As regular Team America Blog readers know, we are diligently awaiting more fallout from the Terry Link petition scandal that we publicized months ago. For those of you just catching up, Senator Link was accused by his democratic primary election opponent, Jerry Johnson (formerly Mayor of North Chicago), of submitting fraudulent petitions to the Illinois State Board of Elections (SBE) for the Democratic nomination for the 30th state senate district. See some of our previous posts here and here and here.
Among the signatures Johnson claimed were fraudulent on Link's petitions were several deceased individuals and Charles "Chuck" Fitzgerald, Link's former Republican opponent in the last two general elections. Even better, the Waukegan News-Sun decreed that some of the Terry Link petition circulators engaged in the practice of "roundtabling," which is a scheme where a group of people take old petitions or voter lists to come up with names and addresses, and then pass the petitions around the table among the 'roundtablers' to try to make the fake signatures not look too similar. The evidence of such fraud looked pretty damning, considering that some of the errors on the petitions could be explained only by people making mistakes while copying names out of the phone book(!).
Jerry Johnson's campaign is now pretty much history, as he was kicked off the Democratic primary ballot by Link's right hand man, Pete Couvall, who was until very recently, the vice-chairman of the Lake County Dems. We theorized here that Couvall was getting ready to be thrown under the bus, as the petition scandal is expected to heat up when Lake County State's Attorney Michael Waller's office starts handing out indictments. Link's soon-to-be-announced GOP opponent will no doubt make this issue a centerpeice of the race for the 30th district.
Meanwhile, the State Board of Elections has also gotten involved, due to the fact that at least one of the petition circulators, Mr. Davison, admitted that he was paid by Couvall to circulate Link's petitions. Now, there's nothing intrinsically illegal about that. However, campaign finance laws dictate that all disbursements and expenses of a campaign must be disclosed. The testimony given by Davison in the context of the Johnson petition challenge of Link's petitions indicates that Davison received, or expected to receive, money from Couvall for his so-called campaign work. But, when Link's quarterly campaign finance disclosures were made, there was nary a mention of any payments to Mr. Davison.
So, where did these payments go....? Well, the SBE has made inquiry to Mr. Couvall as to the truth of Mr. Davison's statements, as a "matter of interest." Read the letter here. Couvall was then forced to admit he made the payment to Davison, but such was not disclosed by the campaign. Rather, Couvall simply took money from the campaign and then turned around and paid Davison, without disclosing it. Read Couvall's admission letter to the SBE here.
Now, what the SBE decides to do about this infraction is anybody's guess. And, whether this revelation was solely the reason Couvall was eased out of his vice-chairmanship of the Lake County Dems is also not something TA is privy to. But TA's bet is that this is going to have some interesting repercussions way beyond whatever fines or penalties the SBE chooses to impose on Link's campaign, if any. If I were Senator Link, I'd be very concerned about the results of the State's Attorney's petition fraud investigation, hopefully coming out soon.
FROM THE PRESIDENTIAL RACE: A new Gallup poll shows McCain beats either Hillary or Barack, who are essentially tied with each other.
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10 comments:
TA:
Let me get this straight:
Terry Link had people forge signatures of dead people on his petitions, submitted under oath, to run for office.
He also had people forge signatures of people from the phone book, often in alfabetical order.
He also paid people to commit these forgeries from campaign funds.
He then failed to disclose campaign expenditures in direct violation of Illinois law.
Forgery, conspiracy, money laundering and admited violations of campaign disclosure laws.
Is that about right?
It's almost right. The spin story, once the scandal really breaks open again, will be that Pete Couvall did all those things, and Terry Link had no knowledge of it, because he was too busy down in Springfield raising our taxes in Lake County to bail out the CTA. Of course, Link's name is at the top of those petitions, not Couvall's, so Link will hardly escape unscathed. And, there is always the outside chance that once Davison and maybe Knight roll over on Couvall, he may be in a spot where he will give up Link, but I would not say that's a strong chance--Couvall is too good a soldier for that.
Also, Couvall will no doubt take the position that it was perfectly legal to take Link's money and dole it out on the street however he wished in return for campaign work, without disclosing the specifics.
I personally think the SBE is generally rather a spineless bunch, but if they don't come down on Couvall in this instance, it would be setting a terrible precedent for campaign disclosures in this state, which are already pretty weak. It would allow anyone in any campaign to hide expenditures by running them through a straw man, under few if any pretenses.
The flaw in Couvall's position will be that it's not like as if Friends of Terry Link paid the local print shop to print campaign literature, and then the print shop paid its workers, and failed to report the payroll of the print shop. The print shop is in the business of printing, and no one expects a third-party vendor to a campaign like a print shop to disclose its internal workings to a campaign. That's not the intent of the law. The intent is to bar shenanigans just like Couvall's, who is not in the professional business of providing campaign support (although one could almost argue he is). Show us your business cards, incorporation certificate, insurance, office address, and the IRS 1099 forms you gave out with those payments on the street, and then we'll see if that argument holds up to the SBE. Nice try.
No, it's clear that what Couvall was in this case was a street captain for Friends of Terry Link, and the campaign should have disclosed those payments to Davison (and we assume Knight), rather than laundering them through Couvall.
We'll see if the SBE agrees with TA or Couvall.
It makes you wonder what else Couvall was using the money for during the primary election campaign. After grudgingly admitting he paid Davidson some of it and no mention of Knight, who else got "street money" for the campaign?
Ministers for a favorable sermon? People as an enticement to vote? People to put up signs? Names? Dates? Amounts?
That is why full disclosure of the purpose of each payment is required. It will be interesting to see what Couvell did with the rest of the money.
