretive NES later on, although it is noteworthyIrere to mention that this corporation, which|anatically guards its people and processes fromthe public view, is a consortium of the threen-rajor television networks: ABC, NBC and CBS,plus the Associated Press wire service, CN\ theNew York Times, the'W'ashington Postand othernews-gathering organizations.

These "First Amendment" institutions eachraise the cry of "impropriety" and "improperinquiry" when asked about their unspoken rolein the American vote count.

Actually the major news organizations fosterthe illusion that the American press competes toget the correct vote count to the public, and theyirnply by omission that "ballots" are counted inthe traditional, accountable ways that oncelbstered confidence and a sense of fairness inthe hearts and minds of the American voter

Howeve4 the American voter has grown steadilyrnore apathetic in both presidential and off-yearclections, with sometimes less than 25 percent ofthose eligible taking the opportunity to cast al>allot. The press blames this on the politicians andthe public itself but the public may be a.ware,If

10 Electronic Hoodwink

only vaguely that in some unfathomable wav theirvofe counts for little or nothing

There have been too many odd coincidencesand peculiar results over the pa1t quartercentury and the decline in voter participition innational elections over the past fwo decades isdirectly proportional to the iise of computerizedvoting.,T1I he People are naive about computer voting

and somewhat less than entirely comput;;literate. They do intuit, however, that it is amistake ro pur much faith in the integrity oicomputerized

_v_ oting systems. Except inhaiters

spiritual, intelligent people tend not to placemuch faith in what they cinnot see. They iouldsee paper ballots marked and placed into a slotin ballot boxes, and except for certain infamousprecincts in Chicago, people generally trustedthe American voting piocess. ifr.y could see it,touch it, and_their vote left a paper trail thatcould be followed if there *u, " need forverification. That can no longer be said.

The instant after a voteichooses his or herballot selection on a computer, the electronicimpulse that is triggered eiiher records that voteor it does not. Either way the computer programimmediately erases all record of tire trurrr"Itio.,ex^cept for the result, which is subject to aninfinite variety. of switching, column jumping,multiplication, division, subtrlction, addition an-derasure.

b-._

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All these operations take place in theclectronic universe within the computer and arecntirely under the direction of the program or".source code." It is impossible to go back to the<rriginal event, like you can with a paper ballot,Irnd start over again in case fraud is suspected.\flith computer voting the results are virtuallyfinal, and, in all cases, hatched in the electronicclark. No human eye can watch or protect yourvote once it is cast in a computer votingrnachine.

People who mistrust the voting process cannot,in the traditional American w41 accept the defeat<rf their candidates.gracefully and work loyallywith the winners. Instead, more and moreAmerican voters are feeling "had," "scammed,""hoodwinked" by the voting system. Thust has:rlmost departed. There is the nagging unproven,yet pervasive feeling that the "experts," the "spindoctors," the "covert operatofs" and the "privateinterests" have put their technicians andconsultants in absolute control of the nationalvote count, and that in any selected situationthese computer wizards canand will program thevote as their masters wish.

Al orr", the United States of America there arepeople who listen to the facts about computervoting and then tell horror stories of candidates,who didn't have a prayer before election day,then slip into office by an uncheckablecomputer vote. Most common is the story of the

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computer that ,,breaks down,, when onecandidate is securely in the lead, andafter thecomputer is ,,fixed," the_ losing candidate p"fi,

ahead and wins. The evil feetirigs l;ft U.frirfo UVsuch shenamgans are festering i.-* America.A1gng the wickedest reient examples ofposs.ible

-computerized vote fraud, of the sortthat has disillusioned millions of Americans, isthe1988 New Hampshire pri*ury rhar savedGeorge Bush from getting krrocke'd out of therace to the \White House.

S(/u, the New Hampshire primary scenario amodern classic in computeiized votemanipulation? Here is the gist of it.The Bush campaign o-f t9gg, as historians

have since recollected ir, was fiifeO with CIA_type disinformation operations and deceptionsof the sort that Ameriia used in Vi.i Nu_, Chileand the Soviet Union. Since Ceorg€ Bush wasone of the most admired CIA dirJctors in thehistory of the organizatLon, this was notso surprising.

^ Yet George Bush stood to lose the RepublicanParty nomination if he *u, b.ui"n ^by Sen.Robert Dole in the snows of New Hampshire.

He had suffered a terrible political wound whenDol.e wgl big by a show of t anOs in anunriggable Iowa caucus. Bush came to NewHampshire with all the "u.*u.kr-of a loserwhom..the press had come to lJentif y as a"wimp.'

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Political observers were downbeat in theirol>.servations of Bush's chances in the face ofl)ole's Iowa momentum. Virtually everytt'levision and newspaper poll had Bush losinglry up to eight points just hours before thelr:rlloting.

Desperate times require desperate measures.I't'rhaps that's what it required for "steps to bet:rlien," and phone calls to be made. Then came;r widely reported promise made by Bush to hisr :rrnpaign m naget, Gov Sununu. It happens thatsr rnunu's computer engineering skills approach"gcnius" on the tests. If Sununu could "deliver"Ncw Hampshire, and Bush didnt care how andt liclnt want to know how - then Sununu wouldlx'coffie his chief of staff in the \fhite House.

\7hen election day was over the followinglrt'adline appeared in the"Washington Pos*

NEW HAMPSHIRE CONFOUNDED MOSTPOLLSTERS

Voters Vere a Step Ahead of TrackingMeasurements

ByLloydGroveWashington Post Staff Writer

lior Vice President Bush and his supporters, Tuesday's') l)ercentage-point victory over Sen. RobertJ. Dole (R-l..rrn.) in New Hampshire was a delightful surprise; forAnclrew Kohut, it was a horror story.

liohut is president of the Gallup poll, whose final NewI lrrmpshire survey was wrong by 17 points: it had put

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f;;ff,xlii:**9:j;.:lro,' bv e "r wasdismaved,uvrs dilcacl Dy u: ,Bush won t":lil acknowledged yesterday.

LTlt,ry:y Hamp"shile primary was perhaps rhe mosr!f e{ nrimary elecrion in American nirt.r,-f rnrl in t},-1""j, ",i, I i1.:.U,: i:1, - "

;; ; "'

J, i., "

riil ;

",ii : ;T, f i#:l3;*:^i?:pl,:,"""t.i,*id.**::",1i;,1l5Jl,TEopinion.!if9i

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Lj i; ffi :i#fi ?...l",,::

:#i19"',,tjXi.X-"""':".i j:lthemiscansororherpoiling:j:i: ::1:i:,,?'.:: u s u t * .u r". q u., t ; ;';; #;1T:il'#ffJ."jf*:*:.1*::v lr: +H;.& the impact

"?":,gl:""*"?:.T;^+;j:&;,i,;il;i,i.",j::.Sfl ilof elections. In Ne ^_ rrrs trurjrtcperception

ors.',,i..ati^nc,,,-^ ^r,l {1-prlire this year, newsotganizations'use of u ' ---t"'rr'! Lrrrr vcztr, newsmovemcnr nr n,,r_r:^ ^t11c5i"s

polls" to t.y to fotio--tn"l:Ji#:::::l,ll:.^:t:l jon";ish;,iil.,,,,ign,camero

fl?n n l:,: ;y:::: :u ;";', i' ;".; #;;1 J; ?f; :iT il :tT:Illg ot rhe campaigns rhemselves.Tracking polls usuallif vofers A'arr, _:^L.. asulvey a^relatively small number

ij.:".{;1,^:"":l,Sti,,?r;i+oiiiili,.ii;:1ir:yf i#iliilf ;H'g:*lgf:ri fn.,.,"ii,;t, ;y#J;j:*:several days. See pofiS, Aff, C"i. l

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ur()re. There was no rechecking of thet ornputerized voting machines, no inquiry intotlrt' path of the vote from the voting machines torlrc central tallying place, no public scrutiny oftlrc mechanisms of the mrghty peculiar vote that:;rrvcd George Bush's career andleapfrogged therr'latively obscure Sununu into the rVhite House.

Nothing was said in the press about the:,r't:retl1r programmed computer chips inside the"Sl)ouptronic" Direct Recording Electronic (DRE)r,oling machines in Mancheste4 the state's largestt tl!

'l'hese 200-pound systems were so easilyt;rrnpered with that the integrity of the resultstlrcy gave - and George Bush was thelrr'neficiary of their tallies - will forever be in, krubt. Consider these points:

I 'fhe "Shouptronic" was purchased directlyfrom a company whose owner, RansomShoup, had been twice convicted of votefraud in Philadelphia.

/. It bristled with telephone lines that made itpossible for instructions from the outside tobe telephoned into the machine withoutanyone's clear knowledge.

t. It completely lacked an "audit trail," anindependent record that could be checked incase the machine "broke down" or its resultswere challenged.

r. Roy G. Saltman, of the federal Institute forComputer Sciences and Technology, called

-Ff"a the terms of Bush,s ,,promise,, to Sununubeen met?

.,1T1:*r pagic Sununu was able to conjureup during those .finalfrours preceding,the

overnight resurrection of the errn ."_paign, itworked.There are those who believe that such a wildreversal of form woul_d have beenrrrUi.., to animmediat; inquiry by the ,rl*"li, if it hadnappened in the- Kenrucky Derby A;thorseplayer woutd hr".: dilia lrs.b, pur afinger up ro his eye, pulled d";; rh; lower lid,and signaled: ,,Fix."

Yet in New Hampshire, there was somewonderment expres;ed in ifr. p*rr, and little

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the Shouptronic ,,T.r.! more risky,, than anyother compurerized tabul;ri;"'ryrr._

because "yol are r.rrrJ"rrr-.rffii"q.rir"o toff::ryrl: logicat operarion of ihe machine,tnere ls no way to do an independent check.,i

,A f."ur. lateq in Jun e .of 19g9, Robert J. Naegelgyh: hu{invesrigared af f compu*terizedvoringsystems for New york State, warned, ,,The

DRE(which the Shouptronic was) is srill at least ayear a.yd possibly rwo away from what f *o"fJconsider a marketable product. The hardwareproblems are relarively mino4 U"lin. sofrwareproblems are conceptual and *atj rnaior|,A source close_ to Gov Sununu insists thatSununu knew flom fris perspective as apolitician, and, his expertise ai a computerengineer, that the Shouptronic was prime fortampering.How could such an offense against the United

lr_u:"r.electoral process t u" #"", carried outunoer tne gaze of professionals from the nationsr v networks, newspapers and wire services?,T1I.here are lawyers.who will argue that the paftyprimary election is

-essentiaffly u" i"r, a_partymatter over which ,,outsideri,, har.e ,roi"gut

rights. That, in fact, jf a political ii"Uwanrs rorig.its elections, it can do so witfroulviolation offederal, state or local laws.As long as men and women in charge of thevore count are on the take, or can be persuaded

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f lr;rt tampering is'good for the patty," that one, .rrrclidate should win no matter what the voter ourrt is - then wholesale vote riggingtlrrrrughout America can be accomplished quiter'.rsily. It is a sick and vicious way to operateu,illrin the two-party system, and there is reasonro l;1'lier1s that it is epidemic on a national scale.

'l'be concept is clear, simple and it uorks.()()tltputerized uoting giues tbe power ofv'lt,clion, witboutfear of discouery, to wbomeuert (

'ttlrols tbe cornputert )f course, there are problems about getting

r r rrrtrol of more and more computers, andthat; ,r oblem has been brilliantly solved with thelr,'f 1r, and in some cases the unwitting, ollaboration, of the major news-gathering,,ruunizations.

/\\ ,lvcr the past generation, when televisionrrcws became an unstoppable force in AmericasI'olitical life, competition grew between therrr:rjor networks to be "first" with the votingr ('sLllts - proving they had better reporters,l,r'tter contacts, better organizations than the01rP<>SitiOO.

n t first, the race to call the winners was',1)()rtsmanlike and played much like printl{)rlrnalism played "scoops." Then, almostrrrrperceptibly the networks' urge to'give thel,rrlrlic timely results" crossed over the line intorr'r t'itory more sinister.

'l'he early position taken by network

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l, rllr>wing several disturbing public relationsl,roblems brought about by both incompetent.rrrtl malicious "mishaps" during elections, tookrlri name off the product. IBM eventually sold itsrrqhts in the company after IBM's president,l'lr<rmas'Watson, read an article that implied herrright be trying to install IBM voting machinesrr Lrnough precincts to win him the first,'k't'tronically rigged election for President of thellrrited States. 'Watson had no ambitions to| ,r't'()ffie a U.S. president and was mortified thatlris computers would be implicated in anti-r h'rrrocfatic functions.

With the crusql impeccable IBM out of theI'rrsiness, the scramble to produce newrrrrproved, less scrupulous voting hardware and'.oltware began in earnest. Entrepreneurs madelorlunes peddling the early computerized( ()unters to towns and cities across America.I Irt'y sold the machines as the "patriotic,""lrrrgressive" thing to do for American voters.

Newspaper and broadcast media seldoml,othered to look into the voting machiner r r t I ustry and, in fact, took advantage of the',1rced the new machines offered in counting.I lrc press did not investigate the accuracy orl.rt l< of it, of the final tallies.A/\ll of the computerized machines, from the

r'.rr'liest versions on, were peculiarly susceptiblero v()t€ fraud despite the ingenuous claims madeI'y the manufacturers. The issue of "speed" in

spokesmen was that slow vote counts increas

ln: j::"^t:n:: g :f,,ol. r1ry!, u#'n!,ia.,, tAmerican p.eople had, a,,rgrri,ioliJ_ r,as possibrle how their candilates f^*J.fou lnay ask: tVl4t all tbe rusbi^--In a fair election, how does the passage of

i:tr":ill"^T:ll, of^rime, r.,, triu., a day <

lyo:.ruy negarively affect the outcome of th:,^.-:-r]","

or rhe.people's perception-of iti tn th?."rly days of the nition'it requiiea _o.rtfm tfind out who was er.cteJ-p;Jr;;;;:since th_electoral college met in linuary to'cast theivotes.

. Clearly, democracy can survive withouimmediate election results.Yet the media's.clamor for speed went on,

::::yt?ged^ by invenrors who had eartvknowledge of compurers and knew l,# ,;ilJlf::::.::t:1,1:_ tr," p.o..rr"r

"i "rai"ary li fe.It became possibtq with fast *;;#;ii*aby International Business tvlachine Corporation,to use punch cards, with row" "f ,rrutt,::::TF:t"r holes, as bailots. These otd cardscould be counre d, at the.ur"

"i rt Jirsands perminute by an IBM sorting machine hooked up,with- a photoelectric celi-and, ;";;;r;;;5tabulator. Ir seemed like prolrem lt tn. ti.rr..vol.e cognri"s ;;;; ;;;,,# i",flTL1#; "'"''

But after several years, IBM reninlo that theYote-amatic voting machine, th.l"te.rts onwhich IBM had bought fr"- it, i"ri"nror, TK.Harris, was actually a pandorais box. tnU.

Ekctronic Hoodwink

counting actually meant little or nothing to tvoting public, except as it was ,t"gJd a,::*ff:r:t"Lby tlre press. yes, the compure9ffer9d speed on the one hand,'O"t """#hand they all, uitbout """iptiii, aia ,fr"i:ffj1l":r 1",.n"

etecrronic daik where ordinaryir..""ir'!

responsibility for a fair-and, accurite vote, couldnever ventufe.

will keep the fraud down to manageableproportions

Most Americans did not rcalize that such ananti-democratic virus had infected their vote.Most do not realize it today. If you ask yourfriends to describe.how their vote (ifrhey cast a;,.3i:l

is counred, they are unlikelf ro ger muchrurrner than the polling booth and therudimentary requiremen"ts to oferate themachine. Beyond. that they are probablyignorant. Most people expect tirat the Democrat1nd

Kepubtican poll watchers will watch out forrnelr lnterests, and if not them, the Board ofElections or some federal elections commission

20

. Naturally in the vacuum of ethics and in thedepths of ignorance about computerized voting,the opportunists arrived on the scene. It wasalready clear thatIBM considered thl businesstoo dirty to mess with. yet salesmen had placedthe machines, along with service contracts andconsulting fees, in thousands of America,sprecincts.

All over the nation the local election boards

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rr'.'r'c taking delivery of Thojan horses that couldlrt' 1)rogr2mmed to bide their time and then,t'lrr'n the proper moment came, to mistabulatek'r'tion results on command. Computer experts

n rtlr even the most vestigial imaginationslrrirrred out dozens of ways to compromise a\'( )l(', many of them so elegant t}lat getting, ,urgllt was almost impossible.

l)uring a little-publicized court trial in'S7estVrrqinia, it was revealed that there were ways to,tr,1r the computers during a count, whiler l.r')rone watched. Simply fiddle with a few'.rlrtt'hes, turn the computer back on again, andr lr,'r't'by alter the entire vote, or parts of it. Ifrny( )ne asked questions, the fixers could make,,ry number of plausible excuses. Mostly all theylr,r, I lo say was "just checking that everything'sr r rr r ring oka1q" and thatwas satisfactory

$Vith voting machines attached to telephonelirr,'s it was possible to meddle with the actualr,,lc from a telephone miles away. Getting, ,rrrqht was not possible. "Deniability" andrirrlmckabilityl were built into the secret source

, r ,r lt'S that animated the machines.ll was possible to rig elections electronically

rtr :,('l)arate communities across the country butrtttil 1954 it was not considered possible to rig arr,rlr<rnal election. Then, in August 7964, NewsI l,'r lion Service was created.

l)| ', rlraps the most important piece of historyirrrr'<rvefed during the Votescamprobe is a

2l

22 Electronic Hoodwink

potently candid srudy of the U.S. electosystem conducred in 19g0 by the CIAJinked.Command and Staff Collegein cooperation withe University of New Meiico. It e;rablishes tlTV corporate networks' interest in NES. Tstudy was commissioned by the CIA a.published in the International Journal

"f publ

Administration that was distri6utedto selecte

.9."1:l:::llagencies. Ve discovered a copy irne LtDrary of Congress.

. It is safe to say that almost nobody in Americrs aware of the activities of NES on electionight. The on-air scripts of each TV netwoduling the_years since the foundi"g

"f NES hase,ldom, if ever, mentioned its eiistence. Tlsilence smacks of collusior,

"rrrorrg pre-competitors" to k9.p NES away from publi

scrutiny A portion of the studv read,

"lb.g Unite( States gouernrnent bas no electioo1Jtce and does not atternpt to administcongressional elections. Tbe responsibility _foradministratign of eleclion, oid

""rif.yiiotionwinners in the (Inited States natioial electior,rests witb a consortium of priuate entitiesincluding 111,0OO membiri of tbe nationaIeague of 'W'omen

Voters. Tbeformal structunof election administration in the United Statesno.t gapablg ofprouiding the major TV nettaorwitb timely results o/ tnn pririiential acongressional electio?, Iry tbe case of countingactual ballots on national election nigbt, p"iti"

VOTESCAM

,'lf rt irrls baue abdicated responsibility of,tt'.t't't,.qot.tion of election nigbt uote totals to al,t tt'rtlt,organization, Netos Election Seruice of,\,'tt' lltrk (NES). NES is a wbolly-owned., i r I ry rt I ictr! joint-uenture of national teleuisiont r t't u,t t rks ABC, CB S and NBC and tbe presstt'ttt' seruices AP and UPI. Tbis Priuate,, | !:t t, r iza.tion perforrns ut t' r t t x I r r t superuision bJt Public officials. It makes, l,', i, iplls-loncernlu&its duties accordi,,tt'rr < riteria. Tbe question and accountabilitJt,'l I'lt'lus Election Seruice bas not arisen in tbetttttion's Press because tbe resPonsibili4t NEStt,,rt, has in counting the nation's uotes was,t \\ry med gradually ouertt'ttlxtut euer being eualuated as an item on tbe!'r r | ilrc a.geflda, (Underlinedfor empbasis. Ed)'ltI lris privately owned vote counting cartel (NES)

rr:,r's th€ vast membership of the network-',rrlrsidized League of \Women Voters as fieldI rcrsr)rlfi€l whose exclusive job is to phone inrttttlficialvote totals to NES on election night.N llS also operates a "master computer" in Newri rrl< City located on 34th Street. (Because the!r'/tguc of Women Voters has about it a perfume, 'l volunteerism and do-goodism, the fact that itr:. rrctually a political club with a political agenda.rrrcl a hungry treasury is shrouded by the falserrryth that it is a reliable election-day watchdog.)

'fhe NES mainframe computer has the, ;rpability via telephone lines, of "talking" back

24 Electronic Hoodwink VOTESCAM

2and forth with county and, state governmenmainframes. During the imporian t 60_d,atcertification period a{ter an.f".ti"", ite counin the county and state mainframes can still tmanipulated by outsiders to conform to earljTV "projections."

J:H.f;. prescription for the coverr sreating

BALLOTSNOTBULLETS

"Ballots are tbe riglttful and.peacefulsuccessors tobullets"

-Abraham Lincoln

A/ \ecept the idea for a few hours that your voter.,. in fact, being stolen before your eyes, Put.rsicle your beliefs or disbeliefs in the rectitude ofrlrc' federal, state and local governments. Journeylxrck to a time just a year after "'Woodstock,"rvhen today's new grandfathers wefe in theirtwenties and both Jimi Hendrix and JimMr>rrison were still alive.

$7" u.. two brothers from Michigan at play inMiami in 7970. The Cuban refugees have not yett:rken political control. 'We have sharedlrrofessions as rock and roll empresarios, drug

26 Ballots Not Bullets

store owners, suntan lotion manufacturers ajoumaliss.

rilThenJim Morrison of ,,The Doors', execuhis notorious simulated jerk-off jump fromstage into the crowd, and set in motion tchain of events thar plagued him until his dein Paris, it was us, Jim and Ken Collier, wpromoted that historic show \7e also swallowthe financial consequences after Morrison"The Doors" left town

It is after "The Doors" hysteria that we areMiami trying to decide what to do next. rwant to do something that just might raieyebrows and blood pressure in a Richird Nix

VOTESCAM

\'t'.slam: Ballots Not Bullets. The editors agreedtlr;rt it was a good idea and paid us $3,500 as an,rr lv:rnce.

r,X/inning the congressional seat was not ar ('( luirement of Dell. They also agreed that werr',,rrld not ask for contributions. The campaignrr'.,rrld be as "grass roots" as possible, based ontlrc theory that even the poorest person inr\rnt'rica can run for office by merely knocking, rn t'Very door, shaking every hand and giving',1,t'r'ches at every political club or church.\\tlr:rtever percentage of the vote we managed torirl :rt the end of the campaign trail wouldr h'pt'nd strictly on whether the people believed||t lls.

l\('n was already the front man at our rock, ltlt, Tbee Image, and he had that Sixties needt( ) .\('c things change. From the time he was at.r'r)ager he had a burning desire to be a( r rnrfe ssrnant a profession he consideredr, k'.rlistic and romantic. He had been buying ad',l,.rt't-' on the back page of the University ofA I r,r rrri Hurricane student newspaper (|im had| ,r 't 'r r The Hurricane managing editor in 1959)rrr tlrr: name of Tbee Image to write essays onrlrr' 1r<>litical upheavals of the time: against the\ rr'l Nam war, for freedom of speech, againstr r r r1 rrisonment of political radicals.

Now Ken closed his eyes and put thel,,,ssibilities together. His imagination wasr rvr';rlied by the potential for high drama. At 29\ ('.f rs <>ld, a romantic poet, Ken was brazen,

world. \We decide to write a book. 'We couwrite two books about rock and roll and tactual life backstagg but we have a lot of friin the music business, and if we tell the truth

without revolution. Ken would run for

alienate most of them. The idea of combiningbggk with running for public office comes up.

"It seems like a good idea,,,Ken says."It',s a great idea. you going to run, or me?"

\7" *..r, to Dell publishing in New york arsold the idea that Tom Hayden, Jerry RubiAbbie Hoffman and all the hippies against thsystem had all overlooke d an intriguinpossibility - to use the sysrem and see if ihithat needed to get done acrually could ger d

and scrupulously work witbin tbe systemto fiout. \7e titled the book: Running Tbrougb t


impulsive, Tom \Wolfe-like in his stature, over sixfeet of it, big hands, big head, big shoes, bigdreams.

"'We can do it," Jim said.Two years older than Ken, Jim was quiet and

private. Nothing intrigued him more thanorchestrating scenes from behind the scenes.

"I'll be your campaignmanager.',"\7ho do we run against?" Ken asked."Hmmmmmm.t'

r\\-rlaude Pepper was a lusty old Harvard manwith a face like an overripe tomato. He wasknown as "The Father of Social Securitv" Hewas also the incumbent in the Hou'se ofRepresentatives. Pepper was a cosmopolitan,and he was happy to be in \fashington wherehis talents as a speaker and a storyteller wererecognized and appreciated.

Pepper was on the board of the bank thatheld the lease on the building that house d, TbeeImage. The bank had refused to renew the leaseafter "The Doors" concert, using the conroversyin the press as an excuse. Rock and roll. thevsaid, was an unsavory influence on thecommunity, even though parents, police andprosecutors were invited into the club withoutcharge, at any time, to see that the kids were notsubjected to drug dealing.

"Let's run for Congress against Claude peppe4"

Jim said.It was decided that Ken would run as a

votEscAM

I rr.rrxrc:rat ($2,100 was paid for the filing fee andit ( .u)le from a Ted Nugent concert we held atrlr,. Miami Jai-Alai Fronton). Neither of us werelJrxon Republicans and to run as aflrrrrlt'pcrident would have been decidedlylulsitkt the system.

( )lr .luly 27,lgTO the grass foots campaign| ,,'1i;111.

\V/Wc talked at every possible church.'We wentint() public housing in Liberty City and( )\/('r'l()wn, which were black innercity areas. 'We

1,.rrst'cl out leaflets and talked some -or.. In thel,'\\/isl-r sections of Miami Beach there wefe1'rrlrlic meetings held in banks and on Southllr',rt'h (now the art deco revival section). The,

'1, I pt'ople were charmed by Ken, who swapped',torics with \7orld Var II vets about hisl',r r, tt lr)oper jumps.

Wt' campaigned 42 days, 18 hours-a-day every' l.ry

Wlrcn the U.S. Congress recessed in August,r l,rrrrle Pepper returned home to Dade Countyl'uor to his showing up we had almost, .rrvinced leaders of the black community,u lrit lr included newspaper editors, cMc activistsrntl IIUD executives, that Ken's ideas were the\i,rv(' of the future, the hope of the next11,'r tt.ration.

II rr August, with the recess in Congress, Claudel'('l )l)cr returned to the area and the atmosphere

29


abruptly changed. At a black church in LibertvCity, we attended an obligatory politicaibreakfast. Five-minute speechei -ere rcheduledby all the candidates. Fepper, who was nearly7O-years old, gave his speech in his usual mush_mouthed way He sat down and Ken got up tospeak. But the moderator pointedly ignoredhim. \fhen Ken realized thai he wasnlr giirrg toget equal time, he asked: *Does anybodv.ur6 to'hear me speak?"

Pepper nodded his head at two very seriousguys. They approached Ken from both sides.grabbed his arms, and dragged him out like afish.

\Ve called the cops on a pay phone. AlceeHastings, who eventually became-the first blackfederal judge in the area, rushed outside.

. "Don't go back in there,', he warned. ,,They'llbeat you up next time. It's dangerous."

\7e called the television stations and toldthem how a candidate got dragged out of apolitical breakfast. Only Channef4,s reporter.ut9 and took pictures of the purple bruiseson Ken's arms. But at the studio, the newsdirector didn't even look at the tape. ,,This isn'tgoing to air," he told the reporter

And that was that.One of the theories of the Dell book

Running Tbrougb Tbe System, was that we usethe system whenever possible. So instead ofmerely_ going back in and shooting the oldbastard, we swore out a waffantfor pepper's

VOTESCAM

.rr rt:st for ordering the assault. Not one word intf rc media. 'W'e couldn't get even a second ont,'lcvision. 'We sent a telegram to the Federalt,orrrmunications Commission and complained,r.,'ithin the system, that we couldn't get anytr'k'vision time. The FCC wrote back to the local',t.rtions and said, unspecifically, "Give theml |l l l('."

( )ne station gave us 18 seconds.l'r:pper went to Texas avoiding arrest, while his

l,rwyers visited a judge without our knowledgeI t'.\: parte) and had the warrant quashed.tft

I lrt'y might have been irked by the garbagerrrr i<lent.

\)/e had to make a clear statement about our( ,l)(lidacy One that would show that Peppern',rs l>asically a hypocrite who didnt care about,rny()ne but the richest segment, white or black.( )ur'()pportunity came when we walked throughtlrt' streets of the black areas and saw the results, 'l :r political project that black leaders called'''li't'n Clean."

'l'lre idea was to clean up houses, gutters,',trt'r'ts, lawns of all the garbage that had turnedtlr<' area into a slum. The teens turned out withrirr'rrt enthusiasm and they piled coconuts, palmlronds, broken glass, toilet seats, rusty oldrr'lrigerators, and mattresses in heaps on the',lrt'c:t, some as high as six feet. The Metror'.rrlrage trucks were supposed to pick it all up,I'rrt although most of the drivers were black,

?t Ballots Not Bullets

their white bosses refused to let them go. Thereason: "'We didn't expect hundreds of piles ofTeen Clean garbage and we don't have thebudget for it." People in the community were?ngry, and they felt betrayed. Rats and roaches,howeve4 loved the stuff

"I,ook," Jim suggested, "let's rent a pick-uptruck, pick a load of that shit up and get sombpress at the same time."

So one hot August afternoon, we appeared inLiberty City in a half-ton rruck and lolded it up.Ve had the enthusiastic help of about 100 localkids. Then Ken drove east across the 35th StreetCauseway to pristine Miami Beach. Had any alert"cop seen us heading east with aload of garbage,he would surely have stopped us. fiobolybrings garbage toMiami Beach.

Once across the bay we headed for the bankon lTth street, where we backed the truck up tothe front door, pulled the hydraulic handle,lndwatched as ahalf ton of unsavory objects built amonument to the Pepper campaign. Just beforewe drove away, Jim grabbed a cardboard signthat read, "This is a Teen Clean proiect" andjammed it inro rhe rop of the heap like the flagat IwoJima.

Later we drove by the bank, on whose boardPepper sat, and watched as hired black menscooped up the garbage into a truck and thenheaded back uest across the causeway'We parked the truck in front of ourtownhouses and waited. TWo Miami Beach

VOTESCAM

,lrrt't'tives eventually knocked on Ken's door."Wc not only did it," Jim assured them, "but

rlcit going to do itzgain tomoffoqr"Wt' clid go back into Liberty City the nexr day

f r rr .r rcpeat performance, but all the garbagerr'.rs lrcing picked up by afTeet of Metro trucks.A r rt I u lthough there were photographers, police.rrrt I r't'porters who saw the garbage pile in front,,1 llrt' bank, not a word was mentioned in therrr,'r lir, not even in the black-ornmed newspaper'1j,,' ,.-uinder of the campaign was wagedrrr.rrrrly in the streets. Miami in August can be.r ',tit l<y mixture of sun,squalls and stiflinglr, ,rt. All day we trudged the streets, puttingllrcrs in doors of houses, talking to peoplerr'lr, wcre home, some giving us a cold drink.

I't'pl)er bought TV time and seldom left his1r,,1111'. Then, in the last two days before ther olr', as we made our last up-this -street-rl,lvrr-th2t-street run, we saw Pepper's face, i t'r I where. He had used county employeestrr 11;1il his campaign posters on hundreds ofr''l('l)l)one poles in the black communities.llr' Pllt none on the Beach.

'"1'lrat's illegal," Ken said, ripping one,lrrwr). "He catr't put his posters on public| 't( )l)('rty"

l'lr:rt night we drove the convertible along, .t( lr street, Jim standing on the trunk, andrr. r illped every poster down. It took fourl1r rurs, but that night we slept great.

33


On election evening we were at Kens house towatch the returns on television. The numberswere flashed on the screen about every 20minutes and our percentage of the voteremained consistent at 16 percent. Channels 4andT were giving the election full coverage butChannel 10, for the first time in its history tan amouie instead of voting results. Sometime after 9p.m. our vote percentage jumped to 31 percent.

"Hey, we just doubled our vote!,, Ken wasexcited.

"If it holds we'll have enough strength to runagain in'72," Jim said.

Suddenly the news director came on the airand announced that the election ,,computer hasbroken down." Instead of giving official returnsfrom the courthouse, the station would insteadbroadcast returns based on its "projections."

'When the next "projection" was flashed 20minutes later, Ken's vote had fallen back to16 percent. No other vote had fluctuated,only ours.

Wb didn't knou it at tbe time, but across tbecountry in tbe 1970s and 19BAs, that sequenceof euents was a phenomen'on tbat bbcameratber comtnon. 1) A candidate is abead., tbegood guy, tbe one wbo wanted tbe city audit, tbeone wbo'll make a difference. 2) TbleuisionannoLt,ncement: "Tbe computer bas brokend.own at tbe courthouse and official uotes willno longer be fortbcoming." J) Wben tbe

VOTESCAM

, ',t,tl)ut(r comes back, yourguy is bebind. again,,rtt, | 1f 7a'17, be or sbe remains.

It1' tlrc 11 p.m. news it was over. \7e hadn,tr ', t,,'( tt'cl to win; after all, we spent so littlern' ,n(')/, we bought no television time and werr r rc n('w at political campaigns. But what wasrIr r| i| 1rcrcent we got at about9:30?'l'I lr, rrt'xt day we drove to the Board of

I l' , lrr rrr.s in Miami, and after watching a while,.,, .r',|,t'(l Election Supervisor Martin Bratermanil rr , r , rLrld look at the canvass sheets we sawr,r.r I in an open vault. He escorted us to the

, rrrlr .rrrtl Jim started flipping the sheets, tryingr', !t, | ,r rluick visual grasp of the entire stack. Helr r, I rrt'v('r seen a canvass sheet before so he hadr r, , rr l<';r of what he was looking at, much less'. lr.rr lr(. was looking for

I rrr rrot sure," he said. "but it looks like theret rr | | r( )l'(' votes cast than people who voted."

l'.''n, who was still surveying the room, movedir r r l.:;t.l' "\Where?... Sho\ r me."

t ,r'l <)Llt," Braterman ordered, "you guys arerrlrl ..lll( ('S,.

I lrrs is public information," Ken said. ,Arei,,ir tt'lling us that we are not entitled to, ': rnur(, public information about the electoral1 itr rr r'..,S/"

llris is not the right time.'Were certifying the.,,1r ltcl'C."

1.,'n l)crsisted. "\7e want to see them now

1)


because something looks very wrong withsheets. Let us look at them before somethihappens to them. It's evidence."

There was more heated dialogue. Ken satthe counter and refused to go until he couexamine the canvass sheets.

Braterman picked up the phone: "'We gotdisturbance here. Send a cop."

A few minutes later a young policemanKen what he was doing.

"Just checking out the system," Ken grinThe policeman laughed, Ken laughed. Thenbooked Ken on a misdemeanor. Tim bailed hiout.

Tfr" next day, with a call to the electiodivision, we got a full explanation of whatcanvass sheet was: the official, hand-writtrecord of the voting machine tallies. Thererules written on the flip-side of the sheet.official rules state: At7 a.m. the precinctmust open up the back of the voting machiand certify that all candidate counters arewith zeroes showing. They sign their namesthose sheets swearing that they actually sawzefoes.

Then the machine is closed and lockedthe day while voting goes on. At 7 p.m., aftervoting ends, the back is again opened withand representatives from each pffty call outnumbers to the precinct people who fill infront side of each canvass sheet. Three

VOTESCAM

.lr, r'ts rrre filled out per machine. One sheet is tolrt lroslcd on the wall after the election for thel ,u l )lr( . One goes to the Elections Department.t rrr. rs sent to the CountyJudge's office.

I fn( ('we knew what it was we were looking1,,! \\'r' returned to the Elections Department,. lr,'rt' llraterman, still grumpy from the dayl,r lr,l (, agaifi refused an examination of the|, , I lr ( ls. Not wanting to get busted again we,, rlLt'tl ()ver to the CountyJudge's office where. , 'l,l( s <rf the sheets were already bound in a1,,,,,1, 'fhe clerk there permitted closer,1rilr|lt1ltion.

\\/lurl are we looking for?" Ken asked.I , rr rl< fof a pattetn."

I lrt' sheets were three feet wide and two feetlrrlilr ( )rr the front there were a lot of squares. r rnt':.1)()flding to each candidate, and there wererrrrrrrl)('rs in most of the squares in thelr rrr,lrvriting, it seemed, of just the one person,, lr, , I illed out each sheet. On the back wereIr,,rrr rt'u to twelve signatures of workers who,i\.lr(' tliey saw all zeroes in the morning andIrrril rrrrrnbers at night.

,\', wc turned the pages Jim was puzzled:I lr, rt.'s a kind of uniform grayness about all

rlr, ,, sl)cets. Look here." He flipped the pageslil,, , rrrt' would do to a cattoon layout. ,,Exceptlr r1 1 111'sc' few precincts...look." He pointed to al, rr,, t ,l scrawly looking numbers. "See?"

l'.r'n could see it immediately. Thelr rr,lrvriting on about five of the pages was


messy and broken...and real looking. "But trest of this stack is too neat, isn't it? All ofappear to be written by the same hand!"

"You think these mtght be forgeries?""Let's find a handwriting expert."The Yellow Pages listed only one handwri

expert, Robert Lynch.'W'e telephoned himmade an appointment to meet at the courthe next morning.

Lynch turned out to be a man in his fifties.wore glasses but he only needed one flthrough the bound stack before makingpronouncement.

"These are not forgeries."\il/e had absolutely no reason to believe

Lynch was anything other than your honeighborhood handwriting expert. If hethey weren't forgeries, what was the usechasing rabbits down that hole?

\7ith our forgery suspicion gone, theinvestigation appeared to be over. 'We wentto shooting pool, learning Shori Goju kasailing catamarans and ncingPontiac and427's. \7e were also busy selling our Inev/spape4 Tbe Daily Planet, on street

"The question that still bugs me," Jim said,how did we get that 31. percent? I mean,that momentary thrill? 'Was it an error?"

"Maybe it was feal," Ken answered. "Msomehow they let the true vote through.they saw what it was, they cut it off"

"That's a possibility"

VOTESCAM

S,,,,,r rrfter the November election, in whichr Lru,lt' I'epper was confirmed as Congressman,\r ' \\'('ltt to the local television stations to asktlr, rrr lirr copies of the on-air computerr' ,rr lo11[.s" used during the primary election

' ' 'ltlllll, ,rlr 'l'V stations said that they no longer had

l" '',',(':isi()n of the readouts. They were now held| '1 I'rr )l('s;sor Ross Beiler, in the political science,l' ;r,1r Irllent of the University of Miami. \We

i! r rr r rlr liltely went to Beiler's office on the Coralr , rl,l.r; ('ampus. It was just a 10-foot by 10-footr r rl ,rt lt' off a loggia, and the door was open.

rii' wrrlked in and there, scattered in disarray',rr lrr:, tk:.sk, were the readouts we wanted. They,., r,' lrig, about the same size as the canvass,lrr r'rs, with the dark and light green lines oflltA | ,r.rrrdard computer pape[

I lrry showed vote totals and the times ther, 'r rl', w('re tallied. There were the names of theI rrlr rn:; on them: \7CKT (4) and \ZTVI (7). plus.'

'r I r{' I l( )tes and signatures.r ,r.rlr those," Ken whispered.

lrrrr st ooped up a handful of the sheets andIrr||r{'(| to walk out. At that instant, Professorli, 11,'r walked in the door. He was a tall,lr.r1 ,,'r'tly looking man. He grabbedJim, whort.r', .l lrlack belt in karate, by the back of therr' , l'. .rrrrl said: "Put those back."

I r"rt'lly what were you going to do withtlr, ,r'.' Kcn asked.

39

40 BallotsNot Bullets

"I'm going to \ilTashington on a sabbatical. Iwas going to destroy them."

"Destroy them? You can't do that."

VOTESCAM

r,ur rlce so it's gotta be in our district. This, ',lrrf nn says ACTUAT VOTES. There's a zerolr, r,' 1qo actual votes. And..." his finger movedr, ' rlrt' next column, "here it says PROJECTED\'( tl'liS. ..7,700 for us and. . .45p00 for pepper"

"Soi/,'

'I lrrder 'MACHINES REPORTING' . .. onerrr.rr'l)ine."

"l,t'rnlTl€ S€€."Wc checked the green computer readouts

rr lri<'h we arranged in neat piles under the poolr.rl,lt' light. In one of the vertical columnsLrl't'lcd "MACHINES REPORTING' the number| 'rrppeared.

f irn grinned. "They used one machine's totalstrr 1>rediCt how many votes 250 candidatesn, rtrld get?"

lle scrambled quickly through the papersr rr r t il he found the 9:21 p.m. readout. There itir'.rs, the 31 percentthat had flashed on the..t rt'co. "\(/e're not crazlq" Jim said.

lr.cn looked at the numbers.'l'he documents showed that no actual votes

rvcre being reported ftom7 p.m. until the 11

l) nl. news. .We

had assumed that the computerlr,rrl broken down at the time they announced it,'):ll p.m., but these readouts indicated that theI V .stations were not getting official votes fromtlrt' opening bell.

"They must have relied on information fromtlrc'ir reporters at the precincts," Ken said.

"Maybe," Jim answered, "but 99 percent of the

4I

"They belong to me.""ril7e need them for an investigation." Ken

picked up a few papers."Put those dovm."'All right," Ken said, dropping them back on

the desk, "let's put them in the safe in the officeof the dean of students."

The professor hesitated."Professo4 it would be the legally proper thi

to do."'Just for six months," he agreed,,hnd you

look at them during that time.""Let's fype up an agreement.',As Beiler sat at the typewriter, with his back

to the room, Jim seized the moment and stuffedabout ten readout pages under his shirt aslipped unnoticed out the door. He ran to theca4 where he jammed the papers in the trunk.

A .o.rpL of hours later we excitedly spread thecontraband on the pool table in Jim's living

"Look at this," Jim pointed to one of thecolumns on the sheet. "The first report is at7:24p.m... .|ust24 minutes after the polls closed." Hescanned the sheet...he knew the future wascoming. "It shows the first vote totals areon," he found the column... ,,returns fromPepper's Congressional district. . . see?. . . it called


vote was counted by 11 p.m. They would haneeded at least 340 reporters to cover the 3,precincts."

\7e checked the sheets closer and found thathe on-air reporting times were set at everyminutes throughout the evening. The last repwas at 11:L5 p.m.

"Ninety-nine percent of the precincts wereported by the rime people had ro go ro bed,I(en mused. "That's verv neat.,'

"If they weren't getting actual votes all nifrom 7 p,m.on, and they predicted the finoutcome in 24 minutes using one votinmachine, maybe they knew they were going thave a blackout all along" Jim said.

"So it was a cover storv""Gotta be."

. "Could hey have blacked it out on purposethey could project winners?"

But the most puzzling question, if we werebelieve that the election wasnt rigged, wasChannel 7 could have predicted the exacoutcome of 40 races with 250 candidataltogether on the basis of information from juone voting machine located somewhere iClaude Pepper's district. And how could thevit in just 24 minutes?

That 24 minutes rang and rerang and re-rererang inside our heads. 'We talked all nightrying to make rhe pieces of the puzzle fit.morning we still thought that something warotten in the count.

VOTESCAM

-T-tI here are no tests to determine when the last

rrrck on the ledge of life slips and plunges youinto the cratet of causes. Suddenly police.stations become grossly familiar. So do thet'<>urtrooms of various judges. The offices oflawyers are not avoided anymore. Organizationslike the CIA and the FBI keep their ears openwhen you come around. Your home may attimes become mobile and the sky becomes vourroof Fear that your cause may be lost ceaselesslybatters your confidence. Your relationship withothers is more or less determined by the extentto which they will tolerate your cause, which forsome of your loved ones may be less atftactivethan maggot soup.

For us, the last rock fell when we discoveredthat all the predictions made within 24 minutesafter the polls closed were based on resultscalled in from one singje voting machine.

\(/e decided to get mad.In those days it was easy to become involved

in causes. The Sierra Club was just starting thenand it was a loud, strident, articulate toddler Theanti-nukers and pro-abortionists were beginningto set up chapters all over the world and gettheir messages out by means of concerts and LPrecords. Richard Nixon was taking hold ofpower in \ilTashington and if he behavedanything like he had when he lived on KeyBiscayne with his friend, Bebe Rebozo, thenNixon was destined for historic trouble. Yes, this

43

+q Ballots Not Bullets

was before \Tatergate, before Nixon resigned,when his attention was turned mostly to:wardChina.

So instead of orga nizing a group calledgo-llgrhjng like .Victims of Tampe-red E]ections,,!VOT!), getring members to puy $15 annualdues ($300,000) to join the tause, pur ourVotescam newsletters, get our collective voices*:19 on,Cap.irol Hill, we rook up the penIeather and challenged the sword.

Years late4 with bloodied pen feather in hand,we would understand thaf people with greatillusions are destined to ai. in tfr" a.i"rt,sucking on their sneakeq while waiting for thewater truck to come.

AAll we had to do now was track down that onemagic machine.

How did they decide in which precinct tharmachine would be placed? eeppert district wasspread from east to west across the center of?"9: County

- from rhe ocean on rhe easr rothe Everglades on the west. The neighborhoodsy-9.^"_g:n"rally segregated into blac( ;ewish and\7ASP During the campaign we *uit"a down9very street in those neighborhoods. None oftfem could possibly be so typical of us all thatthe votes coming from just one of its machinescould be projected to predict exact final votetotals.

Jim asked: "How- did chann el7 and 4 getthose numbers? Did people call them in from

VOTESCAM

rlr('precincts? Did they have a reporter in each,,1 j'4o precincts?"

'And what about the computer program?" Ken,rr ltled.

"Do they have a formula, or, let's say arrrultiplier of some sort that they use to projectllrose numbers from the precincts?" Jimrvondered.

He scrawled figures on a piece of papen"If we figure that everything Beiler knew

lrr'fore 7 p.m.is listed under the letter 'A'. . .," hewrote the letter 'A' on the paper. "The letter ,A'would have to represent his formula, or hisl)rogram. I mean, he couldnt just take the votes, rll'that one machine and magically project theml() get a final result without some sort ofl)rogram.

"NoW let's call the vote totals he got from thatone machine "B'1 Jim wrote "B" on the paper."'Ilc make it easy we'll say you got L0 votes onlhat machine." He wrote "1-0" under the letter,,B""So what would that mean?"

"'Well,' Ken answered, "he'd either have tornultiply that "10" or hed have to add sometingto the u10" to get a final numbef,"

"Could he do anything else? ""I don't know anything about computers, but

he can't change the laws of mathematics. . . hecan only multiply that "10" to get a finalnumber...or he can add something to that"10'...I dont care how sophisticated a computeris, all it can do is multiply or add, period."

+t

Ballots Not Bullets

It seemed so simple. An A x B = C formula. A(Multiplier) x B (Acrual votes) = C (The total).And. it's the only fiormula possible no matter howpflght a programmer you arc.If you use an A xB":- C formula, you must also always know tutoof the numbers in advance to calcuiate the third.But if you know two out of three of thosenumbers in advance, |ouVe rigged the election._-

In the green pile of documents we found theChannel 4 readout, the^first report showing onlyvote percentages (not final totals) was broidcastat7:04 p.m. Channel4 projected the outcomefor 250 candidates in jusf4 minures!

^ Hell, you can't even boil a three minute egg infour minutes.

V. had a 4|7-horsepower red pontiacconvertible which the Dade County highwaypatrol had come to know and respect over theyears. The next morning it took rx to look foranswers. 'We drove up to the state capitol atThllahassee, a lushly gieen southern city in thehills of the Florida pinhandle about 40b milesnorth of Miami. From the Secret aty of State,soffice-we got the.finalvote totals f". .;;;tcandidate in the three elections held in DadeCounty in 1970. 'We copied rhem ana Uroughithem back home.

* Jl. first thing we did was ro lay our rherarnnassee sheets on the pool table and dividethem into_piles. September primary Octoberrunoff and November final election. Then we

VOTESCAM

arranged the television readouts in timesequence in order to compare the numbers thatthe state eventually registered as official againstthe proiections from the television stations.

'We checked the totals in the Governor's raceand found that an

^ggregate of 141,000 votes

were cast on September 8th. Then we checkedthe runoff election held a month later and theexact same figure

-147,000 votes were cast

tgunl"How is that possible?" Ken asked, and then

he answered himself, "It isn't. The losingcandidates dropped out of the race, andwhenever that happens the vote drops, too."

So we checked the final election in Novemberand found once again that 741",000 votes werecast in the Governor's race.

In hockey they call that a hat trick. In politicswe call it a fix.

"This is the Stepford vote," Jim said, hardlyable to contain his glee. "These bastards didnthave time to change the numbers in the 30 daysbetween elections, so they just ran the samenumbers even though all but two of thecandidates were out of the tace."

Ken was already looking for the figures on theSenate race.

"It was a five-person contest in the primaryand 122,000 votes were cast in total," he said."Look at this! There's 122,OOO votes cast in therunoff, and..." he flipped the sheets to the finals."Vell, what do you know. ..122p00."

4t


Jim picked up the cue stick and smashed thewhite ball into the rack. He was angry and yethe marvelled at the sheer audaiitv of thescheme. He pointed the cue at Ken.

"Do you think the Secretary of State isinvolved?"

"Hell, what about the press?" Ken threw back."If the press knew these numbers and never

questioned them, then they're either stupid orcollaborators."

It was an intriguing thought. rVe knew thepress was capable of keeping candidates whodidn't spend advertising dolars from gettingpublicity but was it possible they would i.t.ruiliprotect the people who were pulling this offi

"\Vhat do you think would happen if we wentto the Heraldwith this story?" Jim asked.

"You think theyd touch it?""Let's push it."Then we compared the Thllahassee final totals

with the numbers on the September gthreadouts from Channel T

_ "Holy shit! Look at this." Ken was doing adance on one foot.

"\Vhat?""Compare Channel7's readouts. . . this is their

unofficial projections of what the final totals willbe At 9:31...the projection in the unofficial votetotal column reads 96,499 votes. That's what theypredict the final outcome will be." Then heshifted to the Thllahassee official totals. ,And inthese official returns, read what it says: gG,499.

VOTESCAM

' |'l rat's one-hundre d percent perfect ! They called;r perfect race.I'd like to see that computerPlrrgram."

jim paced around the table. "They took fourrrrinutes on Channel 4 to predict percentages for.u50 candidates. You can't even read that manyrrumbers off the back of the machines in fourrrrinutes, much less read them...run to a

lrhone...call the TV stations...re-read them to.rrr operator who has to punch them onto IBMr ;rrdS and then run them through a computer forlrr<radcast to the public. You just carlt dothat inlour minutes."

'And what about precincts?" Ken asked. "Didlroth stations use the same precincts? Did theyr rse the same repofters or wefe 680 people outtlrere, on payrolls from both stations, callinglxrck votes?"

.fim shook his head in disbeliefWe sat and contemplated the possibilities.Ken said: "Maybe this goes on all the time and

wc were too out of the action to notice, likerrr<>st people are. \7ho thinks about how votes.rrc counted anyway? Nobody pays attention. \Y'e

tlicln't. \We just expected a clean, open electionlil<e they taught us in Civics 101 at Royal Oaklligh School."

"So if you find out that there's a rigged votewith the television stations in on it, who do you1io to to complain?"Jim asked.

'l'I he next move was to get back to Beiler and

49


find out about his super-amazing computerprogram. Ken called the University of Miami andgot Beiler's telephone number in \Washington atthe American Universitlz In a taped conversationhe went right to the point.

"S7hat kind of program could you havedevised where the information from onemachine was used to predict the results of allthe races within one percent of perfect?,'

"I didn't do it," Beiler replied. ,,It'd be amillion-to-oneodds that anyone could do that. Iwas just the on-air analyst but I didn't programit. I dont know how to program.,'

"\7ho did it, then?""It's a fellow named Elton Davis, who works

on computers for aland sales company He,s theone who did it for Channel 7"

"Thank you, sir"A solid lead. 'S7'e had to pay Mr. Davis a visit

where he worke d at Cavanaugh Land Sales,which sold \fest Coast Florida iwampland fordevelopment. The office was across the 79thStreet Causeway from Channel 7's studios. 'We

made an appointment.The next day we sat across from a chunkv.

muscular man in a small and cluttered office.There was a chalk board on the wall.

"Professor Beiler says you programmed theChannel 7 compute4" Ken began. "-\What was theformula you used that could predict 100 percentcorrect final totals with just one machinefeporting?"

VOTESCAM

l):rvis stood and walked a few feet to thel'1.r. lil>oard. He picked up the chalk in the tray,r,,, )(l on his tip-toes, and reached up as if to

1 ,, 1'111 to write.Noq Ken thought, we're going to get the

r r r, rr,,it' algorithm.l'lren Davis slowly put the chalk back down,

trirrrt.cl to us and in an icy voice, said:\lru'll never prove it. Novq get out.,,

\Xrc couldn't believe it. He opened the doorrrrrl 1>ointed outside. Ken tried to ask another

, 1rr<'stion but Davis was mute. There was nothing,rr,,r't' he was going to say

L wr,, time to call the FBI. \Xze now knew for.rrrt'that the man who was supposed to haveu uttco the computer vote-count program had.'nrcthing sinister to hide.

'l'he FBI offices were on Biscayne Boulevard1rr.'t north of the downtown business area..We\\('r'(' escorted into a small office and then askedrl wc would agree to be photographed. If we',,rrrl no, maybe they would refuse to listen. Son r' 1)ut our heads in one of those neck-holders,lrl't' the old New England stocks, and a clerk,rr;rpped a picture. They didn,t requestlrrrqcrprints.

"We want to make a statement, but we want a.tr'nographer to take it down.'We'll sign it andt,rlit' a copy" Jim said.

'l'he agent, in the government-issue blue suit,,rllt-'ed.

52

The statement was twelve pages long and aof what we knew was in it, with is littl

Ballots Not Bullets

supposition as we were capable of. rVe toldBeiler's "million-to-one" statement. the virimpossible accuracy of a one-machine perfprojection, and Davis'warning that wed ,,

prove it." \7e asked that the FBI interview Beiand Davis about possible vote fraud in a fedeelection.

Then it was time to track down that onmiracle machine.

Ken telephoned the news director at Cha7 and asked "who had called in the informfrom the precincts with the raw vote totals fithe machines?" He told us that members ofI eague of 'Women Voters, not reporters, hbeen hired to work in precincts-selectedBeiler

"You mean there weren't peopleprecincts?" Ken asked.

"No," the news director said, ,,just in somsample precincts."

"Then how could you have shown 99 perce:of the vote counted by 11 p.m. if you onfy hadfew people in a few sample precincts...in Iof the-fact that you weren't getting any actuvotes from the courthouse?"

There was a long pause."CalUoyce Deiffenderfer. She's the pres

of the League."

fn.urty Decembe4 we kept an appointment

VOTESCAM

f r r1 r . I)eiffenderfer's home in a section of Coral| ,.rlrlt.s l<nown for manicured lawns, lush tropicall' 'lr,r.rit' and big-mortgage houses. She answeredrlr,' , loor. Deiffenderfer was tall, about six feet,.nr',t('r'(', unsmiling, and bordering on uncordial.',lr, lr;rcl a friend with he4 a woman, who looked.r , rl slre was there to be a witness.

lrrrr cxplained the mystery of the one-machine1,1,,;r'1'[iofr and asked: "'W'ere you told there was,r ',1'r't'ific machine that was going to be used to' 1|l.tlx)late a projection?"

"Nr>," she answered."t ,;rn you give me a list of the people from the

Ir ,rrluc who worked that night in the precincts?"'l'here is no list." She began to lookrrnr orTtfoftable. "There were no League womenl r I lrt' precincts that night."

l'lr:rt was a puzzling surprise.t,lrannel 7 says the League gave them

t, lul lls."lilrc szw the drift. "There was no such thing,,'

.lrt repezted. She started to speak again,, lr.rrrsed her mind, and then blurted out: "I don'trr,rrrt to get caught in this thing." She began to\\ ('('l). Her female companion watched withoutirllring a word.

wc were almost sympathetic. She had justr,lrrritted that nobody was in the precincts thatrrrrilrt, there was no magic machine,ergo, there' , 'ul(l not have been any projected reporting bytlrl tslsyi5ion stations based on information,rrlrlrlied by the League.

h

Ballots NotBullets

The Daily Planet.

permission.

"r$trill you go to the press and makestatement?" Jim asked quietly

"Yes, f wil," she said.'We shook hands all round and departed.\il7e were, in a word, ecstatic. Jimiushed

to The Daily planetto file the storv

Vh.n the lease had been pulled on T!*ogg, our "bully pulpit" was dismantled. Sobought half of the Uiami Free pressaorn u gg.rt"gd lgrry powers and changed its name

54

\f/ith the planet as our new bullhorncould fight for the causes of the Sixties, crelmostly by Nixon's miasma, without beggirsome local whipped newspaper editor fr

One of our first planet stories was about TtHayden. Hayden was another buddy of oy.ouF in Royal Oak, Michigan, where we edthe high school papet together. Ken wasphotographer w[o miracilously kept gerriphotos of record-breaking sporrs ;;;. Jim aTom edited the prp.r.1he three of Ls aLcreated a campus humor paper, The DaiSmirker;way back then whictrstiil survives r

Tom had ended rhe Sixries with rhar ChSeven flourish which landed him in iail forlast time.

