Former U.S. Attorney John McKay was on NPR this morning defending himself from accusations that he failed to investigate complaints of voter fraud:
"I was surprised because the case was so clear," McKay told All Things Considered in a recent interview.It was only after the trial that we documented hundreds of incidents of elections office negligence (or worse) which caused the counting of illegal votes. NPR didn't ask and McKay didn't say whether he investigated complaints of election violations that had been raised after the trial. Maybe he didn't investigate them. Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at March 15, 2007 12:58 PM | Email ThisMcKay says his office thoroughly reviewed every allegation, and every piece of evidence submitted in a state court case to overturn the election.
"We concurred with the state trial court judge that there was no evidence -- and let me just emphasize, zero evidence -- of election voter fraud in that election," he said.
I have also personally wondered just how much credence the Republican plaintiffs gave to Stefan's research, and whether they didn't fail tactically by not crediting it more highly than they did.
None of this wondering excuses the Seattle Times and the Seattle P-I, both of which were well aware of the County's flaws and both of which refused to invest the resources to fully investigate and document the Elections Department mess. They alone had sufficient entree at the County to have pried loose and analyzed sufficient evidence to determine one way or another whether the election was fatally flawed, BEFORE the Wenatchee trial.
Posted by: Hank Bradley on March 15, 2007 01:59 PMFiring was too good for him. A "civil servant" who is derelict in his duties should be charged AND fired. He is no more than a good corrupt Seattle Democrat operative.
Posted by: Dick on March 15, 2007 02:05 PMIn August 2002, McKay admitted that he knew the state SC was being operated through a pattern of racketeering activity but said he would not prosecute because they were his "friends". He included Gregoire as a "friend" of his.
So Stefan, have you read my public records request yet? Think McKenna is going to comply with the law regarding the information requested? What do you think of a prosecutor who can identify a defendant who is named nine times in a sheriff's criminal referral? Maybe because the defendant is a superior court judge?
Stefan, it seems that you are not so interested in exposing judicial corruption if it also means exposing crimes of people who might be some of your friends like McKenna.
Posted by: Don on March 15, 2007 02:43 PMBWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
Posted by: Danny on March 15, 2007 04:13 PMEven if Christine Gregoire remained in power after the truth was revealed about crooked King County voting, McKay could rightfully claim the high road in this. Instead, he plays stupid with his Democrat cronies.
This bastard knows better. He has a greater responsibility than anyone else in Western Washington to investigate the facts gathered and documented. Why is it still such a big deal? Because the Dems, let by Chrisine, are causing Washington state taxpayeers harm by spending a TWO BILLION DOLLAR surplus.
What would happen if 170 people got together and cost the state TWO BILLION DOLLARS? They would be sent to prison. Because McKay has ignored readily available facts, he should be in prison.
Posted by: big dawg on March 15, 2007 05:06 PMWhat a self-serving idiot!
Posted by: Deborah on March 15, 2007 07:19 PMThis is going to be real interesting.
Clearly the strategy of McKay is to repeatedly refer to evidence from the "TRIAL"....as if that is all that should matter......that any other evidence obtained after months of stonewalling by KingKounty Elections was ok to ignore.
Stefan...you are going to have to really keep repeating yourself in order to properly frame the issue. I think a time-line & correspondence would be incredibly helpful.
Also, specific evidence from anyone else out there who contact McKay or his office. Document, document, document...
Posted by: Mr. Cynical on March 15, 2007 09:23 PMThe fact that it is not fraud does not mean that we should not try to make things better, but you will not make anything better if all you do is try to turn every percieved mistake into a political advantage. As this site has proven time and time again, half the time you just make yourself look bad, and no one will trust you because it rapidly becomes clear that propaganda is more important to you than truth and better government.
Why someone close to the minnow who knows the law has not explained this to him is beyond rational thought. It is also beyond rational thought why he hasn't figured out, or no one has told him, that the courts are loathed to get involved in what is in essence a political question. If you are not happy with how the system is working, change the government. In a democracy, good ideas are supposed to trump the bad. But, especially if you are a conservative and not a hypocrite, this is not a job for the courts. Making political decisions is the exact definition of an activist judge.
Now, if there was fraud, things are different. Then the system is broken, and the courts should try to set things right. But, as John McKay has said: "We concurred with the state trial court judge that there was no evidence -- and let me just emphasize, zero evidence -- of election voter fraud in that election."
Given all the resources of the Republican Party, hired guns from out of state, and one of the biggest, more prestigious and successful law firms in this state, no one, to this date has ever proven any fraud. Republicans like McKay, Sam Reed, Norm Maleng and Rob McKenna have all looked it over, and no one, to this date has proven any fraud. Every Republican activist and grand stander from the minnow himself to John Carlson, who could make their careers if they could find just one crumb, have looked it over and no one to this date has proven any fraud.
And the minnow and his kind are being driven slowly insane by their failures, and it shows.
The good news, at least for the sane, is that the people have seen through this, and the likes of the minnow have cost his party dearly. The once Republican suburbs of King County and their money are becoming more and more democratic every day. the minnow's readership goes down every day. Anger and irrational fear only get you so far. Paranoid delusions do not win elections.
The bad news for the sane is that a strong two party system makes our country, state and localities strong. When the far right, be it Hannity, O'Reilly or the minnow, weakens their party by demanding blind allegiance to even their mistakes, it diminishes us all. Dan Evans realized this, and made his party relevant for 25 years in this state. In the last decade, the likes of the minnow have taken it back to the border of irrelevance. We can only hope that saner minds rise back up in the party and return us to better times.
Posted by: JDB on March 15, 2007 10:10 PMAll of the evidence Stefan has uncovered regarding the November 2004 election contest is like the Bruno Magli shoes that jurors in the OJ trial were not allowed to consider as evidence.
But I'm sure Former US Attorney McKay will keep searching for the real killer.
Posted by: Jeff B. on March 15, 2007 11:00 PMSo, for instance, counting the Fatal Pend ballots was just a mistake?
Posted by: ewaggin on March 16, 2007 12:17 AMYes. Do you have any proof otherwise?
Posted by: JDB on March 16, 2007 07:35 PMWell, there's this morsel:
http://www.soundpolitics.com/archives/005283.html
1) Counting Fatal Pend ballots was a violation of KCE rules, by an individual that knew so.
2) It required overiding the system, so could hardly be accidental.
3) It was concealed by KCE officials before, during, and after the election contest.
Given the above, characterizing the act as a mistake is quite a stretch.
Still, determining whether someone should be charged with a crime is up to the District Attorney.
Hey! Maybe McKay could investi....oops....never mind.
Posted by: ewaggin on March 17, 2007 12:32 AM