Posted on 03/24/2005 8:22:46 PM PST by conservative in nyc
Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. accused a former state employee yesterday of trying to "blackmail" him. The woman involved said she was trying to protect herself against a retaliatory "whisper campaign" by the administration that could cost her a job.
And after a winter of partisanship and allegations of political dirty tricks, the tension ratcheted up another level when Ehrlich(R) stood in front of the State House and charged that there was a campaign at work to make his administration look bad.
"We really want to know about any political orchestration" by Democrats, Ehrlich told reporters.
--Snip--
Yesterday [Gov. Ehrlich] suggested that Steffen had been set up and asked reporters to find out how that happened.
As evidence, he released an e-mail from Michelle Lane, a registered nurse who held mid-level posts on Ehrlich's transition team and in his administration before being fired last summer. In the Feb. 13 e-mail, Lane accused the governor's aides of trying to smear her, and she threatened to distribute damaging correspondence she received from Steffen if Ehrlich's staff did not leave her alone. She included one sample, in which Steffen describes efforts to "start cleaning house" at a state agency.
Ehrlich told reporters, "Getting a blackmail e-mail . . . that was certainly interesting."
--Snip--
The exchanges Lane had with Steffen appear to be the fodder for the threat she made last month in the e-mail to the governor's top aides.
"As a result of your whisper campaign (assassination politics) which is outrageous and completely false, I am releasing four emails . . . " she wrote. "Every time I hear about Ehrlich people engaging in this whisper campaign about me, I will release information. These emails are merely the tip of the iceberg."
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Except for Michael Olesker, of course. His columns are the epitome of unbiased journalism.
You must have read some of them.....
Say! I think you're being... sarcastic. **snicker**
sound great to me... it is funny how they consider this 'blackmail' in the MSM
A serious investigation would have to look into the background of involvement in Democrat politics. The TU connection is interesting. Maybe there were other players or advisers... People sometimes try to sell damaging information. The pathological thinking is, well, if the lover is lost for good, "at least I'll get money."
This is a DIFFERENT story from the one the Post initially went with.
MSM biased? You decide.
A lot sloppier and stupid than we originally thought. [laughing]
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