So when he told us rhar nobody bur JoaBaezhadgiven a nickel to the Seventfund, we headlined it in th;

H

Plane

VOTESCAM

I lr' (Inderground press Seruice picked up the:,r,r/ and distributed it to every otherrrrrlt'rground paper in the nation, including ther ollt'g€ press. The Seven's defense fund swelledrrrrlillfily soon after

lt was winter and the Sixties were overltrrt the Planetwas still there for us to run the

,t{)ry aboutJoyce Deiffenderfer. It appearedrrrrrlcr the headline: "f DON'T S7ANT fO Cffr AIIGHT IN THIS THING.,'

Vfe also went to the FBI, made another',r.rtcment, and asked them to talk to JoyceI rt'ilfbnderfer

( ,lrristmas passed, then came New year 1971.\\,'r' had the evidence, but there was no move ontlrt' part of the press to give it a milligram of inkI lr lir time. Here was a major story that wasl,t'ing absolutely ignored by the Miami Herald ,tlrt' Miami Neuts, and every TV station. Thelr ustration was galling.

"[t's like kicking a marshmalloul,'Jim said.\X/e called the FBI to see how its investigation

\vir.s progressing and one agent or anothern,ould always say: "Sorry it's not our job to tellr, rtr anythiflg."

'fhen we called our editor at Dell to tell himu'lrat_we'd found, the state of the story, ther:rrnifications of what wed experienced. As wer,r':rited on the line, a strong, authoritativervtxnan's voice came on.

"This is Helen Meyer," she said. She was the

57)o Ballots Not Bullets

outright owner and publisher of Dell indays, and for a wild moment we expected hercongratulate us on our book idea, maybeinvite us to a publisher's cocktail party Insteshe said: "I'm cancelling your conttact astoday This book will not be printed." *

It was as if we had just fallen out ofZeppelin. \7hy the high-level hostility the lackexplanation? \7e hadnt been in touch withor Dell for a year. After that telephone caleverybody at Dell was out to lunch or inmeeting. \7e had the $3,500, but was thinvestigation we found so intriguing really over?

"'$7here are we?" Ken asked."Dead in the water"There was some wallowing in self-pity a

some crying in our beer. Then, two days laterKens thirtieth birthday a new idea popped upget" Votescam off zero. Ken got the brainstormsend a telegram to Richard Nixon.

The act of composing and sending atelegrato the President of the United States is lidipping a toe into contemporary historyare advantages and drawbacks, dependingthe tenor of the times and the subject matter. Iis akin to sending a rocket ship into the voidyou dont know what it's going to hit or howit q/ill go.

But on that day, as we sent the telegram viW'estern Union, we just thought it was a hell ofway to blow out the birthday candles.

*We later discoveredthatMs. Meyerwas a longtime frlendWashington Post publisher Kathadne Gtaham,, afaathatwillbetterund€rstoodlaterfurthisbook

VOTISCAM

TELEGRAM

\\'l r itt.. Housg 23 Aprill97l\\',rslrington, D.C.

I t,'.rr Mf, President,

I,r the past several months we have pieced1, ,;,r't her documentation and theory regarding a|,'r lt'ral-State-Local election in Dade Countv',, lrtt.mb€f 8,1970.lvitlence indicates major vote fraud wasl'('r I)ctrated. Television coverage on Channels 4trrtl 7 (WtV;, \7CKT) featured computerprojections" of voter turnout and final vote

t, ,r,rls by 7:24 p.m. Projections made by Channel' \v('re based on returns from only one voting

rrr,rt'hine. \We questioned persons involved andl,r'licve election results were pre-arranged by alltlrrt'c TV news departments acting to promotetlr,' cleception that official returns from the Dader , rrrnt1r courthouse would be delayed due to a' ( )nrputer breakdown." \fe are providing

r lot'uIn€fitation to Miami FBI, and urgentlyrlr;uest that your office direct U.S. Attorneyt ,r'rrefzl to investigate..

Kenneth CollierTames Collier

58 The Silent Press

Tnn Srrnxr Pnnss

"For tltose ubo gouern, tbe ftrct tbingrequired. is lnd.ifference to

Tne suAaen death of our book deal.reasoned, was the first sure sign that our efforand instigations had made waves outside tMiamiarea.

The fourteen months between April 23,197when we sent the telegram to President Niand June 17, 1972, when president Nixon"plumbers" were captured in the \fatergate,a period in Miami when a good deal of noiwas made about the vote fraud issue.

The first above-ground story about riggeelections in Miami appeared on August 29,1971jthe Miami Beach Reporterunder the byline of iold and respected editor-publisheq paul M.

VOTESCAM

llruun was the last independent editor inIt,rtlt'County He didn't owe much to anybodyllr', w<>rd was respected and his opinion carriedu,"u1lrt among bothJews and Gentiles on Miamill'.rt h. He was tall, elegant, in his seventies, arrr.ur with snowy white hafu and moustache. HeI f , ,r r ri.shed a cane, l;rad a rich, deep, rumbling\'r )f( (', and a big Basset hound named Caesar ledlrrrn about on a leash. He was a world-classHr r:rsip and a bon uiuanf. Most important, herr',rs wealthy andhard to corrupt. His columnrrtl,'rl "Bruun Over Miami" was famous amongrlr(' l)ostwar settlers, especially on the Beach.

Wc ghostwrote "The Great Dade Election Rig(

' 'ntinues" story for him as a factual account oftlr. voting controversy based on the Channel T, { }nrl)uter readouts. He told us that he would putlrr:, byline on the story only if his ownrrrrlt'pendent checking verified every fact and.rlk'gation.

As a hedge against libel suits, Bruun sent a, ,1)/ of the story to all whose names wererrrr"11[iens6l. He advised them that they couldrrt'rcise veto power over the story" if they

r 'rrld demonstrate a fatlt in its factualr rr rr lc:rpinfling.'$7hen no objections were raised,tlr.' lbllowing story appeared in the Reporterlr.rrczth a headline which read:

5o The Silent Press

THE GREAI VOTE-FORECASTINGMYSTERY

- AND SOME QUESTIONS...by Paul M. Bruun, publisher

Introduction

For months I have hoped that some, whomam willing to admit know far more about selectronic computations than I dq would asome very pertinent questions.

Nothing has been printed or broadcastanybody which in any manner answered anythe questions that have been really buggingRead this carefully and see whether you althere are many that bother you.

Though this is basically a story aborChannels 4 and7,lhave sought in vain to finout exactly why television station \fpChannel 10, did nor broadcast this all-imelection, though I understand that elaboraplans had been made by the Post-Neutstueesubsidiary to do so. \Vhat happened rhat rwoof three supposedly competing TV nedepartments had the broadcasting of projecrelection results all to themselves?

_ In all fairness, I sent a copy of this story

Channels 4,7 and 10, to the Miami News, to tMiami Herald, to Professors Beileq Shipley a'Wood of the University of Miami politicaScience Department with a copy to U.MPresident, Dr Henry King Stanford.

In my vault I have the material from whi

VOTNSCAM 6r

lltt:; .51srt was written. I think it is news. Therl,rrly p1g5s in Miami obviously doesnt think thisl': nr'95. \Vhy? Here goes, with all the facts that I| ,il t l)resent. . .',

I'he sbr! tben utent on to recount tbe electionttryLt| TV couerage on Cbannels 4 and 7l.'t t ltt.ring tbe "mirncle" projections. It asked. tbettlt|sli6y7'

'Sfas the election rigged?"lir14x177 also interuiewed Dr. Beileti wbo said:

, ..',, ,h, let's say even at this point I;ve had very

Ittlk'expslience with comp,rt .r. you see, whatItt'.^2lry2tr done is timply write the',

I rcci flications and the program-"i progrur.rr.',lVben Bruun questioned tbi cornputer_

l't (,,t:raTnrner employed by Channel 7 to prouide| (.)tttl)u,terized "projecflons based on resultsI t l \ t ns6l,iyt, from so -called samp le precincts', b ett't t.s 1016l.

" ..ask Dr. Beiler about it. I only put in thoserrr.rr'lrines whatever he tells me."

I'rttr,l Bruun expressed bis amazernent in tbe,tt ticle wbicb continues:

"5<> here we have the two men responsible fortlt. odds-defying feat of projecting with near_I 'r'r lcet accuracy the detailed outcome of al, rrtthy election ballot on the basis of phoned_inrrrrol'fi6i2l returns frorn the solitaiy votingrrr.tt'hine

- and yet each man denie, arry, L'l;rils6l knowledge of how it was done.'lladio station \fK{T revealed that antttvt'stig2tion is now underwar conducted by

52 The Silent Press

one of the losing candidates, to determine ifelection itself could have been rigged ,,by

Dade County Machine in absolute control ,

local establishment mass media.,'The U.Justice Department has been engaged iaccepting information pertinent to thisthrough the Miami field office of the FBI.

"Martin Braterman, Dade Countv electi

His resignation came just after Dr. Beilprovided our investigations with the Channelcomputer read-outs. Braterman told th

supervisor at the time of the election, resignin November 7970 after serving for five yea

newspaper's publisher: '\Zhatever happens atTV stations on election night has nothing towith the results of the election. How could it?'

Following are some examples of the amaziaccuracy of the 7:24 p.m. projections.

Tonu Vorns CesrProJectioa

Governor l4t3g7Sen. #43 4j,696House #98 97p31House #lO4 67,940House #107 8L.802

TornrVorns CesrOlficialtotak

t4t,a6645,881964Y96sAm81,539

The Big Three television stations are neraffiliates of ABC, CBS and NBC. The owneof Channels 4 and 7 has been based in D

VOTESCAM 63

t orrnt| since the advent of television in 1949.\ti'. r s I rington-based po s t - Ne w sw e e k has owned,rrrrl r>perated Channel 10 (whose call-letters\\'l'l.G stand for the late phillip L. Graham,lrrrsl>and of Katharine Graham of the\\r, r s I I ington Posl communications empire) forIrr,s than two year.s.

Itoth Miami-based stations televisedr I rnlinuous coverage from the moment the polls, l,,st:d. But \Washington posr-controlled Channell{}, \(2p16, suddenly cancelled elaborately;'l.rnned coverage which was to have featuredrlrc polling techniques of Irwin premacki\:,s<rciates, aTampa firm which had been paid1'.17,000 to provide commentary. At the lastrrlrrute \f/PLG's rented computer at its locationin l he First National Bank Building ,,broker l'wp," according to TUtrPLG news director Carl/,'tlcll. A movie was run instead. The so-called'lrl;rckout" on reports to the public of ACTUALuITFICIAL VOTES from the Dade Countyt orrrthouse is evidenced by two documentedl,rr l.s:

l. The computer read-outs used as the on-air',r r ipt for Dr. Beiler at Channel 7 show that no.r, trral votes had been received by the stationrrrrtil 11:15 p.m., four hours and fifteen minutes.rltcr the beginning of televised electionr t )v(lrage.

2. After the supposed computer breakdown,n('wscasters Ralph Renick, Vp. News| )('l)artment, Channel 4 and George Crolius, of

64 The Silent Press

Channel 7, repeatedly told the public they wouuse a high-speed computer analysis to projethe outcome based on returns from phoned_isample precincts. The ,,condition" oi the DadCounty computer, however, was at all ticontrary to what the public was being toldTV newspeople.

According to an official press release froDade data processing chief Leonard \Zhite,county conxputer at tbe courtbouse u)asdown and it uas neuer slolD.,'

Professor Tom rVood, Beiler,s associateChannel 7 election analysis offered thethis comment: "It looks like we hit the luckmachine. I guess it was right in the middlethings."

This newspaper challenges both Miami Tstations (4 andT) and/or the political sciencprofessors at the Universiry of Miami tdemonstrate the manner in which all of tforegoing was accomplished.

And where exactly is the single votinmachine which served as bellwether for thbalance of 1,547 voting machines active thanight?

Are we to seriously believe that any relati,vhandful of votes can be *projected" to b"typical" of us all? tVould the people who votecon that single machine be glack. \XzhiteHispanic, Jewish, Italian,Irish, Blue collar\X{hite-colla4 Upper-Middle-Lower classof the way an entire county thinks? Or is th

VOMSCAM

Ilere is Channel T's Corporate reply:

l)ear Mr Bruun:

I wish to acknowledge receipt of your letter of,\usust 13,197'1., with a draft of the story that vou;rl.rn to publish on Sunday August 2!.

lt appears to me that your primary contention

0)

lxi.st€nc€ of that mystery voting machine arrryth?

ll, as seems indicated by the foregoing, the,'lt't'tion should turn out to have been rigged,tlrt.n this story will be a catalyst in brin[ing,rlrout its ultimate exposure."I)| -,rrrl was the kind of man who chortled about',tories like this. He knew damned well howrrrrtomfortable he was going to make some verylrrctentious people, and he loved it. They migtrtl,t' able to say that Jim and Ken Collier *Jr.',,,rrrething near to crackpots, or dangerous, orlull of misinformation, but they did not dare to',.ry that about Paul Bruun, who was the elder',r.rrc.sman, whose paper was second echelon butrr'lro could rake them over some very hot coalsrl lrt.wanted it to.

l'aul Bruun was not about to back off anvr'',,tre_he agreed to start, and any press personrvorth a quarter knew it. So tire immediatelr'ttt'rs of denial were pained and defensive. butrr{ ,l insulting.

The Silent Press

is that by 7:24 p.m. on September 8, 1970, tlocal television stations accurately projectedraces based "solely on the returns from osolitary voting machine."

I wish to assure you that the premise is untand preposterous.

Further, the implication of wrong doing a

conspiracy is ridiculous.

SincerelyEdmund N. Ansin.Executive Vice President and General ManagerSunbeam Televison Corporation Channel 7STCKT

Channel 4's Corporate reply:

Dear Paul:

I am huppy you have given us thopportunity to comment on the story yoplanned to run in the Reporter concerninelection coverage by the Miami TV statiFrom my os/n knowledge, I know a greatof the information which has been given tyou on this subject is incorrect and I wantput forth the facts as I know them for yoube able to make a responsible journalistijudgement.

...The implication that there was colbetween the two stations in the projectingresults and the "withholding" of actua

VOTESCAM

rnformation is completely erroneous. I think youkn<>u4 Paul, that the various Miami TV operations,u'Lr, on the contrary quite competitive.

...There is no secrecy with respect to thercudouts which our computer produced duringtlr(' course of the evening or such data which welurve retained concerning the actual informationtrrnsferred from the Courthouse. you arervt'lcome to look at this material, altbougbt t t t.))o/7€ not familiar witb cornputers wouldrteed sonle substantial interpretation tortttderstand tbe data. (Emphasis added.)

...This station does not claim to have;rrojected perfect percentages on each, .u)didate in every raceby 7:04 p.m.; in fact, in',t'vcfal of the races we were unable to "call" arv inner by the end of our election coveragel)('cause our projections showed the races tol,t' too close to declare one man definitely the\\'iltnef.

. ..It is clear that computers employed byt..lcvision stations do not decide on anr'lt'ction. They merely provide a means byrr lr ich actual votes cast in selectedr('l)resentative precincts may be projected int,r(ler to give an estimate of the winner. Theu rnning candidate obviously is decided by ther olcr 2t the ballot b<rx.

...Ralph Renick (v.p. News) and I will bel'lcesed to go over this matter with you in; rt'r'SOn. The story as presently written, at leastr', lrcrtains to this station, contains a gteat deal

61

6s The Silent Press

of, erroneous information and presents a totallymisleading picture of the procedures which weemploy in reporting election results.

...Being in the news business ourselves, werealize that it is sometimes difficult to trackdown the true facts; I hope that the informationI have outlined above goes some distance inproviding you with the data concerning the tightstandards of \7T{ practices.

...'$7e are quite proud of the competencewhich we have developed in the projection ofelection results through the utilization of sampleprecincts and we have no desire to hide fromyou or anyone else the care with which weprogram our computers to achieve reliableestimates at the earliest moment.

SincerelyIf,/,R.Brazzil, VP in Charge\7TU Ch.a;nnel4Miami, Florida

Next, one of the University of Miaprofessorswho appeared on Channel T thenight of the elections:,

Dear Mr Bruun:

Thank you for your recent letter enclosingcopy of the story you propose to publish. Tomind, there is no need to comment on a tale sopreposterous.

VOTESCAM 69

.Sincerely yours,Dr ThomasJ. \ffoodDepartment of politics and public AfhirstJniversity of Miami

Also, a letter from the editor of theMiami News.

I)ear Paul,

I am interested largely by the accuracy of the( ( )rnputer...The votes had already been cast andtlrc election decided before the computer resultsnt're broadcast. \fhile the accuiacy of theI'rojections was amazing,I do not see what,'llt'ct they had on the outcome of the elections.Nor do I see what the stations have to gain with,rrrything other than accuracy.If ind&d, theyrr,,r'd only one voting machine to make the1,rojections, the risk of being wrong was theirs.

I clo not know of a "Dade County Machine', in.rlrsolute control of local mass media. Nobody isrr <'ontrol of me. I don't see any evidence that,r,vlrody but you is in control of you.

SincerelySylvan Meyerlrlito4 The Miami News

The Silent Press

Finally, a letter from the chief executiof the University of Miami.

Dear Paul:

Your note and a copy of the article regardingthose voting machine projections arrivedyesterday I simply have nor had time to read itcarefully enough to comment. I will look it overwithin the next few days and let you havecomments, if any I have great confidence inthese professors.

Sincerely yours,Henry King StanfordU. of M. President

\7. needed more answers to questionlike; How was the fraud accomplished in thfield where votes were tallied bv 4.00precinct officials countywide? .W'ho

was in aposition to do it? How many people woulhave had to be in on the scheme? rVhwould any plotters go to the trouble? \Vhapart, if any, did the League of rilfomen Votersplay?

"'$7e've got to keep up the pressure," Jimkept repeating.

And we did./a\\-/n September 24,197'J., the University ofMiami student newspaper, The Hu.rcictne,

VOTESCAM 7l

r lro^se an eye-opening headline to debut itsr r.rsit)t of the story:

PROFESSORS IMPLICATED INLOCAL ELECTION RIGGING

. W.. *gl. pleased with the pugnacious tone oftlrc headline, though purists suggested it wasI r |,t' lous. The Hurri caneb editorlii_chief, Scortllrt'.ssler, stood by the story and wrote thel'll1^vlnt editorial that accompanied it:

I'LECTION RIGGING QUESTIONSMUST HAVE ANSWERS

, 'l'he alleged rigging of last year's Dade County

t'lcction as presented by ihe Miami Beacfil( r porter .. . has been written off by most as totally;rbsurd. Indeed the charges leveled are fantastic by.rrry stretch of the imagination. Charg", oflountywide election fraud sound like they 6elongrrr a Humphrey Bogart movie. The only catci,Irowever, is that too many questions have 6een lefirrrranswered.

One voting machine (out of 1,64g) was used to;rt:cu14fely project the entire election involvingsome 40 races and more than 250 candidateslWhich machine was it?

What was the formula used by the TV stationsto accurately project the entire election at7:241r m. before any official votes had been reported?

Why were there no actual votes reported until

The SilentPress

I 1 : 15 ? Some say the computer broke down.Others say it didn't. What is the correct answer?

Why have the three television stations and theMiami Herald and the Miami News completelyignored this story? They may claim that it's nottrue, but can they deny its news value?

We feel that these questions must be answered.The Hurricane certainly does not feel that threeof its professors were involved in an electionfraud but we do feel the necessity to find theanswers and restore the public's faith in DadeCounty's electoral process.

\frrnt.r a week, on octob er l, L97'J', TheHurricanerevived the issue once againbyprinting a Letter to the Editor from Miami Neuseditor Sylvan Meyer, who steadfastly refused touse his own columns in Miami's second largestdally to air the controversy he was helping tocreate.

NEWS EDITOR COMMENTS ONELECTION STORY

To the Editor:

Permit me to make a few comments about yournews story and editorial.

I concede the vote projection was remarkablyaccurate. Unfortunately, computers are refl ecting

VOTESCAM

t lr is sort of accuracy all over the country. Ther lrrcstion of computer projections is not a new one;rrrd has been the subject of national debate forrt'vefd years.

'fhere is no way to prevent people from;rr ojecting, by guess or by computer, the results ofr'lcctions and I am not sure I would try to preventtlrcm from doing so if it were within my power.'fhe Miami News did not run a storv when',lrown this material because we do not fell it is a.,tory. It was an issue originally raised by thet 'ollier brothers, two men I would not trust under,rny circumstances. They have their own politicaltlring and that's okay, but their information in thisrrlrtter is not news, it is a "so what?,,

I do not believe the story to be true, in that it, r"rtainl] does not establish either a motive nor atr',vult-c2nlrary to the public interest. (Emphasis;rrlded.) I do not believe it has news value becausert is entirely speculative and maligns thert'putation of otherwise honorable men without( iIr,rse and without justification.

Your editorial implies that there has been a loss,,1 faith in the integrity of Dade County's,'lcctoral process. If this is true,I am not aware ofrl and I certainly do not believe that therrrlirrmation gathered by paul Bruun, the Colliers.,'t rrl, has resulted in such a loss of faith.

t )n October 29,7977, Bressler reported:

The Silent Press

CONCERNED DEMOCRATSII\I"VESTIGAIE ALLEGED DADE

ELECTION RIGGING

The story of an alleged election rigginginvolving three UM professors will beinvestigated by the Concerned Democrats, acoalition of liberal groups in Dade County andstatewide. The group, after listening to theevidence presented by one of its own members ina closed-door session last Tuesday night, voted togo ahead with the inquiry.

Presentation of pertinent evidence in the casewas made by Alvin Entin, a lawyer in the Miamiarea, who told the Hurricane, "I'm not sayingthat any of the charges are true, but there wasfound to be enough probable cause to look into itfurther. From what we've seen there are questionswhich have to be answered. A lot of people aresaying the Colliers are ctazy, but you cannotdismiss the evidence just by calling names.

Why won't Dr. Beiler clear this up or tell usanything? If he did, I would be willing to believehim since I don't think he's crazv.

The Concerned Democrats plan to send letters tothe three professors, the three TV networks, the twoMiami daily newspapers and the local TV newsdepartments to help get to the bottom of this. "Wehave a responsibility to look into this. Personally,I'm scared to death. I believe in the system and all Ican say is, God forbid that this is true, " Entin said.

VOTESCAM

In October, this letter appeared in TheHurricane:

BEILER SCOLDS 'CANE EDITOR FORIRRESPONSIBILITY

To the Editor:

To determine whether election results are realor fraudulent is fairly easy. Som e 34O precinctsreturned reports called Canvass Sheeis sisnedby at least ten election officials in each preclnct.

]'fhese and the physical counting_wheels in the Ivoting machines themselveJ which were I

available for re-checking within a certain time Iperiod prescribed by law, constitute the Iguarantee that any dishonesty would have to be Iat the individual polling plaies themselves. Do Iyou honestly believe that 3,400 election ll

officials were in on the so-called ,.rigging',? llI am amazed at your ignorance anl y6ur lack il.f investigating enterpri-se when facei*iir, trr" ll

products of totally irresponsible journalism. you llr.nerely copy it. you are fully as bad at The ll

l)lanet and the Reporter you should learn now- lil

so that you do not get sued if you ever go into liljournalism on a responsible paper or chan-nel. lfl

Of course, I have no interestin ..laying to rest,, lilsuchhare-brained'Journalism," whichc6ndemns lill

itself on its face. The Colliers wasted a grear deal lilof my time with this nonsense. I am

""riuioln not ffil

going to let you do the same. As little as I ttrink of ffiu

fl

The Silent Press

your behavior in this matter, I don't think youhave theirproblem.

Ross C. Beiler

On November 11, 797'l', The Daily Planet,Miami's underground newspaper, ran thefollowing treatment by editor BuzzKllman:

THE SILENT PRESS(THE ELECTION NOBODY EVER

HEARD OF...)

When is a story not a story?Several weeks ago the Miami BeachReporter

broke with a story that the 1970 Dade Countyelection was rigged.

Impossible?Maybe, but a lot of impossible things happened

on the night of September 8,1970 that either havenot or cannot be explained by those whoaccomplished them.

Since Publisher Bruun printed the story in theReporter, The Daily Planet,the South MiamiNews" the Hialeah Home News and the UMHurricane have run followuPs'

Throughout the local media uproar, not a wordof the mess has been printed in Miami's twodailys, the News and the Herald.

whv?As time goes on, this question becomes almost

as interesting as the original charge that theelections were rigged. Although both of Miami's

VOTESCAM

rlailies have privately dismissed the notion that ant'lection rigging took place, they have failed tocxplain, privately or in their own newspapers,why they are ignoring what is obviously ano u trageously intriguing story.

The Colliers devoutly believe that some sort oft'onspiracy was culminated on the evening ofScptember 8, 1970 - and this is a line of thoughtloo overwhelming for even the most enthusiasticrcporter... and yet, it's not inconceivable as itwouldn't be the first election to be rigged.

Privately, however, the Colliers' obsession hashcen considered more carefully - and has beenthe object of much off-the-record discussioniunong area newsmen. I have personally talkedwith several, among them Bill Byer of Channel10, the Post-Newsweek subsidiary, and patM urphy, editor of the Coral Gable-s Times, aI I c rald- owned new spaper, who have expressed atlcast a degree of bewilderment on the subject,rrlthough they have not been moved to inquirelurther. In a telephone conversation, Byer termedtlre issue 'oserious" and added that it was - and Irluote

-'(a sick, sad, sorry situation."Every newsperson in the city and probably the

slate knows about the charges. A great.many ofI lrem, responsible, establishment reporters, havet'xpressed to me concern over the implications forluture elections if computers and the media everrlo take over the election system. The moste hilling aspect of the entire affair is the ominousrrrrd unexplainable silence of the Establishment

78 The Silent Press

media in the face of undeniable controversy.What is so special about this case?

And that was that.

TIt wasn't as if the press was entirely a pussycatthen. In 7971, there was a maelstrom of"investigative reporting" going on all over thecountry, to the extent that one investigation(with many dubious and unanswered motives)eventually resulted in the resignation of RichardNixon and a new balance of power between thegovernment and the press. To recall history:

In the autumn of 797l President Nixon wasenraged by Daniel Ellsberg's activities in the"Pentagon Papers" affair.

To Nixon, the fact that Ellsberg, a low-level,very wealthy civilian in the DefenseDepartment, turned over Pentagon secrets toThe New York Timre and The \Tashington Postwas deeply disturbing: unpatriotic, perhapstraitorous.'Worse, was the U.S. Supreme Court'srefusal to issue a restraining order preventingthe Ellsberg information from becoming public.

The primary revelation Nixon felt ought tobe kept secret was the material that proved the"Gulf of Tonkin" incident was a total ruseconcocted by the Executive Branch tostampede the U.S. Congress into voting thePresident unrestricted war po\il/ers in SoutheastAsia.

Apparently, the 7954 naval encounter in the

VOTESCAM

t;ulf of Tonkin, where a U.S. cruiser wassrrpposedly fired on by North Vietnamese boats,si rnply never occurred.

Championing Ellsberg, however, was Nixon'slr:rrshest critic, Katharine Graham, publisher of'l'he'Washington

Posf, whose First Amendmentri.r4hts to publish the informarion were upheld bytlrc high court. Smarting from the Ellsberg case,Nixon, through his Attorney General. IohnMitchell, started investigating llrs. Craha:J- and.rll her holdings in an effort to find evidence thatt <ruld jeopardize her empire, including hernt'wly-acquired FCC license for television stationWPLG, Miami. \fPtG was purchased in t9G9 for$20 million. (By 1989 it was esrimated ro beworrh just under $900 million).II rr the heirarchy of Miami's press barons, ,,Kate,,t iraham was a queen and her family heldrrrrperial power in Florida, as well as in and,rr ound \Tashington. Her brother-in-lav4 Robert,u:r.s elected to the Florida legislature onlit'ptember 8, L970. He went on to serve twor'k'cted terms as Florida governor and then roseto lill a U.S. Senate seat.

\X/henever the media leaders of Miami called, a( ( )nference, Mrs. Graham would chair the frrnction.I'ut'h meetings took place at the University ofNliami. Channel 7 was owned bv-therrrriversity itself. Channel 4 was owned bvW( )lnetco Enterprises, an entertainment andr r'rrding machine company

80 The Silent Press

\Xlhen Katharine Graham took her place at thehead of the conference table, she was flanked bvMiami Herald lawyer Dan paul and UMp,r"sig:"! Henry King Stanford. Further alongthe table in a prescribed order of rank were thepresident of the local chapter of the League of'Women Voters (L\fV); the Dade Countv{anager; the chief circuit courr judge; the liaisonfrom the Chamber of Commerfe; assortedlawyers representing Channels 4 and7.

Graham, as she v/as to prove during the'Watergate revelations of the \Washington post,had the balls of a picasso goat. If she h-ad to takeon Richard Nixon to get his attention andrespect, she would risk her realm to do it. In theMiami area, her power over the press andpoliticians was unchallenged.

Freedom of the press was a battle cry at thetime, and Richard Nixon was on one side andMrs. Graham and occasionally the Sulzbergers ofthe New York Timeswere onihe other

That was the political atmosphere we wereoperating in, and it seemed that most thingswere possible and that corruption was beiigro.oted out by crusading, gutsy publishers anJeditors even ar the higheit leveli.'

Then why we wondered, was vote fraucl sucha special case?

TIn a private conversation withJim, Henry KingStanford, the University of tvtiamlt p..jid..rfgave his perspective on the problem.

\OTTSCAM ttl

"lt's such an explosive issue," he said, ,,thaty( )ur proof must be incontrovertable. Franklvtlrt're are holes in the story that you've got to, lo.s€ before you can demand that the bigl).rl)ers take you seriously If you dont come upn,ith a plausible way to explain how 4p00 poilrv,rrkers' signatures could be circumvented in',rrt'h a conspiracy then your theory will die ofrts ()wn weight."

't'hat was a tall, tall order and we knew herr';rs right. But how the hell could we go about,'xlrlaining those thousands of corrobo rating',r11natures?

82 It Takes A Thief

Ir Terns A Tnrnr

"Tbe rna:jorfact about ltistory is tbat alarge part of it appears to be criminal.'

-Anonymous

(*Jur quest looked insanely futile but westubbornly refused to quit until we were as deadas our theories seemed to be. 'We worried aboutbeing too far out, too intuitive, seeingconnections where there were none. The wordwas that we had gotten "too extreme," and thatwe'd "lost balance."

Yet the story never faded. 'We would wanderthe beaches and wonder about the possibleramifications of what we had dtrg up.Nonetheless, we decided to pursue it. Jim wasthe hottest after it. As an avid chess player, hewas intrigued by the complexity of it all. Ken

VOTESCAM

Lr'pt getting married and having children, andlrrs children's mothers were never too thrilled,rlrout the quest. That slowed him down, but itn('vef stopped him.\ 1rlWe needed somebody wise and credible withn,lrom we could talk on the locai scene, tor.rliclate or reject our conclusions. The agents attlrt' FBI said that U.S. Attorney Robert \M Rust\\'rrs a good listener

lIe was, but he was consistenth noncommittal,rlrt>ut the use, if ant1, his superiois in theJustice| )t'partment were making of our field work. .We

n('ver saw the man. He was reachable onlv bvtt'lcphone, and our phone conversations were;,ri rgaHy recorded.

LJecause Rust would willingly spend twentyrrrinutes at a time on the phone discussing therrrrplications of our theories, we assumed the;rrry in the Justice Department was still openrrrinded about the case.

We found ourselves in accord with Rust ontwo points. If the elections in Dade Counry werelrr.:ing systematically rigged, it had to be, rccomplished andlor by:

1) Massive tampering with the votingmachines;

2) Massive forgery in the certificates attestedto by the signature of poll workers.

Both possibilities seemed far fetched, illogical, rr impossible.

u ItTalresAThief

Tl'Le 1548 rnachines would have to have beenpre-set with vote totals without poll workersfinding out. The poll workers' duties includedvisually checking the mechanical counters inback of the rnachines before allowing voting onelection morning.

If forgery was the method, it would appear tobe a Houdini-like trick. Each of the 1,648machines' certificates of canvass were signed intriplicate by at least ten poll-workers perprecinct, twice a day, adding up to roughly32,950 separate signatures.

As impossible as either of those twopossibilities sounded, we didn't discount thementirely because of Dade County's track recordof "polecat" elections. Polecat elections stink tohigh heaven.

(J ur skepticism was founded in the lore ofDade County polecat politics, cftca 7959, whenperhaps the most important election ever heldin the region took place. It was a county-widereferendum in which each of the 27 separatemunicipalities in Dade County were asked togive up their power to govern themselvesautonomously They were being asked instead toturn over self-governing power to the proposed'Metropolitan Government," or Metrq for short.

Opposition to the "pouzer grab" was fierce andthe debate dominated the press for monthsbefore the balloting. The Miami Heraldstronglybacked the proposition. The Metro Charte4 a set

VOTESCAM

, r1'rules defining the powers of Metro-Dade, waswritten by Miami Heraldla.wyer Danpaul. The(.harter was a product of many consultationswith the insiders, who met regularly in the UMlroardroom, under the twin ihairmanship oftlerald publisher John S. Knight and U.M.l'resident Henry King Stanford.

. The voluntary divestiture of pourer by Dade's

t luster of independent cities would bring about.r whole new way of governing, tax coll-ecting,public servicing public contraciing and electio-n,rrlministration. Billions of dollars in commercial.rnd property futures were at stake.

The Fifties were drawing to a close. The,rrchitects of regional government viewed theirn('w model of governance by ,,experts', as a newlra. No longer would there be dependence onr lrarismatic publicly elected officials, whoset rcdentials to lead often consisted of no moretlran a willingness to shake every hand in therrt'ighborhood.

Elite planners sought to diminish the power,| mayors, chiefs of police and local herbes of, 'ne kind or another who influence public1rolicy

In their place, operating largely behind_the_',( cnes with no accountability to the public ,n'ould be Public Administration Service (pASjlinduates, trained to be loyal to the Charter.Nlrrre often than not the county manager cameIrorn a different part of the country It was to be1iovefflfit€nt by "grid," so that personnel from

86 ltTakesAThief

PAS could be nimbly interchanged throughoutthe United States, without fanfarc, to fill advisory"slots," such as county managef.

A, tn. 1959 Metro referendum drew trear,citizens who preferred the old-fashioned way ofgoverning banded together with such vigor thata Miami Neus poll conducted by houndstooth-clean editor Bill Baggs showed Metro washeaded for a kick in the ass and down to defeat.(The Newswas still independent in those days.)

Baggs commented that it would be surprising ifthe forces for Metro mustered any backing at allbeyond the elite, special-interest voters whostood to benefit financially

Then, on election night, the electotal tealiry-quake struck.

Metro u)on, according to the votes counted onDade's carefully tended Automatic VotingMachines. And while there was some headshaking and muttering after the results were in,the discontent was scantily reported and soonforgotten. Talk radio was a mere glitter inLanyKing's eyes then.

But as years passed, old-timers begawondering aloud on the eaily talk radioprograms if something fishy hadn't occurredback in 1959 when Metro was voted in.In L97L,

a caller mentioned a group known as "twarehouse gang" as the ones most likely tobehind the original Metro election victory

The caller hinted mvsteriouslv of a cadre o

VOTESCAM 87

"good old boys" who had long been in charge ofthe county's voting machines, which were storedl)etween elections atawarehouse in Opa Locka,I)ade's most rural backwater municipalitykrcated on the edge of the Everglades.

There, it was rumored, a flourishing criminalt'nterprise had evolved over the years. Therrranipulators in county politics came to dependtln the voting machine mechanics to guaranteethe outcome of multimillion dollar bond issuesrrnd other controversial measures. It was( ()mmon knowledge, one informant told us, that,"'fhose guys can make a mechanical votingr rrachine whistle Dixie."tr.rI he Opa Locka warehouse at the Opa-Locka

Airport is a big \World \Var Two-type hangar.'l'he airport is a vast expanse of concrete at thet'dge of black swamp water. It's flat and thetrees are very low andJim learned to fly Cessnal50s and 172s out there.

Frank Vickery, a big, old, taciturn ,,cracker,"

was in charge of the warehouse. He didnt haverrruch to do out in the swamp all day and hewas bored. So he was happy to accept ther <)urt order we handed him giving us;rermission to examine documents. He liked tot;rlk and show people around. So he led andwc listened.

Inside the hangar were 1,548 gray-greenvoting machines with levers, plus a lot oft'Xtras, all lined up in ro\ /s. They were made by

88 ItTakesAThief

the Automatic Voting Machine Company ofJamestown, New York.

"Can you show us the candidate counters andthe wheels inside?" Jim asked.

He led us to a nearby machine and openedup the back with a key There were a lot ofplastic, wheels, three-digit counters underneatha black grid. The insides looked preny simple.

"Hour can you rig this thing?" Ken asked."One of the best ways," Frank chuckled, "is to

put decals over the counters so that when yousee them in the morning it says "000,' butunderneath it says maybe "O9O:'which in anyprecinct is a pretty good bonus."

"'$Vhat else?""There's such a thing as a predetermined

counter. It's already set up before theelection...by shaving the plastic wheel inside sothat it slips ahead 100 or 200 or 300 votes. Anygood mechanic can do it with a razor blade." Hetook us to his office and reached into his desk,bringing out one of the counter wheels in hisbig rough hands.

"This is a shaved predetermined counte4" hesaid.

"Can we keep one?""Sure, take it."Jim put the wheel in his pocker."'Who works on these machines?""They're worked on by the mechanics for'Wometco. They have vending machines and

movie houses. They can make those suckers sing."

VOTESCAM 89

\X/e shook hands with Frank and saidr.io<>d$y". Ken walked outside whistling thelur)e to:

"W'ay down soutb in tbe land of cotton,good tifti.es tbere are notforgotten...Lookaway ! Lookauay! LookauayDixieland."

f \,rzWithin a week the phorograph of the shavedn lreel on the counter was on the front page ofrlv.'Planet.

'fhen Jim called Ellis Rubin , a Miami Beachl,rwyer whose tactic was to get as much publicity,rs possible for his clients and causes. Rubin was.r tall, lanky, good looking guy in his midtlrirties. He had run for Congress as a Republican,rrrd lost. \7e didn't know it at the time, butlitrltin's campaign manager had been U.S.r\ttofne)r Robert Rust. \7e didn't know. either.tlrrrt Rubin was thick as cold grits with the CIA. r r rd other intelligence-gathering outfits.

W'e told him the whole stor\1 or as much asrvc could get into an hour ot so. There was a, lrarisma about Rubin, an intellectual intensitytlrlrt we liked. He might be able to break the',rlcnce in the press because he had chutzpah,l,rrins and the ear of a lot of reporters who likedlus sfyle.

He said hed do what he could, pro bono, and.u t' believed him. He was one of the few, lurracters we encountered who was always asri, rr>d as his word.

90 ItTakesAThief

AAfter that trip to Opa Locka, we figuredmust be some documents out at the hangar twe didn't get to see. \fe had to go back.'decided that we as American citizens had tright to know everything involved with ourcalled free and fair vote.

in front of the door As soon as we walked insaw; about fifty feet ahead of us, a set o

On "

bright, sunnyJanuary morning we dback to the Opa-Locka warehouse and pa

wooden steps going up to a loft suspendedthe ceiling.

"\Vhat are you guys doing here?" It waVickery

"I7e want to check that loft over there," Jisaid.

"I got a court order here that says you guarert't allowed back in here."

He showed us a piece of paper signedcircuit court chief judge, Henry Balaban.

"You can tell Balaban what to do with hiorde4" Ken said. Vickery headed for his office.

"He's probably going to call the cops."Sfe didnt waste any time. '$7e sprinted up the

steps and into the loft.Before us were boxes and boxes o

documents that obviously pertained ro the1970elections.

"I carft believe it!"Jim breathed."Falling into shit."

VOTESCAM 91

"\Xftrere do we start?"lust look and grabJ'

V(/c took as many papers as we thought were,,uinificant from different boxes with arrrrllisecond or so to decide, and we stuffed themrrrrtler our shirts, smoothing them down so they',lrowed as little as possible. Then we headed,rrt (f the loft and back to the car

Itut as we were coming down the laddeq\\'(' saw three men coming toward us, withtlrc ex-supervisor of elections, MartinItr:rtefman, leading the way He was dressedrrr :r black overcoat and broadbrimmed blacklt'rl.ora. His appearance in the garb of atr.rtlitional "bad !uy" was almost srirrealistic,ltrvcn the precarious legal position we found,,rrr'.selves in.

"$V'hat are you guys doing here?', he,lt^rnanded. "This is County property Get out,,r I'll have you arrested.',

\X/e didn't say a word. 'We brushed past him.rrrtl his two associates and walked to the car.r:; l.ast as we could, with as much dignity as\\'(' could muster. Ken theatrically 6urnedrrrlrber getting away.

I,)very mile we put between ourselves and therr';rrehouse buoyed our spirits. \Tithin a fewrrrinutes on the open road we were making;rl;rns to retum to the loft.

()nce more we spread out the contraband onlrrrris pool table.

It was a smorgasbord of stuff

ItTakesAThief

'We had:1) IBM computer cards with the candidate

name typed on each and hand-writtenumbers on them.

2) \fhat appeared to be crib sheets rhathandwritten numbers that included a tiof day, and then other numbers, also ipencil, in the same handwriting.

J) Mimeographed, stapled-together sheets thshowed the handouts that were given topress. It was a workup model, handprinwith a red pencil. On the front of it werewords: "Machine Totals Before Correction.(\Xtrat did before correction mean? )

4) A press release from Leonard'S7hite, wran the computer for the courthouse durithe primary His job was to feed the actuvotes over the telephone line, called the ,Aline, to the Herald and the televisiostations. It said, "Misinformation" hadgiven out by the news media on Septem8th about the courthouse computer,,alleged breakdown. It said that due t<

careful programming the computer ,,

nevef slow and never down."5) A letter to all precinct workers telling t

that they had to be at a "schooling" sessitwo weeks in advance of the election, anthey all had to sign in and give their trsignatures, otherwise they would not bepaid.

Then there was a ream or so of ot

VOTESCAM

l'.rl)ers a little less outstanding but certainlyj l,rscinating."Man,I want to tell you, this is a hell of a

lr,rrrl,"Jim said.'We could have gotten this same stuff, of

| { }rrr.se, if we had followed the system," Ken saidrlryly

"()kay," Jim took a deep breath, ,,let's see if itnr,rl<es sense. Old Martin Braterman resigned.Ilow he turns up at the warehouse to protecttlrs cache of documents.',

"ltight," Ken said, ,,and we now haverlot'ulrl€nts that show there was a way tolrroCUr€ the true signatures from the precinctrl,rkers two weeks ahead of the electibn. plus.rlrc television stations lied about the computer aitlrt' ceulltrouse breaking down and thb pressr.lt'rrs€ is evidence of that.',

"fhey just needed an excuse to go on the airrr rtli their projections. lilfe know that a lot ofrrurnbers, handwritten before the election,lrrr ned out to be final totals after the electionrr,rs official."

'llack to the FBI? ""Yup."

\VTWt.gave the FBI agents originals and copies oftlr. cvidence, including the press releaie, the' , )nlpl-ltef cards, the workup sheets and theL'lt'r frofil Braterman asking for the signatures.

.'l)oes this disappear into the void, too?" Jimr',liccl.

It Takes A Thief

"Yes," the agent smiled.\7e sent much of the same material to Richa

Gerstein, the State Attorney He told us weviolated a court order to get the material andrefused to deal with it.

Jim called U.S. AttorneY Rust.

"It's time for a meeting with the JustDepartment in'Washington."

Rust was his usual vague self"Goddamit, we deserve it," Jim's anger spil

over. "\fe've got the evidence and we wasomebody to look at it."

Rust scheduled it for the end of March wiCraig C. Donsanto, a Justice Departmeattorney

The afternoon of the meeting, Jim walkedtheJustice Department on Pennsylvania Ave

and found his way to Donsanto's office' Ita corner office, and it wasnt a cubicle eithe4a middle of the corridor mid-sized offiDonsanto was in his late twenties and he had

|r* drorr. to'Washington, while Ken stayed i"Vtiami with his wife and daughter

melon-shaped heaC.

Jim told his story and handed him thecandidate counter and other significadocuments in a manila enveloPe.

"I want an investigation," Jim told him."I'll look into it," Donsanto said. "Thanks

coming."Jim pushed for a more specific deadline,

VOTESCAM

l)onsanto refused to give it."These things take time," he said, smiling

w<>odenlyAnd that was that.

t)I )ack in Florida, we tried to pinpoint where wewctfe.

\7'e put together packets of ,,evidence" inrrranila envelopes and gave them to the locall)r'ess. W'e sawJack Anderson, the columnist, attlre Americana Hotel in Bal Harbor. He took alxrcket and thanked us and we never heard fromlrirn again.

Katharine Graham was at a meeting at thetlniversity of Miami when Jim handed thelrrrcket to her She took it and didnt sav a word.

And that was that.

II n May Jim drove back to'Washington. He took.r shot and went unannounced to JackAnderson's red brick townhouse on VermontAvenue, but Anderson refused to see him.

ThenJim walked through the glass doors inrotlrc offices of the Democratic National(:()mmittee in the \Tatergate Office Building. Helr rund the office of Larry O'Brien, the head of tfrelrNC, and leftaVotescampacketon his desk.*

'/\ ftw weeks later, onJme 17, 1972, asecotd,break-ln by.plumb€rs" atI lr(. DNC fesulted in their arest for what Rlchard Nixon liter called "at h lrd-rate bufglary." At thls stage of the game, we hadn't the slightesti r r kling tJrat what took place onJune 17th could posslbly relate io ourI . I vestigatlon. OnlyJustlce Dep4ftment documents we found years laterrvhll€ rummaging through the system would suggest a connectionlx'lwcrr Wat€igate and Votccam.

96 ItTakesAThief

,-J1I he off-year primary election rolled around in

September and we decided to watch it closely ontelevision atJim's house. As happened two yearsearlier, Channel 10 wasn't broadcasting returnsbut instead was running a movie.

lt was, in Yogi Berra's words, d.eja uu allagain, only there was an eerie feeling about ithis time.

Not long after the polls closed, Channelsand 4 put their commentators on the air. Afterlittle while the anchor people came on andannounced that the courthouse computer hadbroken down and instead of official results, thestation would broadcast projections.

"\(/ho computed the program this time?"asked.

"Let's find out."The next dayJim called Channel T and

the news director who programmed thcomputers.

"Eastem Aidines," he said.The next call was to Eastern."Id like to talk to the computer program

who did the election," Jirtr told the operatof,"Oh, that's John," she said. She put Jim

through.John was not happy about talking on the

telephone to a reporter and whenJim asked thefirst question, "'What was the program you usedto call it so close?" the man hung up.

At the Planetrhe editor. Buzz. called lohn. too.

VOTESCAM

He wrote in the next edition: ,,Every time I,rsl<ed the guy a question, the phone feil out oflus hands."

I.f rrdge Balaban's latest court orde4 denying us,r( cess to public records, was a definite setback.Itut it also proved to us that we were on ther iuht track.

Public documents relating to elections were,,irrgled_out by Florida statute as being open totlrc public "utitbout exception.,, The o.rly ,eiours.w:rs to get a circuit court hearing where we could.lllempt to getJudge Balabanto reverse himself

That broughr up the problem of whether orrrot to get a lawyer. \fe did have the option oflrctitioning the Court on our ourn, acting pro se,lrrrt we figured that wed get whipped in court.

Finally it dawned on us that the only sure wayl() maneuver ourselves into court, withoutlreying any lawyer or being beholden to alxrrtisan organization, was to call upon theArnerican Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU wastlre perfect way to fight Balaban for denying usrrnrestricted access to public voting records.

-

A/Lt the ACLU's next executive session in alrig law firm's office with a lot of locall;rwyers around the table, we took turnstt'lling how our constitutional rights hadlrcen violated by being kept away fromlrublic election documents, and we warnedlr<>w the American vote was in danger

counter argument might be.He planned to get Judge

order in circuit court, andinto federal court forconstitutional grounds.

It Takes A Thief

"I'll take the case," offered Shya Estrumpsa, adark, quiet man. He said that he felt he was on,solid legal ground in fighting the restrainingorder, and that he couldn't imagine what the

Balaban to lift hiif that failed, torelief based o

"\7e've got a lawyer noq and it's certified thatwe aren't paying him," Iden said.

Our poetic limitation in Votescanlwas nevefto pay alawyer.If you pay a lawyer, he's got tobe your advocate, right or wrong. Just paying alawyer doesnt make you right. If a lawyer takesyour anti-Establishment case pro bono publico,he usually feels he's sticking his neck out butthat he has a winnable case.

'We also asked Ellis Rubin what he thought,but we didn't ask him to take the case. Rubinassured us that he would help ferret out thetruth.

He thought we were doing somethingworthwhile and important, and we couldnt helpliking him for that.

At a hearing a week later in Balaban'schambers, the ACLU lawyer did his besr. Butinstead of allowing us to dig deeper in thewarehouse, the judge simply impounded all theevidence and refused to lift his order

\7e didn't want to bother with the long

VOTESCAM

1,r'ocedure of going through federal court to, lrallenge Balaban's orders. Realizing thatIt;rlaban was not a man to be trusted, and thatlrc kept a secret political agenda, we decided tot,rl<e another tack. Jim left a message at Rubin'soll'ice that said: "\(/e are going to ask Balabanto,rlrpoint you as Ombudsman for Vote Fraud inl)rrde County and you can be the guardian forrt rte fraud evidence. Vill you accept?,,

Ken called Judge Balaban,s office at rher rrurthouse and through his secretary left anrcssage: "'Will you appoint Ellis Rubin,,rrrbudsman for vote fraud in Dade County?,'

A few hours later, Balaban passed Rubin intlrc courthouse corridor and cryptically said:'\tru got it," and strided on.

Iiubin, totally puzzled, said to himself: *Gotrv'l rat?"

\X/hen he returned to his office, he was able tolrrrt it together Rubin was nou/ an ombudsman.

100 ATangledWeb

5

AlhNcrno'Wnn

"The bandutrtting on tbe utall may utellbe aforgery."

\7h"r, we found out that all the poll workers iFlorida, and probably in other states, as well,submitted their true signatures two weeks iadvance of the election to their "teachers" inelection school, it seemed to follow thanybody collecting those signatures woulda leg up on forging them.

\Jn a cold, rainy afternoon in the spring1973,Jim opened the door to his townhousethere on the pool table were two piles ofpaper

Ken was standing over them with a huge grinon his face.

"\[tait'll you see thesg" he said.

101VOTESCAM

"til7here'd you get them?""I ripped off the Dade County Courthouse.,'"You stole the canvass sheets?""Yeah. I walked into the clerk's office where

tlrey keep them, and I saw these sheetslrcre...sheets with blank backs." He grabbed thetop sheet off the pile. "Look, there's no ink on it,rt all," he said, pointing from corner to corner.'No laws written on it. Blank."

"'Wov/|""There's no printing on these, nothing to

t t'rtify""This is fantastic," Jirn whooped. ".What made

vou take them?""I realized once I found these with blank

lrrrcks, that if I didn't take them they couldt lt'stro| them, especially if we got a court orderto look for them. So I took a whole armful of thel,lank backs and signature ones, and I walked,rrt of the courthouse. Nobody said a word."

"Nobody saw you?"'Just grab and walk, dont look around guiltily

. just move on.".[im marveled at the gall of it. To go into the

( ()urthouse and steal public documents undertlrc clerks' noses was a third degree felonlz It was, t'rtainl| the most radical thing that was doneu1r-to-date in the whole investigation.

Ken felt as if he had finally carpedthe diem,rrrrl made a move

"\7e have them by the balls with this," he said."\Xfhat races do they cover?"

ATangledWeb

_ "It's the non partisan races in the 19

election. There's a machine that stands overthe corner in all of the precincts. The electisupervisor never tells you about it. They callthe non partisan machine. That's all tljudges, the schoolboard and, the stattofnelr"

"\il7hat's it doing over on the side?""T!.y don't send anybody over there.

people don't care about anything excepr tbig races. They're satisfied u.r? do.rlt ,

somebody asks in particular. Nobody's icharge and nobody reads the numb.is o

prosecute vote fraud, yet tbeir eleciion I

"Then that means," Jim saird, .that the juand the state attorney are the two groups

pa.tently rigged and uncertified;,"Still, they're the ones you have to go to

you claim there's fraud.""Only in America.',

, "'$7e're starting to get to the point wher

where the other little races are. So thepartisan machines don't get voted on un

after the election."

there are no benign explanations," Ken sai"This is vote fraud on a massive, arroganamazing scale. At least to me.,'

"Me, too.""Do we have them now?" Ken asked."Yeah.'We've got ,em."

"How are they going to get around ncertification? It's one thing to confound peop.

VOTESCAM

u ith the signatures, it's another to take those', rUnatures away entirel5r"

"'We'll go to Rubin. Rubin can call a pressr ( )nference, show these uncertified canvass',f trrets, and we won't be'ctazy'anvmore.,' Tim',. r icl.

"Then we'll go to the FBI.""If they printed one canvass sheet per

rrr:rchine," Ken calculated, "there'd be t,648r;urvzss sheets. If we find out they printed more,tlr:rt means there must be duplicates floating.rround somewhere. \7e've got to find out who,,rcler€d these canvass sheets printed, and who,,r'clered that no certification be put on them.t(ight?"

"Right!"

A clerk in the election division told Ken thenirme of the printer: Franklin press in Miami, al,ig, rich printing company with manyri( )vernment contfacts.

.fim, who identified himself as a reporter,t;rlled Franklin Press' president and asked:

"Hour many canvass sheets did you print fortlre election?"

"\7e printed about 4p00.""Do they have certification on the back?""Yes.tt

"How about the non partisan tace? Is therer crtification on the back of thosg too?,,

"Yes."

"\7e have sheets here that are blank on the

t04 ATangledWeb

back. Can we come down and show themyou?"

The presidenr left the line for a minute andthen returned:

"\7e didn't print certifications on some ofthose sheets on the instructions of \filliamMille4 the elections superviso4" he said.

"Thanks, we'll get back to you.,'((TI want to try my hand at it,"Jim said."'What?""Stealing the canvass sheets.""Let's go."

\7" drove ro Fr. Lauderdale up U.S.1, throughHollywood, pasr pistachio-green South BrowidHigh School, which looked the same as whenJim was a Broward Bulldog and devoured thesloppyJoes in the cafetefia at lunch. \fe droveby the Ft. Lauderdale urportand the conch shellvendors and fruit shippers and orange juicesellers in their low white buildings. rVe passed" Bet- a -Mi llion Gate s" million - d ollar banvan tree.which was lusciously green and shade-making.Mr Bet-a-Million was a Detroiter who would beton almost anything. In the 1930s, he bet amillion dollars thar nobody could move thatparticular banyan tree to his club in Chicago. Itsroots spread out forty feet and into the pores ofthe coral substrata. And huge limbs reached outsixfy feet, with dozens of roots falling from eachlimb and back into the soil. Nobodv ever

VOTBSCAM r05

r ollected on the bet, but once they heard thel,,rrryan-tree story, people talked about it for' l.rys...the possibilities of how youd move the

,l.rrrrned thing anywhere, much less up North,,rrrrl get it to live. For a million dollars people aren rllinS; to get creative.

II rrto the Broward County courthouse we went,rlrt'.ssed in jeans. \fe walked into the clerk's,,llic:e and asked to see the canvass sheets.

"Of course," the clerk agreed. She broughttlrt'tn out in tall stacks.

lim looked around and saw that none of the, lcrks were paying them any attention. He took,rrt' stzck, held it under his arm like laundrv andrr,rlked out of the courthouse. Ken, unburdenedI'y purloined documents, was right behind.

\7e took off in the green Maverick, andlrcaded back to Jim's townhouse where we,lrrrnped the load.

'l'hen we got back in the Maverick and drovelr, g(/s51 Palm Beach. This time we passed Ft.l,rrrderdale and got to Deerfield Beach, a sleepylrttlc tovm, and Boca Raton, small, undiscoveredyct by the hoi-polloi. Then came'West palmItcach. This is not Palm Beach. This is middle tok,q7s1 class folks who live on the wrong side oftlrc Intercoastal \Waterway It's a bunch of squatty'.tucco buildings that look like architeCturalr,'negades from Los Angeles. They are inhabitedlty a volatile mixture of black people andr.'clnecks, a lot of whom worked forihe rich

ATangledWeb

people on Palm Beach as bartenders, maids,gardeners, garbage collectors, small shopkeepers.The further west you went the swampier it got,until you hit the Everglades.

frrto th" Palm Beach County courthouse.\7e ask for canvass sheets. They bring them.

This time clerks were watching us."Stare them down," Ken whispered.\7e each stared at whoever was looking at us

until they looked away Then Ken grabbed a pile,and we walked out, got in the car and headedhome. It was a long day

AAt home, we spread our loot out on the greenfelt.;im studied the similarities among thedifferent piles.

"They look a lot like the ones in Dade CounqrThese are all sort of gray...the numbers arewritten in by hand...when you flip them,see .. . there's a consistent grayness . .. thehandwriting has the same emotional level, it's allneat...no broken or thick pencil marks. Pencilswear down and break off ... in a real sheet,you've got to see all those different strokes, butlook at these, man...there's none of it. It'suniformly gray with thin lines, in all of thewriting."

"So what do you think?" Ken asked."This is getting too big to handle. Nobody's

going to believe this. \feVe got this huge fuckerby the tail and nobody's going ro believe ir."

"Is it possible that the people who fill out('anvass sheets all over the state have identicallrandwriting?"

Jim laughed as he walked over to thel:l5:f]":and puiled our his ftozenglass mugrrom the treezer. ,,yeah, right. There must besome kind of kindrea spirit that precinctworkers. share, they uil got the sameIrandwriting.', He snapped the"top off a can ofroot beer and- pouredii into the icy mug. *Nowwe've got three counties anci all"of th.signatures look almost exactly the same int'motional content from morning until night,lwelve hours later.,,

"Yeah, I know..From morning when theysigned rhem, while lfrey were fr"esh, t" "i!n'tyhen rhe signarures all look just like they aijinthe morning," Ken counted off points: ,, no;rlteration of mood, no emotional content, norlifferent slant, no extra pressure.,,

Jim nodded. ,And too much exactness as

l,l yh5r. they sign on rhe line. If a signarurers rnctented in the morning, it,s indented:rlmost exactly the same way at night. That,snot the

"way it would Ue if som-ething islruman about it.',

"Remember those five messy canvass sheetswe saw with Lynch?"

