Is Ann Arbor Chief Of Police Michael Cox Under Investigation For Election Interference?

FUN FACT! THE CHIEF OF POLICE SITS ON THE CITY ELECTION COMMISSION

But, hey, what do I know?

https://electionresults.ewashtenaw.org/electionreporting/march2016/index.jsp

Election Commission

Section 13.7 of the City Charter describes the Election Commission:

“The Clerk, the Chief of Police, and the Attorney shall be the Election Commission. The Clerk shall be chairman. The Election Commission shall have charge of all activities and duties required of it by law and this charter relating to the conduct of City elections. The compensation of all election personnel shall be determined in advance by the Council. In any case of doubt concerning election procedure, the Election Commission shall prescribe the procedure to be followed.”

Members

The incumbent City Clerk, Chief of Police, and City Attorney are:

• City Clerk, Jacqueline Beaudry, (734) 794-6140
• Police Chief​, Michael Cox​​, (734) 794-6910
• City Attorney, Stephen Postema, (734) 794-6170

Duties​

Chapter 1, pp 6-7 of the Election Officials' Manual published by the Michigan Bureau of Elections summarizes the activities and duties required of the Election Commission by Michigan Election Law. Some of the duties regularly handled at the meetings of the Election Commission include:

• Approving Ballots
• Appointing Precinct Inspectors (Poll Workers)
• Public Accuracy Testing of Voting Machines
• Precinct Changes/Consolidation of Precincts

Ann Arbor Police Chief Michael Cox placed on administrative leave

Michael Cox

Michael Cox, police chief of the Ann Arbor Police Department, has been placed on paid administrative leave for two weeks, according to an email from City Administrator Howard sent on Friday afternoon.

The email was addressed to the mayor, members of City Council and Lisa Jackson, the Independent Community Police Oversight Commission chair.

“I am writing to inform you that I have placed Police Chief Cox on Administrative Leave due to a personnel matter,” Lazarus wrote. “Deputy Chief Forsberg will serve as the Acting Chief.”

Deputy Chief Jason Forsberg will assume Cox’s duties while Cox is on leave. Forsberg was one of three finalists who interviewed for the police chief position over the summer.

In an interview with The Daily, Jackson said the commission was not told the specifics of the situation.

“I do not know as much as I would like to know,” Jackson said. “The commission is a little concerned that we were given the same amount of the information as the public was. We were not told why.”

However, Jackson added she has been told the leave is not due to Cox’s “personal misconduct” or an “allegation of him personally doing something improper.” When asked where she acquired this knowledge, Jackson said she was reassured by “people with more information” but declined to specify, as she said these individuals were likely not supposed to have told her.

Jackson said some members of City Council have also expressed their frustration to her about being “in the dark.”

City Councilmember Ali Ramlawi, D-Ward 5, shared in Jackson’s confusion. He said he understands the police chief will be on leave pending the investigation of a matter “we don’t know anything about yet.”

“There was no information given as to what it pertains to, only that there was a need to put the senior official on an administrative leave so an investigation can be conducted so we can have the best possible look at what happened,” Ramlawi said.

The Daily contacted Cox’s secretary Keri Hirschman, who did not reply prior to publication.

Cox was sworn in as the city’s new police chief in September 2019 after being appointed unanimously to the position in July 2019 by City Council. Cox’s salary starts at $160,000 a year.

Prior to coming to Ann Arbor, Cox served in the Boston Police Department for 30 years, including as a bureau chief for the Boston Police Academy from 2018 until his leave.

According to Jackson, Lazarus dealt exclusively with Cox’s leave. Lazarus had recommended Cox for the position in June over two other candidates vying for the role.

She said she found out about the leave Friday afternoon after being copied on an email from Lazarus to City Council members. Lazarus did not respond to request for comment prior to publication.

Ramlawi, as one of the liaisons to the ICPOC alongside Councilmember Jane Lumm, I-Ward 2, said he received a phone call from Lazarus informing him of Cox’s leave before the email was sent. City Council established the ICPOC in 2018 following years of advocacy by local activists.

Lumm did not reply to request for comment by time of publication.

Ramlawi said he is unsure why Cox’s leave will last two weeks.

“I’m not sure what made the city administrator believe it would just take two weeks, or whether they might come back and ask for more time after that,” Ramlawi said. “I would only be guessing.”

Jackson said the fact that the leave has a specified time frame “strikes a lot of people as strange.”

“If there is an investigation we want to know into what,” Jackson said. “If there is an investigation we’d like to know on what evidence that investigation is being conducted. Those are things we don’t have answers to now, and those are things we would like and we would like that information to be made public.”

Despite the ICPOC receiving minimal information about Cox’s leave, while he was being considered for the position in March, Cox emphasized transparency, expressing that he believes a police oversight commission had an important role to play in the community, bridging the gap between law enforcement and the public.

“I think in policing we don’t always educate the public or educate folks on what we do or how we do it, and the oversight commission is just an opportunity for that education process to exist in a more transparent way,” Cox said.

Forsberg has also commended the commission as an important transparency and accountability tool.

“I think the policing commission is a great opportunity to begin bridging that gap,” Forsberg said. “We really only do begin building trust by having transparency — having accountability within the ranks. But we do a lot of great work right now that, I feel like, people just don’t know about.”

In 1995, Cox was beaten by other police officers while undercover. According to Cox in a previous interview with The Daily, his experience with police brutality and others in which he said he has been mistaken as the suspect rather than the officer have informed his belief in fostering trust between law enforcement and the community.

“Interacting with the public in ways that don’t have to do with normal police work is important and builds trust,” Cox said. “It helps us figure out what the community wants. It helps the officers get to know the community, and the community gets to know the officers.”

