GOP Consultant ("K. Rove IT Guru") Killed in Suspicious Plane Crash

[Amish RakeFight]

Anyone familiar with or have details regarding this crash.

'Karl Rove's IT guru' Mike Connell dies in plane crash RAW STORY
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]Published: Saturday December 20, 2008[/FONT][/FONT]

A top level Republican IT consultant who was set to testify in a case alleging GOP election tampering in Ohio died in a plane crash late Friday night.

Michael Connell -- founder of Ohio-based New Media Communications, which created campaign Web sites for George W. Bush and John McCain -- died instantly after his single-prop, private aircraft smashed into a vacant home in suburban Lake Township, Ohio.

"The plane was attempting to land around 6 p.m. Friday at Akron-Canton Airport when it crashed about three miles short of the runway," reports the Akron Beacon Journal.

Connell's exploits as a top GOP IT 'guru' have been well documented by RAW STORY's investigative team.

The interest in Mike Connell stems from his association with a firm called GovTech, which he had spun off from his own New Media Communications under his wife Heather Connell’s name. GovTech was hired by Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell to set up an official election website at election.sos.state.oh.us to presented the 2004 presidential returns as they came in.

Connell is a long-time GOP operative, whose New Media Communications provided web services for the Bush-Cheney ’04 campaign, the US Chamber of Commerce, the Republican National Committee and many Republican candidates. This in itself might have raised questions about his involvement in creating Ohio’s official state election website.

However, the alternative media group ePlubibus Media further discovered in November 2006 that election.sos.state.oh.us was hosted on the servers of a company in Chattanooga, TN called SmarTech, which also provided hosting for a long list of Republican Internet domains.

“Since early this decade, top Internet ‘gurus’ in Ohio have been coordinating web services with their GOP counterparts in Chattanooga, wiring up a major hub that in 2004, first served as a conduit for Ohio's live election night results,” researchers at ePluribus Media wrote.

A few months after this revelation, when a scandal erupted surrounding the firing of US Attorneys for reasons of White House policy, other researchers found that the gwb43 domain used by members of the White House staff to evade freedom of information laws by sending emails outside of official White House channels was hosted on those same SmarTech servers.

Given that the Bush White House used SmarTech servers to send and receive email, the use of one of those servers in tabulating Ohio’s election returns has raised eyebrows. Ohio gave Bush the decisive margin in the Electoral College to secure his reelection in 2004.

IT expert Stephen Spoonamore says the SmartTech server could have functioned as a routing point for malicious activity and remains a weakness in electronic voting tabulation.

"...I have reason to believe that the alternate accounts were used to communicate with US Attorneys involved in political prosecutions, like that of Don Siegelman," said RAW STORY's Investigative News Editor, Larisa Alexandrovna, on her personal blog Saturday morning. "This is what I have been working on to prove for over a year. In fact, it was through following the Siegelman-Rove trail that I found evidence leading to Connell. That is how I became aware of him. Mike was getting ready to talk. He was frightened.

"He has flown his private plane for years without incident. I know he was going to DC last night, but I don't know why. He apparently ran out of gas, something I find hard to believe. I am not saying that this was a hit nor am I resigned to this being simply an accident either. I am no expert on aviation and cannot provide an opinion on the matter. What I am saying, however, is that given the context, this event needs to be examined carefully."

"Mr. Connell has confided that he was being threatened, something that his attorneys also told the judge in the Ohio election fraud case," concluded Alexandrovna.

An FAA investigation into the causes of Connell's plane crash is underway, but no results are expected for several weeks.

UPDATE AT THIS LINK: GOP consultant killed in plane crash was warned of sabotage

 

[Amish RakeFight]

Warned of Potential Sabatoge

.............

GOP consultant killed in plane crash was warned of sabotage: report John Byrne, David Edwards and Stephen Webster
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]Published: Monday December 22, 2008[/FONT][/FONT]

The Republican consultant accused of involvement in alleged vote-rigging in Ohio in 2004 was warned that his plane might be sabotaged before his death in a crash Friday night, according to a Cleveland CBS affiliate.

45-year-old Republican operative Michael Connell was killed when his single-passenger plane crashed Friday into a home in a suburb of Akron, Ohio (PREVIOUS REPORT). The consultant was called to testify in federal court regarding a lawsuit alleging that he took part in tampering with Ohio's voting results in the 2004 election.

Without getting into specific details, 19 Action News reporter Blake Renault reported Sunday evening that 45-year-old Republican operative and experienced pilot had been warned not to fly his plane in the days before the crash.

