Posted on 02/19/2005 8:34:22 AM PST by Isara
Jervis S. Finney, chief counsel to Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., has questioned members of the media - including two Sun reporters - about "MD4BUSH," an anonymous contributor to a Web site that posted adultery rumors about Mayor Martin O'Malley. Finney said he was asking the questions as part of his investigation into the activities of Joseph Steffen, an aide to the governor who was fired February 8 for his involvement in spreading the rumors about O'Malley's personal life, The (Baltimore) Sun reported. O'Malley has denied the rumors. MD4BUSH had several Web log exchanges with Steffen about the O'Malley rumors and gathered a number of Steffen's most damaging postings on the Web shortly after the story reporting Steffens' connection with the rumors broke on a media Web site. In a Feb. 16 letter to Sun reporter Michael Dresser, Finney cited a federal appeals court panel's decision this week that undercuts reporters' right to shield their sources. In a separate letter to Sun columnist Michael Olesker, Finney asked "whether you are in fact 'MD4BUSH."' Olesker and Dresser said they had no knowledge of MD4BUSH. "Of course I'm not that guy," Olesker said in an interview. "It's not me, and I have no idea who it is." Dresser said, "I am not MD4BUSH, and I would not care to speculate who MD4BUSH might be." Finney's questions followed Freedom of Information Act requests by The Sun and other media about details of the administration's investigation into Steffen's activities. Dresser made The Sun's Freedom of Information Act request. Olesker and Dresser appear to be the only ones to have received written questions this week as part of the investigation. Finney said that he "verbally" asked other media members about MD4BUSH and intends to follow up in written form. He said the decision to question the media is part of his effort to conduct a thorough investigation into the spreading of the rumors about the mayor. "I am trying to seek information that is relevant to the governor - whether a state employee or official might be MD4BUSH," Finney said. In support of his decision to question the media, Finney cited the U.S. Court of Appeals case involving reporters Matthew Cooper of Time and Judith Miller of The New York Times, who face contempt-of-court charges for refusing to tell prosecutors about their confidential talks with an official or officials in the Bush White House who revealed the identity of a CIA operative. In that case, he said, it was suggested that there are times when it is appropriate for the media to reveal information and sources. "It's up to the newspaper whether this is one of those times," Finney said. "It's entirely appropriate for me to ask the question. If you all are going to decline to answer the question, then so be it." On Friday, the Ehrlich administration supported Finney's decision to question reporters and promised that the investigation would continue to be aggressive. "Inquiries related to the identity of MD4BUSH is part of the investigation requested by Governor Ehrlich," said Shareese N. DeLeaver, a spokeswoman for the governor. "This is intended to be a thorough investigation that will include leaving no rock unturned." Several other media organizations, including WBAL have been contacted by the governor's office, regarding MD4BUSH.
NCPAC could publish his private emails to MD4Bush. Do you think this would help or harm?
Ywa, I went to LArge Font Screen on MS Office after I saw what i posted. I think i need a timeout in the sandbox again. LOL
It is only a matter of time before the truth comes out.
Interesting speculation, but! Seems to me that Google would quickly be outed on susceptibility to political pressure, and suffer a huge fall from grace as 'The Premier Search Engine'.
If that happened, what would happen to Google stock? The donation level would certainly have to decrease, thus damaging the donees applying the pressure.
Seems like masochism to me!
Paging Buckhead to line 1; Buckhead to line 1!
Well then I expect we should all confess to being MD4BUSH - I look forward to receiving a subpoena and framing it for posterity.
What say y'all Freepers?
hf
so who was Jeff?
shouldn't you be a red man in a blue state?
I am just waiting for the other shoe to drop on O'Malley. Will he be sorry that his is opening this can of worms by pressing the issue?
Thanks to all who help enlighten me.
So NCPAC is Steffan. And MD4BUSH is unnown but suspected to be a Baltimore Sun reporter.
MD4Bush was a regular poster on FreeRepublic as was NCPAC. Somewhere along the line those two became friendly and began exchanging Freepmail. MC4BUSH took that Freepmail to the WAPO who published it in an excoriating manner to vilify NCPAC as if NCPAC were PUBLICLY writing the info.