Though Ramlawi said he would like more information, he said he understands not everyone can know the details because there can’t be “five different bosses.” He urged patience as the investigation plays out.

“We need to have trust in a system that has checks and balances hopefully,” Ramlawi said. “You want due process. All too often, we just jump to conclusions… It’s important to take our time and just allow the process to work.”

https://beverlytran.blogspot.com/2013/06/wayne-county-clerk-to-intervene-in.html

Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©

Meet Ellen Weintraub - The Perkins Coie Sucks Legal Genius Who Is Chair For The Federal Election Commission - Has One Seen Marc Elias? #perkinscoiesucks

Just when you think #perkinscoiesucks could not suck any more than it already sucks, I present to you, my dearies, just one more reason why #perkinscoiesucks.

Just in case you have forgotten how much #perkinscoiesucks, I thought I would kindly remind the entire living universe that #perkinscoiesucks with that fun link.

I should make a #perkinscoiesucks app just to pleasure those who are intrigued by my passion to vociferously share, with all of humanity the reasons why #perkinscoiesucks.

#perkinscoiesucks

FEC Chair Who Scolded Trump For Saying He MIGHT Take Oppo Research From a Foreigner Used to Work For Deep State Law Firm Perkins Coie

Ellen Weintraud, Perkins Coie Sucks,
FEC Chair

Democrat Weintraub was appointed by George W. Bush during a recess appointment.

One more fun fact about Weintraub — she worked for the DNC-Hillary Clinton-Deep State law firm Perkins Coie prior to being elected to FEC chair.

Per the FEC:

Commissioner Weintraub took office on December 9, 2002, after receiving a recess appointment; she was renominated and confirmed unanimously by the United States Senate on March 18, 2003. Commissioner Petersen was nominated and confirmed unanimously by the United States Senate on June 24, 2008. 

Prior to her appointment to the Commission, Ms. Weintraub was Of Counsel to Perkins Coie LLP and a member of its Political Law Group. Before joining Perkins Coie, Ms. Weintraub was Counsel to the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct for the U.S. House of Representatives (the House Ethics Committee). Ms. Weintraub received her B.A., cum laude, from Yale College and her J.D. from Harvard Law School.

Is this why Weintraub said nothing when Hillary Clinton paid for a junk Russian dossier and hid the payments by funneling the money through her law firm PERKINS COIE, worked with Ukrainians to obtain dirt on Trump Campaign Manager Paul Manafort and reportedly had foreign intelligence agencies spy on the Trump campaign?

I would not have thought that I needed to say this. pic.twitter.com/T743CsXq79

— Ellen L Weintraub (@EllenLWeintraub) June 13, 2019

In October of 2017, the Campaign Legal Center (CLC) filed an FEC complaint alleging the DNC and Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign committee violated campaign finance law because they failed to disclose the purpose and recipient of payments for the phony Steele dossier.

Is this also why the FEC is ignoring Hillary Clinton’s $84 million campaign finance scandal?

“One year and two months. That’s how long it’s been since a formal complaint was filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC), alleging Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign orchestrated an $84 million campaign finance scandal — the largest in U.S. history,” said attorney Dan Backer in February of this year.

“Yet the FEC has done nothing to hold the Clinton campaign, dozens of Democratic officials, and hundreds of six-figure Democratic mega-donors accountable for breaking the law,” Backer added.

Why is Ellen Weintraub still at the FEC?? She’s ignoring obvious crimes committed by Hillary Clinton and the DNC yet warned President Trump over a hypothetical scenario.

Read attorney Dan Backer’s entire report about Hillary Clinton’s money laundering scam and the formal complaint he filed with the FEC here.

Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©

SCOTUS Says "Stay" In Michigan 2016 Election Interference Evidence Tampering With Redistricting Maps

Judith Karandjeff

Ahoy!

Trump just gave Barr the OK to declassify.

Constitutional Crisis, full steam ahead.

Mark Brewer argued on behalf of the League of Women of Michigan to redraw "certain" districts.

Michigan GOP said, "We do not have enough time and besides, the same issue on gerrymandering is going on in other states.

So, here is my question:

If only "certain" districts have to be redrawn because there has been found substantial evidence to support the allegations of gerrymandering, well, I guess the public deserves to see what that is and how it happened.

I am going with my final answer to be stealin' the children, the land and the votes.

Here we have Judith Karandjeff, with all the accoutrements of being a trafficker of the tiny humans going all the way back to Jennifer Granholm, "Jenny from the Block", amongst other terms of endearment.

I smell Hillary, too.

It also seams Wayne County, Detroit was the birthplace for the League of Women Voters of Michigan launching constitutional ratification campaigns, the first being the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) and the Parental Rights Amendment, both born from the lust to re-animate the residuals of the peculiar institution.

Basically, what I am trying to say is, if the court has found that there was gerrymandering leading into the 2016 election, well, that would mean that there was election interference, which is why they are only trying to change, "certain" districts, which everyone knows, that would be federal evidence tampering.

Besides, Trump just declassified and this is Memorial Day Weekend and Mark Brewer is trying to save his soul, because he was running the MDP going all the back to 2014.

U.S. Supreme Court stays decision ordering political redistricting in Michigan

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday said Michigan's Legislature should hold off redrawing the state's political boundaries pending appeal of a court order.

Republicans in the state Legislature had asked Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor to grant a stay in the order requiring new political lines to be redrawn by Aug. 1.

In late April, a three-judge federal panel ordered the state Legislature to redraw nearly three dozen boundaries for congressional and state legislative seats, saying they were unconstitutionally gerrymandered in order to favor Republicans.