"Connell...was apparently told by a close friend not to fly his plane because his plane might be sabotaged," Renault said. "And twice in the last two months Connell, who is an experienced pilot, cancelled two flights because of suspicious problems with his plane."

Renault called Connell's death "untimely."

The National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration are now investigating the crash. According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, no new information has been made available since the incident occurred.

Connell was the subject of a lawsuit by liberal lawyer Clifford Arnebeck, perhaps most well known for suing on behalf of 37 Ohio residents to block Bush's electoral college victory in 2004. Arnebeck had alleged Connell's involvement in a ploy to "flip" votes from then Democratic nominee Sen. John Kerry to then-President George W. Bush.

Connell was ordered to testify in the suit in October, and told a federal court that he had no involvement and knew of no plan to switch votes in Ohio in 2004.

The Plain Dealer made no mention at all of the suit in their article Monday.

Connell was the founder of Ohio-based New Media Communications, which created campaign Web sites for George W. Bush and John McCain.

Arnebeck warned the Justice Department that Connell's safety was in jeopardy earlier this year. In July, he wrote an email to Attorney General Michael Mukasey, requesting witness protection for the GOP operative, which was carbon copied to Democratic Congressmen John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) and Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), who were sympathetic to his 2004 lawsuit over Ohio's electoral votes.

"I have informed court chambers and am in the process of informing the Ohio Attorney General's and US Attorney's offices in Columbus for the purpose, among other things, of seeking protection for Mr. Connell and his family from this reported attempt to intimidate a witness," Arnebeck wrote. "Because of the serious engagement in this matter that began in 2000 of the Ohio Statehouse Press Corps, 60 Minutes, the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, C-Span and Jim VandeHei, and the public's right to know of gross attempts to subvert the rule of law, I am forwarding this information to them, as well."

Connell's exploits as a top GOP IT 'guru' have been well documented by RAW STORY's investigative team.

The interest in Mike Connell stems from his association with a firm called GovTech, which he had spun off from his own New Media Communications under his wife Heather Connell’s name. GovTech was hired by Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell to set up an official election website at election.sos.state.oh.us to present the 2004 presidential returns as they came in.

Connell is a long-time GOP operative, whose New Media Communications provided web services for the Bush-Cheney ’04 campaign, the US Chamber of Commerce, the Republican National Committee and many Republican candidates.

Alternative media group ePlubibus Media further discovered in November 2006 that election.sos.state.oh.us was hosted on the servers of a company in Chattanooga, TN called SmarTech, which also provided hosting for a long list of Republican Internet domains.

“Since early this decade, top Internet ‘gurus’ in Ohio have been coordinating web services with their GOP counterparts in Chattanooga, wiring up a major hub that in 2004, first served as a conduit for Ohio's live election night results,” researchers at ePluribus Media wrote.

A few months after this revelation, when a scandal erupted surrounding the firing of US Attorneys for reasons of White House policy, other researchers found that the gwb43 domain used by members of the White House staff to evade freedom of information laws by sending emails outside of official White House channels was hosted on those same SmarTech servers.

RAW STORY Investigative Editor Larisa Alexandrovna said Connell's death should be examined carefully in a blog post Sunday, but stopped short of alleging foul play. She reported on Arnebeck's lawsuit and Connell's enjoined testimony earlier this year.

"He has flown his private plane for years without incident," Alexandrovna wrote. "I know he was going to DC last night, but I don't know why. He apparently ran out of gas, something I find hard to believe. I am not saying that this was a hit nor am I resigned to this being simply an accident either. I am no expert on aviation and cannot provide an opinion on the matter. What I am saying, however, is that given the context, this event needs to be examined carefully."

 

[JimNtexas]

It's obvious, since not a sparrow falls but that Rove/Cheney is behind it.

 

[TWA]

Anyone who understands the election system in Ohio is laughing hysterically at this story. At best, he received an improper contract for web space. The idea that it swayed the election is not only completely absurd, but down right not possible.

 

[Amish RakeFight]

I'm interested more in the crash. Does anyone have more intimate details as far as his plane being sabatoged or the crash itself?

 

[Black Hawk]

I'm interested more in the crash. Does anyone have more intimate details as far as his plane being sabatoged or the crash itself?

They don't fly without gas.

 

[Amish RakeFight]

They don't fly without gas.

So it was a case of fuel exhaustion then?