"Yes."

"They looked real, sloppy enough. There was;r certain illiteracy abour them.-Some of thewriting was heavy and black, and, obviously

VOTESCAM

r08 ATangledWeb

made by pencils that were nubs. Not all crispand sharp like these."

Jim flipped through the stack."This is forged, it's the same Stepford effect

that we saw in Dade County""But how the hell could Lynch, our friendly

handwriting expert, say they weren't forged?""It's a conundrum."

AUort nine o'clock the next morning, Kencalled the sheriff of Broward County

"I stole all the canvass sheets from thecourthouse," Ken said in his coolest, matter-of-factway,'Arrest me."

The sheriff laughed."Keep me out of this," he said. "I don't want

any part of it."Then he called the sheriff of Palm Beach

County and told him the same thing."Good luck," the sheriff said.Not only couldn't we ga.rner any publicity, we

literally couldn't get arrested.\T1\ext dav we visited the FBI.

\We met with agent Ed Putz, a very GaryCooperish guy. Ve showed him the canvasssheets. He spread them out on atable, shuffledthem, looked at them from a standing position,and said:

"These are forgeries."He gave them a dismissive push and

disappeared behind a door. 'We made our

:,rrltement to someone else, and left somer,lnVass sheets as evidence.

"How did putz know they were forged?,, Ken,rsked that night, while he racked ti-e fifteenlr;rlls for a game of eight ball. \fe were at thellingo Bar - headquarters on the Beach for,.,,rne of the nations brightest pool shooters.

"I don't know He disappeared too fast to findoI lt."

. 'fhe next day we took sample sheets over to

tlrc Organized Crime Bureau of Dade CountvSgt.'Walter Blue, a crime lab technician, took usrrto a room lit by red lights. There were five or',ix different types of microscopes and lots of,lrcmicals.

Ife told us that he would put the canvass.,lreets under the microscope to examine thelrllers and ink.

"I'm going to look for broken fibers...,,he.xplained.^'All paper, when you magnify it, isrrr:rde up of what appears to be thick lhr."dr,'o.lrlrers, criss-crossing each other. So when yourvrite on it, you have to eventually break one oftlrose fibers - especially with all those'.r,rtnatures. Alsq thepencils used by the county,rrr: those little hard sharp things, you know...,,

"The ones they use at race tracks?,, Ken,,llbred.

He nodded. 'And when most people press:1.:,-r on rhepaper they make pin point holes.I'lrey also indent the paper...so I'f be lookingl,r ridge lines on the backside of the writingl

VOTESCAM 109

110 ATangledVeb

You should be able to feel them with your finger;in some cases, but under a microscope, they'll,look like the Grand Tetons."

"Hos/ long is this going total<e?" Jim asked."I'll call you when I'm done."

\fn"r, we were in the suntan busineeverybody advised us as to the best waypromote Sunscrene. They always asked thething: "Have you ever thought of those littpackages they give away when you fly tFlorida? Get it on airplanes!"

And in our Votescam investigation, thquestion almost everybody asked was: 'Areyou guys afraid of getting killed?"

The second question was invariably: "Hayou guys gone to '60 Minutes'?"

Nq "60 Minutes" came to us.One day we got a call from Florida State

Senator Alan Becker. Becker was a laknown as "The Mink Cub." He wore exquisiteEuropean-styled vested suits, hankerchief inpocket. He was perfect. But the "Mink Cubmoniker was due to his hair - slicked back aiet black.

"Mike'Wallace is coming over to do a story onme being a condominium advocate," Becker toldJim. "You want to meet him?"

An hour later we were in his office. \Tallacewas interviewing Beckeq and when he finihe turned his attention to us.

"lil7hat have you got?" he asked.

VOTESCAM 111

$(/e laid out four years of evidence for \fallace.rnd his crew: rVallace appeared flabbergasted,lrut he put nothing on tape. However, [e saidtlrat he was headed right back to New york toltct appfoval from his bosses to do ouf stor). In| :rct, freelance investigative reporter GaetonI.i<.>nzi, wrote a piece about \fallace having thelbtescamstory in his pocket.

MIAMIMAGAZI}{EJurv,1974 MrairaI,FLoRloa

THE GREAT DADE ELECTION RIGCONTINUES

by Gaeton Fonzi

Just recently Channel 7 television reporterlJrian Ross happened to be returning to Miamill'om New York on the same plane as CBS-TVr)ewsman Mike \Vallace. '$7ith his number oner)etwork shovg "50 Minutes'l 'Wallace has earned,r reputation as a top investigative journalist whogoes afterlhe big srories. Chatting wirh Ross,\X/allace told him that he was coming back toMiami for two specific reasons: on.-of whichwas to film an interview with a show businesslrersonality appearing on Miami Beach. Theother reason, he said, was much morennportant: to look into what he had been toldrnight be the most shocking vote fraud scandal

1t2 ATangledWeb

ever to rock the nation. And, confided \fallace, itinvolved a conspiracy between major localmedia and key figures in Miami's powerstructure.

The Great Dade Election Rig continues.After four years. Four years! In spite of

numerous interments, the amazing story hassurfaced anew: Finally it appears to be in thesight of network television. It is the "Loch NessMonster" of Miami iournalism.

Fo. "rhut

rr.r reasons, what Mike Sfallace did inMiami on that return trip, we never found outwhat it was. Most likely, he shot tape andinterviewed some people. It appeared obviousfrom Fonzi's lead sentence that'Wallace had goneback to New York, had discussions withassociates, and was returning to Miami to fbllowup on the story Nothing appeared on the air.*

n/flVleanwhile, while waiting for the handwritinganalysis, life in the tropics returned to a steadyhum. It was relieved only by trying to figure outour next strategy in the investigation.

Rock was dying and disco was coming in.Disc jockeys played plasric records for peoplewho shook their booty These booty-shakersgrew up to be yuppies. There were still some

*Within a month of Fonzi,s article appearing in MiamlMagazine, Miam.i Neuts editor, Sylvan Meyer, purchased thattnagazine and permanently stopped any followup articlesfrom being written ofl tlne Votescarn stary.

riood drugs out there, mostly derivitives ofrrrrtffi€g. They started with the initials DM, likel)MA. It was a form of speed, with all the,'r rphoria of cocaine but without the valley It wasrlrc beginning of the designer drugs, and theylvt're called "nice," because everybody who evertr xrk them would say "Oh, this is nice, man.,,

"H.ro."'Jim, this is Sgt. 'Walter Blue.".[im immediately motioned Ken to pick up the

,,ther phone."These canvass sheets you brought me are

l( )rgeries. \X{hy isnt anyone doing anything aboutI lr is?"

"I dont know, I'm doing my damndest to get',, rrnebody to do something." Jim said.

"This is what I found. There are no fibersl,r'oken. That means that none of the peoplerr'lro wrote those signatures pressed hard.rrr)ugh to indent the paper or break the fiber.I lrere's not a number big enough to tell you the,,tlds against no breaks with hundreds of,rJ{natures involved. Plus the pencil lines all have,r rrniform flow without breaks in the flow That'srrrrpossible if the signatures are genuine."

"How can that be accomplished?" Jim asked,.rrnazed.

"I don't know, but it bothers me that this isrioing on. I'm concemed."

"Wb're doing our best," Jim said.

VOTESCAM 113

{

I

fta

{,

tl

fl

114A Tangled Web

]\Ir- \ ow we were pissed. gncb!.*P^1.h was

the handwriting experr whothe_ canvass sheet rig"rt"r.i *J; g..r.rirr*.took him at his word. Now we had anFBI al

?:d ^.police specialist -tro ,**Jrfr"yforgeries.

tVe called Lynch and told him that we hacl

:n::T':::9-:: tv, un9 tn"t-weu expteyzhen w9 gor there. Heiived i" pir"irri"",Tf,iis near the Everglades wesr

"f ni. i*Aerdale,

was open caffle and citrus land, with thick blsoil, cockleburrs, coral snakes and canplanted with mile-long borders tipr"i "*r.Lynch lived in a stucco subdivision howith a Florida grass lawn,

" pitiiril. o ur1e mer us at the door and led us into aequipped home laboratory in the back.

" " -t":,j,: -:^ Jh_.

r : u n d e r t h e m i cro r. op ".,,

yinaglga Lynch a single.u";;;;";;"Okay"'We waited.Lyn+ was oeering inro the eyepiece andseemed very calm.

,3::. are notforgeries,,, he repeated.Jim took a look. Now he k".;;;; to look

l"-::.,,:3: rhe lerters "ri""ti"g;"" .r.oiiil:papet fibers. Ther<effirrrrna- *^jL:.- ;.Yet:.no breaks, penpoints,smudges, nothing dissimilar

-^^t:-o_I," Jim stepped aside so rhat Ken couldsee, "not afiber is broken."

IGn looked, then erupted.

I l, t

"Look, this guy's got,llt.r5;azine, May '72 aboutrvith a bank Rapidograph."

Lynch stood quietlyJim heard a rustling in

lraranoia swept over him.The scene rang through

VOTESCAM

Ken was talking, Jim walked out int<;

wllat are you saying?" he asked Lynch.lloats on the surface, there's no bieaks,

vt' been told twice now that these are

rt)

|fqr' .rnt('room and examined the books onllrr , I r. .lves. He wante d an idea of who thistft,rr \\';rs. He saw that he had a technical1r,,,,1. sclection consistent with all thait'r 1r 1

rr rrcnt.I lrt.rr, on the coffee table, he spotted an

],f lf 'l r('(f magazine. It was on display the sameH ,r\ ,lnyone would leave a "vanity piece" ts1,, ,r,lrnired. Jim walked over and pickeO iiul, tt was turned to a page that had theIr, .rtllinei "HotD to Forge Documents uitb aIt,ttrk Rapidograpb."

lrrrr read it twice.I lt. read it again and it said the same thing.lt'looked ar who wrote it. It was by Robert

lyttclt!lror the first time in this investigation, the hair

, 'n (he back ofJim's neck stood up.tfe took the magazine to Ken and stuffed it in

lrrs hand.a story in policeforging documents

the hall. A flash of

his mind of Lynch's

115 ATangledWeb

wife, with a shotgun, shooting themintruders. Nobody would have doubted itcared less.

"Let's get the fuck out of here," Jim said.

TIn the car heading back home, Jim explainedKen that he had only glanced at the article.

"So what did vou see?""It's a thing called a bank Rapidograph

Apparently it's an instrument that you cana signature with. It copies the signature wione pencil and another pencil or penattached on some kind of a swing arm -traces the exact movement on another piecepaper."

"So if Lynch used a Rapidograph on thecanvass sheets he could trace it off tlsignatures he got at the schooling session tweeks in advance, and repeat themunsigned canvass sheets."

"Right.""Then there would be a set of canvass

that could be substituted for the originalsnobody would know the difference. Unlesshappened, like we did, to stumble acrossfive, where the handwriting was real."

Jim watched the heav,y rain as it hamthe hood. "'Well, I think that answers HenKing Stanford's question," he smiled,

"r$7e cart'tproueLynch did it.""But we know how it's done, he wrote t

article on how to do it, and now he denies

VOTESCAM

wlrat he saw under the mi,croscope was forgeryrvlten two experts say it is,"Jim reasoned. ,,lFthelucker quacks like a duck, shoot it.,,

We headed for Rubins office on Miami Beach.'fhe office was in a wing of a baronialnransion from the 1930s with stained glassr.r,'indows and exotic woods. It felt expenslvelyrrrcdieval.

Rubin listened to the story and read therrurterial.

He laughed. He loved this kind of intrigue,,':;Pecially if it gave him a shot at the Demodaticw':rr lords who controlled the countv

"\7ill you call a press confer"rr."?,, Ken asked."Yes."

't',l lr: l"ll day alt the media showed up arl,lrrbin's office, as they always did, and still do.l'lrcre was a lot of excitement in ih" air. Rubinlr,rcl prepared himself for this conference with a',rrrgular focus. His plan was to follow up with ar rsit to the state attorney's office, to present the''viclence and demand an investrguti"".

At the appointed time, Rubin-strode into the"t t'lle.

"Ladies and Gentlemen of the press,,, his voice\\:r.s compelling, .I've called you heie today to,,ller you what I consider shocking and',r< kening, but undeniable, admissable andr r,116lg5iys proof that elections in this countylr,rve been massively tampered with for at leasttlrc last six years - and probably well before that.,,

118 ATangledWeb

Rubin held up the blank-backed canvasssheets and the forged certifications and told thepress what it all meant. \Ufith that openeq hethen began exhibiting examples of forgery oncanvass sheets from Dade County to palmBeach. He told the media that the OrganizedCrime Bureau had confirmed that signatures ongvefy sample were not those of poll workers,but had been affixed by other means.

- "Desperate measures by desperate men,hissed a Channel 7 representative. He stalkerout.

The Miami News ran the story on the fpag., with a photograph of Rubin holding upforged canvass sheet. The Miami Herald ranfront-page photograph and a story inside.

A few days late4 Villiam Mille4 who tookwhen Braterman quit, also resigned as electsupervisor

Two down.Joyce Deiffenderfer, the woman from t

LeaSue of 'Women Voters uzhn urcnf enA ariague of 'Women Voters who wept and cri

On" dayJim got a call atThe planet fsomebody at the Dade County election divisiThe hushed female voice saidi

"The Metro commission has voted millions

that she did not want to ,,get caught in thithing" was named election supervisoi

There was no followup in the press.And that was that.

dollars to send all the voting machines up to

VOTESCAM

carolinas to get them retrofittecr witrrPrintomatic devices. Meanwhile, they,ll gtr t I I rr.rnachines and crush all the ota parts. That gt.tsrid 9{any evidence of ,frurr"O*fr!"ir.,,Wati a printomatic deuice?

rln early September 1974 the primaries arrivctl.rgain. At 7 a.m. we drove to a precin(,l ()lllliscayne Boulevard in North frliuiri. It wus rrrlloward's Trailer C,u-p, fo", ,q.rure blocks ol.r n o b i I e h om e s. $Zh a t'we fo rr.rt-, f, o c ke cl :r r r r It.lated us at the same dme.

,, Itltt, the keys to the backs of rhe ncwt'rtntomatic-equipped voting machines, lix.the first time ever, had nol'b."i irr.r".l r,,the prgcilct caprains. They.J; no longr:r( )pen the backs and see the numbers in.siclt..lnstead, they were told to ..u"f. a hancllt,that had been implanred i;;;';;" back ot.yn1 machine.up ih".. i" a;;"i;na. rht,ywere assured it would make a roller run.l.

t:s the paper, which had been treatecl s<rrrrar numbers would appear when impresscrllry the raised counters. After the rollcrr rrmbled across rhe paper f-;l.lt to ,igi,r,,l:1.

"{ two pieces oi pape, *o.rtA slide otrlrrr z stot at the bottom. On it woulcl l>t,numbers. For a virgin, un_voted_on machint.,tl was 9u-pposed to show all zeroes. lJrrlrrone of the ca-ptains nor u.ryorr. else in tltc.f rrccinct actually got to look at the .o.r.,t"r,ut(,mSelVeS.

r20 ATangledWeb

.Jim calledJoyce Dieffenderfer from a payphone.

"\fhere are the keys to these machines?" heasked.

"Theyre locked inJack rVert's desk. He's mvassistant."

"Oka7t"A call to'Wert:

"The machine's out of order until furtherItt lfigg."

In a flash Ken grabbed the paper and yankedrl out of the guy's arms. The stranger wasrrromentarily stunned. Then Ken whipped,rround and spread the paper on the nearestt:rble, smoothing it out. At least ten precinctworkers were bug-eyed as they watched.

W'hat we all saw was a wrinkled piece ofl)rper with zeroes corresponding to ther,rndidate counters filling the entire sheet _ euentthere tbe roller badnT toucbed..

"Hey these have been preprinted." Jim saidlr ru6lfy. "1'he pressure- roller only went half_way,r( r'oss before it wrinkled the paper.',

A loud barnyard hubub went up from therv<lrkers.

"It's fixed!""\7e're not going to sign anything.',The surprised troubleshooter lunged over to

grab the-paper off the table and walked quicklylrrck to the Cadillac.

Th-e precinct workers were clearly angry Thenr:wfangled crankhandle was actualli a votes('arn, a decoy. The printomatic didn't do,rnything but make people think it imprintedtrue counter numbers.

"I quit." A worker walked out."They want us to certify tbat!,,Another

Iollowed him.One by one, every worker walked out of the

;rrecinct until in ten minutes it was empql

VOTESCAM 121

"Yeah, theyte locked in my desk becausetheyVe got the Printomatic, they dont need keysanymore."

Jim hurried back to the precinct jusr in rime to:see-tw9 stocky men in dark suits opening theback of a machine.

Ken motioned toJim: "The roller system isn'tyorkinq. ft's jammed up. They called ihes. guysthe troubleshooters." Then he pointed outsid'e ioa white Cadillac with Kentucky plates. ,,That's

theirs.""These guys are decidedly strangers,"Jim said.\7e watched.They opened the back door of the machine

with a key and took out the printomaticpaper. It was about two feet by three feet. asbig as the back of the machine. rWhen thevpulled it out, you could see the piece ofpaper was bunched up in the middle wherethe roller had wrinkled it. Apparently, that'syhu-t had hung it up. The two guys tried tohustle the paper away quickly One'grabbed itto his chest and turned to walk out, callingover his shoulder:

LZ2 ATangledWeb

The new crank handles and rollers didn'twork in most of the other precincts across thecounty that day either, and the scam was alsorevealed to precinct workers whentroubleshooters came to unstick the rollers,Many of the workers walked out.

The next day The Miami Herald carriedstory about the poll workers'walkout which saidthat, due to some "snafu," thousands of precinctworkers throughout the county left their jand were replaced by Metro police and firemen.

The story neglected to say what the snawas, or why the workers had walked off

And that was thal

A a"y later, in the black-soil "redlands" areasouth of Miami where they truck-farmedtomatoes, strawberries, limes and Ponderoslemons, about 200 citizens from all over tcounty met near the settlement of Perrine onmoonless rught.

It was at Clark and Dotty Merrill's plaThey were well-known civic activists. Clworked for the City of Miami as an engineand he had a kind of tenure that madedifficult to fire him for voicing his opinionsmaking waves. Dotty was from Boston,she was loud and funnv. with a marked Bahston accent. They'd gotten the word outradio and through fliers about the Printomatifraud. A lot of precinct workers had callethem when they realized nothing was going

VOTESCAM

lre said about it in the newspapers. \7e calledtlrem, too.

\V/We parked among a lot of cars and went into

the Merrill's lived-in stucco house. The housewas_filled to the gunwhales with people, mostlyrn their thirties and up, a lot of municipalt'rnployees, merchants and workers. Evervbodvlrut lawyers. You couldn't buy a lawyer in thatIrouse. Dotty led the town meeting. Clark was alrig man whod rather listen than talk.

"\7e've seen it with our own eves. now.', alrrecinct worker said. 'And it's a fraud. nut ihet'lection came off on schedule."

"You should have seen the hysteria when('veryone left our precinct and people keptt'oming in to vote, but there was nobody to signllrem in."

"It tookJoyce a couple of hours to round uptlre cops to fill in."

"-il7hy did the Heraldlie that it was lust a snafu?ll was a downright rigging and they know it."

Dottie motioned for them to quiet doum.'According to the Colliers here," she said, *the

rrredia is involved in all this up to its cajones.We've got to put pressure on the Heraldto printtlte truth."

The group debated all night, and finally,lccided to send a mission to The Miami Herald.rrrd The Miami Neus to get them to do votelr':rud stories.

A delegation was also sent to the State Attornelz

t')?

124 ATangledWeb VOTESCAM t25

By the time the third meeting at the Merrill'shouse came around, there -ere reports thatnobody was going to do anything. Nb exposeswere going to appear in the News or the Herald.Editors told the delegation that it was a ..nonstory." A "non issue." The charges were"impossible to prove," and so on. Editorsroutinely dismissed the messengers ascrackpots.

The State Attorney refused to investigate.And that was thar.

L-/n September 9, Ellis Rubin helcl a standing-room-only press conference.

. . H.". had gone to the trouble of having ablack_board set up in the conference ,oom, andncrw he used it to describe in detail the ,,Missing

Keys Scam." Then he walked over ro aPrintomatigvoting machine set up in the cornerHe showed how the clevice denied poll workerstheir mandate to visually eyeball the zeroes inthe backs of the machines by not giving themthe keys to look inside and see the alignment ofthe counter wheels.

Reporters took notes and video camerashummed away

"\Vhat are you going to do about it, Ellis?,'areporter asked.

"I intend to present this and other supportingevidence to the State Attorney's office.,'

."Do you-gxpect any pfosecutions...and, if sqwho would be the targets?,'

"It would be improper for me to speculate,',Ellis replied calmly, "but I certainly expect ttreState Attorney's office to do its duty';

The next day the major n.wipapers wereawash in material about the presi conference.Front page headline in the Miami Neutsboomed:

l

l

llr

l

rl

MASSIVE VOTE FRAUD CHARGED INDADE ELECTIONS

trlI hat afternoon Rubin went with Ken to theoffice of Janet Reno, the tall, rawboneddaughter of big, rawboned Hank Renq the bestpolice reporter in Miami, bar none. Janet Renowas an assistant State Attorney

Rubin intended to ask Reno td accept theblank-backed canvass sheets, make , f,.rttinvestiga_tion and go to the grand jury to havethem indict somebody for tampering-with the1972 election. Ken and Rubin signed a waiverof immunity in order to make a statement;rbout vote fraud for the record. The waiverrneant they were entirely responsible for theirtestimony, even if it meant a lot of personaltrouble. If they hadn't signed the waiver itwould have looked suspicious.

The press was waiting by the score outsidel{eno's office.

126 ATangledWeb

'We were sure that Rubin would come out andannounce that Reno was going to take thcevidence ro rhe grand jury oi upp.-oirrt a specialprosecutor.

Instead, when Rubin finally emerged frombehind the closed doors of thai inner sancrum,he was.litetally ashen-faced, down.art, arrdcrestfallen all in one. \Ze had never'seen himlike this.

The lights and cameras all came on.Rubin walked ro the bank of microphones.

"Miss Reno has asked me to inform you that shehas examined the evidence and a's far as anyprosecutions are concerned, the ,tutrrt" oflimitations has expired.',

Sfith that barebones sratement still hanging inthe air, Rubin bolted to a nearby escalat6r indcharged down its stairs to avoid any questionsfrom the pfess, or from us.

\7e didnt let it go atthat.In the extreme tension of the moment we saw

four years of research trashed by Reno. \7e tookthe stairs three at a time and chased our formerpaladin our of rhe Metro Justice Building. \Wecaught_up with him just as his antique redconvertible was pulling away from the curb.

Ken jumped on the running board and leanedover. He looked into Rubin's eyes for a splits,econd. Then he jumped off as itubin gunnedthe motor and sped away

"\Vhat did he say?"Jim asked."Nothing he just stared straight ahead.,,

VOTESCAM

"\I7hat was his expression?""Fear.""No." Jim was dumbfounded. "Not Ellis

Itrrbin...lawyer for the 'Watergate burglars... thenra.n who visits Richard Nixon at his home..asshole buddies with the CIA and the FBI and

,rrrd Naval Intelligence and probably the Mossad!sr> what the hell could Janet Reno have said to'rt are him?"

W'e wouldnt know that answer until we metrrp with him in the future, eight years later.

w

128 Hounds of Hell

HOUNDSOFHETL

"Tbe ltumblcst citizen...wlten clad intbe armour of a rigbteous cantse, isstrongertban alltbe bosts of Ercoi'

-Villiam Jennings Bryan

VOTESCAM

ir Arnerica's number one export. It is tbeItrrllouted. ground and slted blood. of tenq(nera.ti.ons of "tltose wbo mad.e tbe\ttlw'eme sacriftce."

ils witb tbeJFK breed. of lfound, uoteItu&ad. trackers barse tbe gutfeeling tbat\lrme jfr.rnd.amental outrage bas occurcedttnd. is being coaered up in tbe bigbest Leuelsrtl'gouerflmcnt.

()ne neaer knows tbe exact moment oft nrnsd.tionfrom contnton citi.zen to IIound.

A f r", the the Reno-Rubin confrontation, therrrvcstigation seemed pretty much over. Rubin',, rrrldrt't take our calls and there was no point int,rrrsuing him any further. \(ib figured thatn lurtever Reno told him in her private chambersilr.rt day must have scared the hell out of him.

lim said: "I can't imagine him acting like thatrrrr|css she had something on him."

"Well, I doubt that it's political," Ken reflected.Nl:rybe she painted a really frightening scenario,

1',,ssibly threatening to expose him somehow to, rrrl>arrass his kids and family you know what Irr rr^rrfl? After all, we're not dealing in torts here. Ifl(r'n<> call€dfor a full investigation the lid couldl,low off the Establishment. That's why Gerstein,lrr In't want this case, so he gave it to Reno and,lr(' wasn't about to bite the hand that feeds her"

"She must have torn into him somethingIr.r'gs,"Jim speculated, "like'Ellis, if you pufsuerlrrs it could take down the entire structure, not

l?o

A" Uog as tbe Warren Report stays ontbebooks as tbe officialty recognizeh otrutlt,'about tbeJFK case, tltere wilt be an openutound. in tbe bod.y politic tbat defiesbealing. Assassination researcbers are souirulent in scauengingtbeJfretd in searclt ofany sbred, of euid.ence, tbey baue corne to beknoutn as "TIte llounds of llell."

But tbereb anotlterpublic cause tbat hascaptured tbe imagination of tlte llound,mentality.-Vote fraud. Consider tlt e strongemotional ualues tbat ute Atnericans attacbto tlte sanctity of tbe U.S. ballot. Tbe bailot

&i

r30 Hounds Of Hell VOTESCAM

, li, lrr't want child support, and she didn't wantl., rr aroufld eitheq at least not as long as he was,r rlling to pursue Votescam. Jim's wife wasr rr r'lv€ years his junior, and after five years of a, lrrf r f less marriage and listening to Votescam, she,r'.rntcd some fresh air in California.

'f l'we give up Votescnrn," Jim told Ken, "when\\ ( ,'r'Lr old men we're going to look back and ask

'' lry didnt we fight the bastards. 'Were going tor, kl up the plus and minus columns and all we'lllr,rvc is money I don't want to spend the rest of,,ry life with this seething anger because I knowi lct them get away with it without going the lastlirt king inch."

"How are we going to live?""Let's do a Siddhartha - lets give it all up: the

1',rol table, the cars, the townhouses, thelrusiness."

Ken took a long toke on the pipe Jimillt'ndrix had given him that night his concertsot rained out at Gulfstream Race Tiack.

lt wasn't our concert, but the promoters,Mlichael Lang and Marshall Brevitz (Lang was ar o-producer of 'Woodstock) had no way tort'lund the ticket money So we invited Hendrixut Tbee Image, where we would throw open ther loors to anybody who wanted to walk in. Jimrvent on stage at Gulfstream and invitedt'verybod| to come to the club.

It was now about 8 o'clock on a stormyrropical night.

\7e called all of our concession people, the ice

r31

only of the city but possibly the srate. Dowant to do this for the Collier brothers?','

"Sure," Ken nodded, *but that look on his lhctthat stark blank stare...it was eerie...l dontthink just politics would do it. It had to l"re $personal threat." i\7" *.re both in the midst of ai*,orcjproceedings. Ir seemed like somerhing in rhdstars was breaking everything apart. fne naily,Planet was going out of businiss. The publ[iwas more interested in the Bee Gees than lrtrevolution. DC Comicswas threatening to ,ujover what they claimed was the use of tf,.tiSuperman trademark, and The Underground\Press Seruice was turning into HigE Tima|:magazine. During the Sixties the sunian lotio1Duslness was the engine that drove our smallfinancial empire, but it required a full time effrrrtand we just didnt have it in us anymore. politicrlis a strong drug and anger was replacing thcdrive we had to make monerl

Back when we started, iunscrene, Kenneclywas in his secon d year as president, and theiworld seemed bright. Now it was the Nixon.Ford era; we were growing older and therowasn't much challenge left in selling sunrarllotion to beach boys.

The five-year renewable leases on our beachstores were coming due and without wives ofkids to support, they just didnt seem importantanymore. Ken's wife was a millionaireis who,

Ir

Hounds Of HellVOTESCAM 133

cJeam vendors, the chocolate cake sellers, h<ltdog guys, the body painters, and aiked rhem rocome right down.

, T!: body painrers-g?ve away Day_Glo painrthat lit up under btack-light, *hi.h was thl bigdeal in concerr lighting at the time.Tbee tmag7boasred a hundrel nhir.righil;tb"

Hendrix and his roadiei and his band rurneclup, ls promised, for free, and started to set upon the stage. The club already had a wall ofAmpeg speakers with enough amps to blow outa window There were alsoihe two giant strobclights with a slow to fast speed dialer that madcrpeople look like they weie moving very fast orvery.slorry like a haywire silenr fihl^

tVord had gotten oul Kids startecl calling kids,By nine o'clock the parking lot was pack6cl. S<rwas Collins Avenue, ancl there was a traffi c iaidown to Haulover Beach.

Jimi started playing about nine. He began byusing all of Tbee Imageb speakers ancl his ownto produce wild feedback wailing.. That _got people's atteniion. Then hejammed with the house band, The BluesImage, ( Ricle, Captain, Ricte) in a set thatnever stopped until after midnight. Theaudience, full.of paintecl bodies, *orlly sat onthe iloor and listened, in various states ofhig!, higher and highest, while jimi ptayedrock guitar that was more dramatic thana_nything most of the audience had ever heard,His guitar solos melted down and re_formed.

r',urcd into vivid images and then into smoke.lt was a wild night of cheering. Then the ice

, r(':ult battle began.Somebody brought Jimi an ice cream cone

rr rllr a ball of chocolate on it. Jimi threw the icer rr'rrD ball to somebody in the crowd. That., )nlebody threw it back atJimi.

"Get me ten cones," Hendrix called.lle passed them out to everyone in the band.

,rrtl they began to throw ice cream balls at each, 'rlrcf. Pretty soon hundreds of members of theurtlience raced to the concession stand to buy.r <)ops of ice cream, forget the cone. In 75rrrinutes the air in the club, under the Day_Glolrrihts, was filled with flying ice cream balls.tlrcy hit the walls, the speakers, people's heads,lr.rir and clothes. Then, when the ice cream ran,rrt, th€| all began throwing chocolate cake.

Meanwhile, Jimi and the band kept ony.rrrrming.

't'henJimi says: "Let's go swimming.,,IIe left the stage without his guitar, walked

rlrrough the crowd and out the front door Like at'rcd Piper he walked past the InternationalI louse of Pancakes up to Collins Avenue, threer,, f6ul thousand kids dancing insanely behindlril'n.

'fhis was a few months beforeJirni played hisr r lcverant Star-Spangled Banner at'Woodstock.

All those memories were attached to Ken'sl,ipe as he thought of leaving the security hedrlrvays known.

fu

134 Hounds 0f Hell VOTESCAM r35

- For a couple of guys who were raised middle

class in the Middle \79st, giving up rhe easy lifbw3s truly radical. Wed seen fom ffayden live outof a sleeping bag as he fought his battles f<rrsocial equality in the Sixties, and we evenhoused him when he wa.s worn out anclbedraggled.

One time Tom came to New york with his firstwife Casey, and an old starion wagon. He haclthe_key to a friend,s empty apartm"ent, so Tomand Casey rook an old mattiess off the streeiand spread it on the floor. The next night theyknocked onJim's door on East ggth Street.

, "'We.got bedbugs,"'Tom said, lifting his pantleg_ and showing a lrack of bug bites.

Jim paid for a hotel room on Sdtt Street.I\T1.\ow Ken pondered the idea of living out ofsleeping bags on Miami Beach.

, "Iil/here do we_put the sleeping bags and howclo we ear? And do we reallywant tobo this?,,

"\7ell, it's that or give il all up and just bemerchants. rXzhat's money gotten us but divorcesand abject comfiort?"

"But what about Sunscrene, we can't just dropit."

"'Why not?"

_ So we gave it all away to our top salesman inDaytona_ Beach, named Ron Rice, and hechanged the name to Hawaiian Thopic.TIn the fall of 1974 we were living in the sea

1'rlrpes near 86th and Collin.s Avenue on MiamiItcach. It was less than two blocks from thetloliday Inn, but it was tropical and secluded."r':r

grzpes are trees that grow about 15 feet highrr rth leaves like large green pancakes. The leavisl, r'rned a cathedral ceiling screened the sun ancll,rovided some privacy from the public on thel,t'ach. Foreign tourists had heaid about thisrr ilcl stretch and although it was against the lawt(, camp there, they had found the sea grape1,:ttch as inviting as we had. \X/e often hadior( )ust a sleeping German, Frenchman or Italian, rut of our favorite spot.

There were freshwater showers nearbv and at,rrblic bathroom. There was no place to cook,',() we subsisted on fruit and cheese. A highrir xssy jungle-like area hjd the sleeping bags.w.!"1 it rained, which wasn,r that-oftEn, ivel rlled up our bags, hid them, and ran for motelr'r )Vef

From our refuge in the sea grapes, we wrote,rvith pen and pencil, a rock opera entitled "yeAr( ) ne." The title was based on John Lennon'sr r)nc€pt, conceived atJohn and yoko's bed_in intirronro in 7970. John said that we should label.rll our correspondence year One A.p (AfterI't:aC€), and that there should be a newl,cginning. So the story was about the Children_.rt-Arms, a rock group from the Center of ther illaxy ordered to earth to reunite Sgt. pepper'.sl('ltm.

We wrote the basic book and lyrics and

136 Hounds Of Hell VOTESCAM 137

lregory Scott Kimple wrote the music. Althoughthe studio album wasn,t bad (Lou O,Neil, yr.'ofCi.rcus Magazine called it ,,one of the top ,",ialbums of the yeat,,), we decided to re_recorrlrne altlum f ive and videotape the year Ortuband at the Grand Canyon.

r ---.

On 7/7/77 we prod,.rced the first free roc.kconcert ever performed live in the GrantlCanyon. Rolling Stone Magazinewrote ahead oftime rhar six million_ pgopte would rurn up f<rrthe concert (to hear ,,Tb" y"o, Oie-Band,,). ThcInterior Department, concerned for theecosystem and crowd control, cancelled thcevent. Now for the first time in our lives we hacl

lo--n-,l,,\o pap3, no businesses, no money *but we did have George.

By the grace of George, our friend and che.ssmasteq Ken flew out to Arizona and talked thepark ranger into letting us srage the show Ttlmake it hard on whatever.ro*j, might want toshow uo' the fangef restricted the concert to trrcVgst Rim, which is off limirs to rhe generalpublic. Nonetheless, about a thousand"peoptr.hiked overland and got to the site-io watch usfilm the sun coming up over the East Rim, anevent almost never seen by anyone other tiranan American Indian. rVe shot through the day,catching the full sweep of the ,.r., i3 rhe \fest,Songs *gr9 :^rng at differenr hours as the sunproduced ditferent moods. And as the sun wassetting, we taped two lovers standing atop amega wall of amplifiers againsr u purpl hirr.

I lr,' band sang: " CbAmpion, Were Are yoll?,,\lter the concert we drove back to New york

't ilt Satan, who taught Kzss how to eat fire.

| ',,, awhile we lived in a raclio-TV commune ontrrlr Street and Second Avenue in a building,.rllcd The U.S. Senate. The commune owneclr l'' old Second Avenue yiddish Theater, then.rllcd The phoenix, where Ann Corio helcl

, , ,rrlt while doing " This Was Burlesque.,, Vhemlr.' left, the theatre folded until two off_

llrr ,:Lclwa| actors bought it. They fed and houseclrr, in the U.S. Senate, while two blocks down ont lrlr street they were remodeling the theater

llecause most of-the people working; on,, rrx>deling were performing aitists and noi'realtr,rtlesmen, at least not the kincl who shoulcl ber( upholstering 499 seats, someone gave the, rrr rcr to unscrew every seat in the house and,r.r('k them up in the foyer.

'l'hen they had us rip all the staples out of alltlrt' s€zts, take off all the Naugahyde, ancl pull,'rrt :.rll the stuffing.

. It was our job, that is, us and Satan, to putrlr()se seats back togetheg restuff them, recovertlrt'rn with Naugahyde, and use that plier devicet, 5[1s[sl and restaple. The color was orange.t lrc job tooks weeks, eig;ht hours a day.'fhen the time came to put the seatsback.

W'e started with the first row but none of the.('rrts fit. Nobody had bothered to mark the seatsr'. to where their original places were. Thus we

138 Hounds Of Hell VOTESCAM t39

had 499 sears and nor rhe foggiesr idea where toput them.

As we sat around with the rest of the crequnderstanding what purgatory was, Satan, whorrad a rock band on Bourbon Street in the

]Il1"r-, starred picking up the sears, studyingff1.T, and separating them into size piles. Somiof the seats were minutely bigger than others,After rhe sorting he rook the tirlest seat off rhcflrst plle and walked around looking for thelargest empry hole. It took him four davs, but heput every single seat back in its exact-spot. rVcknow that because when we got down on thcfloor we had to turn thousand's of screws intcrthousands of holes. They all fit.

The new theater with the bright orange seatropened with " Tbe Best littleTVboreb"ouse tnTbxal'in its off-Broadway debut.

\Jn June 23, t978,Jim's 39th birthday we raised

l,t" T"l:y to produce a live rock concert, callecl"Rock lWars," on the highest man_made ,,"g" inthe world: the helicopter pad atop the SouthTower of the 'World Tiade Center in Manhattan._ Every rock star who had nothing better to cht

that night was ar the party TheyeZr One Bantland For Sbakes Sakefrom Brooklyn played frorndusk until midnight. people brought their owneverything, and down on thetOTth floor theTrade Center opened a sumptuous bar anelsmorgasbord. It was an increclible, perfectly cleainight with a full moon and a grand pian<1,

I't'ople called the radio station that wasI'r'oadcasting the live performance and said, ,,\7e, ;rn hear it over here in Staten Island,'; and,, rmebody else said they coulcl hear it all theu,:ry into NewJersey

'Ihe next day the New york Daily News saicl,:'l'he rVorld Tiade Center -ur -rl. for threetlrings; Tbe Wiz, King Kong, and the Rock rX/ars

1,:rrty held last night."a .7-l\en met an artist at the 74th Streetr ()nrrnun€ who called herself Shakti. She was.r rnedical doctor from Australia who was tall.lrlonde and beautiful. She had paintecl murals, rn the walls of the theater we worked in, sol(cn asked her to illustrate the story we hadrvritten about rock and roll, where thet .lrildren-at-Arms come from the Center of thet;alaxy to reunite the Beatles. For the nextl()urteen months we, including Satan, lived.rnd worked together on the Rock 'Wars,'(oryboard. It eventually turned into a 96_l)age, full-color Doubleday Dell tradelrrrperback that sold 42,000 copies before Johnl,c'nflorr was shot and killed at The Dakota.

Rock Wars died with rhe most intelligent manrrr rock.

Ken wrote an epitaph for Lennon and it wasrcprinted in Billboard Magazine and in TheWashington Post (.see it in the back of thislrook). Yoko Ono wrote Ken a letter telling himtlrat she had hung a copy on her wall.

t41

ft

t40 The Petersen Memo

7

Txrn PnrsRsEF[ Mnnao

-Hardy

"ToyS! a good. d.eal is too strange tobe belieaed, notbing is too st aige tobaae bappened."

I

TIn the spring of t979,Jim filed a Freedom of '

Information Act request for anything under hisname at?ny government agenq{ A few months ilater, a file three inches ttrict< .irrr" in the mail lthat included everything we had given ro rhe jFBI. There were also FBI memoi about the rstacks of evidence we had sent in. i

There was a notation in the folder that 37 pagesof the,file were sequestered,,in anothe, ug"rrly"\7e called an agenr at the Miami field officJof theFBI and asked: "\7hat does that mean?,' j

"The CIA," he said. E\We wondered why tJThat does the CIA have to{

VOTESCAM

tlo with vote rigging? \Xzhat has this to do withnational security? And what the hell is on those17 pages?

$7e also found among the papers a memo ofinstructions from Henry E. petersen, assistantt J.S. Attorney General of the Criminal Division oft he Justice Department.

NITED STATES GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTOF IUSTICE

MEMORANDUM

l( ): Acting Directo4 DATE:: 5/16/72Federal Bureau of Investigation

I r{OM: Henry E. PetersenAssistant Attorney GeneralCriminal Division

"r t I|ECT: UNKNO\Y/N SUBJECTS:

KIINNETH COLTIER - VICTIMI I,ECTION LA\rS

'fhis is to recommend that the Crime Recordsl)ivision advise U.S. Representative ClaudeIt'pper (Democrat-Florida) of institution of this

142 The Petersen Memo

investigation at the request of the CriminalDivision Department, regarding a possiblc:Election Laws violation. Investigation at this timeis being limited to interviews of: (Tbe nameswere blacked. out.)Background: James Collier and his brotherKenneth have furnished several statement$concerning what they believe to be a violation ofthe Election Laws Statute. The violation allegedlyoccurred during the September1970 Floridaprimary elections when Kenneth Collier was acandidate for U.S. Congressman running againstthe incumbent Claude Pepper on thcDemocratic ticket. The Colliers contend theelections were "riplged" because immediatelyafter the polls closed, Miami television stationspredicted the final vote percentages of eachcandidate and the projected vote totals. Thctelevision stations' predictions were allegedlyI00o/o accurate. Professor Ross Beiler of theUniversity of Miami and Mr. Elton Davis of theCavanaugh Computer Corporation apparentlyprogrammed the computers for the Miamltelevision stations which predicted the electionoutcome. The Colliers allege Beiler and Davisparticipated in a scheme to rig the abovrrmentioned primary Statements obtained fromthe Colliers regarding their allegations have beenforwarded to the Criminal Division which hasrequested Beiler and Davis to be interviewed toascertain their possible involvement in allegedscheme to rig this election. If either Professor

llt'iler or Mr. Davis acknowledges that he didl,;rrticpate in rigging this election, the Bureau,lrould attempt to ascertain the manner in whichtlris rigging was effected, for what purpose itrr':r.s effected, and who directed that tire electionIrt'rigged.A(ITION: Departmental Attorney Craig C.lronsanto was contacted and advised is arrr:rttef of courtesy It is recommended tbe Crimetl,cord.s Diuision aduise Congressman pepperrlrtt at tbe specific request of Assistant Attoineyt icneral Henry E. petersen, Criminal Diuision ofr/x: Department ofJustice an inuestigation bislt'cn instituted. (End of memo)

IJenry Petersen was to become semi famousl.rtcr on as the federal investigator in the caserrieinst the Vatergate burglars. Tbis uas tbefirstrtrdication tbat petersen wasfuily inuolued tntlte ysys fraud inuestigation prior to bisll' h te rgate ass ignm e nt.

VOTESCAM t43

lAl Video Vigilantes

Vrnno Vrcrr,envrns

"Sotne circumstantial eaidence i.s aerystrong, as wbenyouftnd atrout intbe milk."

-Thoreau

VOTESCAM r45

A

A new decade, the 1980s, found us living upat. a,yoga ranch near South Fallsburg, New,York, in the Catskill Mountainr, ,tidyingkarate, yoga and meditating. Shakti, whosereainame was Elizabeth, was with Ken and theywere married at the ranch by Swami Vishnu,Their daughter, Unity, wai born there inNovember of 1980.

One of the students at the ranch owned abean sprout business which he wanted to sell,He taught us how to grow sprouts in bathtubsin dark rooms, harvest them, bag them and sellthem by the pound.

Sprouts brought in so much revenue that we

,1,'r ided to leave the ranch and start our ownr,,u(e ifi Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn. 'We

rr r.rtle money instantly Our,, Heartland Sproutl,lr.t rffre the best-selling alfalfa and mung bean.Jrrt)uts in the city '$Tinter

came andJim decidedr,, go back to the warmth of Miami and leave theI'rrsiness to Ken and Shakti. He lived in the blackl'r'lt quarters of Larry pizzi,s Shori Goju dojo,rrcrr th€ Lincoln Road Mall, and managed thel,,rrate school.

ln the summer of 7982, a revival was plannedl,,r'the California rock group, Mamas-and tbel'(tpas, with Spanky of Spanky and Our Gangl,laying the dead Mama Cass and McKenziel'lrillips, the daughter of John and Michellel'hillips, playing her mother's part.

Ken read about it in Billboard Magazine and,rrrvitedJohn Phillips to do a show on top of theW<>rld Tiade Centen They met on the helicopter1r:rd on top of the Thade Center one cold diy in|cbruary. An icy wind off New york harborrvhipped around the two of them. John said no1() the venue. A nice warm concert in Floridascemed a whole lot better to him.

Ken calledJim: 'John will play Florida if you('an raise the money"

"Hell, I dont tnve a pennlz""That never stopped you before."SoJim raised twenty thousand dollars, found

lhe_auditorium, bought rock radio advertising,rrnd had the tickets printed and distributed.

Ken sold the sprout business to an organic

146 Video Vigilantes VOTHSCAM

Jim explained vote fraud in Dade CountyThen Ken took the phone and got deeper intothe discussion. After a while Ken's voice raisedin tone as he got short of temper. It was thesound of two hardheads bashing. From the startMacKenzie made it clear that he wanted to takecontrol of any future negotiations between us.But Ken couldn't possibly let someone hethought was an amateuq who didnt have a clueas to what was really happening, start dictating.It degenerated into a screaming match and wehadn't even met the guy

Suddenly MacKenzie shifted gears. "Meet mein my office at the Hialeah Home News and we'lltalk about it," he said calmly

"'What do you do at t"he Home News?" Kenasked.

"I'm the managing editor:"That afternoon we met MacKenzie. He was a

Scotsman built like an Isuzu. He had abarrelchest on a frame that stood about five feet seveninches tall. His red hair was combed into a flat-top pompadore and it was never messed up inpublic. He habitually wore a black suit, blackvest, white shirt and dark necktie, even in thesummertime. On less formal occasions he worehis Marine Corps major's camouflage jacket.

MacKenzie was born in Detroit and he spokein the unaccented way that Detroiters (whomake good radio announcers) speak. He hadbeen a legislative aide to Michigan CongressmanGuy Vander-Jaght before abandoning politics to

i11

food dealer in Queens and came down in timefor the concert.

The new Mamas and papas did all thesentimental old hits, like Calfornia Dreamin,and Monday, Monday. They made the audienceglow with nostalgia. The press loved them. Butthat same night a rock group called The B-52sopened at Pirates World about 20 miles awav.and almost everybody who didnt remember theSixties, which was everybody under 25 yearsold, went to listen to The B-52s. \fe had anartistic success and a financial flop.TLn 1.982 we got back into the newspaperbusiness. We had seen posters all over townwith the banner, " Tbe Figbting MncKenzies.,,The pos_ter pictured a young, pretty blondewoman flanked by two men. It looked like anadvertisement foi a singing group out of theForties. The poster said that Christina MacKenziewas running for a seat on the Metro DadeCounty Commission, and that her father Donaldand his brother Douglas were running hercampaign.

{ft9r reading their literature, Jim figured herto be honest but naive. He saw ,,Tbi FtgbtingMacKenzies" as either a crock or as a posriUitityto-recruit professed fighters into the frey Hetelephoned Christina to warn her about votefraud in Dade County and to hear her reaction.

Don MacKenzie got on the line."\7ho are you?" he asked.

148 Video Vigilantes

bring his family to Florida in the early Seventies.There were hundreds of "war stories" aboutMacKenzie as an FBI and CIA operative, butmost of them shouldnt yet be told in print.

\(rithin a few weeks we were members of theHialeah Home News staff, along with Bill Tucke4a rewrite man who was so fast and stylish thathis talent was legendary in the Deep South. Helooked like a wrinkled Chinese fighting dogwith a fat black cigar sticking our of his grumpyjaws.,nI he Uiale ah Home News was a 4}-year-old

suburban newspaper that once served thecommunity news to the crackers and horsepeople near the Miami Airport and the HialeahRace Course. Now it was owned by an ex-FBIagent who had installed his buddy MacKenzie,as managing.editor

The paper had a tradition of looking intostories other county papers wouldnt investigate.It was the last bunker of independent journalismin Dade County

\7e now had a forum for the first time sincewe lost our Dell book contract and the planetfolded. And we had an editor who was on ourside.

'Are you one-story guys?" MacKenzie asked."No, we'll do other stuff," Jim assured him,

already feeling at home in the glass-walled cityroom. "'We had

^ paper called The Daily planet

in the Seventies. \What have you got in mind?"

VOTESCAM

"They got a moratorium on building down onSouth Beach. Nobody's allowed to improve theirproperty under penalty of arrest. You want tolook into it?"

rVe agreed as long as we could also crank upVotescam stories. The next day we foundourselves knee-deep in Miami Beach politics.

It was October.For the "South Beach" section of Miami Beach.

which is south of15th Street and all rhe waydown to Government Cut where the big boatsand cruise ships come into Biscayne Bay therewas a moratorium, declared by the Miami BeachCity Council, on any kind of home improvementor building. The property values of the old ArtDeco hotels and apaftment houses plunged. Ifyou couldnt fix them up, you had to rent themto the most indigent of the Cuban exiles (theones nobody else wanted). They trashed thebuildings and rents hit bottom. Property o\ /nerslost their nest eggs. Ve wrote that this localdepression was a vicious plot by the creators ofthe Dade County "master plan" to choke out theold owners and then buy up the land and thebuildings for a fraction of their real value.

It would take several years of crusadingagainst this injustice before Miami Beach Mayo4Norman Ciment, ended the moratorium. Thedamage had already been lethal.r\\-/ne day in late October the Home Newseditor-in-thie{ Elmer Rounds, a six foot plus,

r49

Video VigilantesVOTESCAM

their ass?""MacKenzie brought you guys in to deal u'ith

that story so look into it," Rounds said.

Tfe hadn't gotten a major break in theVotescam story for eight years, but a day beforethe 7982 primary we received a pamphlet in themail entitled Don't Get Puncbed Out, written byRobert Corcoran, a radio newsman from theVest Coast. The point of it was that the card-counting computer is a "black box" operationthat had been used to rig elections in Californiaand other states. He warned that a verydangerous situation was developing in America.The vote, he warned, was being stolen incounties from Maine to California.

He said that anyone using a punch card tovote with had no idea what was going tohappen to their card after they punched it.There were no safeguards. In the California racesCorcoran had studied, there was no way toverify a vote because fraud was so easy toperpetfate and so hard to detect.

In Dade County we had also heard from"concerned citizens" who came to us afterwitnessing the new-fangled computer votebeing counted. They told us that members ofThe League of \0Zomen Voters, a privatepolitical club, were sitting up there in the DataProcessing Center on Galloway Road,punching holes in the vote cards. It was exactlythat kind of fraud that Don't Get Puncbed Out

r51

250 pound Southerner with a droll sense ofhumor, handed us a press release from theRepublican National Committee. The firstword we saw was REWARD and the number$5,000.

".$7hat can you do with this?"'We read the release signed by RNC chairman,Richard Richards:

"It bcts saddened us to learn tbat uotefraudstill exists in certain areas of tbis country,,,Richards said in a letter to fifiy Secretaries ofState.

"Since tbe rigbt to uote is tbe keystone of allo.tler rigbts we cberish as AmeTironr, anydilutions of tbe uote byfraud or ercor must bestopped."

The RNC reward offer said that any citizenwho gave information leading to the arrest andconviction of any official who violates state orfederal laws against vote fraud would receive$5,000. It went on ro say:

"IVe baue establisbed telepbone numbers tbatwill be manned by attorneys wbo uill assist input.ting tbem in tiucb withibe proper state andfederal officials wbo utill pro""bd witb sucbcomplaint"

"I can't believe it," Ken said. ,,Do you thinksomeone in \fashington has finally gotten off

r52 Video Vigilantes VOTESCAM

"'Well, it seems to me that we need to getproof that they're punching holes in theballot cards and bring it to the RNC."

"Hour are we going to get in the building it's abunker And even if we got in, how do we proveit?"

"Videotape." Ken suggested."Great" idea. But first let's call the elections

supervisor and see what he has to say about theLeague punching holes."

The new supervisor was David Leahy, a manin his thirties, with dark blonde hair done in aclose bouffant.

"'Wed like to videotape the proceedings at theData Processing Cente4"Jim said.

"You haven't been issued credentials, Mr.Collie4" he replied patronizingly

"'S7hat kind of credentials?""Only candidates, and those with credentials,

are allowed to be up there. And no cameras orvideo equipment is allowed."

"That's patently unconstitutional, and illegalon top of it. People have a right to see their votecounted, David." Jim tried to level Leahy'sattitude by using his first name. "You can have asecret ballot but you can't have a secret count.'Were coming over to videotape."

"If you try to come into the building you willbe arrested by the guards at the gate." Leahyhung up.

Jim turned to Ken: "'We need a plan. 'W'e can't

get in that building past the guards, past the

153

warned about.It seems these "volunteers,".were actually

worth $15 an hour per head to the Leaguebtreasury Their salaries were paid by the Dadeelections division from taxpayer money directlyto the League.

\We knew that if such an activity were takingplace, it was expressly forbidden by state andfederal law, which prohibits any ,,bandling orp-iercing of tbe public's ballots by anyone excepttbe uoter"

One of our early informants was an olderwoman who entered the Data Center aftergetting her name pre-approved by the electionsupervisor. \Tithout a security check, she said,she couldnt have gotten in.

"You mean in order to see the vote countedthe board of elections has to pass on you first?',I(en asked. "That's unconstitutional."

"That's what they told me," she said.She reported seeing members of the League

using little black pencils issued by the electiondivision to punch out new holes in the votecards. She explained that new holes couldeither become a new or different vote, orinvalidate an existing vote by punching outboth sides.

'Are you sure?""I saw it with my own eyes," she said.

((T-lf ive thou.sand dollars per person arrested and

convicted,"Jim salivated. "How do we get it?"

r55r54 Video Vigilantes

video cameras, without getting busted."'We're going to need some kind of credentials.""'W'e could say that we're Heraldreporters.""But we need credentials.""No," Ken figured, "all we need is a Herald

reporter covering us...in other words, weVe gotto get the Herald to take Leahy's arrest threatseriously and assign a reporter to cover it."

"That's right. If we get in with a Heraldreporter they cant stop us."

\% *"rr, to seeJim Savage, the editor in chargeof investigative reporting for the Miami Herald.His office was a cubicle in the Herald city roomoverlooking Biscayne Bay Savage was a testyguy in his fifties and he listened as we laid outthe three different votescams we hadinvestigate d: Tbe Blank-B acked Canuass Sbeets;Tbe Forgeries and Tbe Printornatic. \il7e put it allup on a blackboard. A reporter named BobLowe, aHawaiian who had won two Pulitzersand wasnt yet thirty took notes. Savage assignedLowe to go up to the Center and wait until weshowed up with our video camera. Theassumption was that hed do the story about it ifwe got in, and maybe even if we got tumed away

MacKenzie rented a color. sound. hand-heldvideo camera.

r\\-/n election day November 2, at about 6 p.-.,we drove to a precinct in a schoolhouse onMiami Beach and walked in with the video

VOTESCAM

camera. MacKenzie, wearing his FBl-style darksuit, drove up behind us in his brown BuickRegal.'We didnt take any pictures inside becauseit was too early The polls didn't close until 7p.m. But we told the precinct captain that wewere going to videotape his precinct after 7p.m..

Jim said: "\fe'll follow your precinct's cardsfrom the time that they open the ballot boxshortly after the polls close, until the votes arefinally reported at the Data Processing Center.Ve just want to follow its route."

"You can't" stay in here after seven," thec ptatn said. .We lock the doors."

"You mean you lock the public out?" Kenasked.

"Yes, so that nobody interferes with thecounting process."

"That is illegal, my friend." It was MacKenzie'svoice and it was firm. "Go call Leahy and tellhim we're going to stay here because it's illegalto lock the doors against the public after seven."

The captain's face was serious and red. Hewent into his office, we hoped, to call Leahy,

As soon as he left, we disappeared down theroad. 'We drove to a different precinct a mileaw^y and at7 p.m. we entered with the videocamera and said that we were from the Herald.Nobody stopped us.

Ken taped the precinct captain opening thevoting box full of punchcard ballots that werestuffed inside their security envelopes. Several of

t.

l)o Video Vigilantes

these ballots fell to the floor and Ken shot theimage of ballots under precinct workers' feet.They were busily taking the rectangularcomputer ballots out of their security envelopes,then stacking them in piles of 100 with rhebeveled edge to the upper left.

"Madame, in the green pants," Ken said."There is a ballot under your foot."

She reached down and picked it up.MacKenzie noticed another ballot on the floor

a few women down. He whispered to Ken."Lady in the red pants, there's aballot under

your foot," Ken said.She apologized and picked it up."Zoom in on the pencil in that lady's hand,"

Jim told Ken.There were ten workers in the schoolroom

and each had been issued a black pencil by theprecinct captain.

Ken taped eight of the workers as they put thepencils in their pockets and two who held themlike a cigarette between their fingers.

MacKenzie whispered to Jim:"Those pencils...dont say anything, but if we

weren't here filming, theyd be having a hole-punching party right now Those instrumentsare not supposed to be in their hands."

The pencils were the first illegality caught ontape.The cameta had recorded some prettyrough handling of the cards, but not a singlepiece of "chad" - those little pieces of paper thatget punched out of the holes - was anywhere

on the table. Yet, according to our informant,members of the League were in the DataProcessing Center at that very moment for theexpressed purpose of cleaning ,,tons of chad,' offthe backs of vote cards.