As a consequence, most of the state's legislative and congressional boundaries would have likely been redrawn or left to the court to redo ahead of next year's elections.

Republicans argued in their request for a stay that the timeline ordered by the court was unreasonable and that district lines were already set to be redrawn after the 2020 Census. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is already considering substantially similar cases from North Carolina and Maryland that could affect Michigan's case.

A decision in those other cases is expected by the time the court's term ends in late June.

State House Speaker Lee Chatfield, R-Levering, and several Republican members of Michigan's congressional delegation had filed a request for a stay with Sotomayor — who oversees the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals that Michigan is part of — saying the order of April 25th "forgoes any semblance of respect for state sovereignty."

"Put simply, all of the mandates of the District Court's order must be done under unsettled legal principles that the Court is currently reviewing," that request said. Several others were filed by other Republicans as well.

Democrats, included Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, objected to the stay, with Attorney General Dana Nessel's office writing an objection on her behalf.

"The facts and circumstances of this case ... do not warrant a stay," Nessel's office wrote. "

(Republicans) have shown only that complying with the district court’s order would be inconvenient, not that it would irreparably harm them in any way."

With similar issues already before the court's conservative majority, however, it was almost certain that a stay would be granted. Ultimately, whatever is decided in the North Carolina and Maryland cases could either effectively overturn the Michigan order, pave the way for a successful appeal or bolster the three-judge panel's decision.

The order issued Friday afternoon by the court indicated that Sotomayor, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama, did not rule on it herself but presented it to the whole court. At least five of the nine justices have to agree for a stay order to be granted.

In the earlier order, the three-judge panel concluded that Republicans in charge of drawing and enacting the political lines after the 2010 Census redrew lines by "packing" or "cracking" geographic blocs of Democratic voters, meaning they were either packed into one district or their numbers so diluted in others as to make their strength far less than it would otherwise be.

The court found that violated the First Amendment right to association and 14th Amendment right to equal protection under

The Supreme Court also issued a stay on a similar case in the 6th Circuit out of Ohio.

Michigan Voters Corrected Combined Response in Opposition to Applications for Stay 5-20-2019 by Beverly Tran on Scribd

Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©

Woodrow Wilson School of Public & International Affairs, Princeton University Wipes Out More Detroit Civil Rights Legacy By Publishing Michigan Privatization Voting Rights Gerrymandering Crap - Come Smell It

http://gerrymander.princeton.edu/michigan

The following report is by a group of students, and a very interesting group of individuals from Michigan.

This is not what happened in the 2010 redistricting of Michigan.

This is not what happened in the 2016 election.

Then, the report furthers some really weird outputs when it comes to previous years voting patterns, particularly the interpretation of voting rights, or rather the method in which they chose to rewrite civil rights history, in Detroit, again.

Obama & Holder: The National Democratic Redistricting Committee

That is when you recognize the stench of a Colored Revolution.

Then, there is this thing called frequencies, or rather how many times you can come big balling with a rolled out production of some top notch predictive modeling crap.

Michigan Ivory Tower Smarty Pants Profess Their Crap On Privatizing Gerrymandering By Failing To Address Election Fraud Or Detroit Land Bank Authority

Detroit Land Bank Authority: Contaminated Soil - Just Another Means To Gerrymandering

Michigan Congressional Redistricting and Its Challenges

They did not even properly set up their methodologies.

Who paid for this crap?

There was not one single mention of forced migration resulting from fraudulent property tax and mortgage fraud scam in Detroit.

The report focuses on the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and does not mention the name of the individual who has championed this his entire existence?

Can you smell the crap?

There was not one single mention of the federal investigation of the 13th Congressional District Office, which is public information in House Ethics, referred to the U.S. Office of Inspector General of the Department of Justice, who has been parceling out in referrals to the Districts.

Seriously?

Mark Brewer?

Come on.

You know this is some #perkinscoiesucks operation.

I formally enter this into the record as crap, fraud, propaganda, evidence into the *russian/israeli/ukranian* election interference because you know who pays #perkinscoiesucks.

I wonder if these senior graduate students got into Woodrow Wilson School of Public & International Affairs, Princeton University from the "Mummy & Daddy" college admissions scandal.

DOJ: Arrests Made in Nationwide College Admissions Scam: Alleged Exam Cheating & Athletic Recruitment Scheme

I smell fear.

Do you smell fear?

No?

Maybe because the malodorous stench of this crap is so overpowering.

Princeton Michigan Gerrymandering Report - A Commissioner’s Guide to Redistricting in Michigan by Beverly Tran on Scribd

Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©

Michigan Secretary Of State Jocelyn Benson Is In Over Her Head - We Are Going To SCOTUS

Something is telling me that SCOTUS will intervene, but, hey, what do I know?

I know the three-judge panel knows what I know.

Michigan Secretary Of State Jocelyn Benson Takes It Upon Herself To Negotiate Gerrymandering Public Private Partnership Lawsuit - Completely Forgets About SIGTARP

I also know Trump's State of the Union address is Monday, the day before the high-stakes trail on gerrymandering starts.

Court rejects settlement in Michigan gerrymandering suit

Lansing — A lawsuit alleging partisan gerrymandering by Michigan's Republican-led Legislature is heading toward trial next week after a three-judge panel rejected a settlement proposed by Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and plaintiffs.

Benson does not have the authority to enter into the proposed consent decree without the blessing of the Michigan Legislature, the federal judges said Friday in a ruling rejecting the deal, which would have required reconfiguration of at least 11 state House seats for 2020 elections.

A trial in the high-stakes case is set to start Tuesday, but the U.S. Supreme Court could still intervene.