I didn't bother to look up any NTSB reports. Was just curious if anyone knew of the specifics of the crash and why it's being reported as possible sabotage. Running out of fuel prematurely might indicate some malfeasance.

 

[JimNtexas]

Don't forget that Karl Rove-Halliburton McHitler also has a weather machine! He did cause Katrina to punish New Orleans for electing Democrats after all.

 

[Black Hawk]

So it was a case of fuel exhaustion then?

I didn't bother to look up any NTSB reports. Was just curious if anyone knew of the specifics of the crash and why it's being reported as possible sabotage. Running out of fuel prematurely might indicate some malfeasance.

A lot of the political driven reporting centers on how Conner was "warned" of possible sabotage. It's pandering to a constituency that desperately wants the sabotage story to be true. Here's a report that has some more details that make a lot more sense to those of us who actually fly and understand how airplanes work (or don't work for that matter).

http://adventurebooks.newsvine.com/...by-weather-or-engine-failure-not-a-conspiracy

 

[sqwkvfr]

This whole issue is little more than a cover story to distract attention from ACORN and the Democrat's own massive election fraud.

 

[Amish RakeFight]

A lot of the political driven reporting centers on how Conner was "warned" of possible sabotage. It's pandering to a constituency that desperately wants the sabotage story to be true. Here's a report that has some more details that make a lot more sense to those of us who actually fly and understand how airplanes work (or don't work for that matter).

http://adventurebooks.newsvine.com/...by-weather-or-engine-failure-not-a-conspiracy

Thanks for the link, although it gives very little in the way of actual details. The article says nothing in terms of the technical aspects as to what transpired. That was a very layman article with no real information. There's absolutely nothing to gleen from it from a pilots perspective as you state. It's far from comprehensive or acceptable in terms of cause.

Perhaps this was a politically motivated rumor. It seems you don't have much information yourself either as to the particulars. You mentioned fuel exhaustion but the article states something along the lines of icing on the wings or intake icing.

Why do you mention fuel as the cause. Whats your source. Was it already determined that his tanks were empty? The article seems to indicate intake or structural ice. But seems to just throw out possibilities to dismiss "conspiracy theories" without addressing something more tangible. Has a preliminary NTSB report been released?

I'm quite curious as to the particular circumstances surrounding his crash and why they felt it was sabotaged. I thought perhaps someone was local to this accident who had more intimate details as to the how and why the plane crashed.

 

[Amish RakeFight]

This whole issue is little more than a cover story to distract attention from ACORN and the Democrat's own massive election fraud.

Is that so?

It was specifically created to draw attention away from ACORN's massive election fraud?

Please provide some sources for this allegation. How have you determine that ACORN executed a massive election fraud. This sounds quite serious and well, I'd like to know how you arrived at that conclusion. I've seen nothing in the media which indicates this, so please enlighten me.

 

[Amish RakeFight]

Don't forget that Karl Rove-Halliburton McHitler also has a weather machine! He did cause Katrina to punish New Orleans for electing Democrats after all.

Great. reply. Jim.

Maybe a more constructive post would be worth reading.

FYI
I'm a conservative republican and have voted republican for every election other than this one. So please stop with the democrat/liberal nonsense.

 

[sqwkvfr]

Is that so?

It was specifically created to draw attention away from ACORN's massive election fraud?

Please provide some sources for this allegation. How have you determine that ACORN executed a massive election fraud. This sounds quite serious and well, I'd like to know how you arrived at that conclusion. I've seen nothing in the media which indicates this, so please enlighten me.

ACORN committed massive election fraud. They registered dead people, the defensive line of an NFL football team, and several people who just plain didn't exist.

You haven't heard ANYTHING about this? I find that hard to believe...unless, of course, you don't think that any of the news reports regarding this issue were accurate.

 

[Black Hawk]

Thanks for the link, although it gives very little in the way of actual details. The article says nothing in terms of the technical aspects as to what transpired. That was a very layman article with no real information. There's absolutely nothing to gleen from it from a pilots perspective as you state. It's far from comprehensive or acceptable in terms of cause.

Perhaps this was a politically motivated rumor. It seems you don't have much information yourself either as to the particulars. You mentioned fuel exhaustion but the article states something along the lines of icing on the wings or intake icing.

Why do you mention fuel as the cause. Whats your source. Was it already determined that his tanks were empty? The article seems to indicate intake or structural ice. But seems to just throw out possibilities to dismiss "conspiracy theories" without addressing something more tangible. Has a preliminary NTSB report been released?