The piles of cards were then placed in metal"secufity" boxes which were locked with anumbered plastic and wire seal, like the ones onan electric meter. At that point, the securityboxes were thrown in the back seat of theprecinct captain's cat and driven, withMacKenzie and ourselves following, to thecentral collection point at Miami Beach HighSchool.

\We all arrived at rhe high school at7:35 p.m.and MacKenzie asked for a time checli oncamera.

\7e followed the box and its attendants intothe gymnasium, as about twenty other precinctcaptains were coming in with their boxes.-ftI he camera recorded a heavyweight guy with

giant gold rings on his fingers put a white bagunder the table between his legs. It was a BurgerKing hamburger sack. After a few minutes hetook a handful of something our of the bag. Thecamera zoomed in as he placed it on the table.The something turned out to be about 20 red,plastic numbered seals like the ones on themetal security boxes.

A woman in her sixties examined a securitybox brought in by a precinct captain.

VOTESCAM 157


"Your seal is broken," she said."Yes, I knoul" the precinct captain replied.Ken focused on the male clerk who had

brought the seals in the paper sack."'What are the extra seals for?" Ken asked."These?""Yes. Those.""Oh, they're just in case any come in broken

or something." He shuffled them lightly aboutwith his fingers.

Ken panned to the woman."May I ask how that seal could possibly have

become broken on the short ride to the highschool?"

A long pause for thought."'Well, it's possible," she answered."Can you tell us what purpose that seal serves

if it can come in from the precinct broken?"She stopped, looked quizzically at the camera,

and said:"'Well, if it happens, we just put another one

on."'And then you record the new seal number as

if it never happened?""That's right."There was the second crime caught on tape.'$7ith the registration procedure completed,

two uniformed Metro cops put the boxes in theback seat of their squad car. They took off like abat out of hell, ran lights, and we couldnt follow((T

If we hadn't been there," MacKenzie said,

VOTESCAM

gunning the engine of his Buick, "she wouldhave put new.seals on those security boxes thatcame in broken, But she couldn't commit athird-degree felony in front of the camera, soshe let the box slide through with a broken seal."

\7e drove up to the front of the DataProcessing Center at about 8:45 p.m. The policecars were unloading the security boxes full ofballots onto four-wheeled dollies.

'We got out of the car and MacKenzie went topark. Ken turned the videocam on the police.

"\7ho you with?" one of the cops asked."The boss sent mg" Ken said casually'We followed one of the four-wheeled dollies

behind the workers who were pushing theminto the front door. There was a security deskand video c mera located in the lobbv betweenus and the elevators. A woman behinb the deskwas issuing I.D. badges, while a uniformedguard stood next to a sign that read: "you musthave I.D. to enter this building."

'A New England town meeting, it isn't," Jimremarked.

"\7here are you guys from?" the guard asked."The Herald," Ken deadpanned with his

finger still on the video button."Yeah, wete going up to see Bob Lowe," Jim

added, seeing Lowe's name on the securiry list.The woman asked our names and we told herThen the guard leaned over to a security

helper and said out of the side of his mourh:"CallLeahy"

r59

li

r60 Video Vigilantes

The helper started to dial.Jim turned around and saw a blue suit, vest

and dark sunglasses coming through the door.He turned to the woman with the badges andsaid, "He's from the FBI."

She immediately issued the three of usbuilding passes reserved for the Herald. Weattached ourselves to another dolly full of boxesand headed for the elevators.

The videocam caught the sound of atelephone ringing behind us, and a loudspeakerboomed:

"Security chief to the lobby! Security chief tothe lobbyl"

But the elevator doors closed and we were in.'We got off on the third floor and fbllowed the

dolly into a well lighted room about the size ofthree tennis courts. A lot of people wereworking at tables.

Young guys in T-shirts lifted the securitvboxes off the dollies and placed them on tablebin front of women who would break the sealsby twisting rhem or curting them with heavyshears. They would then open the boxes andtake out the stacks of ballots and place them incardbroard trays without tops.

Ken asked of one of the women:"\il7tlere is the League of Women Voters?,,"Through therg" she pointed.8:50 p.m..\tr7e entered a big, carpeted room. There were

reels of computer tape in racks on our left. On

voTEsc,AM 161

our right were about twenty men and womendressed for business. They were recognizable asthe county bigwigs: judges, members of theelection division, the Mayor of Miami and others.In front of us was a row of seven machinesabout three and one-half feet high.

These were called BMXs, or ballotmultiplexers.

The camera saw six empty machines. Theywere unlighted and appeared turned off. At theseventh machine was a heavyset young guy in awhite shirt. His machine made a clacking noise.

As we approached him, the camera recordedabout 500 punchcards stacked in a hopper onthe right top of the machine. A thick, blackMagic Marker line was drawn across the topedges of the white cards. \7e were later to learnthat only already counted punchcards weremarked with a black line.

\7e watched as the cards were sucked fromthat hopper past a photoelectric cell that shineda light through the punched-out holes andrecorded the position of the holes on a tape.

The camera rolled as the man took a cardfrom the already counted side on the left and, ina sweeping arc, transferred it back to theuncounted side on the right. The machine wasstill clacking away

Then he looked up and saw the c mera.Ken asked: "\Vhat are you doing?"He didnt answer. Instead he glanced over his

shoulder with a "Do I Tell Them Anything?" look

t63I{

;


on his face. Ken swung the camera around andfocused on a man with a goatee and eyeglasses.

"lilZho are you?" he askEd, like the Caterpillarasked Alice.

"It's not important who we are. \$7ho are you?"Jim looked at his badge. "He'sJoe Malone.""You're Joe Malone the computer chief who

prografilmed this election?" Ken asked."Nq I'm not.""You mean you're denyrng who you are?"Ve knewJoe Malone from our research.but

had never met him.The l:Ierald calledJoe Malone the " God of

Elections" because without him an electioncould not be prograrnmed for counting.

"You'll have to leave the room immediately;you're not allowed to be in here." Malone said.

Another voice piped up: "YouVe got to get outof here."

Ken turned the camera right into the face ofDavid Leahy

'$7'ith that, a burly blond Merro police officegrabbed Ken's arm. Ken whipped the cameraaround, got a picture of the policeman's head,badge and uniform, and asked:

'Are we under affest?""Not if you leave peaceably right now"The policeman escorted us into a large room

adjacent to the counting room. As we walkedthrough the door, the first person we saw wasBob Lowe, with pen and paper in hand,grinning.

VOTESCAM

"Oh, there's Bob Lowe." IGn tried to provoke areaction. "Bob, did you get into the secretbasement where they take the reel of tape tohave it counted?"

Lowe didnt bite but kept grinning.The policeman pointed to a glass window in

the wall."You can look in through this window here."The BMX room from which we had just been

evicted could be seen in total through thewindow; but everything going on was much toofar away and the view was blocked by people.That window was as close as the public waspermitted to the counting process.

Ken took a quick shot through the window"Nah," he said, "this is no good."And he walked back to the doorThree uniformed policeman were blocking

the doorwayAt this point Ken got even more provocative

as he kept shooting."\Vhat have we got? Malaria? If the police

apparatus can be in there, why cant we? Haveyou been ordered by your bosses to keep usout? Do you take orders from them?"

"Yeah, andl give orders, too," drawled one ofthe cops.

"'S7hat happens if I try to come back in?""You'll be arrested for trespass after warning.

Read the statute and the process."Ken turned and panned the room. There was

a purple velvet rope which kept the public from

l

164 Video Vigilantes VOTESCAM lo)

the rest of the room. And on the other side ofthe rope was a large atea we hadn,t evennoticed. In it were about 70 men and women,casually dressed, seated at long tables.

The camera focused on a woman with a boxof ballots in front of her

'Are you from the League of \Women Voters?',"Yes."\7e saw people riffling through stacks of beige

vote cards. These were not the same as thewbite cards we had just witnessed being runthroug;h the BMX machine.

Jim's attention was drawn to a woman sittingdirectly in front of him. She had a black pencilin her right hand and was busy poking a newhole in a card. Then she reached around theback side of the card and pulled away the pieceof "chad" that dangledby a thread.

Ken asked: "'Why are you poking a hole inthat card?"

"Because it didnt go all the way through."Jim, acting as Ken's peripheral vision, told him

to pan the room."Get the chad all over the tables and on

people's clothes."Ken began to videotape people holding the

punchcard ballots up to the light and, usingthose black pencils, punching holes in them."

" Get 'em outta bere!!' The security guard,who had been too late to catch us in thelobbvstuck his hand in front of the cameta.

Ken said: "Het1, pal, get your hand offmy lens.,'

\rith that, four cops grabbed us, two on each,and force-walked us out the door and back tothe elevator

"I'm not under arrest, amI?,, Ken still had thecamera rolling.

Instead of the elevato4 the police marched usdown three flights of sreps, aid all the way backto Galloway Road into the dark nighr.

"If you come back," one of them said. ,,vou,llbe arrested."

As the cops walked away, Bob Lowe stuck hishead into the frame. He had followed the actionout to the street.

"You've got to get into the basement to seewhat happens to the tape after it comes out ofthe BMX machines. \fe didn,t get that far. \Willyou do it?" Ken asked.

"Yes," Lowe promised.That night back at the Herald, Lowe wrore

that there was "a blizzard of chad on the floorbeneath the feet of the volunteers,', indicatingthe massive extent of hole punching after wEleft. Lowe claimed that he named theleague of\Women Voters as the volunteers and tfat hewrote about us being dragged out. But the citydesk, onJim Savage's orde4 stopped it.

MacKenzie's brown Buick loomed out of thedarkness. \We jumped in. \7e had gotten proof ofelection rigging on tape.'We crowed.

167166 Shots In The Dark

SHorsXnTHnDem

"Tltere's notbing hke a good' plan tbatcom.estogetbef

-The A-Team

\Tirfrtn two weeks we were back on the roadto'W'ashington.

.We had an appointment at theoffices of the Republican National Committeeand its legal counsel, Mark Braden.

The RNC offices were not far from TheLibrary of Congress on Capitol Hill. Bradenturned out to be a short man in a small office.\7e were seated on a low couch across from hisdesk that forced us to look up at him.

"'We shot a videotape of members of theLeague of 'Women Voters who were punchingholes in computer-counted ballots," Jim opened."\7e'd like to show it to you."

"The League is above reproach," Braden said,

VOTESCAM

sitting up straight. "They do a great iob forAmefica."

He told us he once worked as the chiefelections official for the State of Ohio, and hemaintained regular communications with theLeague through its national president, DorothyRidings. He had worked with her on severaloccasions, including the presidential debates.

Ken asked:'Are you aware that the League spent years of

time and effort and money to lobby thepunchcard system through the legislature ofnearly every state?"

"I don't see anything wrong with that.""Not even if the payoff and quicl pro quo for

their efforts was a nationwide sweetheartcontract in all the major election venues hiringthe League to pierce the public's ballots onelection night?"

He was silent. Then he mulled somethingcrver and said:

"You knov4 the RNC hasnt any particular cloutwith anybody in the government. \We have tokeep our nose out of governmental operations.If we even attempted to get involved in the jobthe Justice Department is doing wed be in hotwatef."

"\7ill you look at the tape?" Jim asked."No. It's not up to me.""But the reward offer says that you have

attorneys that you'll put us in touch with, .$7.ho

are they?" Jim asked.

Shos In The Dark

"That would be up to Frank Fahrenkopf, thePresident of the RNC':

"Hos/ do we get to see him?"Braden was looking at his watch. Finally,

"Look, why don't you contact the JusticeDepartment on your own initiative and ask forCraig Dansantis, or something like that. I believehe's the chief vote fraud prosecutor attached tothe Public Integrify Section."

He mispronounced Donsanto's name, as if hedidnt know the man.

.We had met and briefed Donsanto in March

1972. He refused to act then. Now Braden wassending us back to the man whose job, itappeared to us, was to keep the stopper in thebottle of vote fraud.

Braden clearly had no intention of helping.For us, it was ridiculous to see someone in hisposition, with the power to telephone the U. S.

Attorney General or the President, trying to sellus the idea that he couldnt spur any govemmentaction.

The first words of the reward offe4 written byformer RNC Chairman Richard Richards, ,tut d'" It bas saddened us to learn tbat uotefraud stillexists in manyparts of tbis country."

Well, Braden was the one the RNC directed usto, but he was not saddened by vote fraud. Hissympathies were clearly in league with theLeague.

'We sat in stunned silence, trying to figure outhow we could salvage anything from this trip.

VOTESCAM

Jim assessed Braden's obtuseness and realizedthat there would be no record of the meeting,except for the sign-in log in the lobby And ifthere was no proof, it would be easy for them tosay "Hey they never came to see us ."

SoJim said:"\fhy dont you call Donsantis and tell him to

see us?""IVe got no clout withJustice," Braden said in

a whiney voice. "\7hat do you want me to do,call the President, too?"

"Yes," Jim said, "or at least the AttornevGeneral."

"If I do that, the RNC will be in hot water',"That's a crock," I(en said.'We looked at each other in exasperation."IVe got nowhere to go," Jim leaned back on

the couch, stretching out his legs, "so I'll just sitright here to get this appointment on rherecord."

"I'll call the security guard."'Go ahead."Braden rang for security. The look on his

face was angry and hurt. Very few people whoare given the runaround in'Washington refuseto walk away meekly. Politicians andbureaucrats count on that "responsible',behaviour, and to encounter confrontation onthe part of the public makes them doubt theirown potency

Braden sat and fumed until the guard came.The guard took our names and we asked him

r69


to put our "sit-in" on the building's log book, thetime and whom we saqz

"It's already on the log book when you signin," he said.

"Remember that we were here in Braden'soffice," Jim said, getting up from the couch,"because you may be subpoenaed."

"I'll remember," he assured us. "Now pleaseleave or I'll have to call the police, and they'llremembe4, too."

'We laughed. Then Jim walked back to thecouch and sat down.

"Go ahead."Ken sat on the arm of the couch and watched

the expressions on everybody's face, then hesaid:

"If we turn this into a police matte! which Ithink is probably avery good idea, we could getit in the papers, maybe on television... "

"I don't think the Vashington Post goes in forSixties politics anymore," Braden said, feet ondesk, hands folded behind his head.

Jim turned to the guard."See, a police record will guarantee that we

attempted to get Braden to see us, because wesuspect that he's going to deny it."

Ken closed the debate: "\7hy don't you justwrite a report and give us a copy, so that wedon't have to say that you guys somehowcolluded to wipe out this meeting?"

Braden decided we weren't bluffing. He toldthe guard to write a report stating that we were

VOTESCAM t71

trespassing in his office, and that he had to callthe cops. That was Braden's pound of flesh, butwe left with a copy of the report.

LJn the way home in the Maverick, we talkedabout what a sorry fucking state the countrywas in when a citiznn has evidence of vote fraudand nobody will do anything abour it.

\7e knew that Donsanto wouldn't do a damnthing. And we didnt tell Braden that we knewDonsanto. Ve figured: why give him moreammunition to use against us in any futureclaims? You can bet that if we went to theJustice Department on our own, the RNCwould later claim that we weren,t entitled totheir reward offer because we didn't use theirattorneys...the ones they promised would putus in touch with the proper authoritie s wbowill proceed.

In the Fifties there was a movie titledBrotberbood of Tbe Bell that starred GlennFord. It was about members of a fuaternity inCalifornia who belonged to The Bell, whichwas an evil good old boys' network. Onlymembers of that fraternity could becomepowerful judges or politiciins in California.Glenn Ford discovers its existence, but it's hisword against theirs, and the most po\ rerful andprominent people in the state are all incahoots.

"It's the fucking Brotherbood. of Tbe Bell,"Jimsaid. "Everybody's in it and nobody cantalk1,


"Yeah," Ken agreed, "but Glenn Ford finallygets somebody to break."

"But only after his family leaves him and he'sa broken man."

\7e weren't happy, and in away we also feltdirty, like we had uncovered terrible shit andhad gotten it on us.

Ettis Rubin and JanetReno were unfinishedbusiness. Reno, in the intervening years, hadbeen elevated to Dade's State Attorney. \7ewanted to find out what had driven Rubin out ofReno's office eight years before.

A newspaper crusade has a way of quickeningthe blood in veteran newspapermen, and bigElmer Rounds turned out to be spoilingfor afight.

Vlhen we told him what happened in Braden'soffice, Rounds wasted no time in dedicating theresources of the Home Neus to combat.

For nine straight weeks we hammeredJanetReno with an onslaught of articles.

.We charged

her with cover-up. Every story challenged her toanswer questions about her conduct with Rubinin 1974, when she told him " tbe statute oflimitations bas run out on tbe uote riggingcrirnes."

Research proved that Rubin had presented herwith the evidence of vote rigging 48 hours shortof two years. So the statute of limitations bad.not run out.

Finally after nine weeks, Reno was forced to

VOTESCAM 173

i.ssue a statement. She called upon Governor[]ob Graham (Katharine Graham's brother-in-law) to appoint a special prosecutor to ,,lookinto the charges" that she was consistently1>rotecting vote-rigging friends. She said her ownlandslide victories in two consecutive electionsheld four years apart, "disqualifies me as anr>bjective person to judge the merits of theCollier,/Rubin charges. And since I am beingaccused each week in a community newspaperof being engaged in obstruction of justiie fornot choosing to prosecute, I am requesting thisspecial prosecutor to investigate my role in this,since I cannot be expected to investigate myown activities."

'We saw this as a smart ploy by Reno to washher hands of the entire matter. If she should everbe asked to discuss the issue, she could squelchthe subject by claiming: 'A special prosecutor islooking into it."

And that was that.

\7e called Don MacKenzie "the Leprachaun,,because if you took your eyes off him for a.second he was gone.

Macldenzie loved ro play politics, but he didntfit in wirh any political crowd. The downtownMetro cronies bored him, and they couldnt besure what his agenda was. He could be a friendand confidant to the most saintly and the mostcurrupt, without necessarily tipprng off one sideto what the other was up to. His unique ability


to pal around with all castes in rhe Miamiheirarchy - from the high rollers he took our onhis yacht, to low lifers hustling for dollars -made him a friend to all. Indeed, friendship wasMacKenzie's stock in trade.

Elmer Rounds often found MacKenzie sittingoutside his office plotting how to get rid of him.

It started when Rounds printed one of thoseCIA war stories about MacKenzie, essentiallyblowing Don's cover. Then, when Rounds wrotean editorial favoring a politician that MacKenziedidn't like, MacKenzie snuck in at night andpulled the offending paragraphs from the sroryand replaced them with an ad.

The Leprachaun had struck.'$7hen Rounds saw the paper the next day he

was livid. MacKenzie, who came up to Rounds'chest, was equally pissed. He looked up at the6'3u,200-plus pounds of Rounds and said:

"I'll kick your ass down those stairs if youever get in my way again."

\Tithin days MacKenzie announced that hehad bought the paper and that Elmer had goneupstate to run a printing plant.

MacKenzie moved into Rounds' office.

T\I-,luring the nine-week Reno attack, we alsorenewed our relationship with Ellis Rubin. Henever did tell us what happened in Reno's officethat day in'74. He simply said: "I asked her todo her duty and I left." He wouldnt go beyondthat statement.

VOTESCAM

He once told us a story about being a youngnaval officer who wanted to join the CIA. Hewent through all the formalities, but because helrad stuttered as a kid, the CIA was worried thatunder some incredible pressure, he might revertto form and find himself stammering at thewrong time. According to Rubin, he wastherefore rejected by the CIA.

But MacKenzie told us stories about Rubin'sposition as CIA bureau chief in the Caribbeanbasin. He also told us about his own exploits aspilot and expedition leader to several Caribbeancountries. Flaving iust met Macldenzie, we werentsure if he was bullshitting, but one day, Jim gotahold of MacKenzie's "little black book" andfound the home phone numbers of top agents.

If MacKenziewas right, and Rubin's stutteringstory was simply created to deflect seriousinquiry into his background - then Ellis Rubinis, by now a Thirty-Year Man in the Companlz

\Vhat Rubin never told us was that his call toRobert Rust in 7)72 got us the appointmenr withDonsanto. He also never mentioned that he wasa personal advisor to Richard Nixon, and that hecould easily put through a phone call to eitherthe'$7hite House or Key Biscayne. Vb found outthese facts years later in conversations with him.

\7hen you consider thar Rubin filed a federallawsuit on behalf of Cuban prisoners held forransom in Cuba after the JFK/CIA Bay of Pigsinvasion failed - and that he was the lawver forthe'Watergate burglars, except Gordon tiddy -

t75

1771/O Shots In The Dark

it makes a good case that both MacKenzie andRubin were well connected. to sav the least.

T.|ftubin viewed the Votescamtape and withindays issued the following itemized report:

OMBUDSMAN'S REPORTBy: Ellis S. Rubin, Esq.

1. CONCLUSION: Computerlzed votingby punchcard thwarts the will oftho nannl a A cancer rs growr_nq onorrr mrlst nrpCiOuS f ranchise. f tmust be eradicated.2. FACT: fn L972, Circuit CourtJudge Henry Balaban appointed me tofhe nosf of lladc Cnrrnfrr OmfgflSmanf n 'i n.'act- -i a=t-o anrl ra6nrfLO _Lnvestfgal- --- on anyalleged irregularities in the DadeCorrnj_ rr rzn|_ "i nrr sysrem.3 . HISTORY: In I9l4 I submit.tedphysical evidence and a report tothe Dade County State Attorney'soffice. f recommended prosecutionof those public officials connectedrri f h f hree s,necif ic methods of votefraud which I demonstrated both tothe press and to Assistant StateAttorney Janet Reno. No offlcialaction resulted.4. CURRENT: On this past electionrl arz \Tnrramlrgl' 2 , L9 82, SOme.4,Jf ,

VOTESCAM

disturbing events surrounding theqeneral election were videotaped.You will be shocked and sickenedIo see seventy workers from theLeaque of Women Voters sitting atlong tables at the Dade Countytabulation center using pencilsto punch holes in thousands ofpaper punchcard compuLer bal1ot.sprior to their being counted.These women do not take oaths toperform thi s task, are notelected, and in fact, are notauthorized by state 1aw to bethere at all.

The report went on to itemize the severalState and Federal laws that Rubin found to beviolated on the tape, including the contraband-.seal incident; the BMX card-reader operatorcovertly rerunning a blank deck through thecounting mechanism; the League poking andscraping at the ballots, and the forced removal oftwo repofters from the premises.

Taken all together, Rubin's findings mightnormally have been expected to tickle theantennae of prosecutors at the State Attorney'soffice. Or at the very least they would have beenthe catalyst for a GrandJury investigation. But, asthe Seminoles we went to elementary schoolwith used to say: Dade County politics is "tough


as a snapping turtle and lower than turtle shit."T)I)y January of 7983, the Home Neuts had lostmost of its advertisers. The all out attack onReno and the Dade County electionsdepartment had caused overt pressure to be puton local merchants, and they didnt want to fightCify Hall.

At that point the paper was raken back by itsformer ou/ner. In less than three months his wifeturned it into a pious religious publication.T1Lurly one morning, Jim and MacKenzie cruisedout to the Gulfstream in MacKenzie's fifty-footyacht. They trolled for shark. They talked aboutwhat it would take to introduce a new paper toDade County

They decided to start the Miami Herald-Tribune out of MacKenzie's pocket. He foundpartners who owned all the paraphanalianeeded to start a small tabloid.

"If the FBI would be interested in a story that'sthe story I want to pursue," MacKenzie ordbred.

But it was iust four issues later that ourthinking clashed with the partners. So we wentto Miami Beach and left the mainland toMacKenzie.

'We started our own newspaper called theMiami Beach Herald Examinerwith offices inthe karate school. MacKenzie subsidized our firstissue and we sold ads after that to keep it going.T}re Examinerwas fearless in naming names

VOTESCAM

and exposing crooked politicians, developers,the power structure, the news media. It onlyattacked people big enough to attack back.

The Votesca.ftT story was always on the frontpage.

Shakti, who we now called Liz, drew ads forlocal merchants. They were so good that we.sold every one of them. \N/ithin one week thepaper was in the black. Wb gave MacKenzie theVotescam stories to use in the Herald.-Tribune.Between us we covered Dade County

The paper was given away free, and thepolitical awareness was feverish. The elderlytransplanted easterners on Miami Beachfollowed gossip among the local players likesoap opera addicts. The paper grew from eightpages at the outset to a steady 16 pages, paid forcompletely by advertisers.

I.r)oon the pressure against our crusading startedto hurt. At first it was subtle, such as the loss oftire pressure in our vans on delivery day.Sometimes it was overt, such as having ournewspapers stolen from drop points andtrashed. Or having our advertisers telephonedby someone claiming to represent the StateAttorney's office and suggesting that if theycontinued placing their ads they were in dangerof being indicted. The word indicted scaredaway some of our customers, but many weresurvivors of Nazi intimidation and they didn'tthreaten easilv

17g

180 ShotslnTheDark

rrrIhen one day we got atip: the politicians on

the Miami Beach City Council were meeting insecret with the City's power brokers two daysbefore their actual city council meeting.

Our informant attended these secretmeetings, he said, but he didnt approve of whatwas going on.

He told us the meetings were held in theplush board room of the Senior Corporation. aland development firm with offiies in rheFlagship Bank Building on rhe Lincoln Roadmall.

"The council members," he said, "are violatingthe Florida Sunshine Law" The law states ttat noelected official may meetpriuately witb anyotber elected official on tbe sAnte council todiscuss bow they utould uote at tbe next meeting.

"They're getting together in private onMonday night before the'Wednesday publicmeeting. So'Wednesday's meeting is fixed inadvance. And that pisses me off real good," ourinformant told us.

\Jn the following Monday night we were inKen's van in the parking lot of the bank. 'We

waited for the Miami Beach Citv Councilmembers to appear

\fithin the 30 minutes fromT to7:30 p.m. wephotographed five of the seven councilmembers entering the building. The mayordidnt show up. The Herald Examiner in its next

VOTESCAM

cdition tan a story about the secret confab inclirect violation of the Sunshine Laur andlrromised

-the photographs would appe r in the

next issue.The story described how members of the

Miami Beach Council met with powerbrokerslike Dan Paul, the lawyer for the Herald., the ex-police chief of Miami Beach who was now aprivate lobbyist, the heads of both the Miamiand Miami Beach Chambers of Commerce, and.several lawyers and speculators with propertyinterests on the Beach. Also in attendence werethe owners of the local television stations. Thepublic was not invited and the press bigwigswho were in the sub rosa session did not reportit in their media. This entirely private affair wasillegal, and if prosecuted could pose the threatof a jaal term for everybody involved.

Photos of those attending a secret meeting -even though published in a 5,000 circulationweekly - seriously troubled almost everybody inthat room.

TIn our off-hours from writing and delivering thepapet we unwound by shooting pool in theBingo Bar on Miami Beach. \7hole nights couldpass trying to hold the table against Big Red, orsome lucky tourist with a hot eightball instinct.

One night a guy we knew walked into theBingo. He put his quarters on the pool table, satdown on a stool at the back of the room. andquietly waited his turn to play

Shots In The Dark

The green-shaded light over the pool tableleft the edges of the room in darkness. 'We

were standing in those shadows when he gotup and ambled over. He pleasantly informedus not to run the pictures taken outside thebank building. If we did, he promised anabrupt and permanent ending to our careers.\7e had no trouble believing him.

(Back in the Sixties Art Kunkin, publisher ofthe L.A. Free Press, printed the names of all thenarcs in Los Angeles. So Jerry Powers got thenames of all the Miami narcs from an insider inthe State Attorney's office and threatened toprint them in our next issue of The Planet. Hewas told that if he did, he would end up floatingin Biscayne Bay He chose the side of discretion,not valor)

\7e left for'\trTashington the next da).

On" week later MacKenzig who had printed allour Votescamstories in the HeraldTy'ibune,wasdriving home after dark. He pulled into hisdrivewayJust as he opened the door and steppedout, he heard a bullet punch the old Buick.

He dropped to the ground to use the door asa shield.

Three more bullets tore into the car. Thelast bullet cut through the metal of thedoor and, crumpled and spinning, hitMacKenzie in the kidney area. He was badlybruised inside and out, but miraculously,the bullet only penetrated an inch.

VOTESCAM

The Leprachaun had escaped again.The next day the Miami Herald refused to

report on it. The Herald Tribune and theHerald Examiner never published again.

$

t/

IU Watergatetown

10

WernncerErowN1984 -1988

Anybo dy ullt o isnT para.nold. inWasbington rnust be crazy.o

-Henry Kissinger

TIt was a May afternoon in 'Washington. 'We

parked our disreputable pair of 1968 V!f'vans atthe corner of Constitution Avenue and l4thSffeet, N.\C, near the Vashington Monument.

The thermometer read 95 degrees in theshade and it was humid. You could smell thesweet decadent perfume of the magnolia treeswith their huge white flowers. Ronald Reaganwas President and the booty-shakers were incharge of the nation. It was a city where yourpower status was measured by the car youdrove, and we drove vans that hadn't beenwashed or painted since'Woodstock.

'When our vans were parked together in the

VOTESCAM

.shadow of the Monument, they looked like acommercial for a beer company that says, "ITNEVER GOT BETTER THAN THIS."

Jim said: "It's going to be a long winter if wedont have a plan and if we dorit get any breaks."

Ken missedLiz and Unity. After hearingabout the guy in the Bingo Bar, Liz decided itwas time to take Unity away from the madness.Ken was in a constant black mood, and it wasJim's lot to keep him focused on both Votescamand personal survival.

.We had "exhausted all local remedies" when

our newspapers were put out of business inMiami, so the only move left was finally to callthe Justice Department's Public Integrity Sectionand ask for Craig Donsanto. If he actually got onthe line, there was an outside chance that wecould get an appointment with him. And if wefound ourselves in his office, there was a chancewe could pull the thread on the reward offer

The Votescamvideo now seemed crucial toour future. Dispossessed from our former liveson such short notice, we swore that we wouldsurvive in the Capitol by grit and wits. \7ecould normally have counted on MacKenzie tohelp keep us afloat, but his bruised kidneysput our friend in the hospital "incognito" forseveral weeks.

Ken called theJustice Department."Craig Donsantq please. Mr. Collier calling at

the instruction of Mark Braden, chief counsel ofthe Republican National Committee."

r85

186 Watergatetown

"Donsantq here.""Is this the Craig Donsanto we know and love?""I presume this is one of the Collier brothers

from Miami. How are you?'$Vhat brings you to\Tashington this time?"

"Of all things, a reward offer put out by theRepublicans for admissible evidence of votefraud. 'We've got the evidence. 'We need you toconfirm that it's admissible."

"'What kind of evidence is it?""Videotape. It's really some fascinating stuff""Do you want to drop it offi""No, we want to be there when vou view it.'W'e've missed you all these years. 'We can talk

about old times. \Wed like to get your commenton a couple of memos Henry Petersen wrote,using your name, just before'Watergate. Youremember Watergate?"

"N-o-o-o-o comment," he said coylyThe mention of Henry Petersen and curiosity

to find out what the prosecutor of the \Tatergateburglars had to say about him, lured Donsantoto invite us over

'All right, why dont you bring it by tomorrowafternoon and I'll take a look."

As we drove around Capitol Hill looking for aplace to park the vans for the night, wewondered about Donsanto's "no comment" inreference to'Watergate.'We knew the connectionPetersen had with both Votescam and \fatergate,as the FOIA file showed he was rhe chiefinvestigator in both cases.

\fle had only a day toplan. \7e wenr over rothe'Washington Times, the town's only rival tothe'Washington Post, and met with managingeditor tVoody \fest, who had invited us to.show Votescam material if we ever came totov/n. 'West assigned a reporter to our story

An hour later we were scoffing clubsandwiches and iced tea in the dining roomwith reporter Gene Goltz, a two-time pulitzerPrize winner who told us he was amazed thatwe could obtain instant access to a JusticeDepartment official.

"'What have you got on Donsanto, or whatdoes he tbink you've got on him?" Goltzasked.

"Something about \Tatergate, Gene, but it's along story"

\7e asked Goltz to go with us to seeDonsanto as a professional witness. Goltz wasgame.

,T1Ihe building guard alerted Donsanto to ourarrival, and as the elevator doors opened hewas there to greet the three of us. He was stillmelon-headed. He ushered us into a nearbyllbtary conference room where there weremore introductions. Donsanto had invited twowitnesses of his own - Pafficia Prilliman, anFBI agent from the local office, and NancyStewart, an assistant prosecutor in the JusticeDepartment. The six of us took seats at the

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conference table. Prilliman, Stewart and Goltzwere poised to take notes.

Donsanto had spent the previous twelve yearsconsistently declining to prosecute any but themost amateur vote fraud. The only exception tothis was convictions in Cook County, Illinois,against some officials who knowingly voted"dead people."

"Hoq/ long is your tape?" Donsanto asked."It's about 45 minutes. It's totally convincing,"

Jim said."If it's so convincing, why havent you taken it

to '60 Minutes'?" That wooden grin.again."Seriously, you know that my door has alwaysbeen open to you."

Coming from Donsanto, that comment was assincere as a Mafia kiss. Ken, who was nursingbroken dreams and a bad temper, decided totake the offensive.

"Your door may have been open," he said,"but according to FBI files, you've made ityour business to close all cases. The tape isanother one of our efforts to find out whv.\fe've come to the conclusion that whereverthe computer is, the American voting systemis shot through with corruption."Donsanto'scheery face flickered darkly Had he allowedhimself to be set up in front of witnesses?'Worse yet, were the Colliers acting in behalfof some government investigative arm,trying to pin a case of obstruction of justiceon him?

VOTESCAM 189

tVe handed him a sampler of the vote fraudcvidence gathered over the past deca de: alllank-Backed Canvass Sheet, a forged CanvassSheet, a Printomatic Return Sheet and a Ty(:omputer read-out used by ChanneL T in the<rriginal Votescamof September 8, 1970.

- "W'e're asking you," Jim said, ,,why you haventdone anything about all this?.,'

Donsanto felt the heat.

- ,"wby are 3TPages of tbelustice Departrnent.file on tbe Miami uotefrauds deleteclfrom tbeFBlfiles we gotfrom Freedom of Information?,,Ken asked. 'And why are they censored by'anotber gouernrnent agency,? Are we talkingabout an agency that cadt be named because it'sthe CIA?"

Donsanto checked notations from his file."Yes," he said. "The coding here indicates that

the material is under national securitv"It was the first time a Justice Department

official admitted that vote fraud inveitigationshad a national securify lid. \fhy?

Ken pressed harder'Are we talking about a domestic vote fraud

probe ordered by Henry E. petersen into theculpability of three Miami TV srarions-one oftheg owned by Katharine Graham-being ofvital interest to the CIA? Ve think so, beca-useonly the CIA would hide its involvemenr indomestic affairs."

Donsanto stammered. ,,It,s a matter ofnational security a calll never made.',

190 Watergatetown

His eyes narrowed. He peered ovet atGoltz."\7ho did you say you represented?""The tVashington Times," Goltz said. "I

showed you my press card when we got off theelevator. If you don't want me here for somereason, I'm willing to leave."

Donsanto slammed his notebook and rose tohis feet.

"That's it! I didnt realize you were a reporter,This meeting is over. And don't bother callingme for any further meetings, you won't be putthrough."

"But what about rhe Ga-a-a-a-pe...?"Before the question was completed, Donsanto

was out the doorPrilliman and Stewart just stared at each otherJust then Donsanto popped his head inside

the doorway"If you have any further questions direct them

to Mark Shaheen in the Public Relations officeon thel0th floof,," he said.

V. drove back to ttre Timesin Goltz's batteredold Chevy

"Is this a stor)i Gene?" Jim asked."I think it is. But it's going to be up to Arnaud

de Borchgrave." He was referring to the spy-editor of the'Washington Times. "It's his agendaand he's CIA. Chances are good they'll neverprint it."

'We stopped at a Holiday Inn on New YorkAvenue where Times reporters liked to drink

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:rnd play liar's poken"You guys should get your video on television.

Clo to the networks."Goltz promised to write a story on the

rneeting with Donsanto. If he ever did, it neverIAn.

1-rIhat night we found anacceptablg unobtrusiveplace to park our vans. The Union Station wasundergoing renovation and the ellipse out frontwas available. Like small elephants in tandem wepulled the bulbous V\f's into two adjacentspaces and settled in after a lengthy rehash.

At 10 a.m. the nexr day we put a call throughto the news desk at ABC Television. It turnedout better than we could have hoped. ABC'ssupreme court correspondent Tim O'Brien tookthe call. \7e explained the reward offer, and therunaround we had gotten from both the RNClawyer and theJustice Department.

"You've got my curiosity piqued," O'Briensaid. "Wtry dont you bring the tape over?"

"We understand you're an attorne)t Tim?""That's coffect.""\Tonderful. We'll be right over"

(J'Brien let us know up front that he couldntguarantee ABC would do the story He explainedthat would be a decision made by others.

However, if we had what we claimed, hethought it would be a story of explosive nationalsignificance.

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"I put in a request for a screening room andenginee4" O'Brien said. "'\il7hile we're waiting, Irdlike to take a look at exactly how they wordedthe Reward Offer"

'\tr7e gave him a copy, plus other materialsincluding the final issue of the Home Newsfeaturing more than a hundred still photos ofthe Votescamvideo. He read them with intenseconcentration.

Abuzzrer sounded.'W'e trailed O'Brien through several corridors.

As we entered the screening room, he wasreading a copy of Rubin's report.

"\(/e've got slow motion, stop motion andpicture enhancement here," the engineer said.

As we got to the part where the stocky guy atthe BMX machine lifted the white card from thealready counted side and stuck it back to becounted a second time, we asked the engineerto stop the action.

'An FBI agent in Miami showed us this," Jimsaid, "look at this. . . " he pointed to the screen,"the hole in that phoney white card is runningvertical. Later, when we get to the Leaguepunching out holes in real cards, you'll see theballots are beige, not white, and tbose holes arerunning borizontal."

O'Brien was impressed. As we left thescreening room, he said; "I can't deny that youdelivered on that tape. The only question is whatdo we do next, and that's a decision I'm in noposition to make."

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"That's what bothers us," Jim said. "You're anlrttorney with the legal expertise to knowl'elonies when you see them - backed up byItubin's Ombudsman's Report - still theclecision to go with the story isn't yours tomake?"

"\Telcome to network news, gentlemen,"O'Brien said.

He asked us to stay for lunch on the companycredit card after he made a few calls. It wasn'tlong before he came back with word on the fatet>f our story He had phoned Braden and assuredhim that in his opinion as newsman and lawyeqour videotape had everything the RNC waslooking for in the Reward Offer.

Braden gave him the "Catch-22" excuse. Therewould be no way the RNC would ever considerpaying out reward money unless there wasprosecution and conviction. And as far as heknew, there were no pfosecutions plannedeither by the Justice Department or localauthorities. His main concern, according toO'Brien, was whether or not ABC was going tobroadcast the story

O'Briens call to Donsanto perplexed him."IVe known Donsanto for years, and this was

the first time I've heard him resort to 'nocomment.' Usually he's quite gregarious."

"Do you think ABC would ever n-m the story?"Ken asked.

"Frankly I have serious doubts," he answered."The reason for their reluctance has more to do

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with loyalty to the League than the news valucof your story Understand that ABC subsidizesthe League and hires their membership enmAsse on election night. It's not surprising theyclwant to protect its reputation."

After lunch we said wed call for the results ofhis efforts with the top ABC brass.

"This stuff is really great," O'Brien said, "and Iadmire you guys for getting it. But you've got toremember something."

"\Vhat?""\fhen you're dealing with the networks,

you're dealing with a shadow government.".W'e

crossed the gilded expanse of carpet inthe Mayflower lobby heading from the world ofexpense accounts into the uncertainty of theafternoon. What next? The power lunch wasover. It was drizzling. Miami was a painfulmemory. The battery in Jim's van was dead.Time was leaden, unforgiving.

It was obvious what had to be done. tVe hadto obtain a base of operation, housing, a phone,respectability credibil ity, and income.,71I he first thing we needed was a shower. One

place we figured might have "complimentaryshowers" was the Shakespeare Theater onCapitol Hill. Ken, who was born onShakespeare's birthday and could quote vastpassages of The Bard, pretended to be aShakespearean actor. He eloquently talked hisway backstage where he found what he was

VOTESCAM

looking fo4 fully equipped dressing rooms" Afterll)at, we would take turns keeping guardsoccupied while one of us would sneaklrackstage for a shower

The fifth floor reading room of the Library of(.ongress annex on Third Street was an air-t onditioned oasis, filled with the entire collectedrvisdom of the ages until 5 p.*. \fe were able to.rccomplish invaluable research, between naps,>f the head-on-arms variety, generously( )verlooked by the library staff. It was a placesuspended in time.

Each small increment of routine wet'^stablished boosted our morale. Driving us wasthe conviction that the evidence we had sopainstakingly gathered on election fraud since1970 must not be allowed to dissipate and bekrrgotten.

The answer to our financial dilemmarrppeared in the Library of Congress readingroom for current periodicals. \/e came upon ar'opy of the Spotligbt , a weekly political tabloidtlistributed nationwide. Although our researchshowed its editorial policy was strictly rightwing, it had a million readers weekly, and,surprisingly on staff were such liberals as lawyerMark Lane, writer Andrew St. George and ex-CIA spook Victor Marchetti (who was exposingCIA abuses). Best of all, its office was locatedclirectly across the street from our temporaryIreadquarters in the Library.

There were certain phone booths in the

196 Wa$rgatetown

Llbrary building which were lucky and othersdefinitely to be avoided. Ken telephoned theSpotligbt's senior editor, taking care to use thelucky booth. Editor Vincent Ryan immediatelyinvited us over.

\7'e proposed a year's worth of Votescarnstories, one each week.

Ryan's enthusiasm was tempered by spaceconsiderations, and the requirement thatSpotli.ght lawyers (including Mark Lane), go overevery inch of our material. Once we jumpedthose hurdles, the articles could start running,and only then would we be paid.

"Hoq/ long?""Malrbe six weeks."Now we had articles to write and the

possibility of money coming in before winter.Howeve4 just as quickly as the cool atmosphereof Ryan's office faded from our skin, replaced byW'ashington's sticky humidity we realized thatthe most lofty enterprise depends, in the lastanalysis, on the bottom line.Fr{Ihe street people we met during the next six

weeks inLafayette Park, across from the \7hiteHouse, inspired us to hold out against gainful,steady employment until The Spotligbtgaveus aroom and typewriter. Lafayette Park used to bethe front lawn of the tVhite House untilPennsylvania Avenue cut through it from east towest. The park runs two blocks alongPennsylvania Avenue and is one block wide

VOTESCAM

lrom north to south. It's surrounded by the Court<rf Appeals, a yellow stucco church, and a row ofold townhouses. There are several fountains,t'hess tables, curving walkways, benches, oldtrees, and a big statue of GeneralLafayette wholrelped America win the RevolutionaryVar.

From all over the countrv. for evervimaginable reason, rooted in idealis* otliustration, protestors appeared with their signs;rnd banners in the park. They felt they hadgrievances that only the President could redress

- if only he would gaze out his front windowand give a shit. There were giant plywood signson which were written the words that definedsomebody's cause. \7hen some really seriousissues of life and death, war and peace, arose inthe news, the Buddhists in saffron robes wouldcome to the park with their skin drums andlrroduce a steady, relentless, incessent"Boooooom, booooom, booooom, booooom,booooom, booooorn." It drove the President nuts.

"Can't you stop those drums?" Reagan wasquoted asking.

"Nq" the Interior Department police replied,"not constifutionally"

In the evening, the MacKenna's \fagonclispensed free sandwiches and Kool-Aid tothese individualists, anarchists and assorted truebelievers of every stripe. At night, after wedeparted in our vans to Capitol Hill, thedenizens of Lafayette Park faced arrest andimprisonment if a park ranger caught them so

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198 Vatergatetown

much as napping. No camping or sleeping wasallowed. The authorities acted under orders fromthe \White House to keep the riff-raff moving.

Tfr" unofficial Mayor of Lafayette Park was'William Thomas, a stone sculptor and jewelerfrom Albuquerque, New Mexico, who wore longdark hair and a beard. Thomas could peddle abicycle around a comer no-handed, while eatingsoup with a spoon from a cup. He was a man ofinfinite balance. His wife, Ellen Thomas, hadonce worked for the National \Wildlife Federationas an executive secfetary who could type125words per minute. She was intelligent and gutsy

Thomas took great pride in the ethic offighting back, no matter the odds, no matter theresources of his adversary His own personalcause was against nuclear weapons, but hechampioned anyone who wanted to use thepark to stage

^ protest, Z4hours a day.

Reagans Secretary of the Interio4 James rU7att,

issued a regulation removing the overt act ofsleeping from protection of the FirstAmendment. Thomas doggedly pursued legalactions against officials responsible for arrests -from suing'Watt himself down to the arrestingofficers.

Thomas, whose real name was \TilliamThomas Hellanback, learned his legal basics in\Tashington's best public law libraries. He wouldpore over books to develop a defense againstbeing thrown out of the park. They had already

VOTESCAM

uprooted him from his niche in front of theWhite House gates on the other side of theavenue. One day while he was still on the \il0fhite

House side, his ten-foot tall wooden sign caughtfire. Perhaps it was arson. The conflagration soriled up the Secret Service and the Park Policer.hat a regulation was promulgated to keep allprotesters on the other side of the street. Andthus a place where people had been campingwith protest signs since the'War of 1812 wasruled off limits.

That eviction, howeve4 launched Thomas intohis role as street lawyer He began to explore thenecessities of pro se law That's when no lawyerwill take your case and you can't afford oneanyway so you do it yourself

Thomas claimed he was sitting "vigil" in thepark, and would stay there until there were nomore nuclear weapons - years, decades, ifnecessary The Park Service said: "Nq you can't."Protest people like Thomas were an eyesore.Yuppies who came to the park to eat lunchwere offended visually The bureaucracy wasoffended because liie wasn't orderlv. ThePresident and his wife across the streei *.r"offended by it all.

Thomas is one of the most famous and mostphotographed Americans. People from everystate and around the world, including foreignpress, constantly check to see if our country'sonly continuous anti nuclear protesters are stillat their post. Tour buses schedule stops so that

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200 Watergatetown

visitors cantalk to Thomas and ask questions."'When th"y gq" seuLda Norwegian newspape4

"so will democracy"The Park Police arrested Thomas and Ellen

about every four months for falling asleep onvigil. Most of the time Thomas got out of jailimmediately and then he would go right backon the sidewalk. Eventually, he detected thetelltale pattern of a conspiracy to take away hisFirst Amendment rights of free speech andassembly so he flled a federal conspiracy case.Ellen corrected and typed his legal briefs.

Ellen met Thomas in1984 while on her way tococktails at the'Washington Hotel. A protest signin the park caught her eye and she stopped.One of the street people told her about aphilosopher who lived in the park, and sinceshe was researching a play about a streetphilosophe4 she was immediately intrigued.

\Tithin three weeks, Ellen had left her iob, herbuttoned-down life, and was lMng with Thomasin Lafayette Park. They were married in a

Quaker ceremonyEllen had a wild, angry streak, but she also

had a whimsical side, which she let loose onmemorable occasions. The storv of CasimerUrban, Jr. is a case in point.

In the summer of 1984, Casimer Urban, Jr.,was arrested for protesting the Supreme Courtdecision on the Lafayette Park "camping"regulation. The High Court confirmed thathomeless people couldnt sleep in their tents. So

VOTISCAM

lirr five days Casimer Urban, Jr. pretended tosleep in front of a sign ttat read:

WELCOME TO REAGANVILLE, 1984WHERE SLEEP IS CONSIDERED A

CRIME.

( )nce arrested, Casimer told the magistrate thathe wanted to represent himself. Instead, thernagistrate appointed a public attorney whoimmediately suggested that Cas be pur into St.lt.lizabeth's Hospital for 30 days psychiatricobservation.

Exiled to the St. E's cuckoo's nest, Cas imitatedlack Nicholson. He was disrespectful, wise-assed,honest and funny The psychiatrists decided hewas a paranoid schizophrenic and injected himwith Prolixin, which can cause the side-effect ofcatatonia. Cas was in danger of being kept in thecuckoo's nest for good without ever standing trial

Ellen was scared for him. And angry. Sheclecided that anger was fruitless in trying to getCas out, so she would use theatrics instead.

In October, she decided to climb a tallsycamore tree. Sometimes she perched way uphigh, sometimes on a lower branch. Then.someone gave her a hammock and she slung itfrom limb to limb. She kept just out of reach ofthe park police. Ellen lived in a ski suit and tookcare of personal business in a cup. After a week,the park police and a D.C. S\7AT ream arrived ar

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4 a.m. and plucked her out of the sycamore witha cherry picker. She was taken to iail, chargedwith general injury to a tree, which she denied,attachment to a tree, which she admitted, andca.mping, which she denied.

However, a law student who had passedunder the sycamore and talked to Ellen, took thestory to a professor at a local law school. Theprofessor took Cas' case and got him out.

That night there was a wild party that musthave kept Reagan up 'til dawn. Boooorn,Boooom, Booooom, Booooom, Booooom!

Between us and Villiam Thomas, a street lawfirm was forged: Collier, Collier & Thomas. \We

were our only clients. But some of the biggestshooters in America, who collectivelyrepresented billions of dollars in assets, weredestined to become defendants.

r{

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PowenConnuPTs

"May you baae a lawsuit in ubiclt youknout you are intbe rigbt."

-Gypsy curse

Otr, office inLafayette Park was a lean-to onthe sidewalk; our desk a packing crate and ourtypewriter a Royal, circa1929, well-oiled and inslilendid working condition.

Ellen got us the typewriter from Mitch SnydenIIe was'uTashington's homeless advocate whol:rsted in the park to within an inch of deathwhen the government refused to give him fivenrillion dollars to renovate a building for thelromeless. Dick Gregory was his fasting coach,:rnd just before Snyder was to suck his last breath,.rnd just before the election Reagan gave in.

Snyder would serve hundreds of dinners tothe homeless in the park Thanksgiving and(.hristmas thatyear. rilTe stood in a cold, dripping

204 Power Corrupts

rain, waiting for stuffing and cranberry sauce,Jim told Snyder: "It's taken me a lot of years towork my way down from the top."'We had gonobroke going for broke.

Att ,n.ough that summer in the parkprepared a series of lawsuits. They were fiagainst defendants whose actions to supthe Votescamvideo coincided with one another.

By fall, the Spotligbf had run five of our Mistories on vote fraud. They included a

investigation of Computer Election Servic(CES), the San Francisco firm which contmost of the vote-counting apparatus inl984.

Our first lawsuit was against the RNC. Assaw it, the reward offer was a binding contract,'We wanted our day in court to show theto a jury Let them judge who was acting infaith to expose vote fraud and who was tryingcover it up.

The lawsuit against the RNC also gavebreaking stories every week. Our storiesfilled with excerpts from sworn depositionsprominent functionaries and politicians. Twas also the chance we could use the lawdiscovery process to reveal further leads intoheart of vote fraud. 'We promi sed Spotligeditors that at least three more lawsuitsbe filed in early 1985.

'W'e submitted the following complaint to tcourt:

VOTESCAM 205

l'l-AINTIFFS: (CollieD

cc cA10395-81L)EFENDANTS: Repub. Nat. Comm. etat Civil Action No._

1. JURISDICTION OFTHIS COURT IS FOUNDED OND-C. Code Annotated,l 973 edition. Sec,.l 1 -921

COME NOW THE PLATNTTFFS and say:l" THAT Plaintiffs are residents of the District of

Columbia, appearing in pro se.2. THAT Defendant is an unincorporated

association with its principal offices located inthe District of Golumbia along with its Chairmanand its principal legal office.

3- THAT Defendant caused to be published anationally circulated press release inOctober,l982 to the effect that a "RewardProgram" was being offered to "individuals whogive information" related to violations of certainState and Federal laws against "vote fraud.',(Please see EXH|B|T "A" which is attachedhereto and made a part hereof.)

4. IFIAI Defendant wrongtutty and negtigenilycontracted with Pl'aintiffs via the generallycirculated press release referred to in paragraph3, guaranteeing to "...put them in touch with theproper State and Federal officials who willproceed with such complaint," when, in fact,Defendant had no authority to make such apromise, thereby luring Plaintiffs efforts throughmisrepresentation.

5.TllAI Plaintiffs acting solely on the guaranteethat their efforts would receive the otficial actionas cited in Paragraph 4 herein, embarked on amission to infiltrate and videotape the activitiesof a vote-racketeering ring operating withapparent impunity within the United States,

205 Power Corrupts

doing so at the risk of our lives and at the peril ofour families. Our efforts produced vitalinformation.

6. THAT Defendant, by and through its chief counseland agent, Mark Braden, acknowledges in writing(May 30, 1984) its knowledge of Plaintiff'ssubstantial compliance with the "RewardProgram," absent an arrest in the case, admittingPlaintiffs had "obtained information." (Please seeEXHIBITS, attached hereto and made a parthereof). Defendant BRADEN and DefendantFAHRENKOPF co-authored the memo's content.

7. THAT defendant failed to make any effort to getState or Federal proceedings started.

8. THAT as a result of the foregoingmisrepresentation Defendants have causedPlaintiff to suffer impoverishmentn mentalanguish, anxiety and permanent threats to theirlives. Wherefore, Plaintiff demands judgmentagainst Defendant in the sum of $20J00J000(TWENTY MILLION DOLLARS) with interests andcosts.

Plaintiffs

TIt didnt take long for the complainr to reach themost important figures in the Republicanbraintrust. \7e know this because a \7hite Houselog was released less than a year later whichchronicled the activities of President Reagan's

VOTESCAM

national security advisor, Admiral Johnlkrindexter

The log revealed that less than 48 hours afterthe complaint was filed, alleging the existence oft n organized "vote-racketeering ring" operatingwithin the United States, RNC chairman, Franklrahrenkopf, sent a memo to Poindextertliscussing the implications of such a charge.

Poindexter, in turn, consulted with \TilliamOasey, Director of the CIA, and together theytlrafted a " Nationel Security Directiue Decisi.on',( NSDD 245) for immediate approv^l of thel'resident. The thrust of the Directive was toinvolve the Reagan administration in therluestion of whether the computerized portionof the U.S. voting system was secure, or whetherit was open to manipulation and fraud.

'ufhen the Directive was signed by Reagan, itwas classified "Top Secret." Ayear later, TheNew York Times discreetly published a minorstory revealing that the administration was a\ /areof the dangers of computerized voting. The'l-imes, however, did not assign a follow-up onthe story

David Burnham, the reporter who discoveredthe Poindexter logbook and managed to get thelbllowing into the paper September 2 1985, leftthe Times shortlv thereafter

207

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U.S. PROBES ELECTIONCOMPUTERMAKEUP

N.Y. Times News Service

WASHINGTON - A branch of the NationalSecurity Agency is investigating whether acomputer program that counted more than one-third of all the votes cast in the United States in1984 is vulnerable to fraudulent manipulation.

The National Security Agency is the nation'slargest and most secretive intelligence agency.Itsprincipal job is to collect intelligence byeavesdropping on the electronic communicationsof the world and to protect the sensitivecommunications of the United States.

Mike Levin, a public information official forthe agency's National Computer Security Center,said the investigation was initiated under theauthority of a recent presidential directiveordering the center to improve the security ofmajor computer systems used by the nonmilitaryagencies such as the Federal Reserve Board andthe Federal Aviation Administration and for suchprivatg pulposes as banking.

The target of the Computer Security Center'sinvestigation is the vote-counting program ofComputer Election System of Berkeley, Calif.,thedominant company in the manufacture and sale ofcomputer voting apparatus. In l984,thecompany's program and related equipment was

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used in more than 1,000 county and localjurisdictions to collect and count 34.4 million ofthe93.7 million votes cast in the United States.

"We have no interest in any particularclection." Levin said. "We are only interested inthe possible misuse of computers to compileolection results."

rfFrank Fahrenkopf, the newly-named chairman<>f the RNC, resented being named as aclefendant in what he considered a nuisancesuit. The $20 million in damages we sought asrelief could conceivably affect Fahrenkopf'spersonal holdings if misrepresentation was foundto be implicit in the tems of the reward offer Forwhile Fahrenkopf was not the signatory on thereward offer we saw in L982, nonetheless heIbund himself obliged to put his signature to anidentical document promulgating another offer in1984.

Thus, with his hoirse and car literally on theline, Fahrenkopf found himself less able to avoidtaking a personal interest in the progress of theCollier suit.

As events in court piled up, Fahrenkopf tookan increased role in stage-managing the RNCeffort to get our tar-baby suit off their backs. Atflrst he relied on a junior attorney in his office,Michael Hess, to file a simple Motion to Dismiss.He expected some judge at the Superior Courtof the District of Columbia to glance at the

210 PowerCorrupts

pleadings and, with a snortthrow the case out.

\fhen that didnt happen, he called Hess inrohis office for further consultation. Their onlvalternative was to file for a summary judgment, alegal maneuver which, if successful, would havethe same effect as a motion to dismiss. The onlvdrawback, from Fahrenkopf's point of vievg wasthat months would pass before a ruling,enabling the Colliers to strengthen their causewith support drummed up by their newspaper 11stories.

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Fahrenkopf met with CSIS executive directorRobert Hunter to discuss details of a proposedseries of conferences among select CSISluminaries and special invitees. The workingtitle of the 1985 project was: "The NationalCommission on Elections." Its mission wasFahrenkopf's goal: "Deaeloping utays and.nteans to oaerbaultbe US. aoting systemtobetter conform uitlt tbe realtttes of a mass-mcd;ia enuironment."-frIo better explain what Fahrenkopf really meantby "tbe realities of mass-media enuironrnent "we have to give a little history'We have to goback to that day in Dallas whenJohn F Kennedywas gunned down.

The Establishment line that a "lone gunrnnn"was responsible for the murder was beingattacked by various newspapers around thecountry. The CIA could not tolerate anydissension from the official government edict.