GOP attorneys are attempting to delay the case, and Justice Sonia Sotomayor on Friday asked parties wishing to weigh in to do so by Monday at 11 a.m., a sign the high court is considering the request.

The suit was filed on behalf of the League of Women Voters and a series of Democrats who allege that congressional and legislative district boundaries approved by the Legislature in 2011 were designed to benefit Republican candidates.

In announcing plans to settle, Benson said the case included "significant evidence of partisan gerrymandering" and predicted the state would lose in court and incur significant legal costs. Here settlement focused on what she said were the most "egregious" examples of partisan gerrymandering -- and likely several neighboring districts as well.

Instead, the court could decide whether there is evidence to prove claims Republicans intentionally "packed" and "cracked" voters into certain districts.

Benson and plaintiffs had argued their proposed settlement was similar to a case out of Florida that the U.S. Supreme Court approved.

But in that case, the Florida Senate and House "explicitly consented to the relief contained in the consent decree," Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Eric Clay wrote on  behalf of the panel, which includes District Court judges Denise Page Hood and Gordon Quist.

Attorneys for GOP state House Speaker Lee Chatfield, Rep. Aaron Miller and several congressional Republicans had filed motions opposing the settlement. The court on Friday also granted a motion for the Republican-led state Senate to intervene in the case.

Clay rejected arguments from Benson and plaintiffs that they could enter into a settlement because of a Michigan Supreme Court ruling giving the Attorney General's office broad authority to sue and settle state litigation with "binding effect on Michigan's political subdivisions."

The proposed settlement "would invalidate maps approved and enacted by the Michigan Legislature," Clay wrote. "And the Michigan Constitution gives the Michigan Legislature, not any political subdivision, authority to 'enact laws to regulate the time, place and manner of all... elections.'"

 An attorney for the plaintiffs was not available, but Benson said she respects the court's decision.

"As the state’s chief election officer, I will continue efforts to resolve this lawsuit in the best interests of all voters and in compliance with constitutional requirements," Benson said in a statement.

Michigan Republicans have denied overt political bias in the district maps, but emails between map makers revealed as part of the federal case have included several partisan references and commentary on the prospects of maintaining GOP power.

Former Secretary of State Ruth Johnson, a Republican, had defended the 2011 maps, but Benson inherited the case after taking office Jan. 1 and quickly reversed course. While the settlement would have been limited in scope, the lawsuit challenges 34 congressional, state House and Senate districts.

Republican attorneys had asked to delay the trial pending the outcome of alleged gerrymandering cases from Maryland and North Carolina the Supreme Court is set to take up, with oral arguments in late March.

The three-judge panel also denied those requests, saying all parties to the case "failed to articulate sufficiently compelling justifications" for delaying the trial, but the Supreme Court is weighing a similar request.

Michigan voters in November approved creation of an independent redistricting commission that will draw new political boundaries for 2022 elections and beyond. State law had allowed the Legislature to control that process every ten years.

Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©

Michigan Secretary Of State Jocelyn Benson Takes It Upon Herself To Negotiate Gerrymandering Public Private Partnership Lawsuit - Completely Forgets About SIGTARP

In the spirit of fuchsia...

Michigan Secretary of Usurpation
Jocelyn Benson

GOP asks Supreme Court to block Dem settlement in gerrymandering suit

Lansing — Michigan Republicans are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hit pause on a federal lawsuit alleging GOP gerrymandering, a move that could disrupt a settlement agreement announced Friday by Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson.

Work with me on this one.  You mean to tell me that the Michigan GOP filed in SCOTUS to stay a lawsuit alleging they participated in gerrymandering through the Emergency Manager Law for the fake Detroit Bankruptcy where the Detroit Land Bank Authority was a creditor to put people out of their families' generational homes, based upon fake property tax foreclosure, asset forfeiture fraud schemes they introduced, and promulgated through money they laundered through their campaigns into their legislative back pockets, for the purposes of redistricting based upon the people who survived the reign of terror from the "Legal Geniuses" (trademark pending)?

Well, that is awkward, considering that there is another case in federal court, at the judicial threshold of the same exact matter, which means that this Detroit case could be, possibly, enjoined?

Benson's deal with plaintiffs would require Michigan to redraw at least 11 state House districts. It would likely force a recalibration of an unknown number of surrounding districts as well.

Stay with me because this is the part where I have serious privatization issues going on.  I need someone to explain to me why the Michigan Secretary of State can negotiate in a matter pending before the court, and not the Attorney General, without advise and consent of the Senate, from the Executive Branch, by disregarding existing law, where only the Legislature can make law.  That is called a usurpation, the last time I read my Michigan Petition for Writ of Quo Warranto. 

But attorneys for Republican lawmakers are asking the nation’s highest court to intervene and delay any action in the suit until justices consider arguments in similar gerrymandering cases out of North Carolina and Maryland they are expected to take up in March.

Looks like that Detroit Land Bank Authority case is going to be on hold until March.

“The Supreme Court will be ruling soon on the exact issues presented in this case, and this afternoon we asked the United States Supreme Court to stay this entire proceeding,” attorney Charlie Spies told The Detroit News by email.

State House Speaker Lee Chatfield of Levering, Rep. Aaron Miller of Sturgis and several congressional Republicans directed their request to Justice Sonia Sotomayor, a Democratic nominee.

The Michigan lawsuit alleges maps approved by the Republican-led Legislature in 2011 intentionally diluted the power of Democratic voters by “packing” or “cracking” them into specific districts.

It did. It was called fake property tax and mortgage foreclosure schemes.  I was there when they came up with the idea.

The new districts would only apply for the 2020 elections. Voters last fall approved the creation of a citizen redistricting commission that will draw maps for 2022 and beyond.