I'm quite curious as to the particular circumstances surrounding his crash and why they felt it was sabotaged. I thought perhaps someone was local to this accident who had more intimate details as to the how and why the plane crashed.

One of the possible causes trotted out by the news media was possible fuel exhaustion. I heard it on the radio just like every one else. You can look this stuff up if you want to. It might not be as much fun as a conspiracy theory but it does bring up the important issue of election fraud in this country. It will be interesting to see how Obama's campaign fares in all this.

 

[Amish RakeFight]

ACORN committed massive election fraud. They registered dead people, the defensive line of an NFL football team, and several people who just plain didn't exist.

You haven't heard ANYTHING about this? I find that hard to believe...unless, of course, you don't think that any of the news reports regarding this issue were accurate.

Well, I certainly heard the buzz about ACORNs fraudulant activity pre and post-election. Perhaps I was being a little coy, as you stated that it was ACORN who advanced these rumors of sabatoge specifically, so as to distract. Concerning this crash, I haven't heard that reported connection.

I couldn't care less that this guy now lives 6 feet under. Conspiracy theories are a nice escape from reality, but certainly don't replace it. Like I said, I was wondering if anyone was local to the crash and knew what took place, outside of what the mieda reports.

That is all.

 

[BlueLight]

Well, I certainly heard the buzz about ACORNs fraudulant activity pre and post-election. Perhaps I was being a little coy, as you stated that it was ACORN who advanced these rumors of sabatoge specifically, so as to distract. Concerning this crash, I haven't heard that reported connection.

I couldn't care less that this guy now lives 6 feet under. Conspiracy theories are a nice escape from reality, but certainly don't replace it. Like I said, I was wondering if anyone was local to the crash and knew what took place, outside of what the mieda reports.

That is all.

I flew in commercial from SFO that night and arrived CLE (40 miles from CAK) at ~800pm. Ceilings at that time were about 1000-1200 agl and 10M vis.

However, looking at the weather at CAK at time of accident (shortly after 600pm), the ceilings and vis (which had been similar to CLE) dropped significantly to 200-400 and less than 2M vis. His filed alitude from College Park was 6000 ft was likely to stay above the overcast layer as I don't believe his Saratoga had TKS or boots. (His plane was hangared near mine at CAK) Final for ILS 23 would have placed him at 3200 MSL and therefore in the crud. I later heard from locals at CAK that there were no prior reports of icing on descent but again, that was likely before the ceilings/vis had dropped relatively quickly.

Disorientation, Icing, both --we can only speculate as to the cause based on our own experiences in being in that type of situation but this conspiracy crap, ray guns. et al suggests once again people have way too much time when they are armed with a mouse and keyboard.

Mike was a quiet leader who made an incredible difference in our community and church (read the obits) and was a devoted father to four. I can't imagine how difficult Christmas was for the Connell family and friends but our prayers and thoughts are with them.

 

[JimNtexas]

The link cited by the moonbat site seems to be dead (probably censored by Karl Rove).

I believe this is the FAA preliminary data for this accident:

----------------
IDENTIFICATION
Regis#: 9299N Make/Model: PA32 Description: PA-32 Cherokee Six, Six, Saratoga, Turbo
Date: 12/19/2008 Time: 2253

Event Type: Accident Highest Injury: Fatal Mid Air: N Missing: N
Damage: Destroyed

LOCATION
City: AKRON State: OH Country: US

DESCRIPTION
AIRCRAFT ON APPROACH, CRASHED INTO A HOUSE, THE ONE PERSON ON BOARD WAS
FATALLY INJURED, NEAR AKRON, OH

INJURY DATA Total Fatal: 1
# Crew: 1 Fat: 1 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
# Pass: 0 Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
# Grnd: Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:

WEATHER: 192251Z 30011 9 BKN005 OVC 01/M01 A2978

OTHER DATA
Activity: Unknown Phase: Approach Operation: OTHER


FAA FSDO: CLEVELAND, OH (GL25) Entry date: 12/22/2008
-----------------------

There is a for sale ad for this aircraft that makes no mention of any anti-ice syste.

I find not the slightest indication of 'sabotage' in the available data.

 

[Huggyu2]

They don't fly without gas.

Since when?? OBVIOUSLY, you don't fly a very good airplane!!

 

[Amish RakeFight]

Thanks for the last few substantive and informative posts. Another accident to be filed away in my mental filing cabinet. It does appear to be a run-of-the-mill GA accident then.