The key being, what exactly did NCPAC publish, ie post on the open forum? Does it not jive with what was published in the WAPO? Also, does anyone have a link to the WAPO article?
So Ehrlich is having his investigator research the identity of this fellow MD4BUSH, suspecting that he is a Sun Reporter who was setting NCPAC up. Possibly because Ehrlich put limits on his staff talking to the Baltimore Sun.
Though God knows I don't blame Ehrlich. The Baltimore Sun has been a rag, a godawful rag, for many years now.
So if they identified Steffen's Freep user name, why can't they identify MD4BUSH? Someone else on FreeRepublic identified Steffen? Or possibly Steffen innocently revealed his real identity to MD4BUSH because he trusted the guy?
And Jim Robinson is waiting for a subpoena because with one he can reveal the identity of MD4BUSH? I'm not sure this is true or not but I'll throw it out there.
For the record, once a time, hey I loved Baltimore. It was a solid middle-class city of classic white front step stoops and pictures painted on the screen doors.
That town has turned into one of the worst cities in the nation and once upon a time a great hope was placed on Martin O'Malley. Who turned out to be a sleeze bucket of the highest order.
I was born and raised in Baltimore. Its streets were my playground. It was once a great town.
I could cry it's so awful now.
But .. when MD4BUSH prepared his/her login - didn't they have to use a name to sign up ..?? I mean .. can people just use any old fake name to sign up ..?? And .. if they can .. then maybe that's why they were so upset to find out Jeff Gannon was a "fake" name!
You know .. this could be just the usual "projection technique" whereby the WaPo is yelling about Gannon using a "fake" name - to hide the fact their people were using fake names to sign up at FR.
Why can't those records be subpeoneaed to find out who that person is ..??
There is a link to the article in 45 of this thread. This link has a compilation at the top of various threads dealing with this topic
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1342165/posts
I ran through this thread quickly, but I don't think it is in here
I don't know what's in them. They were intended to be private, so he could conceivably have said something incautious. I imagine, though, that NCPAC is doing nothing until the situation is clear and he has been advised by his lawyers and his political friends. He needs to keep in mind his own interests and the interests of his former boss, the governor.
I confess that from time to time I go through my own sent and received freepmails and delete the ones I no longer want to keep, simply to free up a bit of space on the servers. It could be that NCPAC did the same thing, and so no longer has copies.
MD4BUSH has been banned since this business broke. I saw rumors that he had deleted his freepmail before he was banned, but of course I have no way to know if it's true or not. In any case, I don't believe they should be released unless there is a subpoena. Villain or not, they are his private emails.
At that link I discovered about Sade Badinwa (sp) and was shocked.
She was a big time reporter on the Baltimore evening news. Now I understand she has a baby with O'Malley?
And O'Malley continues to be Baltimore's contribution to the Dem national party with his good looks and sweet smile?
Still and all, does O'Malley really think he's going to get away with shutting up the ENTIRE world?
I hope Ehrlich is sucessful at whatever his plan is. I left Baltimore just when Ehrlich got elected. To come to Delaware where we have probably the WORST Governor in all of America. Not to mention the lovely Joe Biden.
Why would you ping a troll?
The only trouble I'm having here is connecting this association ---> How would MD4Bush know who NCPAC was and that bating him to mention the mayor's problems would net a big fish?
It's a small world, this Internet. If MD4BUSH was having private freepmail with NCPAC than why not with other freepers? Other freepers who knew NCPAC's real identity? Earlier I suggested perhaps NCPAC himself revealed who he was to MD4BUSH. Somehow his real identity came out real easy. Following the law of Occam's Razor, I'm thinking the hapless Steffen told somebody right on this forum who he really was. WE do assume, perhaps naively, that folks signed up for this forum are of a like bent and idealology.
Which should maybe teach us a collective lesson I suppose although I'd think the lesson applies to folks in a more sensitive position than a nobody like me.
Well, you know he's got the gift.
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