That citizen redistricting commission is another one of those "Authorities", like the Detroit Land Bank Authority, a Public Private Partnership.

As part of the deal with Benson, which would require approval by a three-judge panel overseeing the case, plaintiffs agreed to drop challenges to congressional and state Senate districts, along with four other state House Districts.

I should file an amicus curiea monkey wrench just for fun. I always wanted to file in SCOTUS. I want to have fun making them waive the fees and giving me special powers in case law.  The Justices need to bond with me, anyway.

The 11 state House districts targeted in the agreement “represent some of the most egregious examples of the unconstitutional attempts by past legislators to draw legislative districts in an effort to rig the partisan outcomes of elections,” Benson told reporters at a Friday briefing.

Several neighboring districts would likely need to be redrawn as well, but “that’s going to be a question for the Legislature,” Benson said.

Districts in settlement proposal, in green here, are all south of Mt. Pleasant. So likely no changes needed to northern lower and UP pic.twitter.com/fASSrBs4FO

— Jonathan Oosting (@jonathanoosting) January 25, 2019

The Michigan gerrymandering case is currently scheduled to go to trial Feb. 5. In their application to the U.S. Supreme Court, GOP attorneys suggested federal judges are aware of settlement talks but made clear they do not plan to delay the trial for “any reason.”

Plaintiff attorneys submitted the proposed settlement Friday afternoon in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

“The next step is whether the court will accept it, and we’ll go from there,” Benson said.​​​​​​

February 5, 2019 is the magic day because it is not just the start of the gerrrymandering trial, it is also the State of the Union Address!

​Benson: Deal avoids 'upheaval' 

The Detroit Democrat said she pushed plaintiffs to drop congressional and state Senate district challenges to minimize “upheaval." But the deal still reflects her view that gerrymandering occurred in a way that violated the constitutional mandate of “one person, one vote.”

No, she is dropping the congressional and state Senate district challenges because she knows that stuff is criminal.  Who gave her the powers to negotiate settlements?

Benson has been the subject of considerable GOP scorn the past week after signaling her intent to settle the federal lawsuit brought by the League of Women Voters, a group of Democratic voters and attorney Mark Brewer, former chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party.

Ah, she is with the "Legal Genius" (trademark pending) Mark Brewer.

Michigan Republican Party spokesman Tony Zammit blasted the deal, saying Benson “has shown she cannot be impartial in this case, and therefore she must be replaced as it’s defendant.” Former Secretary of State Ruth Johnson, a Republican, had defended the GOP maps.

Can you smell the fear? Both Republicans and Democrats in Michigan are terrified right about now. #FreeMariaButina

Benson denied partisan motivation for settling the case she inherited after taking office this month, suggesting she did not want to waste taxpayer resources fighting a case she believes the state would lose. The deal would give the Republican-led Legislature the first opportunity to redraw the state House lines, subject to judicial review.

She was not partisan, she is desperately trying to preserve her freedom.

“It does not matter to me who or what parties drew the districts," Benson said. "What matters to me is whether they were drawn to circumvent the will of the voters.”

Technically, if you snatch people's homes, they will no longer live there, which means there are no longer voters, so I guess you can say the will of the voters were not circumvented if no one resides in the properties anymore.

The proposed consent decree would require the state to redraw state House districts 24, 32, 51, 55, 60, 63, 76, 91, 92, 94 and 95. Six of those seats are currently held by Republicans and five are controlled by Democrats. Republicans currently represent 58 of 110 state House districts, a six-seat majority.

I bet they picked those State House Districts arbitrarily and capriciously.

“The Democrats know it will be nearly impossible to redraw these 11 districts without affecting countless others causing electoral chaos,” Zammit said. “Worse yet, outdated 10-year-old data will be utilized to draw the new lines which will not accurately reflect the demographics of our state.”

All those data are corrupt.  Please. All you have to do is compare the voter rolls with a drive by of the addresses. 

The deal does not dictate how the Republican-led Legislature should redraw the state House districts, but it encourages them to do so in “transparent proceedings open to the public.”

Encouragement can be creative when you use terms like "should" and "may" because there is not statutory oversight to challenge anything coming out of the privatized redistricting commission.

The 11 targeted districts include two Republican-held seats in Metro Detroit, both in Macomb County, currently represented by Rep. Steve Marino of Harrison Township and Pamela Hornberger of Chesterfield Township.

I wonder if these negotiations took place in Michigan.

None of the settlement districts are north of Mount Pleasant, meaning seats in the northern Lower Peninsula and Upper Peninsula where Republicans are dominant are unlikely to be affected.

That is because southeastern Michigan, specifically Detroit, has the "highest concentration of voter potential", (my new term for what happens after the Michigan passes laws for stealin' the children, the land, and the votes.)

The federal court would be responsible for establishing a deadline for the redrawn state House maps and determining how it would judge the partisan fairness of the proposed districts.

The federal court should not be responsible for participating in a complex fraud scheme dealing with multiple, ongoing federal investigations.

Brewer ties blasted

Republican lawmakers have denied overt political bias in the district boundaries they approved in 2011, but emails between map makers revealed in the federal case have included partisan references and commentary on the prospects of maintaining GOP power.

If you go through my archive, you can find the links to what they were talking about and who were the biggest cheerleaders.

Benson told reporters she expected Republican opposition to the settlement despite its limited nature, which means state senators just elected to four-year terms would not need to run for re-election in 2020.

By what right does the Secretary of State, through a private attorney, unless Brewer is a Special Counsel, which he is not and should know better.  Well, on second thought, Brewer does know better which is why he is covering his arse for his engagements with Perkins Coie Sucks operations through the DNC and MDP.

