fayfreethinkers.com

DAR
I'm no conspiracy guy but if this reporting is accurate, this looks very suspicious.

***
Rove's IT Guru Warned of Sabotage Before Fatal Plane Crash; Was Set to Testify

Monday 22 December 2008



Mike Connell, the chief IT consultant to Karl Rove, reportedly asked for protective custody from the government before he died.

Amy Goodman: A top Republican internet strategist who was set to testify in a case alleging election tampering in 2004 in Ohio has died in a plane crash. Mike Connell was the chief IT consultant to Karl Rove and created websites for the Bush and McCain electoral campaigns. He also set up the official Ohio state election website reporting the 2004 presidential election returns.

Connell was reportedly an experienced pilot. He died instantly Friday night when his private plane crashed in a residential neighborhood near Akron, Ohio.

Michael Connell was deposed one day before the election this year by attorneys Cliff Arnebeck and Bob Fitrakis about his actions during the 2004 vote count and his access to Karl Rove's e-mail files and how they went missing.

Velvet Revolution, a non-profit investigating Connell's activities, revealed this weekend that Connell had recently said he was afraid George Bush and Dick Cheney would "throw [him] under the bus." Cliff Arnebeck had also previously alerted Attorney General Michael Mukasey to alleged threats from Karl Rove to Connell if he refused to "take the fall."

Well, Mark Crispin Miller joins us now, a professor of media culture and communication at New York University, the author of several books, including Loser Take All: Election Fraud and the Subversion of Democracy, 2000-2008 and Fooled Again: How the Right Stole the 2004 Election & Why They'll Steal the Next One Too. Mark Crispin Miller us now in our firehouse studio.

Welcome to Democracy Now!

Mark Crispin Miller: It's good to be here, Amy. Thank you.

AG: Alright, well, we had you on right before the election, because that's when Mike Connell was being deposed. This news that came out of his death in a plane crash on Friday night, talk about what you understand has happened.

MCM: Well, I cannot assert with perfect confidence that this was no accident, but I will say that the circumstances are so suspicious and so convenient for Rove and the White House that I think we're obliged to investigate this thing very, very thoroughly. And that means, first of all, taking a close look at some of the stories that were immediately circulated to account for what happened, that it was bad weather. That was the line they used when Wellstone's plane went down. There had been bad weather, but it had passed two hours before. And this comes from a woman at the airport information desk in Akron. We're told that his plane was running out of gas, which is a little bit odd for a highly experienced pilot like Connell, but apparently, when the plane went down, there was an explosion, a fireball that actually charred and pocked some of the house fronts in the neighborhood. People can go online and see the footage that news crews took. But beyond the, you know, dubiousness of the official story, we have to take a close look at - and a serious look at all the charges that Connell was set to make.

AG: Now, he had asked the Attorney General Mukasey for protective custody, because of threats to him and his wife?

MCM: He reported threats to his lawyer, Cliff Arnebeck, and Arnebeck - also, Velvet Revolution heard from tipsters, as well, tipsters who also claimed that Connell's life was at risk. Stephen Spoonamore, the whistleblower who was the first - who was the one to name Connell in the first place, also had an ear to the inside. He's also very connected. And all these people were saying Rove is making threats, the White House is very worried about this case.

The rest here

.

At the present time until investigation of crash is complete let's just say this is indeed a convenient death

for Rove and Blackwell. It may keep them out of prison.

I found this on Velvet Revolutions:

"Yesterday, after a contentious three hour hearing in an Akron, Ohio federal court, the judge ordered Bush/Rove IT expert Michael Connell to submit to a two hour deposition less than 24 hours before the start of the 2008 election. The Court ruled that Ohio attorney Cliff Arnebeck can question Connell under oath about Man in the Middle computer manipulations, the use of Trojan horses to control election results from a remote location, and the role of Triad in election manipulations.

However, in a strange twist, the judge agreed with demands from Connell’s attorney to keep under seal any testimony about threats and intimidation of Connell by others including Karl Rove. This is seen as necessary to protect possible criminal charges against those who may have engaged in obstruction of justice in this case.
Nov 1, 2008

Velvet Revolution.

.

Federal officials probing plane crash that killed GOP consultant Michael Connell
Posted by Michael Sangiacomo/Plain Dealer Reporter December 22, 2008 08:04AM
Categories: Breaking News

BATH TOWNSHIP — Federal authorities are investigating the plane crash that killed influential, behind-the-scenes national Republican Party consultant Michael Connell on Friday.

Connell, 45, died in a fiery explosion when his Piper Supercub crashed in a neighborhood near Greentown as he was trying to land his craft at the Akron-Canton Airport in Stark County.

He founded the company New Media Communication Inc. in Richfield and worked on Internet strategies for the Bush and McCain campaigns.

The National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration are investigating the crash but had no new information Saturday.

Neighbor Guy Hufstetler looked outside after Friday's crash and thought his neighbor's house had exploded.

"The yard itself was on fire; so was the garage," he said. "I got closer, and another neighbor said that a plane had crashed. We tried to help, but the heat from the flames was so intense I could not get within 50 feet of it."

Connell, of Bath Township, was widely recognized as the Republican Party's expert on Internet communications. Connell was involved in the Internet strategy for the Bush-Cheney campaigns of 2000 and 2004 and provided technical expertise to the McCain presidential campaign in 2008.

click here for entire story

.

Finally, the Old Grey Lady weighs in and gives Velvet Revolution credit

Bush Insider Who Planned To Tell All Killed In Plane Crash: Non-Profit Demands Full Federal Investigation
Published: December 20, 2008

WASHINGTON, Dec. 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Michael Connell, the Bush IT expert who has been directly implicated in the rigging of George Bush's 2000 and 2004 elections, was killed last night when his single engine plane crashed three miles short of the Akron airport. Velvet Revolution ("VR"), a non-profit that has been investigating Mr. Connell's activities for the past two years, can now reveal that a person close to Mr. Connell has recently been discussing with a VR investigator how he can tell all about his work for George Bush. Mr. Connell told a close associate that he was afraid that George Bush and Dick Cheney would "throw [him] under the bus."

A tipster close to the McCain campaign disclosed to VR in July that Mr. Connell's life was in jeopardy and that Karl Rove had threatened him and his wife, Heather. VR's attorney, Cliff Arnebeck, notified the United States Attorney General , Ohio law enforcement and the federal court about these threats and insisted that Mr. Connell be placed in protective custody. VR also told a close associate of Mr. Connell's not to fly his plane because of another tip that the plane could be sabotaged. Mr. Connell, a very experienced pilot, has had to abandon at least two flights in the past two months because of suspicious problems with his plane. On December 18, 2008, Mr. Connell flew to a small airport outside of Washington DC to meet some people. It was on his return flight the next day that he crashed.

On October 31, Mr. Connell appeared before a federal judge in Ohio after being subpoenaed in a federal lawsuit investigating the rigging of the 2004 election under the direction of Karl Rove. The judge ordered Mr. Connell to testify under oath at a deposition on November 3rd, the day before the presidential election. Velvet Revolution received confidential information that the White House was extremely concerned about Mr. Connell talking about his illegal work for the White House and two Bush/Cheney 04 attorneys were dispatched to represent him.

NYT articlehere
.