Therefore, in the immediate years followingthe November 22,1963 assassination, a lid wasslammed on all investigative reporting about thecase. In fact, the relationship between the onetime vibrafit aduersary press and the U.S.government was ominously frozen following thefatal gunblasts.

So notorious was the plot againstJFK, and soprominent were the figures who had a hand inexecuting it - and later covering it up - thattoday, 30 years later, coercive and rigid

211

\Vhat at first had presented itself as a pimpleof a case, had become a full-time boil.Meanwhile, Fahrenkopf called a meeting of theintelligence community's public adjunct, theCenter for Strategic and International Studies,(CSIS), of Georgetown University

The mission of the CSIS is ro provide theworld media with certified experts to commenton developments in international relations. Inproviding this "service" to the networks and linewspapers-of-record, CSIS imparts whatever"spin" to the analysis might satisfy CIArequirements.

Accordingly a domestic mission of the CSIS in1985 was to marshall its brainpower to helpFahrenkopf with ways and means to bettermanage the major media. Powerful personalitiesin news and politics would weigh in with advice,and their perceived expertise would form thebasis of an ad, boc election commission.

213212 PowerComrpts

confo:mity still chills the Establishment pressfrom labeling the'Warren Report a time-wornjoke.

As history shows, immense collegial pressurewas exerted upon TV and press managers in thewake of the assassination to ignore, suppressand discredit critics of the \Tarren Report.During that period not one word of dissent fromthe rilTarren Commission's conclusions waspermitted on a single network televisionprogram in the United States.

In 1956, Tbe Associated Press devoted thelongest article it had ever origi nated to

^nintelligence-inspired attack upon severalprominent critics of the government-approvedversion-ofJFK's death. After Rusb ToJudgment(in 1966) by authorA7arren critic Mark Lane waspublished, the CIA adopted a program rodestroy it.

CIA documenr No. 7035-950 read as follows:

"We do not recornmend. tbat discussion of tbeassasstnation question be inltiated wbere it lsalready not taklng place. Wbere discussion isactiae, ltouteaer, addres sees a.re requested:

To d.iscuss tbe publtcity problem u)itlt liaisonan d fri e n d.ly e lit e c ont a ct s ( e sp e ci ally p o litic i an sand editors), pointing out tbat tbe WamenCommission made as tltorough an inuestigation asbumanly possthle, tbat tlte cbarges of tlte cfiticsar e u it lt o ut s e riou s foun d at lo4 an d t b at furt b erspeculntiae dlscussion only plays into tbe band.s of

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tbe opposition. Point out q.lso tltat parts of tbeconspiracy talk appea.r to be d.eliberatelygenerated. by Communist propagandists. Ilrgetbem to use tbeir inlfluence to discourageunfounde d and fure sponsibl.e speculation.

To employ propagandq assets to answer andrefute tbe attacks of tbe critics. Book reuiews and

.fe ature qrti.cle s are p erticularly appropriat e fortltis purpose. Tlte unclassffied q.ttachnents to tltisguidance sbould. proui.d.e useful backgroundmat erial for p a s s age for as s et s. Our p lan s b ould.point ou\ as applicable, tbat tbe cri.ti.cs are 1)wedded to tbe tbeori.es ad.opted. before tbeeaidence was inl U) politically interested; lll)fin anc i alljt int e r e s t e d

Mark Lane later wrote: "Coinciding witb tbeCIA offensiue to couer up its inuoluement inJFK's deatb uas An urgent speecb by ex-CIAdirector Allen Dulles to Cbief Justice EarlWarren. Tbe CIA, bauing executed tbe Presidenttubo uas about to dismember tbat agency andwitbdraw all US. 5n5luissys- as tbey were tbencalled

- from Vietnam, approached EarlWarren carefully and with premeditation.

"OnJanuary 12,1964, just as tbe Commissionbegan its work, tbe CIA aduised Warren tbat itwas certain tbat Oswald had acted alone butt b a t comp li c ating fac tors, i"f p u b li c ly re u e a I e d,migbt uery well tbreaten tbe peace of the Luorld.Tbe CIA con"fided to rffarren tbat Oswald badbeen rneeting in Mexico City witb tbe Souiet

21.4 Power Corrupts

KGB officer in cbarge of assassination in tbeUnited States. Tbe spectre uas raised to acredulous lVarren tbat tvVorld War III mightresult if an enraged American public wasinformed of tbe single "Comrnunist plot,'againstits belouedfallen President- tbat some [ind o1uiolent retaliation uould be politicallyinescapable.

"W'arren, confronted uitb tbat scenarioagreed to bide tbe euidence for at least 75years,'take all testimony in closed. sessions.designate tbe transcript 'iop secret' and issue afalse report. Tbat was all done in tbe interest ofnational tranquility and internationa I p eace.The motiues rnay baue been defensible, but tbe'f,acts'upon ubicb Wtrren's brief,ings uerebased were CIA inuentions. W'arren saZrfficedboth bis reputation and tbe trutb as tbe reiuh ofan elaborate CIA disinformation effort."

In other words, the major media in thiscountry has been co-opted by the CIA. It wasthat covert CIA action that Farhenkopf wasreferring to when he said the U.S. vote-countingsystem had to conform with the realities of themedia.,TI here was a strict protocol with respect to

the order in which Fahrenkopf contacted theinvitees to the CSIS National Commission onElections. First, he was careful to secure thecommitment of those he consideredsuperstars in the political firmament. Then

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lre used such commitments to persuadetlrose on the "8" list to come aboard.

This meant getting semi-official input from hisparty's titular leader, Richard M. Nixon. Nixon'sinterest in politics had only increased over theyears, and his influence related to the conduct ofclections had become bigger since he resignedliom office.

Protocol requires that a former president ratesrleference one notch higher than a futurel)resident.

Fahrenkopf reached the former president atNixon's home in Saddle Rivet New Terseu andreceived approval of the Election Commissionconcept. Nixon requested that he berepresented at the proceedings by his reliablefriend Melvin Laird, his Vietnam-era Secretaryof Defense. Fahrenkopf was only too pleasedto comply as Laird's cabinet-level ranking set ahigh tone.

Fahrenkopf's next approach was to GeorgeBush, Vice President and heir- apparent.Virtually all the Republicans participating inthe Election Commission activity took if forgranted that when they were dealing withBush, they were dealing with the nextPresident. Thus, with Bush's acceptance of theplan to overhaul the U.S. electoral system, amessage was effectively delivered: Bush stoodready to manipulate the levers of power fromwithout and within to achieve his place inhistory

2r5 Power Corrupts

The secret CSlS-sponsored hearings werescheduled to take place in privately rentedhotel ballrooms in'Washington throughout therest of 7985. Bush requested that he berepresented by his own man - the mostknowledgeable computer wiz in or out ofgovernment -John Sununu, Governor of NewHampshire. Sununu would act as workingchairman and occupy a position at the center ofthe dais.

\7hit. the Republican chairman creared aroster of media moguls, former politicians,attorneys and consultants, we were exercisingour prerogatives to subpoena witnesses andconduct "discovery" sessions.

The first person we served with papers wasRichard Richards, the RNC chairman prior toFahrenkopf. It was his signature on the rewardoffer of 1982 that made it binding upon rharcommittee. The following questions were put toRichards in the office of his lawyer inVashington, to which he was obligated toanswer under oath:

Q. IVben you permitted the reuard offer to bedisseminated ouer your n*rne and signature,is it true tbat you uere atternpting tofurtbertbe interests of tbe Republican Partyforutbateuer benefit it rnigbt yield?

A. Yes, the promulgation of the letter wasdesigned to do just that

- ro further the

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benefit of the patty and of the RepublicanNational Committee.

Q. You uere acting within tbe scope of yourautbority utben you issued, tbe reward offer ?

A. That is correct. I had the authority to do that.Q. Did you bold yourself as an autbority or

expert on uoteJraud?A.'$7e hired experts to develop the language in

the letter. As Chairman of the party withauthority to make decisions on behalf of theRepublican National Committee, I endorsedtheir findings and signed the letter

Q. Did you assunle tbat tbe RNC bad taken on afiduciary duty to any potential claimantstbat may respond to the reward offer?

A. I think that's a fait statement, yes. I assumedthat we had a duty to be fair and honest andstraightforwa r d to a claimant.

The questioning went on to probe Richardsinterpretation of " will proceed" as stated in theoffer. He said there should have been a betterword, since the RNC had absolutely no authorityto make that promise. \W{hen asked if there was adifference between the two phrases, "may payus" and "will pay us," he conceded that the word"may".gives discretion to act, while the word"wilf' is mandatory As to whether it was fair thata claimant without alegal degree, relying uponthe exact words "will proceed with suchcomplaint" would draw a 180-degree differencein inference if the RNC used the words "may

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proceed," Richard responded, "The word "will"probably overstates the case in this letterbecause a better word would have been "mav"or "could" of "c n."

'We asked our final question.

Q. Vould it baue been reasonable, in youropinion, for someone reading tbe text of tbereuard offef to baue been induced to takeaction under tbe exact wording as it appears,relying on tbe credibility of tbe RepublicanNational Committee to back it up?

A. I do not know. ril7e intended to honor it ifsomeone met the requirements.'$rhat theymay have thought about when they read itand how much credibility they gave to theRNC, is wholly within their knowledge. I doknow that you gentlemen have so far failedto obtain any arrests or convictions. There isno doubt in my mind that therein lies thereason why you have not achieved elegibilityto qualify for the reward.

T)Ilichards' final comment represented the heartof the RNC case. Their defense was based onthe proposition that because there were noarrests and convictions, we hadnt fulfilled therequirements spelled out in the reward offer

Our position was clear-cut. -Ve had beenwrongly induced to take action by the falseguarantee which Richards admitted to in hisdeposition. Furthermore, it was blatant.

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rnisrepresentation to promise prospectiver laimants that authorities "will proceed." Theyhrred participation undei false pretenses.

'We argued that when we produced thevideotape the evidence was so convincing thatrrrnvictions would have been likely Howeve4 forr'('asons explained in the three other lawsuits weliled in 7985, Craig C. Donsanto prevented suchprcsecutions and thereby blocked our chance tot lualifyrrrI he second lawsuit we filed was against

l)onsanto himself, with the U.S. Attorneyt ieneral (\Tilliam French Smith) included as a

l)arty defendant. The likelihood of our winningrlre suit, which stemmed from Donsanto's refusalt<r view the VotescAmvideo, was problematical..fonetheless, we hoped to demonstrate that thelustice Department's chief vote fraud prosecutorlnrposelystood in our way

Of the four lawsuits we filed, the Donsanto('ase was the only one to claim jurisdiction ofthe federal court. This meant that federal.riovernment attorneys would be required totlefend, and that the ultimate decision would bercndered by the U.S. Court of Appeals. On thatIrench was a key judge with direct links tol)onsanto dating back to the 'Watergate era -scton-to-be Supreme Court Justice Antonin.Scalia.

The third lawsuit in our barrage waslrcadlined on the Home News Wire

2r9

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proceed," Richard responded, "The word "will"probably overstates the case in this letterbecause a better word would have been "mav"or "cottld" of "c n."

'We asked our final question.

Q. Would it baue been reasonable, in youropinion, for someone read.ing tbe text of tbereuard offef to haue been induced to takeaction under tbe exact utording as it appears,relying on tbe credibility of tbe RepublicanNational Committee to back it up?

A. I do not know. \7e intended to honor it ifsomeone met the requirements. \(hat theymay have thought about when they read itand how much credibility they gave to theRNC, is wholly within their knowledge. I doknow that you gentlemen have so far failedto obtain any arrests or convictions. There isno doubt in my mind that therein lies thereason why you have not achieved elegibilityto qualify for the reward.

T)Ilichards' final comment represented the heartof the RNC case. Their defense was based onthe proposition that because there were noarrests and convictions, we hadnt fulfilled therequirements spelled out in the reward of;fer.

Our position was clear-cut. .$7e had been

wrongly induced to take action by the falseguarantee which Richards admitted to in hisdeposition. Furthermore, it was blatant"

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rnisrepresentation to promise prospectiver laimants that authorities "will proceed." Theyhrred participation under false pretenses.

'$7'e argued that when we produced thevideotape the evidence was so convincing thattrrnvictions would have been likely Howeve4, forr('asons explained in the three other lawsuits weliled in 1985, Craig C. Donsanto prevented suchl)rosecutions and thereby blocked our chance tor pralifir

'fn. second lawsuit we filed was againstl)onsanto himself, with the U.S. Attorneyt )eneral ('William French Smith) included as a

l)arty defendant. The likelihood of our winningtlre suit, which stemmed from Donsanto's refusalto view the Votescamvideo, was problematical.|onetheless, we hoped to demonstrate that thelustice Department's chief vote fraud prosecutorlturposelystood in our walz

Of the four lawsuits we filed, the Donsanto( ase was the only one to claim jurisdiction ofthe federal court. This meant that federal,qovernment attorneys would be required totlefend, and that the ultimate decision would bercndered by the U.S. Court of Appeals. On thatlrench was a key judge with direct links tol)onsanto dating back to the 'Watergate era -soon-to-be Supreme Court Justice Antonin.\calia.

The third lawsuit in our barrage waslreadlined on the Home News W'ire

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Power Corrupts

VOTESCAM WRITERS SUE ABCBy Kenneth andJames Collier

WASHINGTON - TheVotescam affatr continuesas the latest in a series of damage suits filed inWashington D.C. Superior Court by thesreporters. This time the defendant is ABC,charged with interfering with a reward offer bythe Republican National Committee. The RNChad been seeking citizens' information on votefraud.

Central to the $250 million case (Ed. ThisflSure represented a dollar a citizen) is the chargethat ABC persuaded the RNC to breach the termsof the reward offer as it applied to thesereporters'submission of dvidence. We hadprovided the RNC with a videotape showing theLeague of Women Voters tampering with ballotsin a federal election.

According to the complaint, Tim O'Brien,ABC's Supreme Court correspondent, alertedsuperiors to the Colliers' Votescam Video afteryi,ew.ing it. He received permission to telephoneMark Braden, the RNC chief counsel, andlearned that the RNC had no intention of makingany moves to assist these reporters inpersuading the Justice Department to initiateprosecutions.

The complaint alleges that the phone callimparted a two-way message between thepolitical committee and the TV network. Since

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the RNC disavows any responsibility forpcrforming under the terms of the Reward Offer,ABC won't have to do a TV piece embarrassingllre League of Women Voters, which is in ABC'scrnploy.

Thus, the "understanding" reached in theO'Brien-Braden phone call amounted to ABC'sself-serving "interference with the contractoffer."

nl-y'uring the cours e of 1984, we repeatedlyt'ontacted O'Brien about the lack of interestABC News was exhibiting. On the surface heseemed to honestly sympathize. He assured usthat if we succeeded in suing the League ofW'omen Voters, ABC would be forced to put thestory on national television.

Then, in mid-1985, in an historic decision byABC, they sold the entire network to the New.|ersey-based Capital Cities Communications(CCC), a company much smaller than ABC, in aso-called "friendly takeover"

"If the sale goes through," Ken reasoned,"they could find some way to get out of thelawsuit."

"You mean they could say that Capital Citiesdidn't know anything about what ABC used todo?"

"Yeah, it's a case of ''We'fe sorry, but wewerert't around then."'

'We decided to exercise the only option wehad: stop the sale until our lawsuit could be

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222 Power Corrupts

decided by the courts.\7e filed a "petition to deny sale" with the

Federal Communication Commission. .We

charged ABC with attempting to evaderesponsibility for irs part in keeping theVotescam video from the public,- thdrebyengaging in a coverup of vote fraud. The ABC_CCC sale price involved some $4 billion _ and,the principal financier behind the deal was'Warren Buffet - aboard member and mega_investor in Katherine Graham's \Tashington postCompanlz

'We also decided to depose Tim O'Brien andput his views about our evidence on the record.Thg.transcripr of his sworn statemenr is distilled,and begins with a questionJim asked O'Brien inthe office of ABC's attorneyi, Bergson, Borkland,Margolis and Adler

a May ue bdue your com,ments on tbeWtescam Videotape?

A. I felt that was your best stuff \Zhat I liked forits news value was where you captured the_moment and picked up one of the League ofWomen fotgrspoking the ballot. I mean, youlike to think that no one is going to touchyour ballot after you casr it. IJtill havereservations as whether that is a properpractice. It struck me as something that ispossibly improper. For all I know sh. was9"Pg."y.t]f.rtrat she said she was doing yerI didnr find that quite right. \Vhy shoulJ she

VOTESCAM

have been there? Your videotape ffoubles me.(.). Did you take any action after uiewing tbe

lape?A. I took a number of actions. I encouraged you

to keep me posted on what was happeningbecause it seemed to me there was apossibility this could develop into a srory Idiscussed your evidence with some of mycolleagues. It's certainly not that no one wasinterested; they were.

<). Exactly wbo did you discuss it witb?A. I talked to some of my colleagues and our

bureau chief. To Ed Fouhy, who was ourproduce4 yes, and to Victor Newfelt, a seniorproducer and our 'Washington seniorproducer, John Arrowsmith. Also spoke to aproducer in New York, Charlie Stewart, whospecializes in doing stories for future use. Mydiscussion with Fouhy lasted about fiveminutes. I offered to show him thevideotape, but he expressed concern aboutusing tape shot by freelancers. He suggestedthat I stay close to the story and see if therewas something we could do on our own.Charlie Stewart returned my call and hisquestion was: "'W'ell, what about these guys?tvhat about their story?" And I told him,quote, "'!Vhat I'm telling you novr is that theyhave something."

Q. Did you make anyfurtber contacts afteruiewing tbe tape?

A. I called Mark Braden, chief counsel over at

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224 power Corrupts

RNC, to find out exactly what theirwas on the reward offer. His first responswas that he thought you had done somgood work. In fact, I felt in my briconversation with Braden that he wantedhelp you. along; that he wasn't fighting it.can recall novg in fact, that he said he wodlike to see you get the reward. I calleDonsanto at theJustice Department, but herefused to comment. So if ybu are askingif.I just to-tally disregarded everyth ing adismissed you guys as a couple of lunatics,the answer is "no." I thought your videotawas airworthy and I was intriguedDonsanto's silence.

q ry: a.rrytlxn7 bappened to dispel yourfeeling"disturbed," ouer tbe contents "o1 *truideotape?

A. Tg. If anything, the feeling has deepened. I- think our election system is the cornerstoneof our democracy I think if we had evidencethat ballors were being handlecl in such afashion as these appear to be handled,nationwide, that would be a story I wouldstipulate to that. I suspect that there may evenbe a producer here or there who might bewaiting for me to sa)1 ,,Let's go with thi;" AndI would also concede it is possible that thereis a Justice Department cover up as long asDonsanto refuses to be interviewed. it ispossible that everything you are saying aboutDonsanto's Vatergate past is cor.ect.

VOTESCAM

'li. fo.r.th lawsuit was filed against the Leagueol"Women Voters. The suit asked for $150 millionrrr damages. This compensation was for the| ('ague attempting to cover up its illegalpractices by actively lobbying in'Washington tor I iscredit our joumalistic credibility

As an exhibit in the suit, we introduced a

lrage from the federal election statutes applytngl() the prohibition of outsiders in the officialvote-tallying process.

"Tbe proceed.ings at tbe central countinglocation sba.llbe und,er tbe dtrection of tbe(ounty ca,naassingboard., and. sballbe opento tbe publlc, but no person except tbosee mployed and autltorized, for tbe purposeshalltoucb any ba.llot or ba.llot containe4any item of a.utoma.tic tabulatingequipment, or any return prior to itsreleA^se."

The Votescamvideotape was offered as proofthat the law was broken by the L\fV and bythose who paid them to handle the ballots.

The suit contended that the L\WV is secretlyushered into the inner sanctums of the U.S.voting process on national election nights inthousands of jurisdictions across the county'fhey are told that handling computer cardballots (and, yes, even punching holes in them)is perfectly permissible.

11q,

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This "ballot-cleaning" privilege enables thLril7V to command an illegal insidbr's position ithe U.S. vore process, whlch is exploited by theLeague in its drive for increased memberrhip,The suit explains the ,,sweetheart" deal the L\trnets for its coffers.

^ !f mia-1985, it had become rhe goal of thefederal government and three laiv firms inrilTashington to get our lawsuits dismissed.

between tbeparties tbat can only be resoluedbolding a trial."

But in June, Superior Court Judge ColleenKolar-Kotelley ruled against RNC-argJments andrefused to dismiss the case. She s"tated in herone-line opinion that there were ,,issues

Unless something intervenedtrial was due within 180 days.

to delay it, a

The RNC had lost its first round and removedtheir lawye4 Hess, from the case. It immediatelvhired an outside law firm, Car4 Goodson & Lee,to seek a continuance while it.familiarized itselfwith the case."

As soon as we received notice of the RNC,Sdecision to change legal counsel, we contactedtheir new lawyer, Lawrence Carr. \ilZe wanted ameeting to check.uut the adversary

Uarr had no objection to being called"Colonel," his highest military ranklHe wasjovial, white-haired and confident, maintainingan erect military bearing even at rest.

By contrast, we were somewhat less than

VOTESCAM

lit'mpt, blue-jeaned, T-shirted and fifteenrrrinutes late for our first meeting.

"Sorry Colonel, it's the heat of the summer,"lrm explained. "It's especially brutal in the park,,,rrr home, office and headquarters."

"Well," mused Caff, "I can see you've beenl.rboring under adverse conditions. If I didn'tlr;rve the obligations IVe got Id happily be out intlrc field with you."

Ken measured him."No doubt youte being well paid for taking

on this case, Colonel. May we presume to askrvl-rat kind of retainer it takes to put you on the:;ide of the angels?"

Carr was unflappable."NoW it kind of depends on which side that

rs, gentlemen. Don't forget, I'm a hired advocatewho takes on either side of an issue, depending. rn who's footing the bill."

"But in this case, Colonel," Ken pushed,'tloesnt it go against your grain to have servedyour country so faithfully in the Marine Corps -yct now you're being paid to cover up evidencet r[ vote fraud?"

Jim leaned in. "Colonel, vote fraud isrrndermining your country's most sacredlranchise. How can you live with yourselP"

Can ran a hand through his shock of whitelrair and smiled.

"'Without conceding any portion of yourlrremise, the short reply is the tried and proven,'lt's an ugly job, but somebody's got to do it."'

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228 Power Corrupts

This calculated joshing went on for abfive minutes. Then the meeting ended. Tsymbolic battle lines were drawn.

Throughout 1985, while the four lawsuirsmoving like molasses through the courts, ourreadership responded to the Votescamseries

the Votescamvideo. He thought Robertson'sChristian Broadcasting Network might want toshow its 23 million viewers "the trueitate of theU.S. voting system."

Palm Beach, Florida. Plimpron was affiliatedwith a civic group who found themselves lockedout of mainstream political influence in thecounty They had long suspected that part oftheir problem stemmed from rigged elections.

He suggested we get in touch with pat

with tips and encouragement.'We received a letter from a man named

Robert Plimpton, a millionaire who lived in

Robertson's 700 Club, and offer them the use

\7hen we met with CBN's '\ilTashington-

based bureau chief, John Black, he took thetime to view the entire 45-minutepresentation. Then he candidly discussedwhat could happen if the issue of vote fraudever really surfaced in America, if it werebroached by Pat Robertson.

Robertson's plans to seek the Republicannomination for President in 1988 wouldcertainly be affected. In fact, Black felt that ifthe Votescam video was released prematurely

VOTESCAM

l,y the "700 Club" it could backfire. The resultrr', ruld be a "sour grapes" syndrome attachedto llobertson years in advance of the election.

Illack wanted CBN to air whatever portion ofllrt'tape it chose, whenever it chose. Thatwatl,l'.rt Robertson could never be accused by his, k'tractors of covering up its existence. \Within al,'w days we had a check for $2,500.

llobertson opted to keep the tape under\\'r'aps for more than a year. There was never arrrcntion that CBN was in possession of.vidence impugning the honesty of the U.S.voting system.

'f-I hen, on November 3, 1986, the eve of the off-\'('ar general election, Robertson invited theIr rr-ffrer New York Times reporter David Burnhamr rrr the "700 Club" television show for a,liscussion of vote tiaud in America. Burnham.rLrthored the Times article that revealed the top\('cret tVhite House investigation of computervoting nationwide. A three minute portion ofrlteVotescam video was played on the air,:.lrowing highlights.

Apparently howeve4 Robertson was using thel;rpe to fire a mere warning shot across the bow, rf'the Establishment in preparution for his ownlrid for the Presidency in 1988. Nothing more waslrcard of the vote fraud issue from that day on.

And that was that.

229

$7. npp"ared often on radio shows from

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Miami to San Francisco. Our subject, ,,Hov/ TAmerican Vote Is Rigged," almost alwaysprovoked great listener response. people felt thatwe might be hired guns that travel, so theyinvited us into their towns as "vote vigilantes" tohelp them find evidence of vote rigging. Theywanted ideas about how to uncover the fraudthey felt sure was lurking in the electoral system.,T1I he second most frequently asked question we

encountered from radio and television listeners(after 'Aren't you guys afraid of getting killed.?'),was:

"'Why don't you go to'50 Minutes'with yourevidence?"

In fact, as you remember, we did make anapproach to "50 Minutes" anchorman Mike\fallace. It's fair to say that his opinion of thestory's value was overwhelmingly favorable, butfor reasons only he can explain, he was neverable to air it.

Eleven years after we met him in AlanBecker's office in Miami, the following articleappeared in The Spotligbt in September, 19g5,attempting to tweak the journalistic conscienceof Mike \7allace.

AN OPEN LETTER TOMIKEWALLACE

Dear Mike Wallace:

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We are taking this extraordinary measure of;rtlclressing an open letter to you because thellttescam affair has gotten to the point wheren('wsmen of your caliber and prestige mustcvcntually go on record as either opposing theorrrinous presence of vote fraud in America, ort'orrtinue to condone it by covering it up.

In fact, this story comes as no surprise to you.M cmbers of your advisory production staff have;rrcviously provided you with a complete reportrrrr the earliest roots of the Votescam case.Inl974,you met with Florida State legislator Alan Beckerrrnd you said in the presence of several freelancencwsmen that this "^ay be the biggest vote fraudscandal ever to rock the nation." Writer Gaetonlionzi quoted you to that effect in MiamiMagazine, Jaly 1974-

However, since that article appeared,leadingol'f with your qupte, you have been strangelysilent. Over the ensuing years we haveconsistently offered your producers andirrvestigators solid prima facie evidence,irrcluding the Votescamvideo.It clearly shows ascries of indisputable felonies being committedby trusted election officials during the vote-eounting process in a federal election.

These reporters were under the impression, asitre so many trusting Americans, that you arealways open to exposing the corruption of publicofficials as long as you have the cold, hardcvidence.

We are left to publicly speculate why you have

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allowed this trust in your watchdog role togrossly undermined by your subordinate(possibly your superiors?) to the point where thiopen letter has become necessary, aimedembarrassing "60 Minutes " into doing thVotescam story.

As you know, the League of Women Voters ishown on the tape caught in the actunauthorizedly and illegally altering ballors" Thiwidely unreported election night activity, icommitted by any other special interest growould be a cause for prosecution and perfsubject matter for a nationally renowned T"magazine" such as"60 Mintttes."

Unfortunately, that is not the case here, asown employer (CBS) apparently seeks tothe LWV from scrutiny, due to the businerelationship CBS has long maintained withLeague's specially privileged election night vreporting services.

In fact, on election night, your networvirtually depends on the League's input to tlNews Election Service (NES) of New york.Jolnt venture among the networks, for albroadcastable vote totals as reported directly tthe CBS computer from a centralized sourcowned by CBS, ABC, NBC, AP and UpI.

Unfortunately, you may not be able to toucthis Votescam story. CBS attorneys may havconfirmed to you that all three major networare so dependent on the League for election nitotals that an unmasking of their crimin

VOTESCAM

I'r'lravior would end the networks' convenientrt'lationship. In turn, it would result in therrt'tworks having to rely on official sources fortlrcir election night reporting.

Moreover, such an unmasking of the secrett'lc:ction-night activities of the League would( oncurrently lead to the exposure of the Bigl'hree networks as actually abetting the1rc rpetration of a massive, centralized"l)reprogrammed" vote fraud on the Americanpr:opls.

\X/e both signed it.And that was thar.

).\?

234 Strange Bedfellows

T2

SrnnNcn Bnnrsrlows

-Shaw

"Dernocracy substitutes election bjt ttteincompetent m.any for appointm.entby tlte comuptfew."

\Jne day in the spring of 1985, we received amessage from Don MacKenzie. The returnnumber was the Home Neuts. During the briefinterval before MacKenzie came on the line weI/ere puzzled. Had his wounding slowed himdown to the extent that he had to {ake a job?

It had been about ayeat since the ambush inhis driveway sent him into hiding. He had donea good job keeping our of sight, since all ourbest efforts hadn't been successful in findinghim.

He told us that while convalescing, he haddone some thinking.

VOTESCAM

"...and I came up with the conclusion that therrrost important story in America today isri'rminating. It may take five more years, but it'srlrraranteed to explode. One of these days, in aivly that none of us can predict, there's going tolxr a vot€ fraud scandal in this country..."

He had been talking about Votescamarticleslrc'd seen in the year since his shooting, and, r'edited our "Open Letter to Mike'Wallace" withlrropelling him to use his insurance money tolruy back into the game.

"...so I bought the Home News."MacKenzie had also managed to make a deal

with a Dade County distributor to expandric:ographic coverage of the paper.

"Vhat we'll do is start using Vashingtontlatelines. But all the material has got to bet redited to the Home News Wire, with at least()ne major story on the progress of your lawsuitst'ver)r week."

"\Vhat kind of \Washington distribution can weget?"

"I'll ship you 2,000 papers and you cant'stablish a route through Congress, the'$fhitellouse press room, the National Press Club, etc.Anywhere they'll be seen regularly by opinionrnakers and their staffs."

"\flhat's the story with advertising? Are yougoing to be able to subsidize it if you run intoresistance?" Ken asked.

"From what I can tell, you have lawsuitsrrnderway worth a few hundred million. They


have a way of getting settled out of court. Thenyou can reimburse me."

"Don, what if the cases get dismissed?" Jimasked.

"In the end they'll try to steal it from you. I'mwilling to gamble."

On that note we said goodbye, but not beforeMacKenzie added:

"Take some advice. Tie all your defendantsinto a conspiracy and you can triple thedamages under the RICO Act."

\ftthin one week we were busy delivering theIlome News, with the story of our lawsuit in it,to every major office in'Washington. It took fivehours to walk the halls of the House and Senateoffice buildings, distributing the papers to ahundred senators, four hundred-plusCongressmen. And then we tackled the twelvefloors of the National Press Building.

The journalists who worked there representedtheir hometown newspapers. They might befrom Tokyo or Moscow or Cape Town or SanFrancisco, and they ranged from young to oldwalruses.

Most of them sat around clipping the NewYotk Times and the \Tashington Post in order torewrite certain stories with their own bylines.tUThen we showed up, it afforded some of theseposeurs a schoolyard laugh to think anewspaper not sanctioned by the Establishmentpress had anything worth telling them. One

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w()man journalist put her hand to her throat andlrretended to gag when we walked in. Therrrstiest were the Denver Post and the Bostonr ilobe. They locked their doors to keep thelktme Newsout.

Happily there were those less self-righteouswho saw the merits of our investigation and,rvidly read each week's paper.

One of the most difficult places to leave thel)aper was the City Room of the 'Washington

l'ost. It wasn't often that we managed tol)cnetrate the security of their lobby-level guardpost. However, once in a while, a distractedsccurity man would assume that somebody with,r stack of papers was a messenger on officiallrusiness. One particular issue was headlined:..I}OB \TOOD\T/ARD'S SECRET" *

Our mission was to place a copy onWoodward's desk and on the desk of Benllradlee, the rrianaging editor and \Toodward's

-lt suggested the famed reporterwas harboring a secrnet about theWatergate Affafu. The story connected Assistant Attorney Generalllenry Petersen, head of the criminal dlvlsion, with all thepartlcipants in several consplracles. Petefsen was a registeredl)emocrat worklng in a RepubllcanJustice Depaf,tment. He wasreferred to as 'The Mole." It was Petersen who had his ffnger onthe button ln both th€ Watergate andvotescerz lnvestlgations.IIe was also a personal frlend of Kathadne Graham. Petersentold Mrs. Graham that Rlchard Nlxon had proof that hertelevision statlon inMiami hadbeen lnvolved inelection dggingzrnd that Nixon was pushlng to have her FCC llcense r.evoked.()ur report contlnued that Mrs. Graham needed to stop thePresidentbefore he stopped her. Mrs. Graham's problemwasthat the Watergate break-ln was iust a third-rate burglary. Thecharge had to be elevated to afederal offense in order to destroyNixon. The answer to her dlleflrma came with the subsequentbugging ofwatergate.

L)/


\Tatergate editor. \7e cradled the papers in sucha w y that the headline showed, then confidedto the guard: "The brass upstairs are waiting fortheir copy of this."

He glanced at the papers. "Nobody told meanything"

"Nobody told you they're waiting?" \We keptmoving.

"The only way you can get 'em up there is toput them in the mail room," he called after us.

After that, the 100 executive cubbyholes in thePostmail room became destinations for theHome News.

\7" started getting requests for lectures andpersonal appearances.

Letters came into the Spotligbt from all overthe country telling similar stories - the Votescamseries had awakened their interest in

According to FBI fiIes glven to us by Ellis Rubln, the Watergatewas never bugged. Rubin flled a federal sult on behalfofFrankSturgis, one of tlre burglars,tn an attempt to clear Sturgls' name sothat Sturgis could get his gun perrntt bacll Rubin's suit was basedon FBI documents statlng there hadbeen slx sweeps of the DNCHeadquarters in the Watergate, three by the FBI and three bythetelephone company. Neither located abug on any phone.Mrs. Graham, our repoft contended, knew from mI reports as dfJuly 5th that there was no bug on Watergate phones, and if sheknew, then so did hertwo reporters, Woodward and Beffrst€in,Thus, during the three-month period between theJune lTthcapture of the Mlami crew and the September l2th convening ofthe GrandJury, when newspapercoverage of theburglarywasvlrtually nil, Mrs. Graham dlrected her forces to malntain the"buggtng story' despite its outright ftctton-Just three days beforethe GrandJury was scheduled to convene, R. Spencer Oliverexperienced an overwhelming urge to dlsmantle his telephoneln the DNC. It took only a second or two to loosen the clrcularmouthplece and

- presto

-there was a phone-buggtng

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'..rlbguarding the votes in their hometown, butr( ) L^ooperation came from election officials orl, x'al media.

'fhey asked: "What options are avallable?"We became authorities on fighting entrenched

k rcal officials who had ceded their authority toorrtside election consultancy firms.

group from Titusville, Florida (on thel,illion-dollar Space Coast), called Jim( ()mplaining that their election supervisor,Shirley Baccus, lived in a $750,000 house on a

$66p00 a year salary. The implication was thatshe couldnt possibly,afford that lifesryle on whatthe county was paying he6 and that perhaps shewas getting money from some outside source.'l'hey askedJim to investigate.

Titusville, located between the IntercoastalWaterway and the ocean, is the bedroom

apparatus in plain view. Accordlng to Oliver, he was shockedlrcyond telling, and he lmrnediately called his secretary to vedfyhis finding. Tlren he had a staffphotographer record lt, includingin the photograph a newspaper headline ofthe day to prove thatthe findtook place on September 12,1972.lrederalJudgeJoyce Hens Green, ln ruling on Sturgis' appeal,l'ound that everything Rubln had contended was true. But theJudge wrote that 'it was too late to ask for rellef" and shedismissed the appeal.Jlm arranged a Rubin press conference inWasblngton fortlre Press Cor1x.'fhe 13th floor lounge at the Natlonal Press Buildingwas packed,Itubin showed the FBI documents, explained the sult andpresented Sturgls for questioning. Not a slngle word was everwrltten in anypaper.Our report ended wlth an interview wlth Ollver. He clairned hewas unaware of the existence of the FBI documents. Afiterweinformed hlm that the bug he reported on hls phone wasconclusively determlnedby the FBI to have been an obsolete'toy''

- devold of the power to transmlt any m€ssages beyond the walls

239


community for the federal space workers atCape Canaveral. Most of them are ongovernment salary,

"If the government rigged elections," Jim wastold at a meeting his first night in town, ,,it,s allright with most of them, as long as their federalpaychecks keep coming."

\WhatJim found while rummaging throughpublic records was an invoice from a Moline,Illinois, outfit named Fidlar and Chambers. Itseems that although Bevard Counry had a $20million mainframe computer to count votes, itstill hired an ourside consulranr ar $100,000 plus,per election, to come in and operate the samekind of punch card system seen on our videotape. Tbis was all done witbout publicknowled,ge orpublic bid. Fidlar and Cbambers' .

actiuities taere, in euery sense, illegal.Jim discovered that Fidlar and Chambers

similarly serviced hundreds of other venues

of tlre room -we

asked him:"Can you explaln how Alfred Baldwin in the HowardJohnsonmotel across the street feceived 2O0 detailed communicatlonsfrom this devlce, when the FBI said it had no capaclty to tf,ansmit?"He had no answer. We followed up by asking:'What was the fate of the 200 separate conxmunications Baldwinwas suppos€d to have intercepted from the bug on your phone?'He answered, "To myunderstandlng, nobodyhas everheardthembecause tlrey got burned up by somebody."'If the bug you found ln September was legitimate, why was itnever introduced as evidence at tlre trial?''Itat was a decision made by Henry petersen "Whenwe asked BobVoodward to comrnent on the storv. he sai&'Don't sta.rt a waf, wlth me on this."

VOTESCAM

tlrroughout the Southeast and Midwest on,'lt'ction night.

They brought in their own computers andt ornputer modems, which meant they could gettt'lephone access to the Bevard mainframe( ()mputer from a motel room. They also broughtrn the software that instructed the computerIrow to count the votes.

Few chief election officials in the U.S. arett'chnically qualified to understand computerllnguage. They and the public are totally.lcpendant on the integrity of these outside firms.

This was the first time we discovered the use()f private companies to count votes in state andlcderal elections. In the ensuing years we wouldlind that DFM in Irvine, California, counted thevote for most of that state.

According to Ralph Anderson, president ofl;idlar and Chambers, he has about a dozenother competitors.

Is it, we asked ourselves, an implausiblescenario to imagine a c ndidate with a treasurechest approaching these shadowy organizationsto buy his way into office?

\fith the information Jim gave them, theIlfoup went to the local newspaper but wasinformed that no investigation was warranted.

"Can you prove they're rigging elections?" thecditor asked.

"No," he was told, "but the public shouldknow that this is all going on behind closeddoofs."

z4r


The editor wouldnt budge.And that was that.

In tfr" autumn of 1985 we were paid expensesto travel to Cincinnatiby a group named theCincinnarus Party Concemed citizens, representedby lawyer James Condit, Sr. wanted us tovideotape and evaluate the Hamilton County,Ohio, election system. It was another punchcardoperation and they suspected corruption identicalto what we had uncovered in Miami.

Condit had obtained a court order fromCommon Pleas CourtJudge Richard Niehaus. Itwas issued as part of "discovery" in a suit Condithad filed seeking to ban voting by computer infavor of returning to old- fashioned paper ballots.The court order okayed observers, but did notmention the use of videotape. However, itspecified we could monitor " all pbases of tbeelection including testing and counting."

.We drove from Vashington to Cincinnati in afi

old clunker borrowed from a friend. You couldsee the road through the rust holes in the floo4but it got us there.

Cincinnati is a city on the Ohio River that isprobably most famous nowadays for being thehome of a fictional radio station, \VKRP. .W.e

found a motel and could hardly wait fior ElectionDay to dawn.

\We discovered that the county also had a $20million election system, ttat apparently required40 League of 'Women Voters volunteers to make

VOTESCAM

rr w(xk. Jim Condit Jr. was the leader of ther rrrcinnatus Party, which was conservative and, ,ut.side the mainstream. He wanted videotape onu lurtev€r abnormalities or felonies we could find.

f rrst as we did in Miami, we started out at a;,rt'c'inct and followed a vote card to its countingIrorrse.

\X/hen we got to the central location wheretlrt' precincts sent their ballots to be.,rnsolidated before they were brought,lowntown to be counted, we were locked out.

"You can't bring a video camera in here," an,,ll'icial said.

\7e then drove to the courthouse where thelxrllots were to be counted. There we were toldlry Judge Neihaus that we could observe, but notwith a camera. \We argued in vain. The judgeslood firm. He threatened to have us arrested ifr,ve turned on the camera, which was fitted with,r very bright, white light.

Ken simply disconnected the light. Since any, rbserver would think the camera wasn'tworking Ken was able to shoot videotape prettyrnuch as he pleased.

The videotape revealed a battery of League ofWomen Voters volunteers using 98-centtweezers to pluck out tiny tabs of chad frompunchcard ballots. It seems the League provided;r veritable "road show" - performing thisclubious function wherever called upon.

The women pointed out that the vote cardwas blistered on the back.

243


Ken focused the unlit camer on a cardwhichshowed about seven little "pocks" on the back.They were in the exact same spot on every card.The women were tweezing these pocks off eachcard because the blister prevented the card frompassing through the counting machine.

, It appeared that that the port-o-punch* hadbeen used to quickly punch a slale of sevencandidates. Since the cards were stacked, thepieces of chad could not fall freely so Leaguewomen were hired to remove them. Later thatnight, on Channel 9, our videotape of thetweezing was shown. The following morning astory appeared about our taping activities in themainline Cincinnati newspaper.

Pnnry Cr,asn Ar Bolnn 0rEr,ncrroNs

BY HOWARD WILKINSONThe Cincinnati Enquirer

"The Cincinnatus Party's monitoring of

-

uslng the IBM Port-o-punch, a device that couldpunchldentlcal_holes ln a pad of !O cards. Altho,rgh there was not astatute labellng lt a cdme, the Miami electlon supervlsor gavethe ballots topreclnctcaptalns totake home as muchas aweekln advance of any electlon. We were told that a good tlme washad-at parties where people would punch out a slate ofcandldates, thus necessitating the need for llre League to cleanup tJre vote card. Both of these latter acts are crimes.

VOTESCAM

I lamilton County vote counting produced at'onfrontation at a Clifton polling place and avcrbal battle at the board of elections Tuesdavrright.

Hamilton County Common Pleas JudgeItichard Niehaus called the four board ofclections members and Cincinnatus attorney.lames J. Condit, Sr. into the back rooms of theboard offices just as the polls were closing'fuesday night. He took the action after precinctworkers at the Clifton firehouse-precinct 15-D-complained that computer experts hired byCincinnatus Party supporters were disruptingtheir work.

"There was nothing in my court order that saidthey could participate in any way in the votingprocesso" said an angry Niehaus while waiting forCondit to arrive at board offices.

In August, Niehaus had ruled in a four-year-oldcivil suit that the Cincinnatus Party and itsrepresentatives could observe Tuesday's vote-counting process. A lawsuit by formerCincinnatus city council candidate, JerrySchutzman. claimed that because no boardemployees were on hand at the RegionalComputer Center while votes were being countedthere was a potential for fraud.

About 7 p.^., Ken and Jim Collier, twocomputer experts from Washington, D.C., hiredby Cincinnatus to monitor the election, walkedinto the Clifton polling place with a videotapecamera.

245

Strange Bedfellows

When the polls closed, precinct judgescomplained to the board of elections that theColliers had insisted that the ballots at thatprecinct be hand-counted. James Condit, Jr., thisyear's Cincinnatus candidate, said: ..That isabsolutely not true. They did not ask for ahandcount. The judge's order said we couldobserve all phases of the ballot-counting processand that is what we are doing."

THE COLLIERS showed tp at7:30p.m. at theoffice of elections director Elvera Radford, whereNiehaus was waiting to talk with the boardmembers.

Niehaus ordered the Colliers not to use theirvideotaping equipment and a brief shoutingmatch ensued.

After consulting with the Cincinnatus attorney,Niehaus said his court order limited Condit andthe Colliers to observation onlv.

"If they want to do anything else, they have tofile a motion in court, and videotaping is notcovered by my order," Niehaus said.

BOARD MEMBERS were angered by theconfrontation at the Clifton firehouse and at theboard office Tuesday night.

"They've got to stay within the judge's order,,'said Democratic chairman and election boardmember John "Socko" Wiethe. "I expected therewould be problems with this."

Condit and Schutzman did not claim in the suitthat the results of previous elections had been

VOTESCAM

t;rrrpered with, but they argued that becausel{t'gional Computer Center employees were,'rrrployed by incumbent Cincinnati City Councilrrrcrnbers, there was potential for abuse.

lilements of the story did not jibe with ourilf (crpretation of events; still, it was an,r. knowledgement that controversy was,'r rgulfing the Cincinnati-area election officials.And for the same reason it had become a notedr .rus€ in Miami: the League was being insertedrrrtc> the public vote-counting process, and thisvrolation went unreported by the local press.

'fhe story served us nicely 'We sent a copy toI'irn O'Brien at ABC News, along with a copy of,rn audio tape of aradio show we appeared ontlrc day after the election. The show's host, JanMickelson, issued a challenge to anyone,rssociated with the League to phone in and;rr.stify how a private political club rated a specialrrrsider's position in the voting system. He alsorrrvited the Hamilton County State's Attorney to.rl)pear and "show carlse" why the L\(rV shouldntlrc prosecuted for ballot tampering.

The response from the public kept the lines litrrp for hours. They unanimously expressed their( )utrage, with the net effect that within 24hours,lilvera Radford, the local elections officer,rc.signed the post she had held for more than a< lecade. No other action ensued.

And that was that.

248 Full Circle

73

Furr Crncrn

o$Tlteneaer a m.an bas cast an qre onoffice, a rottenness begins in biscltaractef'

-ThomasJefferson

\7n"n we opted ro sue four prominentdefendants, we had no illusion that we wouldprevail in court. The suits were more a svmbolthan a worrisome threat to the TV networks, theLeague, the Justice Department and theRepublican National Committee.

Initially, each of the defendants sent thepaperwork to their legal departments for routinedisposal by seeking a summary dismissal. Theytold the court that a gteat waste of time wouldbe incurred if the case proceeded, since therewas "no likelibood tbat tbe plaintffi canpreuailon tbe tnerits."

\Zhen their attempts at dumping the litigation

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r r.r simple paperwork failed, they were forced tor ,rrsid€r a chilling prospect - seeing the casestlr r < rugh to a jury trial. Due to the court's denial, rl lheir dismissal motion, our opponents werel,r't'ed to yield important figures for our,;r rt'stioning under oath. If the cases later camerr r lri2l, these people would find their wordsl,r'rng used to sway a jury on the merits of ourt .rstr, fiot theirs.

\X/e felt that some mechanism would have tolrr' uncov€red whereby all corporate playersrr,rrned in our charges were discovered to berrrt'eting on a regular basis. Their agenda wouldl,r'how to coordinate and crush all the Collier',uits, and how to best strengthen their grip ontlrc U.S. electoral process. In other words, wervrrnted to put all the conspirators in one room,tlrc same as we did in Miami Beach at the Seniorr irrporation Board Meeting.

All of which brings us full circle, back to therrroment when Frank Fahrenkopf was advisedlry George Bush to involve New Hampshire(;overnorJohn Sununu in putting together at,ommission on National Elections.

'fn. only reason we found out that secretrrreetings were indeed being held, whop:rrticipated and what was said, is because as()urce close to the official stenographer'srccords at CSIS sympathized with our efforts tolrolice the U.S voting system.

To us, obtaining the following transcript and

249

Full Circle

printing parts of it verbatim on the HomeWire, was a journalistic coup. Especialrewarding because the transcript we receiquoted CSIS'most prominent figures, candid

Presidential Debates.

debating the necessity for removing the Leagueof \fomen Voters from future sponsorship of the

No major publication in the country ereported on the following story which appeaon the Home Neus W'ire.

LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERSDROPPED

By James M. Collierand Kenneth F. Collier

WASHINGTON D.C. - These reporters haveobtained a transcript of a secret meeting held inWashington wherein certain top media executivesand highly placed government officials of currentand past administrations, came to the decision toremove the League of Women Voters (LWV)from its traditional role as sponsor of thePresidential Debates.

The decision to drop the LWV from its long-held (since 1960) insider's position in thepresidential selection process was made onNovember 26,1985, after a series of candiddiscussions among members of theGeorgetown University affiliated Commissionon National Elections (CNE). The commissionwas formed by the Center for Strategic and

VOTESCAM

I rrtc:rnational Studies (CSIS) an Establishmenttlrrrrk tank.

('uriously, the decision to deprive the LWV ofrts role in presidential debates was barelylrrrblicized in the press or on TV, despite the facttlr;rt it required an historic joint communiquelr orn the two national party chairmen to make theorrlster official.

It appears the lack of publicity surroundinglroth the CSIS meetings and the decision toI c Inove the League from the debates was an;r('comodation to the LWV whose then president,l)orothy Ridings,was a member of the panel and;r lone dissenter to its findings.

In fact, at one point in the proceedings, justlrrior to the time when the subject of the LWVorrtster was addressed, Commission co-chairmanl{obert Strauss (former chairman of thel)cmocratic National Committee) reminded theHroup of assembled notables that confidentialitywas the order of the day. He put it this way:

"Let rne say that there's no press in here tod.ay.'l.here will be none tod.ay. So we can speak withs o me c onsid.e rable candor."

This statement was made by Strauss despite theIrct that several of the most powerful owners andoperators of the U.S. press and TV network newswere sitting at the table with him. In effect, whatStrauss was saying in his supposedly never-to-bet;uoted remark is that the high profile media mogulswho were present for the secret meeting should notc:onsider themselves as representing the o'press."

251

252 Full Circle

The list of media barons who cheerfullvalong with Strauss's proposal for "candor" in tabsence of the working press reads like a Who,Who of American journalism.

KATHARINE GRAHAM. chairwoman ofBoard of the Washington Post Co., whicpublishes the Washington Post and Newsweek.

LAWRENCE K. GROSSMAN, president ofNBC News since 1974, past president of thePublic Broadcasting Service.

ROONE ARLEDGE, recently named grouppresident for ABC News; producer of "WorldNews Tonight," "2012C-," "Nightline', and"Viewpoint."

ROBERT PRESTON TISCH, president ofLoews Corp. since 1960. He recently acquired acontrolling interest in the Columbia BroadcastingSystem, CBS.

WILLIAM LEONARD, chief consultant toCBS News, vice president for governmentrelations, former head of the CBS NewsElection Unit and former producer of "CBSReports."

HAMILTON JORDAN, currently politicalcommentator for Cable News Network; formerchief of staff to President Jimmy Carter.

Also present at the meeting and active in thedecision taken by the group to quietly distanceitself from the LWV by means of deliberatelykeeping the working press from publicizing thecommission's near unanimous verdict to do awaywith the League were:

VOTESCAM

I,ANE KIRKLAND, president of the AFL-t 'l( ) since 1979.

ITRANK FAHRENKOPF, JR., chairman of theItclrublican National Committee since 1983.

I'AUL G. KIRK, JR., chairman of thellt'rnocratic National Committee since 1985.

'|ONY COELHO, four-term Democraticr c

1 r resentative for California's 1 5th congressional

rlrstrict.WENDELL H. FORD, two*term Democratic

rcnator from Kentucky.CHARLES S. ROBB, former Democratic

ft( ) vernor from Virginia..IOHN H. SUNUNU, two-term Republican

p.overnor of New Hampshire.A discussion by the Commission took place at

tlrc Madison Hotel's Arlington Room on October1.5, 1985. Nearing the conclusion of theproceedings, Mrs. Graham turned to Laird andt'lrenly criticized the way presidential debates hadbcen run in the past:

Mrs. GRAHAM: I would just like to ask onerluestion. I think the formulation of who is askingthe questions has gutted the debate so totally thatby the time they have gotten through getting ridof everybody they dislike for the panel,cverybody who can ask a question is gone and it'stcrrible. I think it's a scandal.

LAIRD: That's what we're trying to solve.FAHRENKOPF: We are not sure...whether we

ought to go to a traditional debate format.JORDAN: Kate (Graham) makes the point I'm

254 Full Circle

trying to make. The more of these things leftthe air three years out present opportunities f,

candidates to wriggle out of debating.STRAUSS: It's the hope of the partie

working on this that they'Il come to anagreement on that, which will substantiallyimprove the debate process itself, including thoselection of examiners and the format it willtake.

LAIRD: Well. I would think that a candidatowho feels committed to a particular coursuch as agreeing in advance to debate, manyyears ahead of time, has lost some control oftheir campaign. I agree with you, too,(Presidential) debates are not the greatestthing in the world. Everybody seems to thinkthat we think that debates are the mostwonderful things that ever existed, that theyare the only (meaningful) part of thecampaign. We have tried to downplay that as

much as possible.STRAUSS: Let me make another point, too.

I'll guarantee you that the two party chairmencould handle that better with some third(political) party than the League of WomenVoters (could). During the Carter campaign we(at the DNC) couldn't cope with it all. We hadnothing to get our hands on. I almost drove theLeague qazy and they me.

Mrs. RIDINGS: What you're telling me isthat Frank (Fahrenkopf) and Paul (Kirk) aregoing to deal with sponsoring the debates?

VOTESCAM

'l'hat's the most ridiculous thing I everlr,'rrrd. How ever could they deal with a

r rcclible third (political) party?.IORDAN: Dorothy, we were presented the

rt'rrlity in 1980 that the John Anderson campaignrvrrs viable. That the incumbent president of thellrrited States had to debate a man if he had overl0 percent in the polls. That was a very arbitraryrlecision that the League made that we had to livew ith and wrestle with. I really believe that theway to credibly and effectively administer therlc:bates is to do it through an agreement betweenthc (two major) parties.

LAIRD: Then there's fairly general agreementthat we can do it better through the (two major)lxrlitical parties?

Mrs. RIDINGS: Mel, I disagree with part of it.I think it's an absolute mistake to say that thet'hairmen of the two (major) political parties aregoing to get together two years ahead of time andtlecide how the ultimate candidates of thoseparties. . .

LAIRD: They may not get together. But if theytlo get together I think their recommendations canbe a very important part of this report.

Mrs. RIDINGS: You are trying to make rulesway ahead of the game.

STRAUSS: That's exactly what they hope todo. Once you do it that way then you don't have tornake decisions in the context of what's good orbad for anybody They are made with blinders on.

Mrs. RIDINGS: You're asking my opinion? I

255

Full Circle

think it would be foolish for anv candidateagree ahead of time to do that.

KIRKLAND: The object is to have aI think the possibilities are considerablyenhanced if the networks are involved in thonegotiations. Even if a candidate mightconsider overriding a decision made by hisparty chairman,I think one would be a littlcmore concerned about overriding a decision inwhich the networks are involved. That,s myview of the relative focus of power in thiscountry.

STRAUSS: I think, and I think you wouldagree with me, Dorothy (Ridings), that thisdiscussion should stay within this room. If wecoald keep it out of the press it woald beimportant and significant that it not be (in thepress) - (that) we not read about it in the nextfew days'press.

Mrs. GRAHAM: I just wish to point out thatthings leak. They don't necessarily leak fromthose of us who are here at this table.

STRAUSS: You don't need to tell me.Mrs. GRAHAM: I'm not taking

responsibility for it.STRAUSS: But if we could keep it in this

room - it has been kept in this room fbr a monthalready, so there is no reason why it can't be foranother month. Yes? In other words, if the (twomajor) parties work out an agreement to takeover sponsorship of the debates, rather thanhave it mailed out, I'd want it to stav in this

VOTESCAM

r,'orn and not read in the papers or see it on TVrrrrtil we (the commission) agree to it.

After the session was over and the CSIS think-t.rrrk had unceremoniously disposed of thel,t':rgu€, Frank Fahrenkopf buttonholed Nixon's,'r'defense chief, Melvin iaird, in the cloakroom.l,rhrenkopf was worried. The U.S. Court ofAppeals in \Washington had recently (Septembe4l,)lJ5) handed the Colliers a cause to celebrate. Itr rrled unanimously to remand the case againstl)()nsanto to the District Court "for furtherprrrceedings."

This meant that unless something intervened,I X)nsanto and Attorney Generallilftlliam FrenchSrnith (also named as defendant) would have to,rl)pear in court. It would create the publicitylx>nanza which they rightly assumed we neededrn order to expose the story It was a doomsdayrlecision that would have to be neutralized.

Fahrenkopf had done a lot of thinking sincehe had personally taken on the developments in()ur cases. \7e believe that he conferred withCarr and together they devised away to poisonthe waters of the Donsanto/Smith suit.

It was to be a "killer memo" inserted into thecourt file, authored by a highly rumoredimminent nominee to the Supreme Court. This"killer memo" was to be written and filed byFederal Appeals Judge Antonin Scalia,** It was a young Antonin Scalia who was ln charge of the Office

of Telecommunications in the White House in 1971 when the

258 Full Circle

exonerating Craig Donsanto from any chargeswrongdoing in the Collier case, thus signaling alljudges dealing with our case in the courtsbelow, that the "Gteat Persuader" (as Scalia isknown), wanted a dismissal to result before thecase came up for hearing in Federal DistrictCourt.

lJ7'hen we first filed the lawsuit againstDonsanto and Smith it was dismissed. Then atwo-judge appeals court panel, made up ofJudge Skelly Vright and Judge Rurh BaderGinsberg, remanded our case to Federal DistrictCourt. It was supposed to be heard bywhichever judge received the case in routinerotation.

Therefore, Scalia knew that his input was notrequired or requested. Only if rwo judges splittheir decision is a third opinion called for.Scalia's two cents would be gratuitous.