“I think no matter what decision I made in this case, someone was going to be upset, whether we went to trial or whether we settled or not,” she said.

Well, I say you, my dear, shall be called to bear witness by what right you have to even hold that office, 

Republicans have blasted Benson for connections to Brewer, the former state Democratic party chairman who donated $500 to her campaign and is a lead attorney for plaintiffs in the case.

The lady doth have a reputation for just about anything to get elected.

Earlier this week, the Michigan GOP accused Benson and Brewer of trying to orchestrate “the greatest partisan power grab in Michigan history,” and attorneys for Republican lawmakers asked court permission to demand their communications donating back to 2017.

Michigan GOP is asking for the Wikileaks files and the DNC servers?  Oh, this is going to be interesting because the MDP was running shop in Detroit through lots of political campaigns.  This sounds like a call for the FEC.

Benson noted she raised more than $1 million for her campaign and received donations from both Republicans and Democrats.

Everyone does the nasty together in Michigan politics, you just do not know it...yet.

“If anyone giving me $500 can influence a decision I made when you raise that much money from thousands of people, then we’re in trouble,” she said. “And so that’s certainly not the case here.”

The settlement does not require any state payments to cover the cost of plaintiff attorneys but makes clear that the parties could agree to award fees at a later date.

“How much money are the taxpayers of Michigan going to be paying Mark Brewer’s law firm in this case?” Zammit said.

Excellent question!  I have one better.  Who approved Brewer's law firm to take on this case?

This is nothing but another Public Private Partnership takeover of Michigan.

And that ends my incredible ability of throwing legal monkey wrenches in cases dealing with SIGTARP.

League of Women Voters v Mi... by on Scribd

Again, the moral of the story is, "Do not be mean to my Sweetie. Period". 

Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©

Disenfranchisement of Many: Why Michigan Democratic Party Should Not Re-elect Mark Brewer

UPDATE: LON JOHNSON IS OFFICIALLY THE NEW CHAIR FOR THE MICHIGAN DEMOCRATIC PARTY ~ Congratzi!

The views and opinions expressed in this post are strictly mine because I am an original source.

I do not encourage re-election Mark Brewer for Chair of the Michigan Democratic Party and this is why:  He is an asshole.

Mark Brewer: Disenfranchising from the podium

This description is harsh in tone but I speak from personal experience.  For sake of brevity, I  shall boil it down to one simple term:

Disenfranchisement of many.

Having been elected as a 14th Congressional Delegate I sat on the Resolution Committee.  I would write the resolutions to be submitted to the MDP to become, ultimately, part of the national platform.  Other members would present the resolutions to be voted upon for the state platform.  Brewer set the state platform, not the people because there was always money involved behind the scenes.  Through intimidation or basic ignoring, Brewer would not recognize the 13th and 14th Districts; the resolution members, and the Chair Rick Blocker of the 14th CD, submissively allowed the resolutions to be omitted from the vote process.

Brewer is not a fan of Detroit and could care less about its future because it has no money to funnel into his thiefdom by way of his political consultants.  He was recently supported by Mildred Gaddis on her local radio show, but then again, anyone who pays her price will get her thumbs up.  That was just about the extent of Brewer's ventures into Detroit over the last two years of his tenure in office.

He is not a fan of women, either.  Female political consultants are forbidden to participate in the all boys club.  Why?  I can only assume it is for the same reason the MDP was not supportive of female political candidates.  All I know is that he blatantly dismissed me on multiple occasions.

Then there is the last election for the Michigan Democratic Party Chair where Brewer, through his arrogance, did not go out of his way to even meet the elected members of the 13th and 14th delegation. Rumor has it he claimed "it was a waste of his time".

Then there is the other side of voting, running for office.  Brewer has a test formula for passionate individuals who wish to throw their hats in the ring and run for public office.  The test is called money. If you have no money to pay his political consulting cronies, for which there is a form of personal kickbacks for him, then you have no chance of garnering the support of the Michigan Democratic Party.  For more detailed dirt click here.

I was sent on a mission to represent on the MDP Advisory Committee, but actually I was there to 'observe and obtain' (to be explained later).  For almost two years I witnessed the exclusion of new faces and fresh ideas in the party.  In one of my final meetings with the group, I confronted Brewer about not supporting new candidates and excluding Hamtramck, Highland Park and Detroit Voting Age Population and youth in election education.  I shall quote his response, [sic] "We are conserving our resources for the Congressional races."  Considering the fact that the majority of the Michigan Democratic Congressional Delegation was sitting at the table, I considered that a smack in their faces because MDP did just about nothing for the southeastern Congressional incumbents during their term of office or for the election in general.

Lastly, there is chaos of rank and file. Brewer sold the unions out, mainly the Big 3, by not coordinating or working with them.  Brewer has been, for the last three years, selling woof tickets on how he is going to bring together the Democratic Party through social media.  I almost busted out laughing when he had the audacity to say this and I almost choked when the elected officials actually bought into his pseudo dog and pony show app.  Still, he attempts to use the promise of finally establishing a social network as part of his stomp speech for re-election.

As for the corruption in the Michigan Democratic Party that has flourished under Brewer's watch, all I have to say is look at the 13th and 14th Districts.  Need I say more?  Yes, but only under subpoena.

In short, the disenfranchisement of many is the reason why Republicans took control of the state.  They embraced anyone in any place who expressed an interest in participating in politics.  No matter how limited the background or the paucity of an individual's bank account, people were encouraged, unlike the MDP.

Make sure you let Mark Brewer know that I put some of his dirt out there.


Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©

Brewer-Gaddis & Affirmative Action

The following was sent to me regarding the February 23, 2012 election for the Michigan Democratic Party Chair:

My friends,

Brewer was on the Mildred Gaddis program this morning, 2/21/13 & Richard Mack called in to challenge Brewer regarding Brewer's own role in the fight over the anti-affirmative action Michigan Constitutional amendment. Brewer flat out denied that he had demanded that the Democratic appointees on the Board of Canvassers vote in favor of placing the proposal on the ballot in 2004, in order to get it over with so that we could lose the fight before Granholm had to run for re-election in 2006.

I was a member of the Board of Canvassers throughout the fight over affirmative action. I am a committed team player, have little interest in the dynamics of the Michigan Democratic Party in-fighting & for that reason I have kept my mouth shut, publicly, about Brewer's conduct; however, especially as he was clearly trolling for the African American vote by going on Gaddis' program, I feel obliged to set the record straight.

I never asked to be on the Board, was proposed by Gaffney & selected by the Governor. In 2004 the noxious racist anti-affirmative action proposal came before the Board & I was, initially, the lone vote against it. (I should disclose that in @1979 I was one of the leaders in the successful effort to force the WSU Law School to restore its affirmative action plan.) Brewer was furious. He approached fellow Board member Dottie Jones and me, both in and out of the meeting, to demand that we vote to put it on the ballot. Brewer's theory was that it was going to pass anyway & we must vote in favor in time to get it on the 2004 ballot & get it over with, so that Granholm would not face it in the 2006 election.

Brewer asserted that he was acting on behalf of the Governor and demanded my resignation when I refused to follow his lead. He even threatened that he would personally remove me and Dottie if we didn't follow his orders (he of course had no such authority, but the threat would've likely cowed someone less bull-headed than me). There is even a YouTube video, without sound, posted by the racist supporters of Prop 2, of Brewer lambasting Dottie and me in the hallway outside the Board meeting. Amusingly enough, the Prop 2 supporters mistakenly believed Brewer was ordering us to vote against them when in fact he was screaming at me in particular for refusing to vote in favor of putting it on the ballot.

I contacted the Governor's office to offer my resignation & was told in no uncertain terms to ignore Brewer and that he was acting without authority & did not speak for the Governor. The Governor was forthright in her support of affirmative action and, in my opinion, she campaigned quite bravely against the hot-button proposal while running for re-election against a self-funded billionaire opponent.

Later, when Board member Paul Mitchell and I faced criminal contempt charges and I faced an effort to take my bar license because of our defense of affirmative action, Brewer consistent with his prior conduct, not only threw us to the wolves, but actively undercut our defense. His conduct was reprehensible (but that is another story). (Disclosure: Richard Mack was one of many who did come to our defense, with Mack assisting in the NAACP brief in our support).

So that no one misperceives my position, I agreed at the time with Brewer that the proposal, no matter how flawed or unlawful, would likely get on the ballot eventually and that if it did, it would likely pass, due to Michigan's long & sorry history of racial antagonism. However, I did not think we were merely making a tactical choice on a side issue. Affirmative action, particularly in higher education, was one of the fundamental victories and rights won though hard fought battles in the civil rights movement. It was not a minor chess piece to be thrown under the bus. If we fought long enough we just might win and if we were to lose, we should at least go down fighting. Despite Brewer's effort, when it came back before us in July 2006, only one Republican member of the 4 member bi-partisan Board actually voted to put it on the ballot.

Those who have followed the issue are aware that because of the efforts of those who ignored Brewer, the Federal 6^th Circuit Court of Appeals has found that the Michigan Constitutional amendment got on the ballot through fraud & that it violated the post Civil War 14^th Amendment (which least any forget, was passed precisely to control the efforts of Dixiecrats to use the popular vote to take away the rights won through blood in the Civil War). The US Supreme Court is likely to hear the case next year.

The decision of who to select for party chair is subject to many factors. The political process is not pretty. However, lines must be drawn at some point, and it is clear to me that Brewer was not just willing, but eager behind closed doors, to sacrifice a fundamental right of a major part of the Democratic Party constituency in furtherance of his technocratic view of the political process. I found his conduct reprehensible then, and I find his dishonesty today to be just disgusting in trolling for African American votes on Detroit radio by re-writing the history of his own role in torpedoing affirmative action.

I want to thank Richard for trying to set the record straight on the radio. If anyone wants further information, feel free to ask. Similarly, feel free to share this email with whoever you choose.

Doyle O'Connor

PS: On a similar note of unerringly being on the wrong side of social change, Brewer was likewise furious with me for engineering the Board vote against placement of the anti-gay marriage Constitutional amendment on the ballot.

DOYLE O'CONNOR
313 574 1959

Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©

The Tale Of Michigan Political Consultants

There comes a time in every person's life when you are pushed to the brink of no return.  For me, this happened almost 10 years ago when I uncovered horrors which no human should ever experience were happening to children, condoned by political operatives for the almighty dollar.

That brink for me was refusing to remain silent and expose it for what it is.

Qui tam pro domino rege quam pro se ipso in hac parte sequitur.

With that said, allow me to tell the tale of political consulting in Michigan.

For those who do not know, I sit on the State Advisory Group for the Michigan Democratic Party so I know the Congressional Members, the Labor Union leaders and the head of the Democratic Party, Mark Brewer.

For the last two years I have been privileged to witness the group's complete apathy for Detroit and its people, all under the direction of political consultants.

Political consultants have run the show in Michigan for the last 10 years.  Some will say it is the reason the state went red.  Some will say it is the reason why there was a precipitous economic downturn for the state.  

This is the tale of Michigan Political Consultants.