The "old ways" are supposedly gone. But then again, following the testimony of the Rezko trial, the "old ways" are very much live and well in our State and Cook County and Chicago Governments.
Louis G. Atsaves
It is laughable to have expectations that the Lake County States Atty will file any charges.
Mike Waller's track record is to look the other way when possible.
e.g. How many years was Mrs. Link working for/lobbying for Ameritec, a company regulated by the State? Conflict of interest?
How many public bodies flaunt compliance with the open meetings act?
I believe Mrs. Link has been working for SBC/Ameritech since 2001, right after her short gig as a subcontractor for Lake County's "Millenium Project" - now that's a file that needs investigating. However, it won't.
Just like Terry's failure to disclose Mrs. Link as a lobbyist (as required by law) on his Statement of Economic Interest - more than once.
And just like Terry Link's "Yes" vote on the SBC legislation that increased our rates while his wife was the "designated lobbyist".
The list just goes on...but it seems the system is either broke or "fixed for Link".
The State Board of Elections had the information required to throw him off the ballot and they did not.
The Circuit Judge hearing the appeal of the State Board's decision, file by Link's opponent, had ample information to throw Link off the ballot and he did not.
The State Board now holds the cards as to whether Pete Couvall's "staff salary" of $2,500 (as indicated on Link's D2 report)is reported correctly or incorrectly. Most of us would agree a staff salary is paid to staff and therefore cannot be "funneled" to individuals instructed to forge signatures.
Seems to me the only course of action that can be taken to ensure Link is held accountable for his action is to remove him from office through the election process.
And, while we work on removing him - consider removing his cohorts who supported all his actions with their silence and support of his campaign - KATHY RYG,SUSAN GARRETT,KAREN MAY,MARY ELLEN VANDERVENTER.
Mr. Atsaves
we have all seen over the years how you have left petitions for a certain state senator in every restaurant in the district, did you witness every signature you collected, this is nothing more than the pot calling the kettle black, but I suppose we should not expect anymore than that.
TA:
Nice work on the corruption of Link/Couvall.
Do they know this is being e-mailed to hundreds of people in Link's district?
To Anon 7:16:
During the last campaign I ran for a "certain state senator" I pulled 8 pages of petitions containing 15 lines of signatures each, because I had my suspicions about them, or because the circulators who signed them couldn't answer simple, straight questions about them.
I still have those unfiled petitions in a campaign file.
I elected to play it safe. As you can determine from the recent Johnson/Link finger-pointing on petitions, not playing it safe can be terribly expensive and embarrasing.
Next time I would suggest you try a bunch of restaurants instead of hiring people who are unsure while under oath of where they live and are only in it to make a quick buck or two.
At least you will sleep better at night over the results.
Louis G. Atsaves
Does this sound a little familiar? See Daily Herald story posted below.
Louis G Atsaves
Insider fraud trial starts
Election petition errors were not his fault, pollster says
By James Fuller | Daily Herald StaffContact writer
Published: 3/26/2008 12:04 AM (1) | read | post
It was January 2005 when the discovery of fake signatures on his nominating petitions doomed former Milton Township Assessor Jim Gumm's re-election bid.
Several judges, several defense attorneys, several prosecutors and several years later, the man accused of creating those fake signatures is having his day in court -- and blaming homeless men for any possible wrongdoing.
Opening statements and the first round of witnesses Tuesday kick-started the first day of the trial of political consultant Rodney McCulloch. He is accused of felony forgery and perjury and misdemeanor disregard of election code.
The charges stem from nominating petition signatures Gumm hired McCulloch to obtain in order to get on the ballot.
Prosecutors now say they believe possibly hundreds of the signatures McCulloch submitted were fake.
McCulloch perhaps is best known for running Republican John Borling's primary campaign for the U.S. Senate seat ultimately won by Democrat Barack Obama. Borling fired McCulloch after McCulloch tried to circulate salacious details about the divorce of Borling's Republican opponent, Jack Ryan, from actress Jeri Ryan.
On Tuesday, McCulloch's defense attorneys said they'll make the case that even if the signatures on the petitions are fake, there is no evidence McCulloch forged the signatures or knew they were forged when he testified to a notary they were genuine.
Instead, McCulloch's defense strategy plans to implicate four homeless men McCulloch hired to help him collect the signatures on Gumm's behalf.
According to his attorneys, McCulloch said he believes the homeless men may have forged the signatures out of greed and laziness because McCulloch had agreed to pay them $1.50 per signature.
Seven people testified Tuesday that their purported signatures on Gumm's petitions were false. They also testified that they'd never met nor heard of Gumm or McCulloch.
At least one signature on the petitions, bearing the name George Theis V, seems to belong to someone who doesn't exist, testified George Theis IV.
In addition, Gumm took the stand to recount his hiring of McCulloch and the beginning of his concerns with the authenticity of the signatures.
Gumm said he suspected something was wrong the first time he looked through the signatures McCulloch collected. At that time, he noticed that the signatures on the petition sheets weren't from sequential addresses on the same streets as one would expect in a door-to-door effort.
"It struck me as odd," Gumm said.
Lawyers on both sides said they expect the trial to conclude today.
McCulloch said outside the courtroom Tuesday afternoon that he's not sure if he'll take the stand in his own defense.
Interesting piece on Steve Greenberg in the sunday new york times magazine. Haven't heard a lot about his campaign but the thing gives me hope.
Terry Link's flagrant corruption and Jan's bashing of McCain on Elllen's blog even though she was practically drooling over him and Mark several years ago on mccain-feingold lead me to ask why we can't get someone with guts like Greenberg to run against these clowns.
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