Free Republic

An e-mail address of a former state Democratic Party worker was used in a discussion about Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley's marriage on a conservative Web site, a spokesman for the site said yesterday. Kristinn Taylor, a spokesman for free republic.com, said Ryan O'Doherty's Democratic Party address was one of at least three used to operate the identity of MD4BUSH, the mysterious Internet poster who appears to have coaxed an aide to Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. into talking about the mayor's personal life. MD4BUSH sought out another freerepublic visitor known as ncpac, who was later revealed to be longtime Ehrlich...

The operators of a conservative Web site yesterday released three e-mail addresses they said were connected to the anonymous site user who drew a former aide to Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) into discussions of a smear campaign against a political rival -- and one of the addresses matched that of a former state Democratic Party official. A spokesman for the Free Republic Web site said the account MD4BUSH was originally created by someone with access to the e-mail address ryanrock2004@yahoo.com . The address of record was changed twice, first to rodoherty@mddems.org and later to brianwaverly@yahoo.com , said Web...

The WBAL-TV 11 News I-Team has uncovered new information surrounding the mysterious Web user known as MD4Bush. In private e-mail exchanges, MD4Bush coaxed Joe Steffen, a former aide to Gov. Bob Ehrlich, into discussing rumors about Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley's personal life on the conservative Web site, FreeRepublic.com. The 11 News I-Team has uncovered e-mail addresses used to register the MD4Bush account on the Free Republic Web site. The 11 News I-Team does not know who opened the MD4Bush account. According to a source familiar with the MD4Bush postings, the e-mail address used in October 2004 to open the MD4Bush...

Governor Ehrlich's Chief Counsel has sent a letter to the co-chairs of a legislative committee investigating hiring and firing practices of the Ehrlich administration. Included in that letter obtained by WBAL News, Jervis Finney provides the co-chairs with documents he says he uncovered during his investigation into the identity of "MD4Bush". He points to a now-former State Democratic Party official Ryan O'Doherty who he says sent an email to party supporters hours before the Washington Post published it's first story about the rumors about Mayor O'Malley. That email document reads: "There will be a big story in the Post either...

The Web site began as a sort of Internet boutique for like-minded conservatives and libertarians, suspicious of federal power and angry at President Bill Clinton. Started in 1997 by a reclusive California conservative, freerepublic.com saw its membership blossom with Clinton's impeachment and the election of George W. Bush. Attention to the site reached a zenith last fall, when a "freeper" -- the group's moniker for its bloggers -- first discussed flaws in documents CBS News used in a report critical of Bush's National Guard service. ---Snip--- One participant working under the handle MD4BUSH, whose identity is unknown, drew Steffen into...

<p>WBAL news team has announced at 5pm on The Ron Smith Show that MD4Bush has been identified as Ryan O'Dougherty, a former Maryland Democrat Party operative/official.</p>