Campaign Coordination Kickbacks

When someone wants to run for public office in Michigan, it has nothing to do about the needs or the will of the people.  It has nothing to do with the issues or a cause.  It has to do with who can pay a political consultant out of Lansing.  If you can do this, the Michigan Democratic Party will refer you to his buddies for a hefty polling contract to see if you are a viable candidate to raise enough money to pay the monthly fee for the political consultant who will more than likely work for another campaign to take out a colleague, not on principle but on for money.

The Janus Consulting Effect

The Janus Consulting Effect is what I have termed as a political consultant who is in a contractual relationship with one candidate and will use that candidate's resources while still on payroll to work for another candidate, even if that candidate is an opponent.

I present to you the Michigan Congressional race in District 8 where, for the pure sake of making money, Main Street Strategies and political consultant, Jim Lancaster, at the ninth hour decided to contract with Michael Magdich to challenge Congressional Candidate Lance Enderle  in the Democratic Primary who has a strong standing in the General Election against incumbent Mike Rogers (R).

There are rumors that Magdich was a Republican plant to split the Democratic base of resources, but that is only hearsay yet another plausible assumption to question the intentions of Michigan, or should I say Lansing, political consultants.

Races are open to all candidates but the intention to have Magdich make the Primary ballot was not the most pristine.  These political consultants knew they could make a fast buck on the side because Lancaster was on payroll of John Conyers, Jr., at the same time, using his resources.  The point is moot because Magdich's political consultants' shoddy petition nomination signature collection was easily challenged and he was booted from the ballot.

 The Snake Oil Salesmen

The Snake Oil Salesman is the political consultant who uses fancy pictures and drops technical words to sell to his clients why he charges so much.

Below is a study on the Michigan 13th Congressional race done exclusively for Fox 2 Detroit.  The study forecasts incumbent John Conyers, Jr. to win with a 48.21% to 20.68%, a 27.53 point margin lead over his main challenger, Glenn Anderson.

This is snake oil and this is why.  My expertise is research methodologies, in the political arena.

After cursory review of the study, I found biasness and internal/external validity errors.  The study did a random number call to 36,771 adults. Would you please tell me how you know these were adults?  I am quite sure people have a cell phone in their name for a child.

Only 643 responded, a rate of 1.7%.  This is not a good response rate to generate reliable results.  The typical response rate should be at least 30%. 

It gets better.  It says the survey was conducted in the geographic region of Detroit, 28 other cities, 11 other political regions and congressional districts.  Yes, "Congressional Districts" is plural and not all of Detroit is in the new 13th Congressional District.

When looking at the sample questions, not once was it asked if the respondent was a registered voter, let alone was a registered voter in the new Michigan 13th Congressional District.  This becomes a plausible explanation to the poor response rate: the respondents were not all constituents of the 13th District and were probably more focused on their own District, but this was not even mentioned.

The simple fact that this telephone survey was conducted in cities outside the 13th Congressional District also indicates why there was such a low response to recognition of Bert Johnson and a significant undecided rate of 22%.

This study cannot even be replicated.

As this was a privately commissioned survey, I am sure it will make for sensational media attention with post-election analysis.

Michigan 13th Congressional District Democratic Primary Election Polling Study conducted Exclusively for Fo...

Mephistopheles Campaign Management Services

Mephistopheles is the character from the story of Faust who bewitched the people to do the bidding of Faust in exchange for selling his soul.  Comparatively, this is what certain types of campaign managers do, but certainly not all when a candidate asks for help to win an election.

For this I refer to William Isaac Robinson who has pilfered the political legacy of John Conyers, Jr. to inure his mother, Rose Mary Robinson's political campaign.  It should not be a surprise.

Just as Mephistopheles warned Faust of contracting his services, Robinson did the same; he announced to the District that he had all intentions of taking John Conyers, Jr. out of office.

Here is a public example of just one of Robinsons nefarious activities.  When Robinson, who was employed through the Congressional Office, sent Mr. Conyers' nomination petitions to the printed by Hess Printing, the petition sheets were printed with the wrong Congressional District.  It was labeled the "14th" instead of the "13".  Under the leadership of Ed Sarpolus, campaign manager for Conyers for Congress and owner of Target Insyght, these nomination petitions were approved because he lives and works in Lansing and rarely ventures into the politically neglected land of Detroit.

With the foulest of language I was able to successfully persuade Mr. Conyers not to file the petitions because he would be disqualified as a candidate.

Then, at the final hour, Robinson and Sarpolus scramble to secure enough nomination petition signatures for Conyers to be on the ballot.  Robinson had everyone he knew to go out and secure signatures.  Even a few of Conyers staff were collecting petition signatures as Robinson and Sarpolus were promising to pay $1.00 a signature.  1051 signatures were verified and submitted to the Wayne County Clerk.

Being one to rule out all my assumptions that there were, again, issues with the nomination petitions, I went to the County clerk to pull the petitions.  Oddly,  I was denied but allowed to physically review the petitions.  There I saw that the signature of the circulator of all 63 nomination petition sheets was none other than of William Isaac Robinson.  I began to wonder why he would sign his name to have circulated petitions when he did not.  I can only assume he secured the $1.00 per signature payment for himself.

Soon enough, the Conyers for Congress FEC filings were published.  Upon review, it was found that many persons, including a political consulting company received disbursements for the purposes of "petition signature collection services".

So how is it Robinson could have circulated petitions, and Sarpolus hire his own company, Target Insyght, to verify the petition signatures when he was already paid as the campaign manager, when the FEC filings document others circulating petitions?

I can only guess Robinson's prediction will come to fruition.

There is more I can say but we shall await the outcomes to be.  The book is also in its making.

All I can do is tell it like it is to keep it real.

Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©