Now Scaliahad to be persuaded that the riskincurred by stepping in and unilaterally acting toinfluence the lower court, for two JusticeDepartment friends, was worth the payoff

Carr and Fahrenkopf knew that any overtmove by Scalia, such as issuing a memo inbehalf of former colleagues to get them off thehook, was dangerous. It could someday result inconflict-of-interest charges against Scalia. But if

C,olller telegramwas sentto Rlchard Nixon. As the presldent'schlef counsellor in these matters, Scalla's iob was to put thetelegram tlrrough the proper channels, whlch lncluded bothNixon at the Whlte House and Donsanto at theJustlceD€pa.rtment.

VOTESCAM

tlr,' prize was big enough to warrant the gamble,tlr,'y figured Scalia would likely go along.

'l'hat left the question for Carr and Fahrenkopf,r', to precisely the nature and timing of thel,.ryoff

V0b believe there was no less than a guarantee!rorn the Republican hierarchy that Scalia wouldlrt' fleXt in line for the nomination to the\uprefiie Court in 1986, instead of his mentor,rrrcl former law professo4 Robert Bork.

On a sheet of paper was the proposed "killerrf f cmo," a one paragraph statement by Scaliarvhich read:

I concur only because I believe that summaryrrl'firmance should not be by less than unanimousvote. In my view, it is plain from the face of thepleading that the law pertinent to prosecutorialtliscretion fully supports the district court'srlismissal of the action.

SCALIA, Circuit Judge

As any lawyer can see, Scalia used asubterfuge here: first, he said that "su.rnrntrytlffirmance sbould not be by less tbanttnanimous uote." That means he was agreeingwith lfright and Ginsberg. Thus, he had noleason to write anything else but "I concur."

Then, he put in the "killer line" - thatI)onsanto had full discretion not to see ourtvidence and that our case should be dismissed.(.Wben infact Donsanto was rnandated to see

259

260 Full Circle

our euidence and tben decide if be sbould,upon it).

tVithout question, in the absence of thmemo, Donsanto and the Attorney Genewould have been ordered to appear at ahea

- yielding us a dramatic forum in which tothe government's hands-off attitude towaprosecuting vote fraud.

An unprecedented 50 days after the tjudge panels original orde4 Scalia surreptitientered the memo into our file. Itundocketed on unbonded, unwatermarkpaper, with no time stamp, with Xerox doodleson the back. All it lacked were tomato stains.

Shortly thereafter, Scalia was nominated forJustice of the Supreme Court.

$7e didn't let it go withour a fight. \fe suedScalia, challenging his integrity and thethat led to the tampering of records. Scalia'scorporate counsel, Edith Marshall, arguedScalia, in fact, did what we claimed he did, bbecause he was a judge he had a perfect right todo exactly as he pleased. \7e countered thScalia was not acting as a judge when he snuckthe memo into the file 50 days after the fact.T7A.en testified against Scalia at his confirmationhearing. 'We needed approval by the CommitteeChairman, Senator Strom Thurmond, in order tobe a witness against the judge. If the JudiciaryCommittee found no merit in our charges, wewould not have been permitted to testify

VOTESCAM

l.istening to the indictment against Scalia,',r'r)atof Thurmond, in an unsolicited move,,r:.lit'd: "Do you want two more minutes?

l'.en replied: "Yes, Sir. I am an investigativer('l)orter, here to find out if this nominee is;,r,ing to be challenged this afternoon, as we\\'('r'e, in order to come to these hearings.

"\7e asked the attorney defendingJudgeI'r rrliz against our lawsuit: 'Will our charges be, lt'nied?' Six weeks have passed since the filing.It's had a chance to mature, Senator, but it hasrrsulted in not a denial on the merits of the suit,rvlrich attacked the integrity ofJudge Scalia, and1,ut him as a co-defendant with the RNC.

"His attorney then assured us thatJudge Scalialr;rs immunity to do whatever he pleases,wllether on the bench or off, and if he didn'tIt^gally file the memo, it was the only( ()ncurrence (memo) that was never filed in thelristory of Appeals Court."

Thurmond thanked Ken and, predictably ourr;rse was later dismissed.

Today Scalia sits on the Supreme Court of thellnited States. A man who cheated his way thereoo z deal with the Republican National(,ommittee, and cheated his old professor,l{obert Bork.

This is the man who makes decisions over thelives of 250 million Americans.

And that was that.

261

Tlrrotrghout 1985, as public interest levels were

262 Full Circle

being raised on the topic of vote fraud and a

dialogue opened in the courts and in print, thetime was nearing for a hearing in earlyDecember before Superior CourtJudge NicholasS. Nunzio.

The hearing would determine if ourarguments were strong enough to warrant"punitive damages" from the RNC, or whether(from the RNC point of view), the case shouldbe dismissed in a summary judgment. It wouldbe the first open-court test of the charges.

Th.r" were about 100 people in the courtroomwhen the hearing opened. Carr went first andrecounted our case toJudge Nunzio. Infact, Cansold our case better than we could have. Hedetailed every nuance to the Judge. He waseloquent.

His strategy appearcd to be a recitation of justhow strong our case actually was against hisclient, the RNC, hoping thatJudge Nunzio wouldget the point and dismiss the litigation beforetoo much damage was done.

For example, after recounting how manyagencies had studiously ignored the evidence, hesaid;

"Your Hono4 that hasnt stopped the brothersin their quest for prosecutorial proceedings.They have continued to write about this. Everydetail of what happened in that tape has been inmany many publications.

"Not only do we have these official

VOTESCAM ;t6.i

,'rii.utizations seeing the tape, but the C<>llicr's

lr.rvc rnade every detail clear in a .st'l ol'

1 ,rrl ,lished photographs. Still nothing to thi.s clrrtt'

lr,r'' ot'curred."( ..rrr was living up to his reputation. He hacl

u, n()tes. It was just an extemporaneous disl>llry

,,1 :'lyle. He submitted an outright falseho<>cl ilr''.1),rng that any agency had ever seen th('I r ttt'scalfi.video, and it was so smooth that hcn,r.., totally believable. 'We were as fascinatecl as

rlu';[rdience.'( )nce again, addressing the language of tht'

rr "rvrrd offer. One of their claims has been thlrt

rlr('y were induced to make the videotape, ancl

rlrt'y relied upon the offer's wording. They say

lrr't:ruse of this inducement, they actuallyrrrrrlertook life-threatening action when thcyr r1 rt'r-rt€d their video camera.In fact, they showl,rt.r there was a shooting of the publisher of tlrt'llr,rleah Home Neuts, which was crusading in| ','lralf of their cause.

"llut the credibility of their notion of dangt'rlr.t'c)files less when you rcalize that in the last

tlrrce to four months, they've risked exactly tlrt'',.rrne thing in the State of Iowa. They went t()l,wa with their video equipment and again t<>olt

l,otzg€ they claim shows vote fraud. They'vt'.,1'o recently gone to the State of Ohio, whcrc'tlrt'y've videotaped the League of 'Women Votcrs, k ring exactly the same thing as they discovercclrrr l)ade County

"I honestlv believe that the Colliers art'

264 Full Circle

dedicated to fighting vote fraud as rhey see it,it exists. Howeve4 your Hono4 I also suggestit's not completely nonselfish, because forreason, they're making their own news.

"'W'hat happens here today without questwill appear in some newspaper within a weeThey've used the tactic of asking for punitidamages against my clients because they fithat if they're ever allowed to really get intofinancial records of the Republican NationCommittee, there will be tremendous materithere for yet other articles."

This was a correct conclusion, but alsoattempt to getJudge Nunzio to dismiss theNot because it lacked merit, but because thColliers could make money selling a story thad pursued for over a decade. It was a saway from Ayn Rand's indictment of sociforeseeing the man who invented fire beiburned at the stake, and the man who inventhe wheel being turned at the rack.

Carc sat down and Ken fired our first qto the court in rebuttal.

"Counsel this morning has stated thatshould have known better than to think thatRNC could follow through or deliver on ipromises. \frhy did the RNC promise what icould not deliver?"

tVe toldJudge Nunzio that we hadthe law of estoppel. It held that if a promisemade without the intention of fulfilling it,where the party making the promise is in a

VOTESCAM

1,, ,:;ition to know about its inability to deliver,tlrf rrther party may sue for punitive damages.

l'lrat statement brought Carr's hand to hisI' nrl)le. He started giving Roman hand signals torlr.'-f udge, because where we may not haveI'r't'n able to prove actual damages (money out, 'l pocket), if Judge Nunzio granted punitive,l,urrages, the cost to the RNC could berrrofIllOUS.

'l'heJudge said to us:"You say it is a contract. Mr Carr's argument is

rlr,rt it was an offer of a reward; that it was not a, r tnttact per S€."

We then read from the deposition of Richardliit hards, former RNC chairman. It was evidentlrom his statements that every element of a, ( )ntractual relationship between us and theltNC had been admitted under oath.

At this pointJudge Nunzio caught Carr's hand

"irinals. He rose half-way out of his chai6 hefted| )rrr case file off his desk and became very,rsitated.

"First of all, if I had this file downstairs, it wasr,'viewed by somebody else. I would never havecntertained oral arguments - but somebody elsert'viewed this."

(In otber words, tbe Judge uould baueucuer allowed tbis dialogue in open cou.rt,ltut be was trapped witb a bundred\ | ) e ct ato rs Ii s te ning.)

"But somebody else reviewed this; Ilr:rppened by chance to be the motions judge

to)

266 Full Circle

and they were reviewing it and somebodset it for hearing; I did nor. I think thatcould have adequately ruled on this on tpleadings and therefore... "

('We could bear tbe deatb knoll comingNunziob balting cop-out about not readingfile. Ind,eed, tbe Judge had not conxe prepared.

lVbat be was telling Carr uas that becaught off guard, and tbat be would bapreferred to dismiss tbe case before it euer gotcourt. rX/e made a lastfrantic attempt tobeard)

"May we uoir dire the judgeprevious experience as aJustice

about youDepartme

prosecutor...?"Nunzio slammed in with: "Mr. Collier.

take your seat."

Jim desperately jumped in. "If the Courplease, may I have one statement?"

'All right, what is it?""I just want it on the record for this Court,

the videotape evidence referred to as tVotescam video - which the Court may bethe verge of concluding without viewing - isuch compelling evidence that the ChristiaBroadcasting Network recently purchased airights. And the tape we put togerher iCincinnati was conclusive of vote fraud. Thethat those women were using tweezers..."

"I'm not concerned with that."". . . to pluck tabs out of the ballots, creati

illegal votes...it got on local television and

VOTESCAM

r ,nrsed the Elections Superviso4 Elvera Radford,r', (luit her post and resign the very next day"

"You must understand, both of you, that I'mrr(,t trying your case. I'm listening to arguments,rrul nothing more."

"l would like to proffer further argument tolr,'lp buttress the good work we have done," Ken,', rir l

f udge Nunzio sat back and smiled. "You know1,r,rr zct like a man who feels as though he hasI rsl."

Oarr jumped up, not sure as to what Nunzio'srrrotives were, or what Nunzio was about to do.r .rrr's slickness had disappeared.

"Very briefly your honor, it's quite possibletlrt're's voter fraud on this tape. I dont know; I'mrr()t pfepafed to judge it. It's been presented to, rll'icials all the way from Florida to'Washington.l'lrc'y havent acted on it. I didnt know they soldrl, not just to that organization, to many other,tganizations. Nobody's acted on it.'We rest onlIutt."

.fudge Nunzio then handed dourn his ruling."This is the way I see it. The Colliers may well

lrrve a point with respect to Donsanto. If he didrrot do his job, then in effect, it is material thatlrc chose to block their contract. But I do not:i('e a case of punitive damages here.

"I'll grant the RNC partial summary;rrdgement because the plaintiffs have failed totlemonstrate any wanton, malicious, reckless oror-ttfageous acts."

267

268 Full Circle

He looked at us. "Your case is alive.Collie4 only with respect to those materialconcerning Mr Donsanto and whether therea contract there. Thank you verv much."

\7. had cleared the last hurdle before thescheduling of a jury trial. As we left thcourtroom, we assisted Carr with the bigdoors leading out, careful to gauge his attiin the face of defeat at the hands of amaHe was not happ)r

Suddenly sprouting ^n

aggravated half-he reached for the most poftentous commeyet:

"Dort't count your money"Ve had watched him squirm asJudge

handed down his decision. His hand sigwere expended to no avail. Now the fulltrial which Carr had been hired to avoidimminent.

"VOTESCAM

14

Sre,'n CHIUBER SnssroN

'Wben I use a utord.," Ilumpty Dumptysaid., "it meansJust ubat I cltoose it ta,nean- notbing rnore nor less."

-Lewis Carroll

tltI he next step on the way to trial was a pretrial

r onference scheduled for three weeks hence onl,rnuary 5,1985. The purpose was to formallyr krar the decks of any unresolved questions byr lt'fining the specific points of law to be decided,rl trial.

The only way Carr could derail our progresswould be to "reach" the pretrial judge and,rttempt to have the case dismissed. When thelrrdge turned out to be an unapproachablel()urneyman preftial specialist, known to be"trnreachable," Carr had to bypass him.

He had his assistant, Kyle Kane, research thelriographies of every judge on the Superior

269

270 Star Chamber Session

Court. It wasnt long before a standoutemerged, one whose integrity might tsublimated long enough to ntionalize "doingfavor ficr a friend."

It wasJudge Henry F Greene, a 1987appointee to the Bench, whose employmenttheJustice Department spanned thirteen yeand brought him regularly into the orbit of CrC. Donsanto.

On;arru ary 5th, at 7L a.m., the day of thpretrial, we were standing in the court clerkoffice with Carr and his assistant Kang when thephone rang. Until this time the case had beenassigned to the official pretrial Judge rVilliamThompson. The clerk who took the call advisedus our case had been reassigned toJudge HenryE Greene. \We had no idea at t"hat time why wewere re-routed to a "special pretrial judge,"we had no choice but to go along and play outdevelopments.

\Tarning lights started flashing when we weretold that the pretrial conference would beconducted in a little used annex-portion of thecourt-house located several blocks away All ofthe other people standing nearby who had beenreporting for pretrials every half-hou4 were senttoJudge Thompson in the main courthouse.

"\fhy are we being treated differently?" Jimasked.

'Judge Greene's orders are being followed,,'the clerk replied.

VOTESCAM

t.rrrr and Kane, who had been hovering just1,,'lrind us at the counter, registered no surprise,rt tlrc last minute event.

lrollow me," Carf said "I know where he's',, rrtling us. It's over in Building A'l

r: trooped out of the main courthouse int,.rrr's wake and silently followed his footstepsirrrl>rinted in the ankle-deep snow: rilfhen we,r lived at the appropriate building, Carrrrrrrmbled something to the guard at the sider lor>r ?od he waved us through, rather thanr,'tluiring us to enter by the front door whererrrt'tal detectors and video cameras wererrrstalled to record who went in and out,

Carr guided us to a self-service elevator.Wlren we arrive d at a private door with norrurrkings, we noted that it was just behind at ourtroom which was undergoing renovation.l,;rter we learned that the "Moot Court" exercises,,1'several local university law schools were, onducted in it - but no official Superior Courtlrcarings had been held there in nearly two,lccades.

Carr knocked and opened the door withoutwaiting for a response. There, wasJudge Henryli Greene and his secretary waiting for us. Oddlylroweveq the seats they were sitting in seemedto be awkward, as if this were an entirely aliensituation they founds themselves in. Thesccretary was seated in the Judge's chair behind,r massive desk, while Judge Greene sat in an

271

)1',' Star Chamber Session

informal wooden armchair. He had artangtwo other armchairs in a semi-circle a fewfrom his own

He beckoned Carr and Kane to take theclosest to him, while we were relegated to sita bench across the room, against the wall. JGreene spoke first.

"Look at the size of this file. I had sometime to fit in a pretrial conference, but I tttrat the clerk would just send me a 'slip-and-fall,Instead, what do we have here? A mattinvolving the Republican National Committee!"

"Si4 could someone tell us why we're herenot inJudge Thompson's office?" Jim questioned,

"Do you have a tape recorder on you?"Greene asked.

"Nq we do not.""Then sit down and shut up."'We attempted to challenge this star cha

session.For those who may not be familiar with t

term, the dictionary defines star cbamberas'formerly an Englisb court ubicb met insession witbout a jury, and banded dounarbitrary rulings tbat utere extremely seuere,Abolisbed in 1641. Tberefore, any inuestigatiuebody that is similarly unjust."

"Do you happen to be represented bycounsel?" he asked us.

"\7e afe representing ourselves, your Honof,""Then my advice is youd better get a lawyer if

you dont like the way things are going in here."

VOTESCAM

\\1rtll that, we were ordered to retum 72 hoursl.rt.r li>r a de nouo hearing - that means all thelr rtlt'nC€ presented toJudge Nunzio would havet, l,t' repr€sented toJudge Greene in 72 hours -, r','rr though court rules required one week'srr rrttcfr notice to both sides. It was ground.rlrr':rcly settled and these guys were illegallyf ,,r( ir)g us to go over it again.

Wc left the dark and dank old courthouse andrr,rllicd around in the afternoon snow: \We hadl,r't'n drzgooned and keelhauled in that room.tl,,r,y q1s felt sick and furious. There seemed tol,r' two choices: first, we could flle a motion, l r, rllenging the 72 hours.

'llut if they buy another judge and we don't',lrow up for their bullshit" de nouo hearing, we, ,,uld find ourselves back inLafayette Park withrro case," Jim said.

"Or," Ken suggested, "the other choice is to,,lrow up and get the transcript and use it tornrlreach Carr and Gfeene."

"Id like to get Carr disbarred."We opted to show up.

hat follows are excerpts from those',('questered and illegal proceedings.In his(,1)ening statement, Judge Greene fully admitstlrat he was not the assigned pretrial judge.

COURT: This matter first came to my,tltention on the first day I was assigned to myrrcw civil assignment on Monday of thisweek, January 5,7985, when it was certified

L /:')


to me about midday for a pretrial hearing...

(Infact, tbis case bad neuer been certifiedJudge Greene)

...when it came to mq about six inches ofwalked into my office. Unless I was goingkeep counsel and the parties waiting for twothree hours, it made sense for me to at leastsome initial impression from both sides aswhere this matter stood. Then I would recesstake a more informed look at the file...

(Tl'anslation: "I just got tbis and I didn'twbat I was dealinguitb.")

...both parties are seeking a portion ofNunzio's ruling to be overturned. The Collisought punitive damages against the RNC, aMr. Carr filed a parallel motion seeking fdismissal.

Qudge Greene knew tbat we were notany portion of Jud.ge Nunzio's ruling toouerturned. .We simply wanted a pretriconference.It uas Carrubo uas seeking toNunzio ouerturned.)

KEN: Your honor. if we were to winmotion for punitive damages, no harm would bedone to Mr. Carr's position. But if the Courtreconsiders the issue of overall liabilitv once

VOTESCAM

,rri,rrr by conducting a new hearing from "square,rrr'," 2s Mr. Carr is seeking, we will be the only1r.r r ry in jeopafiy of dismissal. It is a patentlyunl,rir situation we find ourselves in, with littlet, 1111in and everything to lose. Mr. Carr has,'rllything to gain and nothing to lose.

t.()URT: So, you were not satisfied that there\\,rs an adequate hearing before Judge Nunzio?

l(EN: It was satisfactory on the issue oflr.rlrility only If we had been given sufficientrililc to argue our point for punitive damages,rvt' would have simply listed the egregiousrr rllful. wanton. reckless and malicious nature oftlrt' tactics used by the Republican National( ,( )rnmittee to avoid honoring their reward offen

We tben uent on to giue tbe sbopping list of allt)ur grieuances tbat sbould baue led toltrmishment of tbe RNC. We toldJudge Greenetlmt Carr bad. uietued. our euid.ence and neuer,,nce had suggested tbat it didnT meet the bigbest:tandards of admissibility required in ar riminal trial. Then we turned to Caff:

KEN: Mr Carq we challenge you to do so now

COURT: Let's try to keep our eye on the ball.l'he ball in our view is the reward offer. That'swhere this litigation starts, and may well bewhere it should end.

,1\


Judge Greene read the reward offer in ientirety, then added: "the reward offer furindicates, "We bAue establisbedpbone numwbicb will be manned by attorneys, wbo uassist in. putting (claimants) in toucb uitbproper State and Federal off,icials wbo wproceed utitb sucb complaint."

KEN: Yes, we did use the phone numbercall Mr Braden at the RNC in November 1982.

COURT: Are you contending that Mr. Brdid not put you in touch with the proper

KEN: Yes, Mr. Braden did utter the nameDonsantq but not in the context of putting ustouch with him. The utterance of a surnamesomeone in the Justice Department is a farfrom putting a reward claimant in touch withim.

COURT: You're contending now that MrDonsanto was not a proper official to havesent to, even though he is a vote frauprosecutor?

KEN: Yes. It turned out *rat he wasnt.

COURT: It turned out that he wasn't? Arecontending they knew he was not a propeofficial to be sent to with your evidence?

VOTESCAM

l(liN: Your Honoq once we were rebuffed andt,,1, I not to return, Donsanto becametn,rl)l)ropriate - the wrong official.

t,()URT: You seem to insist on making Mr.| ){ }f rsanto a party to this litigation. He's not. HeIr.r:; not been interpleaded, he has not beenrrr,rrle a third-party defendant. And while therenr.ry be a pending investigation of him by thef rr,lice Department, or the FBI, or the KGB - Ir h,rr't koov. who's investigating him...

( Let's notforget tbis is an illegal hearing andtltt,re uas no need to interplead Donsa.nto.l)()nsAnto was being sued, in tbe Justicel)('l)artment case)

KEN: The OPR - Office of Professionall(r'sponsibility sir.

COURT: I don't discern its relevence to thislrtisation. Nov4 let's finally assume for purposes, rl argument that the last of the words "will" that,rl)pears in this reward offer means exactly whatVou contend it means.

That is, that it amounts to a gvatantee that thel( NC would make sure that federal officialsrr,ould proceed with your complaint.

KEN: The RNC's intentions were clearly set,trt ifl the plain language of the offer. Only noulrrr this litigation, do we find out that they did not

11'7

Star Chamber Session

intend it to mean exactly what it says on its face,

COURT: I dont mean to be facetious, butseem to think that the relationship betweenRNC and the government, if there happens toa Republican President, is about the samebetween the Communist Party and the Politbuin the Soviet Union. In other words, whathe party in power says, goes. Is that yoposition?

KEN: Your Honor, while we appreciateCourt's colorful analogy, we respectfully submithat in modern day \Washington, to deny texistence of "clout" would be the heightnaivete. Let's not forget that the opening phraseof the reward offer states: " We, tbe RepublicanNational Committee, are saddened to learn tbatuotefraud exists in many areas of tbe coLtntry",But when it comes to two citizens, in this casemy brother and myself actually going out intothe field and risking all to prove that vote frauddoes exist - the RNC wants to forget about it. ffyour Honor would just agree to see thevideotape, it would be clear as to why wepursued this case. Here you have the League...

COURT: Okay, Mr. Carr, let me ask you whythe language in the reward offer means what thePlaintiffs contend it means? Why isn't thatsufficiently outrageous or malicious conduct toqualify for.,.why isn't that kind of intentional

VOTESCAM

nrl',h';r<ling of the Plaintiffs sufficient to make this; l,urritive damages case?

r lVitb tbe aboue remark, Judge Greene,tr ttt'rr.lated our side of tbe casefor tbefirst time,tutt lrcfore Permitting Carc to respond, added thef"llttuing hint tbat "doutn the line a little bit" heu'r t t r l5l proride bis otun rebuttal)

..I think there is a substantial issue here,rr'lrit:h we'll discuss on down the line a little bit.r', to whether any reasonable individual could',o intefpf€t the language. Mr. Carr, would your r rrrcede that if it means what they say it means,l,rrrritive damages should have remained in thisr,lSL'?

(IARR: I would not concede that the punitive,l,rrnages element would remain in the case. I,krn't think it goes to the level of maliciousness,rrrd fraud thatare required.

COURT: In other words, are you saying that iftlre RNC meant it to appear to the reader to be aliuarantee, and knew that it wasn't, and knewtlrey couldnt make a guarantee, that's still notcnough to get them over the hump to make agrunitive damages claim?

CARR: I dont think, under the case law here,that it rises to that level in the contract field, yourl{onor

714


(Tbat colloquy uas nt.erely "code" for trecord. Judge Greene uAS telling Carr tbatunderstood tbe seriousness of our case.tbem a cbarade uas being conducted. Tlteknew uery well tbat be was about to ouerJudge Nunzio's original ruling tbat we weentitled to a jury trial on tbe merits of tbe case)

COURT: Thank you. I'm almost certain thatcan recall a punitive damage case, in whichCourt of Appeals vacated an a.ward, holdingeven in a fratd case, punitive damages arenecessarily appropriate, I've heard all I wanthear now I have some strong inclinations ashow I'm going to rule, but I want to wait untilfind this case, because I think it exists...

(Translation: 'After luncb I will giue youpiece of dictttm tbat's going to dismiss yoCASE.,,

After tbe recess, Judge Greene wasted notime in giuing us any benefit of the doubt.)

COURT: Now get this. It is my view, asmatter of law, that no reasonable person couinterpret the language "\fho will proceed wisuch complaint," as anything other thapredictive. That no reasonable person couconstrue that language as a guarafitee by theRNC as to what federal officials would do. Iguess that is really the crux of the matter

VOTESCAM

l',f rN: Your Hono4 mayl say something?t ,( )URT: Mr. Collier, if you interrupt me again,

I rrr going to get a marshal over here and holdl orr io contempt of court. Now I have just sorrrrr. lr time to deal with this matter IVe heard farl, 'n,B,cr from you than I've heard from Mr. Carr.\.rr't'c on notice.

r Wbat came next was akin to finding,

' u rselues in a ball of mirrors. Judge Greene

ltrttc€€d€d to manipulate and distort tbet,tt,dning and content of tbe Englisb language)

(IOURT: It seems to me that the word "will"rr'lrcn used as a verb has severdl connotations.l'lrcre is a Supreme Court definition which justrct'efltly came out about the word "wilf'...

( Judge Greene uas trying to say that tbe\tpreme Court bad recently ruled tbat tbe bed-t trck ctf contract lau, tbe utord "will'l uAS noItmg€r to be trusted. )

...In preparation for this, I was looking in atlictionary of English usage last night, and thervord "will," has several connotations.sometimes it does have connotations that,rrnount to a gvafantee, but in another context,lras only a predictive connotation.Tt;a;t is, "it willruin today" If I tell you, "it will rain tonight" or"will snow tonight," the word "will" is beingrrsed in a predictive connotation, because there's

z8l


no way I can guarantee that it will rain or itsnow tonight. It seems to me likewise, the"will" as used the last time in the rewardclearly has a predictive connotation. I find thisa matter of law

Qudge Greene just shattered centuriesconxmon lau )

KEN: There is nothing predictive in the"will" according to Black's; it's promissoryl athere's nothing in Black's Dictionary aboanything predictive.

(We tben read toJudge Greene tbe statementofformer RNC presid.ent Ricbard Ricbards wbenhe said tbat by signing tbe reward offer, heintended tbe prouisions of tbat document to bebinding upon tbe RNC.)

COURT:'Well, I've already concluded...youknoq I may be wrong. The court of appeals willtell me if I'm wrong, but I've abeady concludedthat the word "will" is not a word signifying aguarantee. It is a word, in my vierq that can onlybe reasonably interpreted by any reasonableperson as signifying a prediction as to what willhappen.

(Finally, Judge Greene fired off tbe following)

COUM: Any allegations of improper activities

VOTESCAM

lr1 Mr. Donsanto at the Department of Justice.rr' rr relevant to this Court's decision. The only'lli :,tion concerning Mr. Donsanto is not whatlr, ,licl with any information he received, butrr lrctlrer he was, in fact, a proper public official,,ur, I lhat is conceded by the Plaintiffs in this| .l',('.

I lrc Plaintiffs have repeatedly asked the CourtI', r('view and examine the videotape and I have,l, . lined to do so, because whatever is on thatt.rpt' i.s irrelevant to the Defendant's motion for',rnrrnary judgment. I must assume that there is

' \ r( lc'nce on that tape of voting irregularities andv,til1g fraud. I want to make it perfect$ clear ontlrr' r'ecord that I am not reaching that conclusion.r', :r factual matter, but that I have to assume itl,'r l)urposes of this argument and I have done'.',, ctofis€guently, it is not necessafy for me to' r;rrnine that tape.

t I{/e waited until tbe uery last rnoment beforertsing tbe samefutile attempt ue used on Nunzio

lo "rnrke a record" of the fact tbat Judge(;raene u)AS connected. toJustice Department, nnyism.)

KEN: Your Honor stated in chambers the other,l:ry, relating to your former experience in thelustice Department as an official or something oftlrlrt nature, which we did not understand. I wantlr r know if you could clafify that for the record,lrt'czus€ we do fear summary judgement, and we

283


fear *at it might come here and nowCOURT: Your request is denied, Mr Collier.

KEN: Have you ever worked for the JuDepartment, Sir?

COURT: I worked for the Justice Departup until 1981, and I will not respond tofurther inquiry

And so, Judge Greene ruled there wascontfact. No contract. no law-suits. no scaCarr's goalhad been accomplished. Donhad been successfully protected, and allsuits we had filed to illuminate the dimenof vote fraud in this country wefe eventuaeliminated.

W'e sued Judge Greene and asked the ChiJudge of the Court to hold a full investigatiinto Greene's and Carr's activities in thbackroom court.

\7e filed ethics charges. \We filed chargesthe bar association. All court investigatorsthat we were correct in the Star Chambassessment. \X/ith no surprise, they all refusedtake action.

'W'e appealed to the Supreme Court. (Seein appendix).

\7e had been a fleain their side. Virulentnot deadlrr As we walked out into the bitter'W'ashington winter, it was the ending of an era.

VOTESCAM

l,i )r us it was also the end of any possibility ofl,'tting the People know why the Americanr lrr';rrn was failing and the infrastructure of ouri | )untry was being destroyed.

A rnericans witnessed crack-cocaine being',,,1<l in the streets, cfime, unemployment, familyI'rr':rkdowns, and they had no idea that this lack, 'l lcadership was due to a calculated computerr lri1t.

On that dismal afternoon, we could not havelrres€efl a light at the end of the tunnel. Itrr'ould shine with the advent of the Nineties.

285

287

Boor Two

THn UNrr"rno FrnrnTHnonvrgg0:Lggz

Atbeory is good.ifit satiqft.es tutorequirements: it must accuratelyd.escribe alarge class of obseraa.tiorrson tlte basis of a mod.eltbat containsonly afeut arbitrary elements, and.itrnust make deft.nite pred.ictions abouttb e results offunre obseroations."

-Stephen \U( Hawking

288 Piece Of The Pvzle

L5

trickery was already being conducted by ttelevision networks in exit polling.

It seems that Louis Harris, the father of e

Prncn OrTnn Puznn

"Exit polls ...1A make tbem criminaloffenses.'

Throrrgho.rt the Eighties we had beenfor more clues to that elusive piece of tpuzzle; the one piece that would complete tpicture and prove to be the smoking gun.

Now in the Nineties, we believe that piecethe Exit Polls.

InDTl,when we were first introduced toso-called "magic machine" used to prediperfect vote totals in Dade County, we didrealize that a slightly altered version of t

polling in America, was hired by CBS in I

VOTESCAM

;11, rr rly after the JFK assassination, to create thelir .t cxit polls. He told us that Huntley &llr ir rl, lt'y on NBC had dominated the election' ,\ ( r;tJ-{e for years, relegating 'Walter Cronkite to=t'' , rrrr ll)est.

I l.u'r'is was instructed to conduct exit polls fortlr,' l(r rc:kefeller/ Goldwater presidential nce, andit \\',r.s expected that Cronkite would beatllrrrtlt'y & Brinkley to the election-night punch.

lrr :r telephone interviev4 Harris recalled thatl' r, li in l964he devised an effective method ofr,rrrl11s1i1g exit polls. He simply had voters putl,r .ur.S in jars labelled with each candidate'sn.rr(). He used seventy-two sample precincts,rrrr I ;rt 7:01 on election night, Cronkite was thelir:.t to accurately tell the public who won the1 ,r,'siclential race and by what percentage.lirom that point on, Cronkite on CBS

r,'rrrained the dominant election-night1','rsonality all based on beans in a jar.

llarris also told us that afterwards he waslrt'rrted like a pariah by the other networksIrct :ruse he was the creator of exit polling. It was.r ( ()ncept that would ultimately force ABC andNIJC to find a way to compete.

II n 1982, when we investigated the televisionrrctworks' abilities to call election results at7:07g, rn., based on "exit polls," we were told that we, ould not be given any information because itrvrrs proprietary; that meant the networks werer ornpeting with each other and they didnt want

289

_Ross

290 Piece Of The Pvzfe

to give their secret sample precincts away;were they about to reveal any informationrenegade reporters not officially sanctionedinvestigate.

Over the years, we were repeatedly askedsame question by news department personnelall three networks: "'Wtlo told you to call?"

Only \Tarren Mitofsky, the chief of thepolling dMsion at CBS, who replaced Louin1966, repeated the company line:

" Tbis is not a proper area of inquiry."He would repeat the litany over and

throughout the years as we continued tofor answers.

Because all three networks projected tsame numbers within minutes of each other.question grew: did tbey all use tbe same saprecincts?

As far as we could determine from our pconversations with their news departments,CBS actually did exit polling of some kind.and NBC personnel indicated that they dihave sufficient staff to handle it. But \MMitofsky was always the man very muchcharge at CBS.

It came as no suprise when, in 1989,networks finally admitted that a consortiumformed in which ABC. NBC. CBS and CNwould pool their "fesources" to conductpolls. That network pool was name d VotResearcb and Surueys (WS) and it wasby'Warren Mitofskv In fact. VRS and NES

VOTESCAM

l'lr', tion Service) both filter their numberstlrr,,rrgh the same mainframe computer located

',rr i ith Street.lit,tueen, NES and VRS, tbe networks haue

trtttll ,'onrrol of tbe uote -countingprocess in tbisI ttllltlry.

$71,"." Harris used beans in a iar,Mitofskyrr',.'s Chilton Research of Radnor, Pa. For yearsrr c tried to be hired as exit pollsters for thenltw(xks, but we were told that Chilton employs, 'tlrcr subpolling organizations in various states1,, tl<) the actual hiring of field personnel. In.;rrtc of our consistent efforts, the answers to the

l, rlkrwing still remain a mystery:lVbo are those subgroups wbo subsequently

It r n, exit Pollsters? Just bou many exit pollsters,ut,actLtrAlly bired.? Wbat are tbe nAffles of theItt'ld organizations ubo bire tbem?'Wbere aretln precincts tbey work in? Hou) are tbose samplel,t't,cincts cbosen?

Mitofsky (VRS) and Chilton refuse to explainlrr rw they operate by claiming they are privatetil()ups and don't baue to tell tbe Americanl,trtPle a damn tbing.

Li the New Hampshire 1992 primary this',1rring, VRS claimed to poll 3,800 voters using 38l)r'e cincts. That averages 100 people surveyedlx'r precinct, or approximately 100 responses to,rlrout 30 questions. The New York Times tafl al,lrrrb reporting the survey was conducted from

291

10') Piece Of The Pvzle

noon until early evening (say, 6 p.m.). Taverages about 18 people per hou4 per precifilling out questionnaires in the cold ofHampshire. A VRS spokesperson assuredthat "our pollsters don't fill out the forms,make the voters do it."

According to VRS, votefs are more thwilling to answer long questionnaires after tleave the polling booths. They are happy tdivulge their income, religious and sexupreferences, and a host of other personinformation, including the names of tcandidates for whom they just voted. So mfor the secret ballot.

\ilfhen we called election supervisors inHampshire and other states around the couduring the 1992 primary season, we werethat they never saw anyone they could acidentify as an exit pollster; furthermore"nobody lines up in the cold in New Hampshior South Dakota, in winter winds, to answerlong list of questions."

One of the questions on the form 'was: "is your income?" In New Hampshire, thesurvey listed 80 people in rhe over $75p00year category One election supervisor assuus: "there probably aren't that many peoplein the state with that kind of income, andwouldnt answer questions for some strangefa parking lot.

"Most people hurry to vote before work," theManchester supervisor said. "Some vote in

VOTESCAM

,,.rrly rrorning before work, others at coffeeI'r,',rlis and lunch hours. The rest vote in the, ,,1, I clark after work and then rush home for,lirrnr'r"

l.o who are these thousands of people withtlr,' time, patience and inclination to stand.,r, 'und answering questions for VRS?

r'llS claims they only use about 30 to 40,,rrrrple precincts per state, and they interview asnr.u)y as 3 to 4p00 people per state.

Again, simple math shows that people wouldlr.rvc to be consistently lined up virtually everylr,rrr to be interviewed in order for thousands toI rt'r't)lTle StatiStiCS.

( ,ln Super Tuesday in the 7992 primaries, sometrrrre after 6 p.-.the exit pollsters would havelr.rcl to total up about 100 questionnaires apiecet.rssuming everything was balanced) that is, taketlrc 75 responses times 100 sheets of paper andrit't a total. That's 7,500 numbers per person torotal. If all precincts were not balanced (with 100(luestionnaires apiece) then some precinctsu,'ould have, say 150 forms, while others wouldlrlve only 50. The pollster with 150 forms wouldlrrve to total more than 11p00 numbers.

I)ollrt"r, were instructed to call polling resultslrack to a Radnor 800 number. The telephone( ()mpany verified that only 67 telephonesr<>tated off that 800 number. At about 6 p.m., thepollsters would have to go to a phone, call

293

1A4 Piece OfThe Puzzle

Chilton, and repeat that long list of numback to one of those 67 operators.

Since VRS claims that thousands ofwere polled in seven states, our math indithat it was impossible to garner and call tmuch information back to Chilton operatorshave the results on the air at7:01. p.m.

L". C. Shapiro at VRS (Lee C. is what theyher around the office) is Mitofsky's top aidewe've shadowboxed several times over thedecade. She always responds with the compamotto: "this is not a proper area of inquiry."

But the last time Jim called, he gotunexpected information. "'We use clipboardsthe people who fill out questionnaires," Leesaid. "They answer the questions and droppapef in a box."

"Does Chilton issue official clipboards anpencils?"

"Nq not clipboards, exactly" she backed off"'Well, do the people fill them out on their

laps, on other people's backs, on the hoods ofcats?"

"You'd be surprised how many people can'twait to fill out our forms."

"But Lee C.," Jim prodded, "how is it thatevery precinct totals exactly the rightpercentages? And even more interesting is tall the people who fill out your forms fit thesame percentage mold. \7hy don't all JerryBrown's people fill out forms in some precincts,

VOTESCAM

,, lrrlt' the Clinton people refuse? Even if the;{r'r rrlCt is representative of the national norm,ri lr, slrfs the voters filling out questionnaireslr rr. l<) be a perfect mixture of that balance?"

llt'czus€ we create a statistical analysis thatI't, l,:; thos€ precincts."

Itrtl you dont pick the people who leave theq',,lls on a cold winter day who answer your,1rr.stions," Jim said. "'What's mofe, when all theil, rrv'Orks were supposedly competing, beforetlr,'y'admitted to a network pool, they all stillr rrnc up with the exact same numbers at7:071 ' rr r And those numbers always agreed perfectlyr rllr the actual vote totals that NES tabulatedrlt,'r'the polls closed. Did everybody use the, rrrrt'pfecincts?"

'Sometimes they used the same precincts."<)kay, then give me two precincts in

i'i'lrnsylvania that I can go to in the nextgrr nnztr1r and see for myself how it's done. That, .rrr't posSibly spoil some great cosmic plan."

At that point Lee C. Shapiro simply,lr,t r)nfiect€d. It was obviously not a proper atea, 'l rnquiry

A/\ t'cording to Valter Goodman in the New\,rkTimeS, (November 11,7989) "It is easy torrrrtlerstand voters...asked to tell somebody with.r . lipboard how they voted, might have repliedrr rth less than courtesy"

'l'he article comments on people not tellingtlrc truth as to whether they voted for black or

?o(

296

white candidates. Especially if a black personbeingasked_the question by a white person wla clipboard, or vice versa. That also goesvoters stating their religious and sexpreferences.

Piece OfThe Puzzle

'A professor of political science atUniversity of Richmond called it ,the fibbifactor'"

Besides voters protecting their priGoodman speculated:

'Might it be that some television viewersbeing mischievous? Disgruntled at beideprived of an evening's excitement, mi,some have figured out that the way to reslbit of zest to election ntght would be to mithe polltakers? Here was an opportunityqg"pl. e)esperared at being told-what they vthinking night after night, on all channels, totlrg teiling...whar a kick to kick the experts.all polltakers beware."T-l.F or the last few_years, we have attemptedenlist the aid of top reporters from majnewspapers around the country to helppenetrate the secret world of VRS. Among tirrcontacted were: Hunter S. Tbompson, StFrancisco Cbronicle; Dauid Rosen2weig, L,Times; Lionel Barber, Financial TtmesLondon; Harold Meyerson, Tbe Los AngeVeekly; Martin Gottleib, Tbe Neu york Ti

Joan Konner, Dean of tbe Scbool ofJournaliColumbia tlniuersity.

VOTESCAM

Allhough no help was forthcoming from any,,1 rlrese people, Rosenzweig sent us an, "., t'lfent compendium of stories the L.A. Timeslr.r, I r'esearched on computer vote fraud in July, 'l l()tJ9. Why the L.A.Times did not crusade ontlr,'subject, since they had this comprehensiverrr,rtt'rial, is a question that begs to be answered.

1o.7

298 The Thirteenth Floor

6THn THTnTEENTH Froon

"Wben you ba oe el'iminated, tbeimposslblc, uhatea er remains,boweaer improbable, must be tbetrutlt"

-Conan

\7h"n we settled back to watch the t99zYork primary election returns, we were at tend of a Z2-year mission, and we really hadintention of getting further embroiled iinvestigating vote fraud. Besides, New Yorkuses lever machines, and those old dinosaursvery hard to rE.

But as we watched ABC in New York tellpublic that eight percent of the vote was alcounted by 9:75 p.m., just 15 minutes afterpolls closed, we couldnt resist a telephone calto ABC.

VOTESCAM

I lr rw'd you do that?" Jim asked the man inr lr,rr13'.

I rr.se Associated Press figures," he said.lrrrr called AP only to find out:'Wc use News Election Service's figures and

tln' lx ilicefeed;'With that, the investigation was back on and

11,' wcre once more drawn into the frayI low did NES report eight percent of the vote

rn lrst 15 minutes? Jim figured that it wouldr' ,1uire either computer terminals in the 73,397',r.rtt'pf€cincts that could instantly send voter,,r,rl.s back to NES in New York. (Eight percent,,1 the precincts would be almost 1,1001 ,r.'t incts.)"()r," Jim added, "a phone bank at NES

lrr',rclquarters that could receive telephone callslr, rn correspondents in those same precincts."

l'he only problem with the computer theoryu'.rs there were no computer links in schoollr,u.SeS or fire stations where most people vote.

'l'hat left phone banks.

$fle aecided to call NES executive headquarters,rrrcl ask how they arrived atthat eight percentluiure so ear$

We didn't harbor much hope of getting a',traightforward answer from NES.'W'hen Kentold Robert Flaherty back in the Eighties that wervtrre writing a book on vote fraud, he1,rrrmiSed:

"No one will publish that book."

299

The Thirteenth Floor

This time Tim called NES executiheadquarters and asked for Dennis Zire,computer operator. He asked for the locationthe phone bank that received raw vote totafrom the precincts in New York State.

"\7ho wants to know?""I'm with the Jerry Brown campaign," Ji

improvised."Itl none of bis business," came the reply.

Mr. Susan Bucksbaum at Voter ResearchSurvey (VRS) said the League of 'W'omen

supply the personnel who phone in raprecinct totals to a phone bank at NES, butclaims not to know where the phone bank i

located. Only after some coaxing did s

volunteer that it "might be at One \World

Centef"Not surprising, she wasnt sure if the

was reporting vote totals to NES directlythe 13,391. state precincts or from the state'scounty boards of elections. The differencepersonnel is enormous.

If you waited for the ^ggregate

to arrive at63 county seats, youd only need 63 people,you couldn't call that information back to Nprior to 9:15 p.m.

'We checked the largest county, Eri(1,135 precincts), who, along with Niaga(1.43 Wecincts) contracts National TiSharing Data Service to tabulate theivotes for the media. A call to NT

VOTESCAM

tt'rtaaled tbey didn't baue any totals atalllty 9:15P.m.

t lnly a combination of some 20 or more oftlrt' remaining counties could possibly have,rr t'r>uot€d for eight percent, but that iust seemsrrrrpossible on a statistical (if not human) level,unless, of course, NES has that elusive phonel,,rnk capable of handling 1,100 calls in about ten|| t Inutes.

llven if they had the phone bank capabiliry alltlrc precincts in those counties needed totalsr.':rd off the backs of the machines and phonedrr just minutes after the polls closed. It wouldrr'(luire the next three largest counties, Monroer r)5), Onondaga (487) and Albany (29, to callNljS (remember there are no computer hookupsrrr fire stations or school houses), in the first fewrrrinutes after the polls closed, for the eightl)crcent to be legitimately achieved.

tllllection supervisors we telephoned claim they

r lon't rush to open the voting machines merelyto satisify the media's demand for speed. Firsttlrey put away their day gear and then they getto the vote counting procedures. Often people,rre still voting at9 p.m.tflI he next day, Jim again used the Jerry Brown

r redentials when calling Naomi Bernstein, thel)ress secretary for the Board of Elections inManhattan.

He learned the police department picks up

301


the 5,300 canvass sheets (the forms in triplion which the votes are tallied as numberscalled off the backs of the voting machines atp.m.), and delivers them to police precinctsthe five boroughs. Police officers then totalnumbers and send the results by computerNES headquarters where Dennis Zire feedthem to AP and the networks. This is the "policfeed" AP told Tim about.

One canvass sheet is delivered to One PoliPlaza, one to the Board of Elections of eaborough and the third is curbside-deliveredNES at One \forld Trade Center in Manhattan,From there the sheets are brought to the 13thfloor and enter a secret world that no citizenpenetrate. 'w'e tried.

had read about Votescamin the Jonattanbook, Conspiracies , Couerups. €t Crimes.

They were interested in doing a show onfraud in America. Jim suggested they begin witha visit to NES, the legal government mediamonopoly (exempt from antitrust laws),counts the votes on the 1.3th floor of the tVorld

Trade Center.

Jim told the show's investigative reporter, GailAnderson: "I called Robert Flaherty and told hirnthat I wanted to come over and see how hisoperation worked. He said that it was off limitsto the press."

]irr, -u, contacted by producers from the-Geraldo Rivera show Notu It Can Be Told,wha

VOTESCAM

A rrtlcrson was taking notes during the cabi tr [' to the

.World Tiade Center

" l'lrcn I added that I was working with DanIti,,lrr rl1, the national editor of the Village Voice, in

' 1,'r'r'loping a piece on vote fraud. I told Flaherty

tlr,rt I was on deadline and the story would printru rl week. He said, .W'e'll see about ttrat."'

I lrcy got to the 'World Trade Center justlrrrrutes before Flaherty had the 13th floorr l.scd off to the public. Once upstairs, Jim'.t,rr lr:d taping outside the NES offices. Flahertyl,rrrs[ through the doors, apparently alerted byt|r. guard downstairs.

"f urn offthat c meral"I Ic refused to allowJim and Anderson to view

rlr(' ()peration where NES supposedly receivesgrlrone calls from the League of 'Women Voters inllrt'precincts.

lim had time to ask one question beforeI l;rlrerfy ran from the camera.

"Do the people who call in from the precinctrrrrlicate what precinct they're calling in from?"

lrlaherty said "no, they didn't," and boltedl'.'lrind closed doors.

On the cab ride back uptown, Gail said:"If they don't indicate what precinct they're

,,rlling in from, somebody could be calling inlrogus vote totals from a back room somewhererkrwrr the street and nobody would know thet lil'ference."

ufithin a week of that meeting Nou It Can Be'ftild was cancelled.

303


Perhaps it was due to their ratings.And that was that.

AA story dated July 4,1989 in theL.A. Tiquotes Craig C. Donsanto, Justice DepartAttorney in charge of vote fraud prosecution:

"You have to have access and some degreetechnical knowledge to penetrate an etabulating system. All voting systems areof being corrupted," he told the Times. "Mostthem have been or will be. . . simply becavoting is the way we determine who getsin this great country"

The story goes on to say that there haveno federal prosecutions for tampering withcomputer vote counting programs, butsuggests that it might be because "fedeinvestigators are more familiar with paper balor lever-op erate d machines. "

tilfhat information Donsanto neglected totheTimes reporter was that he himself hadsued by the Collier brothers for hinderifederal prosecutors from ever looking intofraud.

The Times story also quotes Steve 'Whi

former Chief Assistant Attorney GeneralCalifornia:

"Election fraud is difficult to prosecbecause you need a co-conspirator whoforward, or an election that is such an upsetpeople would look into it. A more likelscenario is that in a close election, you i

VOTESCAM

' lr.rrrgc: a few votes in a few states, and nobodyrr,ultl ever knour"

t lrc: Times finishes with the frighteningr,'r','l;ttion that "some critics of computerizedt,tr' sssnting worry about the potential fortr,rlrtloors,' 'time bombs' and 'Tiojan Horses.' A

r ililrl)ut€f operator with the cofrect passwordr ,ulcl place a trapdoo\ ot a series of hiddenr,tc coufrting instructions inside the system,.rr r r rrcliflg to Election Watcb Report.

"( )nce into the system, the operator couldl,r( )gram the computer to count votes for one, .ur(lidate as votes for another. After the voteslr,rvc been changed to swing the election, thetr.rp door could be closed.

"A time bomb would have to be sprung by ar orrrput€f operator on the scene, but a timelr.rrb could be placed inside the tabulating',y.\tem in advance. It could instruct the' { )nlputer to add 500 dummy votes, while the1rclpetratof relaxed thousands of miles awatl"

As for the Tiojan Horse concept - HorurardJ.

"t luuss, Princeton University computer scientist

,,,rid: "'Writing the 'source code' for one of theseVo[s sssnting systems, a programmer couldrnsert a'Trojan Horse' that might not appear forV('llfs.

"Suppose I wanted to throw the 19921r'csidential nomination to (Mario Cuomo, fort'xample), I write the code so that every time ther):rme comes up in the primaries, he receives ar t'r'tzin number of votes."

305


\fttf, the help of the above scenarios, wehave just described one of the methused by computer wizard Sununu inHampshire to assure that the final resultsagree with the exit polls.

in ten years so we certainly couldnt forecastreaction to being drawn once more intobreach.

\ilre told him that we were on the trail ofsmoking gun, and that we believed it

A, -" had been unable to divine ^ paperon the exit polling operation, we called uEllis Rubin one more time. Sfe hadn't seen

pointed at Voter Research and Surveys. No,couldn't give him the details on how the I

deliver them to United States Attorney Ge\Tilliam Barr in \Tashington.

him that it should serve as a catalyst for a fupublic investigation of how the vote is counted.

was used, or how many political careers italready terminated, but we could definitsmell the smoke.

'We gave Rubin a copy of this book and

On March 13, 1992 we mer with Rubin iMiami and asked him to bring the issue offraud once again to the proper authorities.agreed. The following letter was draftedRubin and delivered to acting U. S. AttorJames McAdams in Miami, along with a copythis book. Rubin requested that McAdal

VOTESCAM

RUBIN RUBINS RWIN,q. pnorsssroNrAl ASSocIATIoN oF ATToRNEvS

307

r iil .'. RUtsIN|

^r\tit( ltuBIN. .I .i III.,NNETT RUBINlir rlll li'l IVAN BARRAR,JRI r,r, I i\4lLLER

r rt i r rl INCIL

|, \l.lllil. R. AARONSONIt1\il s s. BENJAMINir ir )r(ti\r(/ RICFIARD lll

MIAMI333 N.E. 23rd STREET

MIAMI, FLOruDA33137Go,) 576-5600

GO5) 576-3292 TELEFAX

FT. LAIJDERDALE100 N.E. 3rd A\IENUE. SUITE 850Ff. LAUDERDAIE, FLORIDA 3301

(30,524-5600

Hnrch 24, L992

wi I liam BaffAt t-orney General of the united Statest'tn i.n ilustice Building

"l 11, Tenth and Constitution Avenue, N.w.wnshington, D.C. 20530

lxrar General Barr:

tt.rcause I am mentioned throughout, thent t.ached manuecript, VOTESCAM: EHE STEALTNG OFAMERICA, was given to me by the authore for,'omment. I found the contenta to be so.,xplosive, current and important to everyArnerican voter that I requested and receivedl,ermiesion to transmit it to you through theUniLed States Attorney for the Southernt)istrict of Florida for immediate action.

'fhe Presidential, congressional, State andlocaL elections of 1992 are almost upon usand, gtrange as iu eeems, no human eye willr-rver see or count most of the millions ofvotes cast due to electronic or computerizedballoting. This manuscript expoaes several


examplee of how votes were and canmanipulated.

lilow, a new phenonenon has entered the picturlThe exit poII, whicb never fails to callfinal results within fractions of thoatalliee. By 7:01 p.m. election night,neuworks and their rnysterious exit polle teIIwho won and by how much, ALTHOUGH NOT AVOTE HAS BEEN COUIITED. This exit po1l poolcalled VOTER RESEARCH AND SURVEY (vRS). Tpublic does not know how it works, they can'find out and, in fact, it j.s totalurxaccountable to the public.

Along with vRs, the Tv networks and wigervices have put togetber and compLetecontrol the ITEWS ELECTION SERVICES (NES). NES

the officiaL vote counting apparatus oAmerica. The VRS and NES numbere always jibcHorr? why?

And who are the shadowy vendors who come int,the states and supposedly count the votegthe supervisor of elections and at great

VOTESCAM

!a{L)ayer expense? Since computers are invoLved1 r (:ounting votes' anyone with accegs codesr,,,rrld punch into electiona and change the+.grrIts...arrd nobody wouLd be the wiger. That alaog.'.!r for the software invol-ved.

{r Attorney General' I urge you to use tt}isnrnrruBcripU as background material and thenI r' I I the American public how you are going toenrritiz€ every facet of how their votes are,,,,unt€d. More than that, I pray you will make,,rrr elections foolproof . with Novemlcer rapidlya1,1,roaching, time ig of the esnence. As I havegn icl before: computerized voting by punchcardI lrwarts the will of the people. A cancer isgr,rwing on our mosu preciouE franchise' ttrrrrurL be eradicaUed NOW.

v.'r'y truly youra,

IiIIIiIN, RI'BIN & RI'BIN, P.A.Ii:I,I,IS S. RI'BINt",'r The Fi:ln

tllilt: ds/0052tln(:l-ogufe

309

The Thirteenth Floor

U.S. DnpenmrENT oF ICniurNer DrvrsroN

Office of the Assistant Attorney General Washington, D C. 20530

El1ig R. Rubin, Esq.Rubin, Rubin & Rubin333 N.E. 23rd streetMiami, Fl-orida 33]-37 -4926

Dear I{r, Rubin:

Your recent lette! addressed to AttorneyWilliam Barr and enclosing the manuscrpt ofdocument entitled ,,voteacam,, prepared by KennethJames CoLl"ier has been referred to the CrimDiviaion.

This Division is very familiar with the Co1llbrochers and their cl-aimg that computerized votlequipment uaed throughout the united States ttabulate voteE has been fraudul-ent1y manl-pulatedpart of a nationaL conapiracy to corrupt the outof electiona. The informat,ion that we have receifrom t.heae two complainants ha8 faiLed to demonstany support for t,heir thesis. For that reaaon, wenot conaider that t,he matterg referred to in tattachment to your letter warrant a crirniinvestigation by the Department of .fustice.

r appreciate your sharing this manuecript with uE.

sincerely,Robert S. Mueller, IIIAasiatant AttorneyGeneral

By:John C KeeneyDeputy Aasistant Attorneyceneralcriminal Division

}{r rl r, rl S. Mueller, III4',.r',1 .rttt AttorneY Generali", Irt'grartrrl€nt of Justicet rrrrrrrr.tl DivisionS'.i .l rrr tgtotl, D.C. 20530

I t, rr Mr. Muelle4

i, rru. lett€r is signed byJohn C' Keeney.and not by

1,,rr As an inveJgator I find that significant' You

,' , lolln C. Keeney is a name I know well' John C'

l,,r , nr')/'S name runs the length of our investigation

lrr,, vote fraud. It isJohn C' Keeney's name that

Jl 'l '('.il's on all documents protecting perpetrators' It

, 1,,1rr', C. Keeney's name we find on documents

r,r, ,tt'r'ting CraigC. Donsanto' It is Donsanto and

I ,'.'y;"ho arJthe stoppers-in-the-bottle of vote

t, ,,,,1 liror".ution in theJustice- Department' So it is

rl rt surprising that we find John C' Keeney's

',ttin,tture on Your letter'Af ter all, Mr. Mueller, we sent the Votescam

nr,uruscript to'$filliam Barr' We can now surmise

rlr,rr William Barr never saw it' Very probably John C'

l.r'r'r)t:f intercepted the manuscript, and he alone

,,,,,,1., the decision to write to attorney Ellis Rubin'

l. rllrng any hope of an honest investigation' \fe,, ,,,,uily do"bi that even you s.aw. the manuscript'

l,',r thaiJohn C. Keeney finagled it into his own

1,, '.,scSSiOn.' rr - must understand thatJohn C' Keeney knows

VOTESCAM 3LI

May 20,1992

3t2 The Thirteenth Floor

this story very well. He knows that Donsrefused to see theVotescarnvideotape we s

Miami, in which the League of 'Women Voterspunching holes in vote cards, and that hamattered because the computer operators werecounting votes. It was all preprogrammedbefore the election. Iohn C. Keenev knowsElvera Radford, the Cincinnati election chief, quitlong-held post the day after we videotaped theusing tweezers that corrupted the vote cards.tape was shown on television in CincinnatiDonsanto, making a mockery of the positionholds, refused to see it.

