[Jim Robinson]

I gave some info to a trusted professional (who wishes to remain anonymous for the time being) who is helping us get to the bottom of this matter. When asked if I was worried that it might go public some day, I said, no, it's bound to get out sooner or later anyway.

I feel that a (possibly criminal) political dirty trick has been committed against Governor Ehrlich and Joe Steffen and the evidence would lead any rational thinking person to believe that it was perpetrated by officials of mddems.org, perhaps working in concert with a reporter from the Washington Post.

After this story first broke, I was startled to discover an email address from mddems.org associated with the MD4Bush account and then even more startled when I discovered logins to that account from the Washington Post's server. I posted my suspicions early on and almost welcomed a subpoena from any investigative committee that might be interested. Not surprisingly, the Democrat controlled committees were not interested in following leads on Democrat corruption.

The reporter on the original story lied. He originally claimed that he did not know the identity of MD4Bush. He also did not disclose that he had secretly logged into the MD4Bush account after mysteriously receiving the password from an unknown source, nor did he disclose the nefarious motivations of his sources. Later (probably because he knew we had the evidence against him in our logs) he attempted to cover his lies and now claims he received the password for MD4Bush from an unnamed intermediary. This too appears to be a lie and all of his actions in regards to this matter appear to be breaches of journalistic ethics and standards (as if there were such things in the MSM).

I believe that if an official of mddems.org (ie, the official Maryland Democrat Party) is working in collusion with The Washington Post in an attempt to bring down a sitting Republican governor, then this would be a much more serious crime than anything Joe Steffen may have posted on an open public forum, and it should be exposed. Hell, it should be breaking news.

So, why am I not concerned that the reporters finally got the email address info? Well, first of all, MD4Bush breached any agreement he may have had with Free Republic.

Number one, the very first post he made after registering was to NCPAC, so it's obvious he had intent and a targeted individual in mind from the very start. It's also now just as obvious that he had nefarious purposes in mind when he registered to FR posing as a conservative when he was actually an official Democrat mole. This is called playing games with his FR account which is against our rules.

Number two, he used FR to purposely plant false rumors.

Number three, he shared his password with one or more third parties.

Number four, he passed on the real life identity of one of our members along with his private mail communications to a third party (a Washington Post reporter) with the intent said reporter would publish said private material.

Number five, he then posted the same private mail messages to the open forum.

Number six, all of this appears to be a conspiracy with malicious intent to defame, libel, slander and defraud Steffen and Ehrlich. Using FR for criminal purposes is against our rules.

And so, no I'm not concerned that it's going public. As I said above, the fact that The Washington Post is working in concert with the Democrat Party in an attempt to bring down a sitting Republican Governor should be breaking news. And if the Democrat controlled committee is not interested and the MSM is not interested, then the story might as well break right here on Free Republic where MD4Bush and the Washington Post perpetrated the crime. The truth shall set you free.

[conservative in nyc]

See Jim Robinson's comment in #70.

Thanks for the clarification, Jim!

[Anti-Bubba182]

Thanks Jim. Aren't there also violations of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act in the Washington posts ilicit access of someones FR account?

[nopardons]

bttt

[Mo1]

Oh my my

Who's got the popcorn .. cause we are gonna need it *L*

[Diver Dave]

Bookmarked!

This has all the makings for a best seller and a blockbuster movie.

I'll have my people talk to your people about a book signing tour. Fire up the FReepmobile. :)

[Lancey Howard]

Not surprisingly, the Democrat controlled committees were not interested in following leads on Democrat corruption.

How about when Republican controlled committees are apparently not interested in exposing Democrat corruption? Nothing has me more irritated right now than the suppression of the report that was paid for with my federal tax dollars. It is an abominable disgrace:

"As things stand now, the expurgated (Independent Counsel David Barrett) report will appear and the public will be none the wiser as to how the IRS and Justice Department can be used to obstruct justice and harass private citizens."

[Deetes]

BTTT

[Congressman Billybob]

Thank you for this post. It is the clearest and most detailed account I've seen anywhere, on how FR was used to perpetrate a fraud by both a Democrat operative, and the Post reporter. I thoroughly agree with your judgment that the abuse of FR conditions on accounts justify your making this information available in order to get to the bottom of the matter.

I had hoped that you would reach that judgment. But I also understood that since this is your forum, that decision had to be yours, and yours alone.

Cordially,

John

[commonguymd]

Would love to see someone like Drudge pick this post up about the Washington Post working with democratic operatives to bring down a sitting governor. Darn Rat!

[Glenn]

then the story might as well break right here on Free Republic where MD4Bush and the Washington Post perpetrated the crime

So, break it!

I cannot understand your reluctance.

[Alia]

And so, no I'm not concerned that it's going public. As I said above, the fact that The Washington Post is working in concert with the Democrat Party in an attempt to bring down a sitting Republican Governor should be breaking news. And if the Democrat controlled committee is not interested and the MSM is not interested, then the story might as well break right here on Free Republic where MD4Bush and the Washington Post perpetrated the crime. The truth shall set you free.

mark. And, true.

[Gabz]

My, my, my...............

I'm leaving shortly to spend much of the day in Maryland, it shall be interesting to see what, if anything, the various local talk stations may be saying about this........as well as some of the locals themselves. Not that long ago it came up in a wateringhole I know - and I wasn't the one that brought it up :)

[FourtySeven]

Thanks for the clarification! Keep up the good work!

[GOP_1900AD]

BTTT!!!!

[Grampa Dave]

Jim, as the Compost has lied in this matter and everyday about President Bush, their stock value has dropped like a dying vulture with bird flu in 2005. One of the holdings of the Compost is the lying NewsWeak with the flushing of the Koran down the toilet lie. NewsWeak lied and people died all over the middle east with the riots that happened due to NewsWeak's vicious lies.

Freepers should check their mutual funds to see if they own WPO. If so they might want to sell the funds and turn the fund company into the SEC for spending their money to hold up the lying Compost. The same goes for any fund owning NYT/Ny Slimes and TRB/Chicago Tribune and La Slimes.

[MEG33]

Quote:"And if the Democrat controlled committee is not interested and the MSM is not interested, then the story might as well break right here on Free Republic where MD4Bush and the Washington Post perpetrated the crime. The truth shall set you free."

Indeed!

[cgk]

Thank you very much for your detailed response. When I read about "sources" coupled with a statement about your refusal to disclose information, I was unnerved thinking that someone was playing FR's hand behind your back. I am exceptionally relieved to hear the facts from you.

It does seem that FR has been used by the Democrats to slander a Republican official, just based on the articles we've read so far. Even those that contained the lies you revealed. Add to those the information contained in your post, and I am not entirely surprised anymore that information on this story outside FR is so limited.

Again, I appreciate your taking the time to explain the background on this. You're very correct: why not break it right here on FR?

I don't need to tell you... but it's glaringly obvious. It isn't as if FreeRepublic.com is some unknown political forum... See: Dan Rather/CBS Memos.

[AuH2ORepublican]

Thanks, Jim. But may I suggest that the story be broken wide open sooner rather than later, since Governor Ehrlich is currently running a bit behind O'Malley in the polls in part due to the supposed defamation of O'Malley by Ehrlich's aide.

[maui_hawaii]

Kick his @ss JIM!

EXCELLENT POST!

[Fledermaus]

Number four, he passed on the real life identity of one of our members along with his private mail communications to a third party (a Washington Post reporter) with the intent said reporter would publish said private material.

How did he find out the real life identity?