John C. Keeney knows that the Printomatic deris used extensively to rig elections in this counHe allows that to happen. He knows that a netvote counting cartel can change the computercount in 6o0/o of this nation without detection.

This nightmarish scenario can be accomplifrom a master computer located on 34th streetNew York City. But he refuses to sharefrightening fact with the public. His letter statesthe information he has "failed to demonstratesupport" for our thesis.'Well, Mr Mueller, we sayinformation he has proves exactly the opposite.

The information that Craig C. Donsanto andC. Keeney are protecting includes the namesscore of private companies that infiltrate Amercities without public knowledge and count theon their private machines. The people whothese companies could be paid to rig any electfrom local, to state or federal, andJohn C. Keeneyprotecting their identiry The public is kept

VOTESCAM 313

,,1 r lro they are, who they represent and what they

rr, t,,ritl.ni, Mueller, this country is in rotten shaper I have

lrr i rr ( ,rr radio shows from coast to coast, and callers

rrt ' l, )/('ns of cities testify as to how the computer inrlr' r t( )wn mystefiously "breaks down' when theirlr' 'rr, st candidate is winning. \7hen the systemrt Ir r ns on-line, the count is strangely reversed' The

rlrr{ \'('s won. It's a national epidemic' John C'

t., { n('y's job in Justice has become making sure

rlr, '., lucts are never open to public examination'

\\i lrt:n the Votescam manuscript is published, you

,rr, I tlre citizens of this country will be rightlyrrr, r'r)Sed. This letter, of course, will be the book'slirr,rl tlocument. If there is any iustice left in the

llr,lr( (r Department, the sequelto Votescam wlllirr, lrrtlc the indictment of John C. Keeney and Craig

t | ,ollSSfItO.

', rrrc'erely

l.rrrres M. Collier

314 The Last Dispatch

T7

THn Lnsr DrspercuHome News Wire

By:James and Kenneth Collier

NE\r YORK (HN\r) - Ir's amazing how tcharacters keep reappearing in the script.Gaeton Fonzi.

Ve thought Fonzi was just a simple scribealocalmagazine in Miami when he wrote7974 piece on Tbe Great Dade ElectionHowevel Fonzi, it turns out, was also a

reporter on the JFK assassination. \flhen heassigned to interview us on the vote fraudwe got the top drawer, number-one investiin America to feport on ouf case.

Fonzi was also a member of the HouseCommittee on Assassinations, which convein1975 to reopen the Kennedy case. In fFonzi is probably the only man left in tcountry who hasn't written a book on Jwhen indeed, he is the best man aroundpiece this entire conspiracy together.

To begin with he knows, from reading

VOTESCAM 315

I r, 1 rr 11 f s in the Home Neuts, that there was a

=rrllrt'r''.s nest in Dallas that nobody ever talksrlrrrrrl. It has never appeared in any oth-er

,,, rr',r1rup. r, and it ha; even escaped the

,1, t,',llion of Oliver Stone. Here is how we

,li ,, , ,vtred it.

( , rrrzcns for Fraud-Free Elections, a group in',.ur losc, California, called Ken in'W'ashington in

l,rtiit 'l'hey wanted him to go out-and.irvestigatetlrr rr :rrea for evidence of vote fraud, and they

1,ri 'nriSed to pay expenses once he got there'lrlrl',,,rgh that'ariangement was against our des,,,,,1 *Jusually insisted on monies up front, a

11, run(l cannot resist the pursuit, and so Ken

lr, ,r, lt'd out across America one more time'| )nce there, he appeared on a radio talk show

llr.lr ('()vered the Biy atea and drew a sizeable

.r rrr licnC€. As fate would have it, one of those

li .t,'nc.rs was the late and famous Mae Brussell'

,l', ,,{,-y"^, old Kennedy assassination buff who

!r.r, I lrcr os/n popular radio show out there'

ll you t.ud ;ott a't"han Vankin's book'r',,ttspiracies, C'ouerups & Crimes: Polttical

,,r,utiitulations and mind control in America"'1,1 l'rrragon House Press (published in October1,,,,f ), y"ou will have abefter understanding ofr I r r:, r'cmarkable woman.

wc' too, appear in Vankins' book, which

1,rr ,lilcs bottrtire famous and infamous Hounds, ,t t Icll who investigate conspiracy theories'u'l,,tt makes the boof, highly unusual is that, for

J lll The Last Dispatch

the first time, it gives dignity to the citizenslook for answers in places where the mmedia refuses to go.

Mae Brussel, according to Vankin, was"best engaged mind" of all the theorists' She

brilliant as a researcher. The first, and probthe only person to cross-reference thevolumes of jumbled, non-indexed \(/aCommission files.

Mae would go on the air, and what shethen is exactly what everYone isdiscovering: the CIA, the FBI and the Maconspired to kill the President. Shesubsequently vilified by the media as a "conspiracy theorist."

After listening to Ken's accounting ofVotescam investigation, she couldn't resist turge to call him on the air. Mae told Ken thatroots of uotefraud were to befound in Dalla,that onlv there would we discover the trubehind the "front gunman theorY"

Mae said tbat tbe media bad done a tradeimmediately a"fter tbe shooting in Dallas' Tteleuision netuorks and tbe majorpressto go along with tbe'Warren Commissstifling a.ny impulses to inuestigate the truabout afront gunrna.n- in returnfor controlthe uote count.

At this point, Ken needed immediate fubecause the people who brought him to tcoast refused to pay once the job was done.was virtually stranded in Santa C

VOTESCAM317

ljrrl,r rttnately at the time, Jim found himself in a

l.rrrrrli:rr situation, working for no mon€y on the

Ilrtnt('Neus. MacKenzi. -at subsidizing the

ii rl '('r and his bank account was starting to fun

' 't| ( tlll)tVlrrrr trild MacKenzie the story about Mae

llr rr:.:;r'l and that Ken needed financial help in

fi' I| ||rg to Dallas. Considering -th-at -MacKenziei, ,, t i,lt tp.", fifteen hundred dollars bailing

f irrr r rut oi iuit after State Attorney Janet Reno

i,,, r r'it" ariested for grand theft, he wasrt't in the

111r r.r I to dig deeper into his shallow pockets'

A:'.f im remembers it:lr r leave Ken stranded in Santa Ctuz fot a

rrr,ilr('fit, let me explain how ! happened to find

ui1'",'ll'in the Dade CountyJail'' ll l)egan when a wheeler-dealer, known on

rl', :;lreJt as'The Big Shooter,'decided to take

,,r,'r the city of Opa-focka-by becoming its

rrr.ryor'." (Opa-Locku, yo" will remember from

, .,,ii..', inthis book, is the citywhere the voting

rrr,r, lrine warehouse was located')'l got a telephone call one day at the paper

r, ttur'[ me that The Big Shooter w.as printing his

,,r,,r [allots for the coming election' My source

r,,l,l rtre to go to his headquarters which was' I.,,r,rr cliscove red, a printing plant'

lrrside the front door, under a campargn

1,,,,'t.t of The Big Shooter, smiling 9oyti ,r .r'volefitly, werei everal boxes of blank IBM

r r,1 111;sfg1 ballots't lcft the building to think the situation ove(

318 The lastDispatch

and telephoned MacKenzie. He told me tothe evidence and deliver it to State AttJanet Reno. Minutes late4I drove my car upthe front of the print shop, left the engirunning and ran into the shop. I grabbedboxes and raced back to the car, iust as

employee sprang out the door to give chase,

watched in my rear view mirror as he wrotelicense number on his Palm.

'At Reno's office, instead of being hailed as

hero. mv old nemesis had me make a s

to one of her attorneys, who interrogated meif I had iust stolen someone's purse,knowing that ending up in court to presentevidence was my ultimate goal, I waiimmunity from prosecution and gave a faccounting of my actions. 'Within a few daMacKenzie was also called in to makestatement.

"Reno had a choice: she could eithinvestigate my charges, or have me arrested.lattef was too sweet to resist,

'After MacKenzie bailed me out for that $1,

I battled with Reno on the front pages ofHome NetDs, predicting that she'd drop tcharges - afi act I taunted hernot to do. BRenotook the prudent course. Rather thanfame in court, the prosecutor told the judge at

hearing that he was dropping the case, andBig Shooter went on to become Mayor ofLocka."

VOTESCAM319

N ,,*, back to rescuing Ken from permanent

i, ',r,lt'ncy in the San Frincisco Bay MacKenzie

g,rvt' lim'$5OO to fly Ken to Dallas and Miami'

lrr l)allas, Ken met his gidfriend'.LV1n9t1e'tlr,, l'lew in from.Washington to help him:,r'.rrr'll for whatever clues Mae Brussel said were

r,rrting to be discovered.li:t,,-!, sat in that famous Dallas restaurant that

,,,,,,i"i itop u skyscrapet, and everytimethe

1r."t;rge stamp-sized crime scene passed below

It,, y ,i.rdied'it with a hawk's view' They drew

,i',iarr-t on the napkins, and somewherel,, twcen the soup and the coffee, they figured

,rrl ll)2t the front g.,nman had to have been near

tlr, ' r lilroad trestle in order to get a front shot to

1.,'r r rredy's right temPle.t',r'n and iynnetie took a taxi to the scene

l,rrr)Wfi as the "Killing Zofie," and headed, lrr , '. tly to the corner oflhe gralsy knoll where

tlr. r'orlCfete overpass meets the white picket

lr 'l lt t'.ns they walked, Ken told her about other

.rrr'rn2lies in the'W'arren Report' For instance'

tlr.' l(ennedy Hounds had determined that no

r,rrlite ,rn"il was in the room where Oswald

n,rs to have fired the rifle' Cordite has an oily'

i,, ,, '-r,

g,r;powder odor that lingcrs-in the air for

lr,urS in"i ^rifle

has been fired indoors'

llc described the Ike Altgen's photo showing

o:'wald standing in the dooi of the Texas School

ll,,ok Depository Oswald had that same open-

320 The Last Dispatch

mouthed look of horror as whenJack Rubyhim in the police station.

He was caught in that doorway bY Altlens at the exact moment Kennedy wasThus, Oswald could not have been upstairsthe sixth floor pulling the trigger

They walked up the grassy knoll to wherefence abuts the railroad bridge. At theof assassination, a train was slowly rolling by

On that infamous dav in 1953, L6 menlooking over the bridge railing as Kennedyshot. So where could a gunman possibly h

Then Ken and Lynnette literally stumbled ithe evidence.

There, beneath cardboard boxes and oldcans, was a hole in the ground. It was wherebridge and the knoll meet. Actually, it wascistern, three by three-feet wide and five fedeep. It had a concrete water pipe at theabout eighteen inches wide. The water fromparking lot drained into the cistern.

Had they stumbled onto the sniper's nestto hide the assassin when he shot the Pfrom the front?

All a gunman in that sniper's nest had towas to lift the metal catcher's mask-style glevel his rifle on the top edge of the cemebunkeq slide the gun under the bottom ofwhite fence, sight and shoot. The sniper'swas set at exactly the proper angle to agree withe Zapruder film that showed the Presidentshot from the front right.

VOTESCAM 321

'l'lrcn, the sniper could easily,drop the rifleur,,l irrch himsef down the 18-inch pipe, leading

lrlnt'ath the grassy knoll, to a six-foot sewer

l,r'rrcath the sireet ihat the President was riding

',\','r. Next he could simply walk down that pipe

rr'lrir'h exited at the Dallas police department'

r licl. Years later, the son of a Dallas policer,lf iccr told. the Am'erican people tb7't,bisfatber

t,,itllr,cl tbe trigger on Xenied'y, and tbat be bad'1,,, deceasii fatber's diary to,prove it'I rttlitrtunately, 6e gaue tlte diary to tbe FBI andit ,lisappeared,)

Itcfore Ken and Lynnette left Dallas, they,l, r icled to check ouf the history of the bridge'

nt,t,i*gtt the plans were classified underrr,rrionil security, they did find out that the

l,ritlge was a \VPA proiect from the Great

Itr'pression era.ri was built by a young man with alegendary

,rrrrbition to be President of the United States'

i;';;; B^inesJohnson - he was given the task

,,'t lruilding thit bridge in1936, and he most

r cr tainl| knew the existence of the cistern'

\X/. rrua an ABC news crew from Dallas

vrrlcotape the crime scene highhghting the cistem'

wt' sold a copy to the producer of NOVAs 25th

A,,niversary of the JnK shooting thalwas shown

,,rr PgS. Although we were paid for the tape' the

1,r oducer ran tie standard'W'arren Commission

v('r'sion of events and never mentioned the new$

l,,rrnd existence of a front sniper's nest'

)LL The Last Dispatch

At that time, Oliver Stone had not yetthe waters safe for conspiracy theorists withrevisionist film"JFK,"and so Ms. Conoverthe curator of the JFK Museum at thewas the first to assure us:

"You'll be the enemy of all Dallas if youthattape."

However, we were the first investigatorshave video proof that a sniper could cohimself in front of the motorcade, shootPresident and vanish into thin air Our gratito Mae Brussel, who told us the networksprotecting the'Warren Commission in returncontrol of the vote count.

Afr", Vankin's book came out in 1991, wecopies of the chapter on Votescamto peoplewere trying to educate, along with a copy ofNovember 7,7988 cover story inTbe Newby Texan Ronnie Dugge4 a veteranJFK hound.

Dugger echoed ourHome News'Wire storionWtescamprinted years before in varpublications around the country The Hounds i

pursuit of one story were beginning to cpaths with the Hounds of the other. JFKVotescamwere starting to meld edges. Justthe brilliant Mae Brussell had predictedwas. indeed. a causal link between the two.

Vith Vankin's book in hand, we calledJack Shafer of City Paperin 'Washington. In1one of his writers, Jon Cohen, had printedshort piece on the Votescam investigatio

###

VOTESCAM JL)

,llthough Cohen did an excellent jop -ofr,'prortirig the root facts, he wrote that he didntlr,rvt'time to investigate the charges'

We tried to convince Shafer rhat Votesca'rn'was

.r :,t()ry with a future. He facetiously replied thalrl'.' iollier brothers think they have the unified

lr,'lt[ theory of conspiracies," and he refused to

rrrvcstigate anY Part of it.

I Lr those of you who aren t famrliar with that

1,,'rrultimate unified field theory of physics, itrrrr'lns: we have taken the JFK assassination and

lrrrlied it with both'W'atergate and Votescarnto',lrow how nothing operates in a vacuum'

'l'he theory isihat when JFK was shot, therr.rtion came under the control of the CIA and

r I r..' Establishment media bosses' Richard Nixonn,rs ambushed at the 'Watergateby the interests

,,1 rnedia boss Katharine Graham, who was

I )r ( )tecting her television license in Miami from

, l',,rges of participating in an election rig'

x6t until the jnr case is solved and the ties

rlr:rt bind the CIA to the media are exposed' will,rll the poisons in the mud hatch out'"

'fhis is not the end.

324

EPILOGIJE

VOTBSCAM

1B

KNO\TLEDGE IS

PO\TER

I'Jt'w York CitYl', 'lrruary 1,, 7993

'llr" *u, is escalating. More and more people

, ,,ii"t J"ii"g each el6ction, asking us to check

,,rrt their hometown voting procedures'

On election night last Yeat we were

rrrtcrviewed on National Public Radio in Denveq

l\rrtland and in several other western cities' In

Ncw York, Jim went to the \7BAI studios for a

livc interview \7e were told that would have two

i',*it ,ttut night, plenty of time to educate the

Ncw York urrbi"ttl" to ihe perils of vote fraud'

lloweveq ex-New York Times reporter, David

lfurnham, who was also scheduled, refused to

.,11p"u, on the same show He claimed that we

Knowledge Is Power

were right wing radicals, and apparentlyhis reputation would be smarmed if he shaair time with a Collier

That was enough for the two sycophanhosts to relegate us to a bleak studio offiwhere we shared tattered furniture withmascot-cat. 'We listened to the first hourBurnham dispensing his limited knowledgethe field. Indeed, Burnham had fallen out ofgame years agq soon after his Poindexterappeared in the Times.'We heard that hefired from the Times for exposing the top secretNational Security Administration's investigadoninto computer fraud. Others say he just quit tobecome a freelancer. 'W'e never got the chance toask him on the air.

\7hen Burnham's hour was up it was our turn,'We intended to tell New York listeners about\7ABC-TV's remarkable ability to perfectlypredict 8 percent of the state vote in just 15

minutes after the polls closed on primary night.'We were pursuing that time-puzzle in the

weeks before the \7BAI show and discoveredthat it was Sequoia-Pacific, of Jamestown, NewYork, who had supplied the state counties withthe lever-style voting machines. Normally, it isvery difficult to rig lever machines, which left uspondering how \WABC-TV could possibly get1,100 precincts to call in vote totals in less than15 minutes after the polls closed. '$7hen wetelephoned Sequoia-Pacific they told us theyalso supplied the county election supervisors

VOTESCAM

rvrtlr the Primatomatic device; that double-piece,| paper stuck in the back of the voting machine

rt,,,t gets cranked out like a gumball both in the

,,,,,rri^g and at night after the election' Those

l,r,lclen pieces of paper have all the votingr,,,,r'rberi supposedlylmprinted on them by a

r, ,llcr-and-ink designed to keep the precinctiv o rkers from actually seeing-with-their-own-{ y('s the 0-0-0's in the morning and the finalr.rllies at night.

scquoii-Pacific refused to tell us which, ,,rrnties used the Printomatic but indicatedrlr('re were more than the 8 percent needed tolrrll'ill the \WABC-News Election Services's

lrrt'dictions.'l'hat presents the possibility thatNES, which',,'1;plies \7ABC-TV with its predicted vote totals,

r ,ur actually know the results from thosel'r intomatic-counties several days before the.lt'r:tiofi even takes place. Clear$ the Printomatic

r'' r-rot used to profect the voters, it is used tolroodwink them. Indeed, the voters have losttlrt'ir constitutional right to personallyvit'w those machine numbers' Any election',rrpervisor who defends the use of thel'r intomatic should be closely watched'

llut, we never got around to sharing thatrrrlormatiott on\[BAI that night' Fueled byllrrrnham, the two hosts were determined to.xpose us as right wing radicals' They keptr.'lreating that s6lling arlicles to the Spotligbtwrrs proof of it.

328 Knowledge Is Power

Our editor, Phyllis Vernick, was in the "groom" growing increasingly frustrated aslistened to Jim countering'bonspiracy-theoriattacks for the first 4O-minutes of the hour

"I couldn't stand it anymore," she said. "

suddenly found myself walking down that hall;saw my hand reaching out and opening tstudio door and I heard myself saying 'Thistotal garbaget."'

She shocked the two amateur hosts instunned silence for the entire length of hentrance speech; telling them how they wewasting precious air time with phonposturing, snide comments, and since theybeen given the Votescam book in the firstit was pretty obvious by their limited qthat they hadnt done their homework. She

suggested toJim they leave the two nerdsgo get a com beef sandwich.

On the way homeJim proposed marriage.

Tt n" forewarned is to be forearmed. Sosent letters to New York Governor, MariCuomo, and toJerry Brown, strongly suggestithe possibility they were entering contests twere unable to win. 'Worst yet. contests tmight discourage them from ever running again.

Governor Cuomo was repeatedly telephoneda meeting. 'We then tried to

^pproach hirn

through his right-handman, his son Andrew \7einundated both of them with materials on votc

VOTESCAM2tcl

lr:rud. The refusals for meetings c me throughtlrt'ir front offices. Cuomo, however, did not runlol the PresidencY

'fhis man does not deserve to be a Supreme( ()Llrt Justice. In "legalese" he has guilty^l. nt>wle"dge of crimes tliat go to the birthright oftlrt'American public. Moreoveq since it is our, onstitutional ilght to know every facet of howorrr vote is counted, and Governor Cuomor,'l'used to defend (i.e' investigate) that right, it,,lr<>uld prevent him from becoming a

, onstitutional justice. However, just as in thest alia case, this guilty knowledge just mighltr:rnslate into leverage; leverage that willrirrarantee a lifetime post on the court'

*****+*

A, fo, Jeny Brown, his press secretary,-Elivlerllor, ielephoned us from California aftetrcading the Vankin book. He felt that vote fraudr,vould be a strong issue for Browns campaign'Mt:llor spent weeks trying to convince Brown tonreet with us. Finally, when Brown was inlkrston, a short ride from New York City Mellor, rrlled him and pushed hard for that meeting't,oincidentally oi not, the next day he was fired'N<rbody at Biown headquarters had any idea,oflus whereabouts. Today, in retrospect, Mellor

l,robably smiles at his naivete in thinking Browni'rrcl the balls to expose vote fraud.

Picasso's goat he aint'

330 Knowledge Is Power

T1-Finallv. we wrote H. Ross Perot. W'e evenhis New York, NewJersey 'Washington, D.C. aState of Virginia offices upset and indignanenough to fax him the following letter. 'We

enforced their efforts with faxes and phoneof our own. The little giant ignored all of us. HigRichmond staff even contacted the local CBStelevision affiliate and demanded that a reportersee the letter. They hoped that he might be a

stronger channel to Perot. A local reporter wasrushed out at midnight to investigate.

According to the Richmond staff, the reporterseemed legitimately shocked at the letter'sportent. He promised to call the Colliers in NewYork as soon as he returned to the station. Henever did. For days we left messages for him, buthe wouldnt return any of the calls, ours or fromPerot's people. Perot also remained ominouslysilent. All this left his troops in New York, NewJersey, \Washington and Virginia suspectingPerot's sincerity It left us suspecting the ultimategame player just might use his guilry knowledgeas a move on the political chess board.

After all, in politics, knovrledge is power.

33rVOTESCAM

r II,IiN TETTER TO ROSS PEROT

l,y .f ames M. Collier

June lQ 1992

l{oss Perot(,()06 LBJ Freeway:,rrite 150lrrrllas, Tbxas, 75240

I lcar Mr. Perot,

I rtm an investigative reporter wnq nas 311t1

rlrr'past 22years studying ho11 the vote 1s

r r rr nte d in these U"ii"a St-ates' It is with that

l',r, ltground. that I can assure you t|re Presidency

:,; 'ffi;;;""v; urfv"" have to.do is read the

,1,,. i,rr"J * ut iiuland follow myinstructions''|trc 287-pageJ;;;;ttpt v"'i ry"3 there titled

uiriEsc,irti rrt" st"ulittg of America" is

1,rcseflt$ being circulated to all malor publishers

l; '-ii"* Y;tk illd" g of a2asent' I stronglv

i,;;il;;.,-i"ua ;E''i and when You^finish

,, "lli;;a;rstand *rty u"."pilogue is definitely

r'.'t'cled. That epilog"J *iit i"*itt of a chronicle

,,1 cveflts ,rruilo8l place af-tet we sent the

rrr:tnuscrip,,o ""io'i' p""ql"-yl: could be

i,.:ipf"rl"i'"posing its contents to the American

r rr rltlic.'"'*rln that predi cate laid' I shall explain the

Knowledge Is Power

simple steps a billionaire may take to gaincrown. After all, others may have used tmethod before you, and if you are not awarethe current state-of-the-art in vote fraud tlener will surely be an eye-opener.

1.) You contact a shadowy group of comfirms that work the nation like a grid.firms, without public knowledge or publicare paid millions of dollars to quietly go icities on election night and count the vote.elected Election Chief simply sreps asidethese firms and allows them to entirely progand count-control the vote.

In Titusville, Florida, the Election Chief livesa $750,000 house. She earns approximat$66,OOO

^ year before taxes. Before she

Election Chief she was not a rich woman.hired Fidlar and Chambers of Moline. Ill.. athey do all the work for her. She just sitsand watches. The public knows none of this,course, as the local papers refuse to printword. F&D gers paid more rhan 9100,000election and they use their own modemsprograms. Interestingly F&D controls mostthe south and the midwest.

In California, a group called DFM creates tsoftware and counts the vote for two-thirdsmore of the state.

Sq simply call F&D Presidenr Ralphup there in Moline, offer him something he crefuse, and he can make you President...for tterms. Isnt that simple? You understand why

VOTESCAM 333

rrr,.rtia is reluctant to expose this 5tory They get

,,if ,Lu, o"titical advertising vigori5fi every couple

,,1 ycars, plus they control their local areas in so

,' i'ry "ri.r lucrative-Yays, y1hy in the world

,,,,,,,lclthey want to kill the golden goose?

1,,-es dquires, your media cbiel must look

irrro this imrnediately Just direct him to a source,,rrr lr as Fidlar and Chambers and you can save Z

| ,r tune in advertising dollars'l.) \Therever you-find the Printomatic device

rr:,r'cl in the brack of the levef style votingrrr,rt'hines you can be pretty sure the elections

,,'. ,ies"d'for the highest bidder' You see' the

t" intEfiatic device is a piece ef paper that isl,l,rrrred over the vote counterg so that those

, , , ir rtlng (and often ethical) precinct workers,.,',;i.'t"""rtt" numbers' A handle is cranked anda

t;;; ,'. ;i pup.t slides out of a slot in the back of

rlrt' machine, much like a gum|rall setup, and

,,,,ir,,i...a1I the zeroes are prinled there in the

,'',,|.irg before the polls open. over the years

t u,' ,eJorted on how the precinct worker is

,,::,,;;i;ut so that only those who dont findrlrs clever little gimmick an affrofit to democracy.,r,tt *, hired. Those who copplain that the

,,,',t,8"tt are cranked out again4tnigltt, with no

,'v,'lrall varlfication of what exactly went on in

rl,,' truct of those machines , 1rrave their poll--

r,,', rrl<ing careers cut short by the Election Chief'

tlr,'loil press gets its advertising vigorish and

rr' ) story is ever printed alerting rhe public to this

, ,l ,vi<>us disenfranchisement of the voters'

Knowledge Is Power

You just drop a few big bucks on thElection Chiefs around this country andhave that tWashington patina in a flash. Itnational rite of the well-heeled andconnected.

In the past 22 years I have been on rshows from Miami to San Francisco. Peoplecalled me (referrals) to come into their towncheck out their election systems. In Cinciwe video taped the League of \Women Vousing tweezers to alter the vote. That videoshown on channel 9 there in 1985 andElection Chief quit the next day

In Miami 1982, we video taped the L\Wofficially-issued pencils to poke(unsupervised) in the vote card. 'We

dragged out of the counting roomthreatened with arrest for that action.

Miami attorney Ellis Rubin, recently sentmanuscript to the U.S. Attorney General aasked him to call for a public investigation.this Justice Department remains so corruptlast week it announced its latest refusal toAs for the Miami tape - Pat Robertson boughtfor $2,500. He even aired it on his show inDavid Burnham of the New York Times wasthe same show and joined Robertson Idecrying such deplorable acts. Burnhammade his exit from the Tirnes and Robertsonfor the Presidency

Robertson didn't win, but he didn't cruagainst vote fraud either. He did, however,

VOTESCAM

holwet 2.1

|1111|r.tIl)resslnternationa andheisnowoneof:,:."'.','.: ,.,-t"mbers of the board of News Election',ll',, ,l: ;iitsj-That means he is nov/ a charter

;',:;,';;." ;f the cartel that counts - and very

i,, . .'i,r1, controls - the American vote'

I r llow rnucfi A" y"" know about NES? If

,,,,', ',i'',.r,r* a lot, rheir you't:-it a^wonderful

1""1.,",.',t'i" blackmail them' You see' NES was

l',, iii:,i't" De,+,'ust afterJFK was killed' and

*;,', '' i;; the'exclusivb fl1:*t'" (from

r,rrrr,t'rtss) to count the vote in every state'

;,',,';i',,;;';;ingle actual vote being counted' they

i,i,,, l.ritr the Presrdency within mimrtes of the

....tr. ,'losing. yot' must unders-tand that the

1;: ,1,,.;#;;;?;;ttv comPete ror vote totars';;,; ll;.';; in" rw slPPlies 'h:T

all rrom the

;;,'l:i',,nd the pool uses the same numbers'

i';,I : '. " n.ltty boys, Rather' Brokaw and Jennings

;;'; ;,,'rlt t'tt"t" and pretend it's all earnest

,,,rrr1,t'tition'trr"l in case you dont know what the hell I'm

,.,r'r,','lg'unout'- NES is an AB UPI' CBS' NBC'

1n( .rr-rd CNN po"1' It has a button it can push

,,;",,,';;l"ilding on 34r'h St' il.New York that

,'1,,'i,,.]rrrry chaige votes at will in-lverY county

,,;',,,,;.,^ti.i whici'counts the computer vote at a

:',"'.',',,i ;;t' rh"s!-co"nties make up about 60

,,,',', . ,r, tf tn" nation' Their sister gr-olp Jotqr!,, I ,1.,":;;;"Js"t".v (vRs) is the official exit

. n, r('r. on "f.tiio" night' NES- proclaims the

i:, ; l,;,i"t;'i;;'-;i""te"s after the polls close'

:.'i,, i,'' vns'pi"a'ims the Presidency even before

336 Iftrowledge Is Power

the polls close. Both are 900/o staffedmembers of the League of \fomen Voters.numbers are always correct, before and afterpolls close. Now that's state-of-the-art.

Down in Miami, the computer programfor the elections division, ex-CIA man JMalone, is partners in afl outsideprognosticating business with theprognosticator for Spanish InternatiNetwork-T! John Lasseville. W'ere talking20 million Spanish-language voters natiJoe Malone andJohn Lasseville know thetotals before dawn on election day

Lasseville is famous for going on the airdawn and predicting exact final vote totals.always right on the money The Cubans downMiami get a big kick out of that. Imagine ifhad that luxury! Therefore:

5.) To win Dade County, simply conElection Supervisor David Leahy andhave aat Wolfies.

6.) The networks are understandably relto expose their position of power; theychange those computer votes with a pushbutton from New York.

Now; Mr. Perot, you are a computer man.not declare war on them all? You iust getaccess codes to those county computershack in yourself. You punch in numbers,they'll punch in numbers and you'll countelwhat a night! For the first time since 1964numbers will change on television. (They

VOTESCAM351

r lr,rrrge now you know. They rema.in steady

1r,,,,' ,llt>sing gun until Rather crowns the king')rl',.rugfr"T"d T.tttter's bureau chief in

rt.r',lringtdn, I contacted Ed Turner who runs the

r rtN rr&work, and was told by E' T himself that

Ir, would not touch this story under any

r rt( unlstance. He's iust one of the role models I

r ,rrr ,,lli.:r you in going for the gold'- -

, ntty*uy .ult goU Flaherty at News Election

',r rvit'es (NnS) in New York' He heads the

,. 'inrring pool. Your options afe either b pay a

'r, ,, 1.'st cflunk of youi billions' or just promise

ii, ,' y.,'., ,oo will keep all this quiet if he'll push

rlr r ight buttons' Chances are excellent thatr,, ,,rric Bush did it. Meditate a moment on how

lt',nnic actually got that landslide' Then, when

!t,u ,rre Presideit, make sure that theJusticei r, ; ,.r r'l ment (Craig C. DonSanto' attorney-in-,1,.,,ri.' of prosecuting vote fraud).continues to

,, ,,,.,i,. *"ll prot.cte?, never having to botherir rtlr rrteddlesome vote-fraud investigations' and

t, 'n ,u'c a free man. Pick your Attorney General

,*, ll, of course. An honest Attorney General

r , ,rrL I t ost you PlentYtr'.'ll, I tropel've beett of some help to-you'

',, rr, ly, 'if

you dont fight fire with fire you'll get

1,,,,,',1.1. rf Uy natuG, your outrage has been-1, r r kccl by tiris information, and if you can

ol',,,',' true iresidential timber by calling for a-full

1,rrl rlrt' investigation of the vote even before

| , ,rr'r r' electedJhen we will have helped each

rrllr, t

338 Ikrowledge Is Power

Jerry Brown and Mario Cuomo werecontacted by us and both studiously refacknowledge this information. Coincidennot, Jerry Brown fired his media advisorMellor soon after Mellor read the Votechapter inJonathan Vankin's bookCrimes & Coverups" and became persistentasking Brown to take steps.

This letter will appear in the final chapter"VOTESCAM, The Stealing of America."hope to include your reply

Sincerely

James M. Collier

PS. Don't miss the chapter on SupremeJustice Antonin Scalia.

He was so responsive when the RepubliNational Committee asked his help in squasla vote-fraud investigation, that he was givenposition on the court.

Alsq after you become president. dont fto continue our great tradition of encouragi

States will be able to control internationelections from the tXrhite House. Forget I

developing nations to adopt the compumethod of vote counting, so that the Unir

and Israel because they stubbornlv insistpaper ballots, but controlling a host of otcountry's votes could cut the CIA budget in Iwhile promoting democracy

339VOTESCAM

T9

( ]AN'TYOIJ HEARTHE\)THISTLE BLO\NN'?

" Yru d,on't need' a weatber m'an to

knor'rt utbiclt uay tbe usind'blouts3Bob Dylan

lrl;rrch Thirteenllltrt,ard of '93trt ,r rr h att an

lly lames M' Collier

'l'lt" storm rages outside' Hurricane winds'

lL',rvv snow: Freezing rain' I sit here' staring out

; ;;, : ';;;; ; ;h; ";"ter

whiteout, thinking or

i\.u rrlef dmes' Normally I can see the Statue of

; 'i;.;;t J"*" there in New York Harbot; gia,rrt

340 Can't You Hear The Whistle Blowin'?

ships stearning up the Hudson, while atwhen the city glows, there is a wall of lightsis the'uforld Trade Center.

Phyllis and I are still tanned from ourhoneymoon.

For two weeks we played in a tropical blgfeen ocean and wondered how to handleback page of this book. At first the petitionsee was intended for Attorney GeneralBaird. Unfortunately she didnt pay hertaxes so we had to scratch her name andit with Kimba'Wood. Then, the announcecame thatJudge'Wood had a nannytoo. It was turning into a bloody virus. Socalled the printer and told him to delete'Wood's name and just let it read "sendpetition to the Attorney General."

Ho*.tq there is a strange syndrome athere. In fact, it's uncanny how that syndweaves a consistent path throughout thisIt's the journalistic equivalent of cintercuptus. Just as we get to breathing heavilyanticipation of vote fraud being exposed,apocalyptic orgasm keeps slipping away

Remember how we were sure that wehad the Dade Counry Elections Deparcornered with overwhelming evidencemassive vote fraud back in 1974? That'sRubin first confronted Assistant State AJanet Reno with that blank-backed casheet scam.

VOTESCAM 341

l{ulrin presented the bogus sheets to Reno ina ' l,,srrd^door session and then emerged from

lr,'r , ,f l'ice to abattery of television cameras' But

irr',t,'.rrl of proudly announcing an investigation'

l1r rr'llcatei a Reno-concocted lie to the media:

Nls. Reno told me to tell you that the statute

r,l lrrrritations has run out on the cfime'"\\'t' clon't know what words Reno used to

irrt r rrr iclate him so completely, but whateverrlr, :;rtid, it was enougi to make-Rubin boltlr,,rr tlte building as t[ough the devil herselfe r', { )n his tail.

Itrrt significaffi,ly, she admitted that a crime

l, r,l indEed, been committed' \7hy then didnt.,1', rrrvestigate the Elections Department and

r l, , rr r out tfat nest of rats? Is it because such an

iu, lrllry would not have fit the agenda of the\lr,rrn i Herald' ? After all, the Miami mediar. lrr, I) turned out in full force for the press

r ,rrlt're flce, let the story hang after Rubin's,1, ',1't'rate flight. They protected Relo and she

,,, ,'', .r. to win five landslide victories as State

,1n, )r)e)4 In turn, she protected the ElectionsI rr 1r,rr.tfllefit from any criminal prosecution'

',,, irnagine my surprise when I re-ad a report1,1 l.ry Ma"eder in the New York Daily Newsthat

lrrr,'l lteno was nominated to become the next

\n, )r ney General of the United States'

l)() you want to hear something totallyil .,rnt'?" I asked PhYllis.

,\lwavs." she smiled.lr's come full-circle again" 'theyte going to


makeJanet Reno Attorney General!"How mystical. How strange. The players

get off the stage. There was Janet...I mworked with her mother and father 34-yearsI was a cub reporter for the Miami Nettts ,

her father, Hank, was the legendaryreporter for the Herald. Hank taught meinvestigate a story as he and I shared thebeat on the nightside...and now there shewaiting in the political wings, poised to mgrand entrance, gawky and smiling andprogrammed to win.

"Ellis," I wailed into the phone, "\Vhat domake of it?"

Rubin couldnt stop chuckling. "It's great,"said. "You'll sell a million books."

"Don't you think I should try to stopbefore she gets there?"

"No," he said, laughing now: "Let her getthe way to.Washington and then force herlook into how the vote is counted incountryz You may have her trapped. In anyyoull be able to chase her for at least four

"'Will you back me up if I do something?"Rubin said he was in no mood to attack

As a matter of fact, her departure openedway for him to run for her vacated post asCounty State Attorney "My phone hasntringing. People want me to run again."

But I needed him to make a federal caseof Reno's nomination.

And only Rubin had the clout with the

VOTESCAM343

hi l!U.u:lntee maior coverage'i tt,r, will you at least hold one last press

Fr rt rll tt'llCe?"I 1,, way I'11 corroborate if the press calls' but

iirr rr,,l Publicly going up against.her'"

I t,rrrilr. Coitus interruptus, agafiL

| |\'('r'the next two weeks ihe press did call

l*rn, .rsking about our charges'-Rubin was true

i,, t,, ' *ori' he told reporters that what Collier

=ri,l wlts correct, but he didn't want to get

ll,,,lv1ld. The press didn't pursue him any

hrr tlrr't; or Renq either, for that mattefll , ntteresting to speculate how Rubin could

l1.1r, t ltanged tf,e .o.r,tt of history if only hed

i,.,', ,,.,oJ""p on his hind legs a9p brayed at the

rr, ,i ,n. but instead, he ducked by saying that

fL qq, r wlts investigating an indiscretion someone

*r lu.' office hadiomiritted and he couldnt risk

frt, , .rtt'er bY angering her'

r ,rr (i;im," fre pbaded' "I dont need this'"

tlr.' end of oui twenty year relationship

=lig,1rt'cl quietly into the mud as I promised I

,., ,,,1, l,ft iev.al the specifics of the investigation

:g rrrrst him.

I ) t,yllls thought that Votescam was a strong

. ,,,,,,,ilt indictment against Reno to stop her

rr,,rrrtttatiofi. She was sure that once the

'r rr',1)rtpefs were informed, they would make it.i ril.rl( )l' Stofy

.tir,'r all,'; she reasoned, "Look what they did

* itlr Nannygate. I think your evidence against

Can't You Hear The Whistle Blowin'?

Janet Reno is a lot more important, dort'tI did, but twenty years worth of battle

trying to get the press to inform the publicvote fraud made me less optimistic.

"Just call Jay Maeder at the DailyPhyllis urged. He was the reporter who didstory we read about Reno. "See ifinvestigate."

I did telephone Jay Maeder. He wantedVotescam galleys brought over immediately

Phyllis beamed. "The press said thenominee will have to be purer thanwife. Just wait till they hear about Reno!"

Maeder had sounded enthusiastic overphone, but when I handed him the galleysnext day he was noticeably subdued. Isense that something was wrong. He dwant to talk, or even ask a few pertiquestions; he demurred by saying the nadesk would handle the storv. but thevdid. I called Maeder some weeks later.and found him friendly again. "I want tothe book," he said, "Things could happen,never know. I was out of the loop that mthe decision not to do a story on Reno.\W'ashington bureau made that decision...butme keep the book."

You never know

\7. th.r, called the \Yalt Street IouW'ashington and spoke toJoe Davidson. Hean astute reporter, asking a lot of

VOTESCAM

,1ir, ',tirxls and requesting the galleys be sent tolrirrr tlrat afternoon. The next day before he even

€,,1 llte package, his voice turned cold on the

| ,l til| )('.

I vt' got lots of other stories to dq" he said. "Irl, ,rr'l l(now if I'll get to yours."

It :rppeared that someone was protectinglt, rrr ,. Could that CIA media desk - that Markl,rrrt' exposed - be working overtime? Af r, rltlry paranoia or fact?

N.xt we decided that Ted Koppel had one, ,l llrt' few honest images in television news. 'W'e

,!l'( ll((' with his people at Nigbtline and made.r | | . | | rgements to meet one of their producers in\\,r:-lrington. The same arrangements wefe maderr rrlr CNN's Larry King Show

l'lrc next day Phyllis and I drove down I-95 torlr, rration's capitol. In just a few weeks this cityrr,rrrld erupt with white and pink cherrylrlr rssorns, but on this day it was bleak, windy.rrr, I lrarsh.

\\/c parked in the public garage at thert.rtir>nzl Train Station, walked through the.r.rlion's plush shopping mall, and up Capitolllrll to the Senate Office Buildings. Before wel, lt New York we had arranged a meetingrr rrlr the Judiciary Committee's majorityr,r1115s1, Guy Moluk, who worked out of,' nirtorJoseph Biden's office. It was his jobrrr r,cre€fr people who brought complaints,rr,.rinst Janet Reno.


The meeting with Moluk was inafternoon, so we spent the morning dropoff galleys to the press.

O.r, first stop was to Helen Thomas,famous "mouth that roars" for UPI. Thedame of 'Washington

iournalism worksthe'$fhite House Press Office. 'We left hergalleys, as she had requested, at her PO' IUPI headquarters on 14th and I Street.bureau chief of UPI also assigned the storyreporter named Greg Henderson.

Henderson was confused over the"I dort't know why he gave me the story I'

Supreme Court rePorter"'We suggested that his UPI boss thought

charges against Reno might be importenough to grab his interest. Henderson finpromised to read the material if andever reached him. He made UPI's mchannels sound iust a little slower thanExpress.

Some days later he said that he "stillgotten over to his mailbox." The day aftethe wouldnt get on the phone.

Helen Thomas at least answered her pbut said she was "iust too busy to handlethen added, "I haven't even seen the gabecause I never go to my post office box at

Street anymore."Nina Tottenberg of National Public

who broke the Anita Hill, Clarence Thom

347VOTESCAM

etrrly, received matertal from us-' However'

"rti'i,r.,, u pubic hair on a coke bottle-' our story

i,' i ,iia"t catch her attention' She never

rl,lirrowledged it." 'tu ""*'-if",

who was an atdent feminist'

rr.r,' lrccoming more disillusioned by^!!e minute'-,r,, rr"J

"lrEady io"' rrp her No\W card in

l',',,,,,,lurion aftet trying to^ convince their

tl.,',i''i"gan office that v6te fraud existed' Her

.t, rv ofieality was quickly being altered'

Associated press assigned a Justice

I rr 1 ,:trtffr€rl r.po'ita Carolyn.fkgrneck' to the

,,,1; \r; ;et her uttn" heavily fortified 10th

,rrr,l(lonstitution"*'u"ttofJustice'shetooktlr, rrtaterial but evidenced little more than anair

,',i r,.,i"a"m. The next day she indicated over

tl,, tt'lephone that it was a non-storyI

w..' #"t" getting nowhere a lot faster than we

11,1rt'd to arrive.

llu.f. to two o'clock in Guy Moluk's office'

tl, took notes on Reno's crimes:

I \Touldn't investigate the canvass sheet

forgeries.: \{ouldn't investigate the blank-backed

canvass sheets'i \xZouldnt investigate the Printomatic scam'

r \(ouldnt investlgate the League of 'Women

Voters in1982 p:unching holel in the vote'

', \Touldn't investigate the1982 video tape

nr""f showing UY* co,unters were not

running at the height of the election'


6. \Touldnt investigate the ballots thatbeing printed by the candidate forLocka mayor in his own print shopinstead, she had me arrested fortheft.

I assured Moluk that this was a hell of amore important than Nannygate; that itimperative I testify against Reno atconfirmation hearings. He said to writeBiden a letter requesting permission but thatdidnt think anyone was going to be allowedtestifiz

To *ut. sure that the Republicans hammunition at the hearings, we had awith counsel Jerry Petty in minority chairOrrin Hatch's office. Jerry was a youngwith a smile that promised a future forcause. But it was to be the last time wespoke to him. He and Moluk both refused toon the phone after those initial meetings

]ofrr Ebinger, producer for Ted KopNigbttine met us in the lobby of ABC-TV I

to grab the material and run. 'W'e feigned havionly one copy of the FBI report in order totime while he was forced to make more.wanted that time to convince him of theimportance. So he impatiently took us upsto the city room while Phyllis made smalland discovered who the genius was

VOTESCAM349

r lr,rt't>grzphed Ted Koppel's huit' , , --Wlten it was time tb'say good-bye' Ebinger

11,',lqcd:' ii *" decide to do nothing about this you

$, )n't write about giving us the material' A

g,' r rt lemaris agreement, altiglt?"Well..." It was a stickY moment'-'vr., -"u",' Phyllis asked smiling brightly'

',,, ,t ut yor, *or,'t have what's referred to as

*,'iiiv Lit"Jedge;' o"tt this story breaks and

\1,',,''u. done nothing about it?" .'

ilf ,,t!"t couldrlt Eelieve she just.said that'

"\(zell. yeah, r guess that's right"' he swallowed'

i.";;; tn" t#a, "but sinceJ'*,,tto gentleman'

I rr, ,rfraid that I cant agree to that'".' iit" """,

day Ebin{er was openly hostile over

tlrc telePhone." l showed it to people here"' he said' then

,.rrrr. "vou havent g"tti" this story recognized

;l' :,'dJ;" u"a thJy were not interested'"

ll was the old Party line'"Who have you

'ho*tt it to? Did you sh-ow-it

rr,'l'irr O'Brien? He saw the video tape' Or Ed

li rrrhy of Arrowsmith?"llut it was no use' I threatened that we were

,lr'l'initely going to write that Koppel saw the

rrr;tteri?I, but it was like trying to intimidate a

rrr.tn with anUzi-"r<oPPel didnt see it," he said'"'fhen t'm going to write him that his staff is

' I ring him a great disservice'""rfr"[, actuillY he did see it'"

VOTESCAM35r

competitor of the 'Washington Post. Jerry Seepef

is their top investigative reporter, and Seepefwas also well aware of the Votescam charges,{Back in 7985 we had given him a copy of the,!

Can't You Hear The Whistle Blorvin'?

"\fhich is it, John?""Look, nobody cares about your story"

voice rose. "Pedal it somewhere else."He slammed the phone down.

\% frrA one arrow left in our quiver andwas the'Washington Times - the wanna

r ,lrlors wouldnt write a story about Reno'

r .i ilus rigor mortis.

L *u, now a FridaY' Reno had been the

,1u()rney General nominee for a week' but not a

rrrrile disparaging word had been written by

r,,1 ,rf the national Press.if r" Larry t<ing Show did call Rubin in Miami

,r,, I heard tnut tt" would verify everything we

,,r,,f , n", that he would not go on television'I lrt'ir interest evaPorated'

fivans and Novak mentioned ln one

,l rrtlicated column that there were some people

irr Miami trying to testify against Reno' Tbe

I rllorce Voicereported the same' They both said

,'',.,'' R"""t record showed that she was soft on

1,r, rsecutirlg white-collar crime'ltom there on, Press silence'

Ou, next stop was the FBI'

l'he agent ln charge of---backgroundrnvcstigations wasJames Mutttt''We drove to his

1,,'rrclq"uarters at t'yro"'' Cor.ners, a suburb ofrV;rshington located on the beltway

We h"ad requested a stenographer so that our

.l.r(cment .o.tld be signed into the FBI file we

l,.rrl been building toi Z3 years' But Mann and

rw() assistants refised to allow us past the FBI

,rlllcfoom.tulun. assured us that "nobody has ordered

rrry investigation of Reno to this point'"- Ilut she's supposed to be undergoing a

entire Votescam file. That year he sat in his *

downtown office in the National press Building '

for three straight hours reading that file. He wa,i ;fascinated. Then he turned out a maior story tand handed it over ro the city desk wirere city IeditorJohn rVilson killed it. ' i

This time Phyllis and I sat across frornSeeper and reporter Mike Hedges in thebasement cafeteria of the Times. Seeper tolclus that rilTilson was no longer there. He assurerlus that he believed in the story and that now .

he and Hedges would have a ciear shot at theeditors.

\We gave him the galleys and went to dinncrfeeling elated.

"I think we finally got abreakthrough," I t<>klPhyllis as we sat in a little Italian restaurant inGeorgetown.

She raised her wine glass. "Here's to the nickof time."

But within a week Seeper told us that thc

^A{

353Can't You Hear The Whistle Blowin'?

\7e asked him to accept the Votescam

thorough background check, according tomedia." Phyllis told him.

"I would know if something was goingand notbingisJ'

ntr,rrrri?" he persisted' It seems his purpose was

i,','i;,,;" "t irr." the gatteys to any other field

; ,",i i', -rre

;rrit aiaat'wani to get involved' The

I llnl()n administiation hadn't asked for a

' ;1,;;;J ln".r on neno and he wasn't happv

llrout being pressured into one by tq'

I'lre addrer,'"ority U'tt *"tt' back and forth

irrrtil he eventually signed for the.galleys':i:it. rortowing MJnday' ten days- after Reno

rr'.rs nonlinated, itt"-riir started a limited

,;,;,:r;ig;ri"", but'we were never contacted' Just

rlrr' usuzl silence, olzing like an obscuring fopl

lr,,rrt the maior media'

Ot, hst stop was Pete Hamill' the streetwise

, , rlumnist for tf'e-New York Pos-t'- the oldest

n('wspaper in a*!'itu' Hamill had fust recently

l,t'cn named eOiior of the Postby the latest

: ;';;;;;;", tvi"gto tuY tt'e bankruPt tabloid'

"I was ,p"u*'n"g to my man in.'\ilashington

u,' ri"r'Jui,i'n"-irii"id' "\7e were talking about

ir..'rro, g"i Yotr stuff over here'"'\iiii; #eek later his assistant Anna' said Pete

wasn't doing any stories until the paper was

i;;;iiy t"ta 6 'o'.''"ottt'

anyone' it was up to a

"'ffi; New York rimessaid that.the original

('ntrepreneur trying to.bail ::l:|" Posf was

i, o.rr.i"p, f,i msltf "a

nd^ ye t a noi1le r suitor' a

l()rmer Miami Beach city- commissioner and

r cal estat" tyt""", was'fitllly'awarded the

:i;h;;; ;^ve the tabloid' The latest owner'

VOTESCAM

and to statt an immediate inquiry into orcharges of Reno's obstruction of iustice. Mann.six-footer with a healthy girth, took one lookthe cover of Votescam and dropped it like agriddle.

"I dont want this," he protestedI then insisted that he was in charge

investigations and that we wanted ouragainst Reno investigated. I picked up the galfrom the antefoom coffee table

- Mann's <

still fixed on the full color CIA eagle on tco\cr

- and I held it out to him."$fhere do you live?" he asked, his ey

magnified behind thick glasses."Before we give any information, we wanti

to make a written statement...we *ant alstenographer W'e want to sign it." $

"You can't," he shook his head. "No steno." 1"Then I don't have to answer your questions,', il

I informed him. "I'll just leave this book and you.can do the right thing."

"I want to know where you live,', Manndemanded.

I showed him my Florida drivers license buttold him "I live right here in \Washington.', I gavehim a local address.

"\7ell, why can't you take this to the FBI in

Can't You Hear The Whistle Blowin'? VOTESCAM

Abe.Hirschfeld, gave Hamill until midnight tooff the properq{ Hirschfeld then announced the wanted to fashion the paper after the O\Tinfrey Show and that *hen he died he wbecome God. The staff went into apoplexy

Always one to call a spade a spade, Hamcalled Hirschfeld a nut ind refused to lea_S_upp-orted by the entire staff, who hatHirschfeld with a vengeance, Hamill continueto edit the paper without pay.Itwas the stuthat front pages are made o6 ana the postevery issue it printed denouncing the nedowner Hirschfeld obtained a contempt of courtorder againsr Hamill and ordered him off tireiproperty under threat of arrest.

rl r rr ly floors of the three Senate Office Buildings'

t,,,,',iirrg out a L0-page press.kit'" at] ]OO

Senate

, ,llrr cs. It contained"a tvtiami Netus article about

li'lr()'srefusaltoinvestigate,FBl-reportsanda', ,,iini transcript of a two-hour radio program' i i;;J;;r,L'trt" radio interview by phone a

t, \\' clavs eadier on \XrHO in Des Moines' Iowa' It

", .;h:lJJ rurl.r.Lit"" show You may remember

rr, ,t *" first did his morning talk show on

\\,(.Ky in Cincinnati in 1985, the day after we

' ,, t.o1up.d the League of V'omen Voters using

;t. ".;rA to Plucf out new votes in the

, ( )r)lputer ballot cards- Mickelson ^was

one man

r,lroknewforsurethatwewererighta!'o.utr, rte fraud in ameiica because he witnessed the

;,''ifi;,i"; of the cincinnati elections

,rroervisor, Elvera Radford, after we charged her

,r iih election rigging on his program'

"If I hadn't actually seen some of this stuff

rrrvself." he told fris wiro listening audience' "Id

i',;;;;;; a;['.t a diat tone ten minutes ago"'

Anyway, *" *"" praying that even if the

Irrcliciary Committee approved, the Reno

ir,r-inutio.t, the entire Senate mlght have time to

rcad our pfess kit and pe rhaps start some

( ()unter-debate' After all' we still had the

( Llstomary seven days left b:f.".t" the final full-

senate voie and anything could happen'-it "n,

before the mJeting at ?2"t Hoppe's

,rilice, we went to the Execuiive Office Building

'r""i'r" ,n" vni'e House and,managed to

receive a gvatantee from President Clinton's

.As of rhis prinring, Hamill has been hailed rula hero by almost all the media for his mutiny,rn'that sinking ship.

_ lut a bankruprcy judge harsustained Hirschfeld's right-to' t".-p hisrebellious papet, and the whole town is waitingfor the next edition.

n/t. lYleanwhile, the day that Reno was to testifybefore rhe Judiciary iommirtee, phyllis and iwent back to rVashington in one last arrempt tobe heard. Vre had a heeting scheduled witlrDave Hoppe, to_p aide to Senator Trent Lott,whom the Republicans had designated as thr,pointman to collect information fici any possiblcattack on Reno.

The meeting was again scheduled for tw<ro'clock so we spent the morning walking somc


press aide, Nancy \Vard, that she wopersonally get our book and material to

o| course, Senator Biden \"'"* that people

rr rr )SS the country woutdn't be flocking to

t.r:,hington to reai that testimony' Americans

r,lrconfidenttnattheirgovgr:m"ntwasl,r.scrting them *itft "iiifte"vital

facts' If there

,r'r'rc no witnesses fi"t""'to t:s;tlfy against

t(,'n(), why then, tftJ'" mustl-gt b: anything

r, ,rllY damagingug^i"-ti n"r' \7hy should they

rlrrrtk differently?""'',i;;;;p"il r""t called the committee

' 1rrt'stioningI l::f?l;ens grinnins face, so II couldn't stan(

t,'lcphonea Nu"ty lfurd aithe \White House

"' ::il;fl1'Tpresident set the uoteslly gallevs?"

"Your material is UEi"g screened by someone

VOTESCAM357

President. An accompanying letter said in part:"Mr. President, if the Committee has assufl

you that the FBI has foundJanet Reno,,cleart''then calculated ineptness has taken place or 1were not told the truth.,'

The letter urged him to ask for the FBI fiwhich were hidden under a national security liIt would be less of an embaffassment, weif he immediately dropped Reno, insteadtrying to explain why he ignored the evideagainst her until after our book came our.

Hoppe was late for our meeting so wewatched the hearings on C-SPAN in his office,Joe Biden was being his unctuous, self-satisfiedsel[_drooling over Reno and asking her pablum-loaded questions. He told the television viewingaudience that a radio show in New york wa,isaying the Committee had failed to investigatecharges against Reno and was keeping secretsunder wraps. Howeve4 Biden ass.rrbd 6r,ervonethat was absolutely false. He said they hacllooked into every allegation against iteno,although, he admitted, some charges had beenso _outrageous that it had been downrightembarrassing to investigate them.

"There has been no credible evidence relatedto the truly bizarre allegations that have comeforward." he said.

He told viewers that" any written allegationsagainst Ms. Reno would be available to the public.

lrlst," she said'"\Vho?""I canll-tell You'"I';;;il"d- "lgt'o

is it? This isnt R-ussia' Nancy'

whv cant I know *iuitnunnels our book has to

'"kl ; g", to the President?"

Her voice *u' ""i'"""gg"rated like a flashing

''":il,:t3:;eone who has access to him'" She

clrew out hef sentence' "Some-one-who-sees-

ntfr;Jr"Y;t3i io Phvllis the conversadon' she

asked:"lHtllatY??"i;eili htard a word from the President'

358 Can'tYou HearThe Wristle Blowin'?

T)I)y three o'clock Hoppe appeared. Hespent the afternoon with-the Rbpublicans. lof them, he told us, was willingio challengePresident.

. "They haven't had any leadership sincelost the $Zhite House,,'he explained. .Theykroy, how to fight, they're a minority withoutpresident."

Phyllis, who was new to this game, sincerelyasked him all the right questiois. yes, Hoppisaid, he knew that our charges *!." Lfrivolous. No, rhere was nothinj?.-" he coulddo but ask Tient again to speak io the senarors.

I sat there silently staring out the window atthe winter day My brain h-ad slowed to a dullorone and I suddenly felt exhausted. Id beenhere too many times before.

.I sto-od up and said to Hoppe, ,,I know arailroad train when I hear one.',

' 'A look of empathy understanding and disgust

somehowmanaged to merge in on"e quick flashacross his face

,,yeah,', he said. ,,I,ve heard a few whistleSmyself"

t'r1

, Ihe 1e1t day, 'Wednesday, the Committee

oropped the normal one week waiting periodfor the full senate vote and within 2Z_hoursconfirmed Reno 98-0.

. One paper commented on ,,Janet Reno,sdubious victory,' Another dedicate"d an editorial

VOTESCAM 359

t' ' wondering if she would be her own person inlustice or the administrations' puppet. Butn'lurtever doubts they finally expressed; it wasq,o little, too late.

lenet Reno is now Attorney General of thellnited States. 'We end this book with thel, ,llowing request of every reader. Dont wait forlrt'r' to live up to the office. - force her to do therrlilrt thing.

'l'he petition in the back of this book has theI lS. Attorney General's name on it and we wantr,otr to send it toJanet Reno.

lf she investigates Justice Department,rtt()rneys Craig C. Donsanto andJohn C. Keeneyl,r'their part in vote fraud. . .

If she investigates how the vote is counted,rl rt only in Dade County but across America.. '

If she gets the national security seal taken offrlte 37 missing pages from our FOIA file; the

l)lrges which would prove t]ire 1970f2 television,'lections were fixed and the canvass sheetsIorged. (That, of course, would cost Kathariner ;riham her \WPLG television license...)

Only then canJanet Reno finally answer thisIx>ok's allegations and redeem herself

\7"11, that's finally that.\What have we learned since that first Dell

l'ublishing contract we so naively obtained.rlmost a quafier centurY ago?

$V'e now understand why things have gone so


terribly wrong in this country It is due tocorrupted vote. It is the stolen voteperpetuates corrupt city, state and fegovernments.\ilrhen those corruptbrokers in your town weed out that up-acoming politician, they are looking for awho is willing to "playballl

Politics is "playing ball."

disappear. A handful of developers get ricwhile the land, and the quality of life, gpooref,

Suddenly you find property decisionsagainst nature; land and water needed forperpetuation of life on our earth, sudden

^ Brrt those paid-off officials need judgesfurther their ambitions. Judges are either elector they are appointed by elected officials.make the final decisions on properry Theyrule on probate; they can steal yours or ychildren's inheritance. Often, corrupt atworking with corrupt judges, become tbeneficiaries of your life's work, not your heirs.

In the same way, jobs evaporate, minflates or deflates based on some politicalYou try to stop what you perceive as insaniry"voting the bastards out."

But when they get reelected, and reethe press tells you that it was your fault ....youvoted for them..." I

You know that you didnt.ril7ho did?

VOTESCAM36t

362 Reflections

April, 2OOO

VOTESCAM

As of this writing, Votescam is entering itsthird printing.

Since its publication eight years ago, thcmajor bookstores have banned its display, ithas been removed from the index of the Llbraryof Congress, and falsely rumored to be out ofprint. What Votescam has not been is refuted,discredited, or for that matter, denied. In fact,it has been read by well over 30,000 peoplewho continue to circulate the book by word ofmouth. It is, without a doubt, one of the mostdangerous and important books still incirculation in America.

As usual, the silence on the part of thcaccused is deafening. To ignore this book istheir only line of defense, and an effective oneat that, when coupled with a total Mediablackout. For the record, there has also beenno Federal investigation into the charges ofvote fraud brought forth in Votescam, or intothe evidence of vote fraud currently beingcompiled by citizens.

But after you read "Votescam," this will notsurprise you.

My father, James Collier, and my uncle,Kenneth Collier, v/ere America's lead

rrrvcstigators into vote fraud for twenry five

t''ii: longer. They have both died'.leaving all

,,1 ',,s"

*i.f, .tt. bg;cy of this book' and the

't.cstions r"ir.i-Ly their unfinishedrrrvestigation.

Most Americans are at least partiallV awlt1^

,,r 'tn.

*ytiad of ways our elections system $

{ rrrrently .or,'lptLdt .fto*.,Ile obvious

,,,.q"i,i6t of iampaign .fi111cinS' to

r, r'rvmandering, -itt"iity"intimidation at the

1,,',iil;;;;"t"""6uttot fraud and the numerous

rwist and turns on the path where.a.ballot can

l,r: ambushed in tttt"'''A"d certainly n91e of

,rs are blind ,o tft*"-ffi:r,cle of bald-faced

,'lcction-yeu, ryhg; "oiu tt"ttd?td strategy for

, r'.-t"..Jttful gstiblishment-politician' It seems

rhat nothing has il"Jttta td" to*pttition for

nublic office *oit meaningless than the

,,rndidates themselves''Th; taw dty paiaAe of an American election

rs fast becoming tiresome to most of us' with

rrs worn-orr, ffo"tt, pi"stit-candidates' and

i',rfm* p*riotism' But we follow it artyway'

lrccause its the ot'iy p"t"de in town which ends

,,i.tt" threshold of the voting bootn'"' ft

" fu.t that we can do this o-re thing-cast

,r vote-is, for Uettei o'*o"t' what keeptgtit

;:;.it. .;il"y from t"ploding into chaos' This

.;;;i; ;;, d.fi"';' politl.'' *h1l-rer we show

.p to do it o' "oi,'and many.of us don't

,,5"t".*. l"t, tftt fa'ct that it is allowed' even

,l

TIVOTESCAMReflections

encouraged, is enough to soothe us, assuaglus, and convince us that indeed this is IDemocracy. It also assures us that all mistakcfmade in Vashington are really our own, an{can be uaced back to 'V7e the People. Thltkeeps the brewing frustration and anger safelyon the streets and in the homes, where th€government wants it.

But of course, this is fiot a Democracy. Andwe know that, even if some of us only sense ltintuitively. Vrhen we rest our eyes uponWashington, we all feel a little sick.'We all fcclthe need to turn away.It's why so many of utdon't vote anymore, even though they'rcbeggingus to. We might not know why, exactly,but we feel that it just doesn't matter whethcrwe vote or not. And of course, this is true.

Let's take a lesson from Stalin who said,"Those who cast the vote decide nothing, thoscwho count the vote decide everything."'!7'ho counts your vote?

Democrat, Republican, Third Pany, GrecnParty-it doesn't matter. Once the vote is cast,it is delivered, untraceable, into the hands ofthe faceless corporations running America'rcomplex political machine.'W.hatever corruptiontakes place after that is better concealed thanthe voters themselves behind their curtains.

The questions that Votescam asks beginthere.

'W'hy was control of the national Americanvote abdicated by the Senate and secretly

r,,r,rsferred to a little known private compalry/

whv are Amerifan citiz6ns denied ke-y

,;'',;l-;;;h;; their vote is counted? Is

rl,r're an answer that mighl absolve of,' ,,,t"a"i* all wtro have plale d a p.att in thil

,,.,,rrf"er oflower? Or is Votescam's premlse

;,:;iil;; I"J.t'" entire electoral process in

rl,rs country is no ;;;; than a charide' a tired

, ;i;;;i.*t' u"d- pltformed- onlv fv.people; ;;fi ;;61""ir' tf criminal comPliciry?

W'e can assume that not every person

,',;;.d; politics, especially at the lower

i; ".1t: ""a.iti""as

the extent to which our vote

;,'";;;;;;J. rnt *"th"t'itt of the electoral

';'#;"iid;'^i;;* state to state and often

:,';,;;;;; d;l'b;"1'tY 'o"r"sing' ManY of

,'r\J p.opf. employed by the system are likely

r,,norant ", .o ,,o'- rt'.i :upPaiy'':: *otk' lt'

,;i;;;thow it's maniPulated' and bY whom'g;r, as Votescatti illtttttutes' compliciry can

1,.;;;J in unlikely places-. The villains are

,'.,r-"f*"vt lurking i" tttt alley' often they're

''',"iritg;1 y;;lt"; a respectable desk' Nor is

,',irnpf?*V "l*"yt sinister' It doesn't take a

r,ryi'hologist to irnderstand how easy it is to

Inotivate someone to rig a high-sta\t -g'Tt'liiven the opporruniry'^

"Especiattl if they've

t onvinced themselve' it't in everyone's best

rnterest. Particularly their own'":;,";h.-ri!"ifit""t question remains: \fhoknows what, u"a*ftt"'aid they know it? \fho',';;;i,'*itti"

the vast elections complex' are

367FlVOTESCAM{fi Reflections

the culpable individuals? Xfho can explain whathas been done to our system? Who must bcbrought to justice?

As Jim and Ken discovered, we can counton the Establishment Media to never, ever ask

those questions.That leaves it up to us, the tax paying citizent

of America. \fho among us will do it? \7ho ircourageous enough? \[rho cares enough?'S7'hoscsense of justice is so deeply ingrained that thcywon't hesitate to stand up and demand honestyfrom their own government, their own peopleP

It's not so easy.'We're tired, we're busy, andwe're scared.

'We're afraid of our government.\7e feel powerless, and with good reason. Butmost of all, we don't want to be called crazy.

Jim and Ken weren't immune to any of this,They were scared, and they were vilified, andsometimes they lost hope. And sometimes theylost more than that.

In 1988 Ken was aheady nearly paralyzedwith cancer. His wife had left him, taken theirdaughter, and moved to Australia to escapcthe trauma and danger of his political crusade.But the crusade had reaped no rewards. Thevote fraud investigation had led him only deeperinto 'lTashington's dark labyrinth, a lonely,thankless journey, apparently leading nowherc,

He had aheady lost his family to his causc,and it looked like the cause was lost, too. Dozensof boxes filled his room. They were stuffed fullof government files, bureaucratic memo's, court

,lor uffreflts, newspaper articles-twenty yeafs

i',r-th of investij'ation, desperation' and

l,r rrtY2l-211 he and Jim had left' ,"' 'x.Jri'*itt;;;t in"depression' and he knew

t,, '."",

ani"*. Often it was hard- to tell if he

,,, ,** "t;;e by th; disease or the despair' It

'\.rs a deeP, black Pit'lirn nursed him, swearing to him that it wasn't

,,"1;lTi';;i'lt tiiu o"t t'iore move to make-

rl,,: book, Votescam, had to be written' JiT',.,r.Ji""p it"t ttit frothers eyes and warned

l,rn, with ,to -.rry, that unless he. completed

,'llr't""li""f task,'he would die with nothing'

ii,' "t""fJ

never be vindicated il this life'

"f;; ;"estigation, the sacrifices' the past

r,,vcrltv Yeafs, would amouflt to a total loss' and

;i;;'iltit;'.n" vt'itt House wouldn't even

lrother to laugh last'

H;;;;.S ,o *iit' the book' For him' the

lrliht wasn't over, and Votescam w-as his only

;'i.;;". ;;; he knew that without f(en's gte^t

; ;i;;;, hrs fine literary mind' his poetry'

v,;;;;;";.ould read likL an FBI.iile' He also

r,,,i"J-.tt". writinj the book wo.ufd fuel Ken's

lrre,lift him out o?trc pit' keep him alive' And

'r did.Ken knew that Jim was right' There had to

r,, ,?ro*"rrt, th; story of their-investigation

lr:rd to be told. H;;;;;6 fool' he knew nobody

,vith anything to io'" *o"ld ever publish it'

Itrrt he also knew-ihat the power of a book'

,,,ri. ,r"i.ushed, i^a ulife ofit's own' Whether

{9Reflections

Votescam would become the catalyst ofrevolution and change the course of history,or fall through the cracks and disappear, was Imatter of destiny.

'!7ho reads the book, whc['

and why, would inevitably decide its course. Itmight sweep through the political worldimmediately, like a sudden wild fire. Or it mightlie dormant for years, only to be taken up as Isword by ^ new generation of furiout,disenfranchised Americans.

He could not control that g me of chancc,he could only get it started. But first, they hadto sort through all of those boxes.

Ken died in l99O,leaving Jim with a 500page rough draft of a story probably nobodywould ever believe, and without a partner fotthe first time in over 40 years.

I was with Jim when he got the news. !flewere sitting in a Chinese restaurant on the wcstside of New York Ciw. I was 14 vears old. Ihad never been to New York, and I was widc.eyed, my nose pressed to the plate glasawindow. I turned to Jim and was shocked tosee him sitting quietly and calm, as he usuallydid, but with tears rolling down his face. Hcnever cried.

That was our first day in New York. \il7e hacljust pulled into town, after driving cross-countryfrom California f.or fifteen davs. He had callcdKen to tell him we made it, but Ken was gonc,

Votescam was born in a litde apa(tment on

,r'.,'57-,ii floor of a skyscraper in Manhafrall'

,t*ft "li.--"f the Wbrld Trade Center' the

''',,.t"t ,rrd th" Statue of Liberty' Jim and my

i".,rrt..l-phylis, struggled to edit Ken's

,",,""t-tpt, #orkittg lon-g-hours into the +gltt',u,i,irrg, arguing,.t?*riiing' I.n th9 end' the

,1, cisiJn *f, -rde to write the whole story'

,;;;ilJi"g their personal lives' which Jimrrrrderstoodwasariskconsideringhowradicali;,,;;; K.; had been during those years' Their

;l;.t#; irt. 6".t drovJthe storv forward

l,,rJ added a personal dimension that is not

( )nly entertaining, but warranted'';il-;;t pio""a of ttt" book' He- 1nd Phylis

,,J^t"i'Vi.i;ti;H;"te Press to publish it' and

-r*tt.a i.irr-ph"tttly as it was accepted into

rlrc maior chain bookstores' all the-newspaper

.rr,,d magazrrr" ,,",tJ' in New York Ciry'. and: tlrorr.rriookstore in \Tashington D'C' where'

,,tnns with Barnes and Noble in NYC's East

u;ii;?";;;';^; tten a window.displav' rhen'when word t""tiitJ ltti ttigtt"i livels of,,rifrorlw that Votescam was on-the-stands-' Jip,,'.,a pitirit ?r*tt.a as their bo-of suddenly

;j';#;;;;-"ii.r'" shelf' out of the window'( ione.""ii;h,

Jim hadn't come this.far for nothing'

Victoria House Press continued to make

v;;;; -avatlable,

and America's alternative

rnedia advertiseJ it' tn that w,ay' the word

,pread. For six yearsJim manned the talk radio

VOTESCAM

VOTESCAM371

Reflections

lines and navigated speaking tours across thecountry, sometimes meeting in the homes ofworking-class activists who had gathered in thotraditional "grarlge'fashion to discuss what todo about their besieged demoq^cy.

Votescam's readers have been for the mostpart educated, hard-working, blue and whitc.collar, patriotic Americans-angry members ofa dwindling class of people who still believe inthe Constitution, salute the flag, and haven'tforgotten that eternal vigilance is the price ofliberty. But working is the price of living, andthey don't have much time left to start s

revolution. They looked to Jim for that,Jim decided to start the revolution wherc

the story began. In 1998 he moved back toMiami, the home of his nemesis Janet Renowho had him arrested all those years beforc,Much to the excitement of local activists, hchad resurrected the well-known newspaper theMiami News and planned to use it as a weaponagainst infamous Miami corruption. It's likelythat this kind of bold attack right in the belly ofthe beast would have gotten him into morcdanger than he had been in yet. His two frontpage stories were devastating politicaltimebombs, with a wealth of insider information,

But the newspaper never hit the stands. Jimfell suddenly ill, days before going to print,Unable to eat, rushed to the hospital, he wasoperated on and diagnosed with advanced,incurable, pancreatic cancer.

Tim was a blackbelt and amaster chess player'

r', "n.rr.i-U"it.a down ftom a challenge' But

,t'ir particular opponent was fast and furious'

,,,,,k^all the low thbts, and was always one move

.,1t."J. fi- couldn't beat it' After five months'

l'..' bo#ed out of the ring, and went to meet

;;r';;;il with Ken. A;d, as theY said in

V,,tesiam, that was that'Or so I thought'SrrJa."ty oir Pho!e was ringing'.an$

,.,ntinued io ring as the news of his death

',;;;e. I didn't kiow it, but to many.pto?l,t'

rl'rr -^t more than just a knowledgeable',"vestigator.

He was a hero'I haZn't expected to find myself comforting

,,'rr"f.tt-o#t the telepho.nb'. I knew how

,lil'fi;lt the years of investigation had been'

.nrJtn. vilifiiation he had faced every s19f of

;l;;*;;, but I didn't know mv father had been:,;t;r#;Jfti nit work, how deeplv he.had

,,lpi.^rr.d so many by endangering himself to

,:.'p.t. the truth. it -at never anything('Ktraordin ary tor him' Like all dedicated

,rctivists, his sense of iustice came naturally' he

,lcfended it without hesitation'"i;"; touched, and moved deePlY bY the

,,hone calls. I had been mourning Jim as my

i,rther for so long, I had forgotten hts other

;,1";ih. world."In fact,r had been caingfot

ii- i"t ,U those months and I had forgotten

in. *o.ld altogether' But the world was about

t,l rnake a come-back'

J/JVOTESCAM

Reflections

Two months after he died, our phone beganto ring again, this time with anxious, ecstaticcitizens searching forJim, asking if he had sccnthe ABC'Web-site. Apparently ABC had postcdthe results of the off-year election on thcirHomepage- the day before the election.

It was like that wild-fire Ken had dreamcdof. The people were furious. W'as the work ofa whistle-blower? Talk-show telephones wercringing, the Internet was besieged withdemands for an explanation. Finally, SarnDonaldson announced he would be presidingover a live chat that evening to discuss whatABC was aheady calling a definite mistake.

I was in the chat room that night arDonaldson explained that the page of postedresults was a sample page, just to see how thcvote results would look on their .Website

thenext day. Got that?

The people were incredulous, and Iimmediately began inserting information aboutVotescam, but my comments were sooncensored. I couldn't get one word on thatscreen. In short order, Donaldson directed theconversation neady away from the matter athand and onto the election in general.

Citizens who kept track of ABC's "test"results and compared them with the next day's"real" results, reported that ABC had called eachnce pe{ectly, over 900/o of the time. Some ofthe numbers, of course, they had changed, forappeatafices.

And that v/as that'lim and Ken were not the first to discover

,,'''i-oltir"i-ir.., namely.that Democracy in

;;;;i;;ort, iit", ut tot'g as You don't

, i'"fi."g. the status quo' American citizens are

lrce to vote in an eieition, as long as they d9n't

;i;;;;i;know how their vote-is counted' or

rv hether it ,.,,,t' as anYthing beside

,i.-.gt"prti., io. the people who are aheady

ill Pow'ef."' td;'f;er and uncle ioined the long lltt^:l,t,t"ii.u.tt who have encountered' tn varlous

lorms, the entrenched natute of our powef

',,t".i"t.-fhe System, as we callit' This System

,, -ti. than wiliing to persecute its own cltlzens

'i ;;;ffi, ,o r.irftrtt- when there is no other

, hoice, or when ii simply needs to Set-1f;,rl.r*g. across clearly: The People are not ln

t Ontfol."'n"i-i.f s be honest with ourselves' it has

,,1-^y, been this way! Thingt "fl-tl:111y getting

worse, Democracy i' "o' Jead blany means' I/

l,rt.r sirnbly nner existed in thi: cuantry' The only thing',:,:;^;"Ku{;;i;J is our right to demand it' toi;t,'f"; li ,o die for it'"to protect the ideal'

'f"h;;; believe it is a gtrura,ntee is already our

frtgg.tr--ist+9' \7e ale raising- a whole new

r:enetation of nmericans who bElieve a lie' \ililli'h"" k";; rro*'o ttund up for the truth when

the time comes/More than ever before' we are in the

p.;l;i;,o-i"rril the real American dream-

374 Reflections

not the consumer nightmare that we'resold now, but the dream of a rich andcountry of healthy and educated peoplein peace, with each orher and the land.who elect their leaders thoughtfully,remolre them prompdy when they fail them.

Simple? Yes. Impossible? Rtght now. Butcan change that. First we need to be edthen we need to continue asking questionsdemanding answers.'We absolutely cannotafraid to expose the truth.

375VOTESCAM

376 Appendix

NEWSREPUBLICAN NATIONALCOMMITTEERichard RichardsChairman

RNC 82-100FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: JENNIFERHILLINGSocToBER20, 1982 (202) 484-6550

RNC ANNOTJNCES $5,OOO REWARD PROGRAM TODETER VOTING FRAUD VIOLATIONS

Washington, D.C. -

Republican NatioCommittee Chairman Richard Richards todannounced a program offering $5,000 rewardsindividuals who give information which leadsthe arrest, convictionand punishment of aelection official who violates state or federal laagainst voting fraud. "It has saddened us tothat vote fraud still exists in certain areas ofcountry," Richards said in a letter to allsecretaries of state. "Since the right to vote iskeystone of all other rights we cherish

377VOTESCAM

Arnericans, any dilution of the vote by fraud or

crror must be stoPPed'"

Attached please find a copy of the letter'

llwight D Eisenhower Republican Center: 3^10 First Street

Southeast, Washington, D'C' 20003 (202) 484-6550

379VOTESCAM

378 Appendix

REPUBLICAN NATIONALCOMMITTEEREWARD OFFER DRAFT

October 15,1982

Dear Secretary of State:

As we approach this important general election,we wish to recognize the excellent work of thchundreds of thousands of AmericanCitizens whowill serve their fellow citizens as electionofficials. We recognize they must serve longhours, often for nominal pay, and often incramped work places. In the vast majority ofcases, American election workers do a fine job ofquickly and accurately obtaining the vote andreporting the totals to their fellow citizens,However, it has saddened us in the last few yearRto learn that vote fraud still exists in certain areasof this country. Fraud serves to undermine themost precious right of Americans - the right tovote. Since the right to vote is the keystone of allother rights we cherish as Americans, anydilution of the vote by fraud or error must bestopped. We know that your office will makeevery effort to see that every lawful vote iscounted accurately, and that violations of the laware quickly stopped and offenses are prosecuted.

lu order to help in such efforts' the Republican

Nltional Committee has decided to post a reward

,,t Si,OOO to any citizen who gives information

tlr;r t leads to the arrest' conviction and

g,rrnishment of any election ofnciltwlro violates

,,t;r(e or federal laws against vote fraud' We have

, :;tablished telephone numbers that will be

r',lnned by attorneys who will assist in putting

rlrcm in touch witt'it'e proper State and Federal

.,Il'icialswhowillp.o"""dwithsuchcomplaint.

Wc ask you to cooperate with us byinforming us

,rl'a conta", p",'oo in your state that might-l:

rrsed in the event such an occufrence happens rn

yo'ur state- Please contact Mark Braden or

t' atherine Gensior at 2021 484-663 8

VerY trulY Yours'

Itichard Richards

ItR: jdcc: State Chairman

CLAMembers

Appendix

United State Court of AppealsFOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CIRCUTT

No. s+,ssa+ September Term, 1985

Kenneth F. Collier,James M. CollierAppellant

VS.

C.A. No. 84-03570

United States of America, et al.

BEFORE: Wright, Ginsburg and Scalia, CircuitJudges

ORDER

Upon consideration of appellees' Motion fSummary Affirmance and the opposition theIt is

ORDERED by the court that the motion is denied.'The district court's peremptory dismissal of thiscase on the same day the complaint was acceptedfor filing issued prior to this court's decision inSills v. Bureau of Prisons,76lF.Zd792 (D.C.

VOTESCAM

('ir.1985) Summary affirmance of the dismissal'

,,, Sills clarifies, received the "fullest

e onsideration necessary to a just determination'"

lil r.i.Z ai794.It is FURTHER oRDERED by the

e ourt that the district court's dismissal is reversed

lnd the case is remanded to that court for further

i,''""*Aitgs consistent with this court's opinion

in Sills.It is FURTHERORDERED that the requests

,,, ,*", the parties'submissions on the Motion for

i**ury Affi'*unce as briefs on appeal are

dismissed as moot'

'lhe Clerk is directed to withhold issuance of the

rnandate herein until seven days after disposition

of any timely petition for rehearing' See Local

Rule 14.

VOTESCAM 383382 Appendix

PETITION TO THE SUPREME COURT OFTHE UNITED STATES

WHY THE WRIT SHOULD BE GRANTEDCONDENSED: Where Petitioners have beerrvictimized by a jurist who obtained jurisdictionsua sponte to rule in a case wherein a long-ternrcolleague is a material witness due processdemands that such a rulins should be vacated.

Your Petitioners recognize the extremeseriousness of actually accusing ajudge oftheSuperior Court of the District of Columbia olwillful and deliberate political case-fixing, butwhen the following facts are considered, no otherconclusion can be drawn. A lengthy investigationof Judge HENRY F. GREENE'S behavior in thismatter was conducted by his peers and superiorson that Court, including three Chief Judgesthereon whose cooperation with Your Petitionerswas voluntarily granted in the wake of the severalfacially-anomalous actions committed by JudgeGREENE in his so-far successful derailing of a"non-frivolous" $20 million damage suit againstthe Republican National Committee. "Non-frivolous" in that two judges on that Court havedenied summary judgment to the RNC'sattorneys on identical pleadings, (plus onelengthy hearing), in the litigation proceeding the

('vcnts described below' "Non frivolous" in that

,,t:ver&lCourt-ordereddepositionsweregrantedIrlYourPetitionersintheirpreparationforthelrrry trial which RNC attorneys sought to avoid at

;rny cost.

I . The first "facially-anomalous" action

,'ommitted by Judge GREENE was the manner in

which he used self-help to obtain pre-trial

iurisdiction of the case' The Chief Judge's

investigation confirms that Judge GREENE

ir"r*nuify picked up the telephone and called the

pre-trial aisignment office just a few minutes

before Your Petitioners (acting pro se) were

scheduled for a long-awaited and hard-won

pretrial conference' With this phone call Judge

bnngNe ordered the assignment clerk to send

the "next available" case to his chambers'

iigniticantly, Judge GREENE was not the

ofii"iut pretrial judge, but was conducting a trial

in anoth^er division, which he recessed to enable

him to reach out for this case' In light of what

ensued, Your Petitioners took the extraordinary

step of bringing suit against Judqg GREENE and

the RNC attorney who worked hand-in-glove

with him to run two "non-frivolous" (as above)

pro se litigants out of Court' The following are

three key sentences from the Complaint of that

suit...

Appendix

THAT this is an action sounded in tortiourconduct amounting to civil conspiracy in whichthe defendants had a meeting of the minds andcooperated together for the same object whichthey mutually sought to be accomplished, namelythe unlawful misuse of Henry Greene'Bemployment as a Superior Court judge to denyPlaintiffs due process in a United States court inthe District of Columbia, (Superior Court CasQ10935084) both on and o.ff rhe bench.

THAT in furtherance of said civil conspiracy,Defendants committed unlawful acts tocalculatedly and deliberately and knowinglydefraud Plaintiffs from being treated in SuperiorCourt in an impartial, non-prejudicial manner as

related to being assigned a judge for a ptejridconference, and conspirator GREENE misusedhis position of implied authority to deliberatelytelephone the Civil Assignment office at thcprecise hour (1/6/85) when plaintiffs' $20 millionlawsuit was already assigned to be heard byJudge W. Thompson. (a duly-appointed judge ot'the PRE-TRIAL DIVISION) but which phonecall "suddenly" WRONGFULLY caused motionsclerk SANFORD COLEMAN to switch plaintifl,,rfrom the proper and normal routine assignment ola judge in the pre-trial division to HENRyGREENE, a trial judge in Civil II

'|HAT in deliberately reaching out from his busy

schedule as a trial judge to snare a highly political

and controversial multi-million dollar suit toGREENE

conspired with CARR as judge-and-attorney for

the Republican National Committee (Defendant

in the suit) to silence and ignore Plaintiffsvigorous objections that GREENE had no right

whatsoever to overturn a previous ruling denying

clefendants a summary judgment. acting without

VOTESCAM

I

original motion. but instead conspired withCARR to reopen the entire case, to fabricate"supreme Court" opinions on the record, and to

clismiss the case out of hand- Certainly, your

Petitioners objected to the jurisdiction of Judge

GREENE and did so during the off-the-recordmeeting in his chambers during which Judge

GREENE revealed that he had been a colleague

for 13 years in the Justice Department with the

key (adverse) material witness listed on the

plaintiffs' pretrial form. Then, when the RNC

uttorn"y asled Judge GREENE to "reconsider"

the denial of summary judgment rendered by a

co-equal Superior Court Judge just three weeks

earlier, Petitioners objected once again, but were

silenced on threat of arrest and told to "be" at a

387VOTESCAM

386 Appendix

hearing three days hence at which time the entirocase would be re-argued in de novo proceedings,Thus, using coercion in the form of guarantecddismissal if Your Petitioners failed to appear at

n

the hastily arranged hearing, Judge GREENE sct {the stage for his granting a summary judgment, ,r

thus obviating the necessity for his former$colleague/friend (above) to testify in a highly Ipublic jury trial featuring the videotaped '

votefraud evidence which that formercolleague/friend had refused to screen when ithad been presented to him at the JusticeDepartment in connection with the REWARDOFFER.

At the fatal hearing itself, which was purported to ibe a "motion to reconsider" on the part of theRNC, no testimony was taken, no evidencewhatsover was introduced by the RNC, nothingto justify holding such a motion hearing on thedispositive issues of the case.

The only purpose in holding a de novo hearing atthat stage of the litigation was to provide a

courtroom context for Judge GREENE tosuddenly "reverse" the law of the case as

previously determined by two previous SuperiorCourt judges. The record shows that YourPetitioners objected to being forced to participate

in the hearing. With the Court's indulgence' your

Petitioners extract a portion of that hearing

below:

MR. COLLIER: Judge Nunzio did, in fact' sit

and hear lengthy argument on both sides' oral

urgo*."t, uid *h"o it was over' he stated that

he would throw out the punitive damages and

he would allow us to continue to press our

claim in court so that we could have a jury

determine what is reasonable or not reasonable

for the public to assume when they read a

reward offer put out by the party in power'

THE COURT: Wello Mr' Collier' let me just

r"V I resolved that issue when I resolved to

fr."t ttt" motion for reconsideration' I told you

and Mr. Carr in chambers that it seemed to me

upptoptiate for Judge Nunzio, to hear the

motion for reconsideration, and that's the way

it usually works' but I also told you that Judge

Nunzio was in a situation where he was in a

different assignment now and' indeed he has

retired, but the effective date isn't clear' and Iwasn't sure how the civil division of this court

and the administrators of that division would

want to handle this matter' I called the

assignment commissioner - they asked me to

tran-dte it, and I indicated to counsel that I

Appendix

would. So, for purposes of this motion t0reconsider I am, in essence, sitting as JudgeNunzio and reconsidering what he did in thatcase. So, the fact - stare decisis does not applyto reconsideration of this matter.

Now, if Judge Nunzio articulated some thingtin his denial of the motion for summaryjudgment that you think are relevantr l wouldcertainly like to be informed about thosethings, because I was not there. So, if hearticulated some reason as to why he thoughtthere were material factual issues thatremained in dispute in this case, and whatthose issues areo please address those.

MR. COLLIER: Judge Nunzio, by his verydecision, stated to us - looked right in my eye

and said. "It's not all over. You can still pursueit," or words to that effect. IIe had come to hisdecision -THE COURT: But did he say what factualissues. what material factual issues he viewedas remaining in dispute in this case?

This type of colloquy continued throughout a five hourhearing, during which time the issues under examination

VOTESCAM

were tloiled down to what Judge GREENE referred to as

"the crux of the matter'" To wit:

TT

THE COURT: Now tell me what's the

evidence?

MR. COLLIER: I submit that the statements

*ua" by Richard Richards in his deposition

ur" ."uttly what Your Honor is referring to'

and that where the complaint in this case

states that the - that the Defendants had no

autt otity to make this promise' during our

particiPation.

THE COURT: Okay' Well,I guess that gets to

the crux of the matter'

MR. COLLIER: He agreed he had no

authority to make the promise' and he signed

the letter.

TIIE COURT: I think that - okay' I think

that gets to the crux of this matter' Mr' Collier'

It is my view, as a matter of law' that no

reasonable person could interpret the

l"rrgoug" "Who will proceed with such

"ortipf "i"t" followin g "federal -officials"

as

urryirrirrg other than predictive' that no

VOTESCAMAppendix

reasonable person could construe thatlanguage as a guarantee by the RepublicanNational Committee as to what federalofficials would do and

-and f guess that really

is the crux of the matter.

MR. COLLIER: Mav I address mvself to that?

THE COURT: And I say that as a - as apredicate to my restating the same question.Now, if - if we view that language as aguarantee, as you tend to view it and think itshould be viewedn then I grant you that underthe language of Bennett versus Kiggins, onecould conclude that at least the reward offerand that portion of the reward offer whichconstitutes an alleged promise was made bythe promiser with knowledge that the eventswould not occur. As youove indicated, Mr.Richards indicated in his deposition thatnobody ever intended to guarantee whatfederal officials would do, buto it seems to methat the word - and I - I - I - inpreparation for this, I was looking in adictionary of English usage last night, and theword otwilltt of course, used as a verb, hasseveral connotations. Sometimes it hasconnotations that amount to a guarantee but,in other contexts, it has only a predictive

connotation, that is, that it will rain today' If I;;iit"" it will rain tonight or it will snow

;;;dil the word 6'will" is being used with a

pr"aictioe connotation, because there's no way

that I can guarantee that it will rain or that it

will snow tonight'

ffire aPPalled that Judge

GREENE was so obviously contemptu"t:::::as plg-tg.litigants that h; would simply and

cavalierly refer to his home dictionary as being

the sole source from which he drew the

conclusion "as a mattef of 1aw" that the word

"wi11" under dispute had no guarantory meaning'

s i grriri" u"try, Jui ge GREENE conceded that here

are o'several" ways of interpreting that word'

it "r"Uy

conceding that the language was clearly

faciallY ambiguous'

!l

*g

t

ifI,

t

Your Petitioners were cognizant of the

Uu"tgro"nd of Judge GREENE related in his

;ilTty"u, "-ptJy-"nt as-alattornev in the

Justice Department, d"" to Judge GREENE's

,"-"rt- in chambers (as above)-and further

,"""gtir"A that if we were to later claim bias and

pr"f tOi." on the part of the trial judge we would"n"* ," confront him on the record and ask for his

,""o*uf due to his past lengthy ass.ociation with

ii" uuou"-mentioned "material witness" whose

3ez Appendix

tenure at the DOJ mirrored Judge GREENE.s,The following comprised his .eptf:

I{E COURT: your request is denied, Mr.Collier, and you may have a seat.

MR. corLrER: Arl righr.

THP COURT: your request for recusal isdenied.

QsNeru$qu

When the District of Columbiq Court of Appealsaffirmed the Cburt's sumn\ary judgment, itprovided in its bationale the verv reason (andlegal citation) why the dgcision of JudgeGREENE shou16 be reversgd. As the below-quoted paragraph from the T).C.C.A. shows, a

"facially ambi guous,' phrgse should not beinterpreted by th" Court ,.as a $atter of law." TheREWARD OFFER agreeme,,r ilself placed anobligation on thq RNC to,,@

VOTESCAM

wrII proceecl wrt-h such compl aint " The evidencein this case shoqs that your tsetitioners relied onthat phrase w\en they emgarked upon theirvideotaping\ission.@PARA: 1-12) That phrasg (the inducementclause) shoulq be interpteted by a jury todetermine whe16s1or not a oofeesonable person"would have religd upon it as g .,promise."

DIST\1ST oF C(fLUMBTAcQunr oF AF,pEALs

We turn first 1o a key arg\rment of appellantson appeal, t\at the triaf ceurt erred in itsinterpretatiorr ol the rewary.d offer as affordingno guaranty t o those reslbonding to the offer

VOTESCAM39'

that enforcement action would in fact be taken

by state and federal officials to whom possible

voter fraud information was provided.An interpretation of an integrated agreement

in a document is facially ambiguous. 1010

Potomac Assoc. v. Grocery Manufacturers ofAmerica, Inc. 485 A, 2d I99 1205 (D.C. 1984).

Clearly, Your Petitioners have earned the right to

a jury trial to resolve the issues in dispute in this

lawsuit, and therefore pray for reversal of the

lower Court's arbitrary, capricious and

prejudicial extinguishment of our claim.

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED.

DATED 23 Jlune 1987

KENNETH COLLIERJAMES COLLIER

Ed. NOTE: THE COURT DECLINED TOREVIEW THE CASE AND NO WRIT OFCERT. WAS ISSUED.

,'

I,J

ti_i

t

I

INDH(396

INDEX

ARC, g, 14, 23, 62, tgt, 793-194, 220-222, 232,247 ,

252. 289-290,298, 32rAC1U,97.981'P,335Air Command and Staff

College,22Altgen, Ike,3I9-32OAnderson, Gail, 302-303Anderson, Jack, 95Anderson, -lohn,255Anderson, Ralph, 241,, 332Ansin, Edmund,66Appeals Covrt, 257 -258,

26r,280Arledge, Roone, 252

Alrowsrnith, J ohn, 223

Associated Press, 9, 23,212,232,299,302

Aulomatic Voting MachineCornpany,86,88

B-52s,146Baccus, Shidey, 239

Baez, Joan, 54Baggs, Bill,86Balaban, Henry, 90, 97 -99,

176

Baldwin, Alfred,240Barber, Lronel,296Barr,'i(rillianr, 306-307, 3IO-

3r1Baird,Zoe,340Bay of Pigs, 175

Becker, Alan, 110, 230-231Bee Gees, 130

Beiler, Ross, 39, 40,45,49-50, 52, 60, 62, 63-64, 7 4-76,142

Bergson, Borkland,Margolis andLdler,222

Bernstein, Naomi,301Biden, Joseph, 345, 348,

356-357Billboarci Magazine, 1 J),

r4>Bingo Bar, 109. l8l. 185

VOTESCAM397

Bishoff, Dan,303Black,John,228Blue,'Walter, 199,173

Blues Image, 1J2

BA/D( 161, 153-165,177 ,

192Board of Elections, 20,35,

1.52,244-246,300-302Boca Raton, 105

Bort, Robert,259,261'Boston Glol>e,237Bra<len, Mark, 166, !68-172,

185,792,206,220,223,.to /

Bradlee, F,en,237Braterman, Mattin, 35 -37,

62,9t,93,178Brazz\l, W.R.,68Bressler, Scott,7l,73Brevitz, Marshall, 131

Brotherhood of the Bell,r77

Broward County, 105, 108

Brown, JerY, 294, 301, 328-329,338

Brussel, Mae, 315-317, 319,2,))

Bruun, Paul, 58, 60-65,73,/()

Bucksbaum, Susan,300

Buffet, Warren,222Bumham, David, 2O7, 229,

326-326,334

75,rO1, t93-1s9,113iib:\lb:\r;, i1+, {ag,301

Capital Cities-Communicatlons,22l

Carr, Goodson & Lee, 226,)oL-)O<

Carr, Lawren ce, 226-227,257-258,262-264,267'272,285

Carter, JimmY ,252,254Casey, William,207Cavanaugh Land Sales, 50,

742

cBS, 6, 9, 23, 62, 232, 252,

288-290,33O,335

Center for Strategic &Intemational Studies,(csls), 2t0-21'7, 21' 4-21'5,

249-251,257Cent"ral Intelligerrce Agenq/

(ctA), 1.12.22.43.89.r27 ,140,1.48,174 175,

189-190, 195,207,210'214,31.6,323

Chile,12Chilton Research, 291, 294

Christian BroadcastingNetwork (CBN), 228-229,266

Ciment, Norman, 149

Cincirrnatus P artY, 242-245

Circus Magazine,136Citizen's For Fraud-Free

Elections, 315

CityPaPer,322cNN,9, 29O,335

Coelho, TonY,253

Bush, George, 4, 7 -8, 12-15,275-216,249

Byer,Brll,77-78Canvass Sheets, 35-36, 39,

VOTESCAM3W

3% INDD(

Cohen,Jon, J22Collier, Collier & 'I'1omas,

202,

Columbia Urriver5ily SchoolofJoumalism, 296

Commission on |'trationalElections, 249-250

Contpttter Elcctien Services(cES),204, 209

CompLltef Secllrity Center,208

Concerned Demgc131s, 74Condit, James Sr. ,242,245Coral Gables Tintes, 77fotcoran, Robe(, 151Corio, Ann, 137Coumo, Mario, 329-329,

338Crimes, Conspira6iss S

Coven-rps, 3OZ,3l5Crolir"rs, George,63Cronkite, \walter, 289Dade Cou nry Cotr rthotrsc,

57,63,10rDade Counry. 29\ 4j. q6, 5a.

59. 62-61, 69. Jt_l+,Itr,80,83-85, gg,'10I,rc6,108-109, 718, 145_149,r5r, 176-779, i.;/5,263,288,317

Daily News, 139

Paily Planet, 38, 54, 75-76,89, 96, 118, 1 30, J,48,rga

pallas, 2I7, 3I5-3I7, 3I9,32r-322

Dallas Police, 321pata Processing Center,

r57-r53, 755, 757, r5g

Davidson, Joe, 344Davis, Elton, 50-52 742-L43DC Comics, 130

DeBorchgrave, Arnaud, 190

Deiffendefe r, J oy ce, 52-53,55,1.r8,1.20

Dell Ptrbf ishing, 26-27, 30,55-56, r39,359

Democmtic NationalCommittee, (DNC) 95,238,25r,254

l)enver Post,237DFM,24IDi ler't Recording Elcctlonic

(DRr), 15-16Dole, Robert,12-11Don't Get Punched Out

151.

I)onsanto, Craig. C., 94,743,768-171, r75, r85-191,793,219,223,257,258-259,260,267-268,270,276,280-2U,304, 3tr-31,3, 337 ,359

Dtrgger, Ronnie,322Dtrkakis, Michael, 5, 24

Eastern Aidines, 96Ebinger, John, J48Election Vatch, 6, 305Election Nfatch Report, 305Ellsberg, D aniel, 7 8-7 9Entin, Alvin,74Establishnrent P ress, 2, 77,

21.2,236Estrumpsa, Shya,98Evans ancl Novak, 351Exit Polls, 288-290,306, 308

I rhrenkopf, Frank' 16tj'

2ob-20i,20e-2t6. 249.)q 1-759

Federal AviationAdministration, 208

trecleral Bureau ofInvestiqation, (FBI)' 43'

5r-52,t5, 57, 52, 83' 93,io3, ros, rr4, 1'27, 14o't+\" t+1, 748,, 154, 1"60,

r78, 187-189, r92, 238-

240,277,316,32LFecleral Communications

Commission (FCC)' 31'79,222,237

Federal Reserve Board, 208

Ficllar & Chambers, 240-241,283,

Financial Times of Lonclon,296

FlahertY, Robert, 8, 299,

302-303,337Florida Sunshine Law, 180

Fonzi, Gaeton, 11I, 237,

314For Shakes Sake, 138

Ford, Wendell, 253

FouhY, Ed,223,348Franklin Press, 103

Free Press, 54, 1,82

Freeclom ol' InfomtationAct, 140, 186-189

Ft. Lauderdale, 104-105'114,3U

GalluP Poll, L3-14

George, 135,

Georgetown tJniversitY,270,250

Gerstein, Richard, 94, 129

Ginsberg, Ruth Bader, 258-

259,368Goltz, Gene, I87-11)j

Good Night Sweet Prince'343

Goodman, Waltet,295Gottleib, Martin,296Graham, Katharine, 56' 63'

19.95, t73. t89'222.231-235,252 254 323

Graham, PhilliP,63Graham, Roberl, 79, 173,

Grancl CanYon, 1J6

Green,JoYce Hens,239

Greene, HenrY F', 27 0-285'

370,372Gregory, Dick,203Grossman, Lawr ence, 252

Grove, LloYcl, 13

Gulf of Tonkin' 78

Hamill, Pete,353-354Hanrilton CountY' 242, 245,

Harris, Louis, 288

Harris, T.K., 18

Harris Poll, 288-291

Hastings, Alcee, 30

Hatch, Onin,348Hawaiian TroPic, 134

Hayclen, Tom, 26, 54, 134

Hedges, Mike, 350

Hellanback, \TilliamThomas, 198

Henclerson, Gteg,346

Hendrix, Jiml, ?5,13I

rVOTESCAM

414m INDH(

Herald Examiner, 178, 180,183

Herald Tribune, 182-183Hess, Michael, 209-210, 226Hialeah Home News,76,

r47-r49,772, r78, rg2,2r9,234-238,250,263,3r4, 317-378,322

High Tinres Magazrne, lJ}Hill, Anita,346Hirschfeld, Lbe,354Hoffman, Abbie, 26Hoppe, L)ave,354-358House Select Committee on

Assassinzrtions, 314HUD,29Htrnt, Conover,322Hunter, Robert, 211Huntley & Brinkley, 28!Hun'icane, 27, 70-72, 74-76rBM, 18-20, 39, 49, 92, 244,

317

Institute for Cor.nputerSciences, 15

Inlcrnrtiorrll Jorrmal olPr"rblic Administration, 22

hwin Premack Associates,63

Jol'rnson, I4rndon Baines,321

Jordan, Hamilton, 252-253,

Jtrstice Department, 62, 83,94-95, 741, 167-768, 77r,185,187. r8g,rg1,rg3,2rg-220,224,237,248,258,266,270,276-277,283-284, 304, 3rr, 3r3,

32r-322,333-334,339Kane, Kyle, 269-272Keeney, Jol-rn C., 31,0-31.3,

359Kennedy,John F. (|FK), 2,

128-729, I75,217-213,289, 314, 321-323, 335

Kilrnan, Ilttz,z, 7 6, 96Kimple, Gregory Scon, 136King, Larryz, 86, 345, 35IKirk, Paul G.,253-254Kirkland, Lane, 253 -256Kiss, 137,

Knigl'rt,John S.,85Kohut, Andrew, 13-14Kolar-Kotelley, Colleen, 226Konner,Joan,296Koppel, Ted, 345, 318-349Kunkin, Afi, 182Lafayefte Park, 196-198,

2O0,203,273Lrtird. Melvirr . 215. 2\3-25 t,

Lane, Mark, f95-I96, 2I2-213

Lang, Michaei, 1J1Lasserville, John, 336League of \florren Voters

(LWV), 22,23, 52, 70, 80,1r8, r51-r52 160,164-166, r77, \93-794,220-226,232-233,242-243,247-248,250,252,254,263,300,303,3r2,334,336

Leahy, David, 153, 155, I59,762,336

Lennon, John, I35, 139, 343

Leonard, Wrlliam,252l.e-vin, Mike,208-209Liberty CI|Y, 29 -30, 32-33

Library of Congress, 22,

166,195Liddy, Gordon, 175

Yiy,17),185Los Angeies \(eeklY, 296

Los Angeles Times,297,304-305

Lott, Trent, 354-358

Lowe, Bob, 154, 759, 1.62,

165

Lynch, Robert, 38, 1O7, 1'14-

11.5

l.ynnette, 379-321

MacKenzie, Christina, 146

Mut'Kenzie, Don. t46. '151'

!55, \74-\76, r78-t79,r85,234,236,377-319

Maeder,JaY,344Malone,Joe, 162,336

Mamas ancl PaPas, 145-146

Mann, James,35I-352Marchetti, Victor' 195

Marshall, Edith,260McAdanrs, James, 306

Mellor, F,Li,329,338

Merill, Clark and DottY'122,-124

Metro, 31', 33, 84, 86, 118,\22,125,146,158, L62'173

Meyer, Helen, 55-56

Meyer, Sylvan, 69, 72, ttzMeyerson, Harold,296Miami Beach Chamber of

Commerce, 181

Miami Beach CitY Council,149, r80

Miami Beach, 29, 32, 58-59,7r,76,89, 111, t17, \34-135, 749 , 1.54, 157 , If 8-781,249

Miami Ileach RePorter, 58,

71,7i-76Miami Herald, +8. 55. 60.

7 2, 7 6-77, 80, 84-85, 92,r18, r22-r24, r54-t55,r59i-160, 162, 165, 1'80,

183,347-342Miami Magazine, 1 1 1-1 12,

)21

Miami News, 55, 60,69,72-n, 7 6, 86, 112, 1'r8, 123-

124,725,342,35iMickelson, Jan, 247, 355

Miller, \Xiilliam, 104, 118

Mitchell, John, 79

Mitofsklz, \(/aren, 29 0 -21) 7

Morrison, Jim ,25-26Mueller, Roben S. nI' 310-

377Muluk, GuY,345-348Murphy, Pat,77Naegele, RobertJ. , 16

National ComPuter SecurirYCenter,208

National Press Building,236,239

National Press Club, 235

National Public Radio, 325

National SecurifY AgencY'208

National Time Sharing l)ata

402 I]\]DH( VOTESCAM

Service,300NBC, g, 23,62,232,252,

289-290,335New York Board of

Elections, 300-302New York Daily News, 341,

344New York Post, 353New York Times, 9, 78, 80,

207-208,229,236,291,295-296,325,-326,334

Newfelt, Victor,223News Election Seryices

(NES), 2, 8-9, 27-24, 232,290-2gr,2g5,2gg-303,308,335,337

Niehaus, Richard Jr.rdge,242.245,346

Niglrtline, 345,348Nixon, Richard, 26, 43-45

54, 56-51 ,78, 80, 95, r27,r30, r75,215,237,258,1)1

NOVA,321Now It Can Be Told,302-

303Nugent, Tecl,29Nunzio, Nicholas 5., 262-

266,268,280,336O'Brien, Lany,95O'Brien, Tim, 191, 192-lc)1+,

22I-222,247,348O'Neil, LouJr., 136

Ohio, 167, 242,263Oliver, R. Spencer,238Opa Locka, 87, 90, 3I7 -378Organized Crime Bureau,

109, 118

Oswald. Lee Harvey. 214,319-320

Overtown,29Palm Beach, 105-106, 108,

119,229PAS,85-86Par,rl, Dan, 80, 85, 181

PBS,321Pentagon Papers, 78Pepper, Claude, 28-33, 39-

40,1+2,44, Ml-L43Perot, H. Ross. JJO, JJ6Petersen, Henry E.,I4I,

r43,786, r89,237-240Peuy,Jeny,348Phillips, John, 145Phillips McKenzie,I45Phillips, Michelle, 145Pizzi,Larry, ili,1.45Plimpton, Robert, 228Poindexter, John,207Police Magazine, 115Poltopunch,244Post Newsweek, 60, 63,77,

)<')

Powers,Jernz,54, I82Premack, L-win,63Presidenti:rl Dehares. I 67,

250-25r,253-254Prilliman, Patricia, 187-188Printomatic, 719-122, I24,

r54,789,31.2Public Administration

Service,85Public Integrity Section,

168, 185

Putz, Ed, 108-109

Radford, Elvera, 246-247,267,312,35r.

Rand, Ayn,264Rather, Dan,6Reagan, Ronald, I84, 1,98,

206-207Rebozo, Bebe,43Regional ComPLlter Center.

245,247Renick, Ralph,63,67Reno, Hank, 125-127,

Reno. Tanet, 725-127, 129,r7i-174,776, r78,377,3r8,340-346, 357-359

Republican NationalCommittee (RNC), 150'r53, 166-769,171, 19r,r93,204-205 207,2O9;zt6-zts,220,223,226,248, 251.-262, 264-265,267,272,274-280,282,364,370-371,373

Republican P anY, 12, 216

Rice, Ron, 134

Richards, Richard, 150, 168'216-21.8, 265, 282, 364,367,377

RICO Act, 236

Ridings, D9rothy, L67, 25I,254-256

Itivera, Geraldo,302Robb, Charles S., 253

Rolrcfison, P at, 228-229'334

Rock rJfars, 138-731)

Rolling Stone Magazine,136

Rosenzweig, Dav id, 296-

)01

Ross, Brian, 111

Rounds, Elme'r, 11Yc), 11 2.

174

Royal Oak High Sch<nl, 49

Rubin' Ellis, 89, 93-99' 103'717 -1.18, 1?4-125, rzf ,

r29, 172, t7 4-177, 192,-

r93,238,305-301,309-3r1.,334

Rubin, Jerry, 26

Running Through theSystem, 26-27 ,30

Rtrslr To Judg ement, 212

Rust, Robert, 83, 89, 94,775Ryan, Vincent, 196

Saltman, RoY G., 15

San Francisco Chronicle,296

Satan,737-139Savage,Jim, 1'54,1'65

Scalia, Antonin, 2I9, 257 -267,338,368

Schtrtzrnan, Jetry,245Secret Service, 199

Seeper,Jerry,350Senior CorPoration, 180,

249

Shafer,Jack,322Shaheen, Mark, 1P0

shakti, 139 , 144-745, 179

Skomeck, CarolYn,348Shapiro, Lee C., 294-295

Shoup, Ransom, 15

Shouptronic, 7,75-16Sixry Minutes, 110, llilJ'

230-232

ryr VOTESCAMINDH(

Smith, \X4liam French, 219,257-258,260

Snyder, Mitch,203-204South Beach,29, I49South Miami News,76Soviet Union,72,278Spanklz and Our Gang, 145

Spotlight, 195-196, 204, 230,238

SquiresJames, 333St. George, Anclrew, 195

Stanford, I{enry King, 60,70,80,85, 116

Stewart, Charlie,223Stewart, Nancy, 187-188

Stone, Oliver,3I5,32IStrauss, HowardJ., 6, 305

Strauss, Robefi , 257, 254-255

Sturgis, Frank, 238Sulzberger, 80Sunshine I^aw, 180-181

Sununu, John ,7 ,13-1,6,21,6,248-249,253,306

Superior Courl District ofColumbia, 209 , 22O, 226,270

Swami Vishmr, 144

Tallahassee, 46, 48The Best Little Whorehouse

inTexas,138The Daily Smirker, 54

The Doors, 25,28,The Fighting MacKenzies,

I4()The Sierra club,43Thee Image, 27 -28, 54, 1,3I-

132Thomas, Clarcnce,346Thomas, Helen,346Thomas, Ellen and Villiam,

198-203Thompson, Hunter 5., 296

Thompson,\W lllham, 27 O,

272,372Thunrrond, Strom, 260-26ITisch, Rolrcrt Preston, 252

Titusville,239Tottenberg, Nina,346Tucker,8i11, 148

Turner,Ed,337Tumer,Ted,337U. S. Congress,29,78tJ.S. Supreme Coutt, 78Underground Press Service.

55, 130

Unified Field Theory, 287,421

Unity, 0, f44, t85University of Mian'ri, 27,39,

50, 60, 64, 68-70, 79-80,85,95, r42

uPr,23,232,335Urban, Casimer Jr., 200-202Vander-Jaght, Guy, 1.49

Vankin, Jonathan,3O2,315-316,338

Vickery. Frunk,87,89-90Viet Nam, 12,27,79,215Village Voice, 3O3,351Voter Research & Surveys,

29o,300,306,308vre, 290-294, 296, 300, 308\rABC,326-327

VBAI,325-327,\Wallace, Mike, 1 10-112,

230,235Wall Street Joutnal, 344

\7ard, Nancy,356-357'W'aren, Earl Chief Justice,

213'!(l'arren Commission, 212,

376,32r-322\Tarren Report, 128, 212,

379\Tashington P651, P, 1J-14,

56,63,78-80, r39, r70,r87,222,236-237,252,350

\Tashington Times, 187,190,3i0

WatcrgaLe, r4. 58. ti0. 95'I2-, I rJ, t75. 186-18-.2r9, 224, 237-238, 323

'Watson, Thomas, 19-ifaft,.lames, 198

\rCKT,39,57,66\rCKY,355\7et,Jack,120'W'est Palm Beach, 105

\(rest Virginia, 21

\fest, VoodY, 187

Vlnite, Leonat cl, 54, L)2

\rhite, Steve,301r

'W4-rite House, 5, I2-I3, 15,57,775,196, 198-r9L),206,229,235,257-258

\7iethe, John, 246lifilson, John, 350

'J/infrey, Oprah,354vKA-T,61

\Tometco IlntcrPt.ist's, 7() liFi

\(oocl, Kirnba, .l'10

\7ood, Tom,60. (/, (r9

\Toodsrock, 25, 13,t, lJ.j.r84

\Toodward, Bob, 237 23ft'240

World Trade Center, 138-1.31), 745, 300, 302-303,343

\x?LG, 60,63,79Wriglrt, Skelly, rtg-25t1, J65\rTVJ,39,57,68Yearone Band, 135-136,

138

Yoko, 135, 13-c)

Zapn-rder film, 320

Zedell, Carl,63Zire, Dennis, 300, 302

AcrnowrnocEMENTs

Lynette Yount offered us refuge in the

lizashington winter of our discqntent; ChuckGross islhe fourth brother and business partner

who made sure we survived the rigors of the

road; Larry Pizzi taught us that a slave cancrumble a mountain with a pickaxe; PhyllisVernick, akeady our friend, agreed to become

our editor. This book started out as an elephant'

If it now flies it is because of her vision'

\ ,f 'f '1/

VOTESCAM

" :',

*{ rP.,'V * ,} 't -'f ,P

The U.S. Constitution specifies that only theUnited States Senate may count the vote forPresident of the United States. \7hy the Senategave up that power, and to whom they gave itwill be the subiect of our next book.

APR ?1 2001

,

This Lrook is thc: ci-rln

invcstigation into,A,merica. Journalistsan$wet the qlrestrol 3 1003 U30qa g0a5b;rstards out?" l-he ilnstr/er ls" t:eL:;ruse wc urur levelr vote fhe bastalds in."

"Votescam" wiil till in the Lrlanks for anyone whosenst:s their votc lis worthless, but doesn't knowwhy. It tracks driwn, confi()nts, and calls thenarnes of EstabliShment thieves who elegantiyslcill the Amrrican vote fbr tlrcir own prof it. Itcoffres lbce to f"ace witir fhe Supremc Coult Jusricewho buriecl the key vote fraud cvidence; fhe mostpowerful ltnlale publisher in Arnerica who wor.r'tpermit her newspapers and television stations toexpose votc rigging; thc Attomey General who

"jailed .lim Collier to avoid orderingt itninvestigation into vote liaud; and it cast of weak-kneecl and corruptible politicians, lawyers, andnewspeople who ;u"e entanglecl in a massive crinieancl arc yct to be held accountable. 'fhe Collier'swish was that this trook be used as evidence in a

Congressional hcaririg. it's not tclcl late to makcthat happcn

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