The Truth will prevail, But only if we Demand it from Congress!
9-11 Inside Job and Neocons Hacked 2004
Prison Planet
July 19, 2008
Larisa Alexandrovna and Muriel Kane
[1] Raw Story
Saturday, July 19, 2008
A leading cyber-security expert and former adviser to Sen. John
McCain (R-AZ) says he has fresh evidence regarding election fraud on
Diebold electronic voting machines during the 2002 Georgia
gubernatorial and senatorial elections.
Stephen Spoonamore is the founder and until recently the CEO of
Cybrinth LLC, an information technology policy and security firm
that serves Fortune 100 companies. At a little noticed press
conference in Columbus, Ohio Thursday, he discussed his
investigation of a computer patch that was applied to Diebold
Election Systems voting machines in Georgia right before that
state’s November 2002 election.
Spoonamore is one of the most prominent cyber-security experts in
the country. He has appeared on CNN’s Lou Dobbs and ABC’s World News
Tonight, and has security clearances from his work with the
intelligence community and other government agencies, as well as the
Department of Defense, and is one of the world’s leading authorities
on hacking and cyber-espionage.
In 1995, Spoonamore received a civilian citation for his work with
the Department of Defense. He was again recognized for his
contributions in 2004 by the Department of Homeland Security.
Spoonamore is also a registered Republican and until recently was
advising the McCain campaign.
Spoonamore received the Diebold patch from a whistleblower close to
the office of Cathy Cox, Georgia’s then-Secretary of State. In
discussions with RAW STORY, the whistleblower — who wishes to remain
anonymous for fear of retaliation — said that he became suspicious
of Diebold’s actions in Georgia for two reasons. The first red flag
went up when the computer patch was installed in person by Diebold
CEO Bob Urosevich, who flew in from Texas and applied it in just two
counties, DeKalb and Fulton, both Democratic strongholds. The source
states that Cox was not privy to these changes until after the
election and that she became particularly concerned over the patch
being installed in just those two counties.
The whistleblower said another flag went up when it became apparent
that the patch installed by Urosevich had failed to fix a problem
with the computer clock, which employees from Diebold and the
Georgia Secretary of State’s office had been told the patch was
designed specifically to address.
Some critics of electronic voting raised questions about the 2002
Georgia race even at the time. Incumbent Democratic Sen. Max
Cleland, who was five percentage points ahead of Republican
challenger Saxby Chambliss in polls taken a week before the vote,
lost 53% to 46%. Incumbent Democratic Governor Roy Barnes, who led
challenger Sonny Perdue in the polls by eleven points, lost 51% to
46%. However, because the Diebold machines used throughout the state
provided no paper trail, it was impossible to ask for a recount in
either case.
Concerned by the electoral outcome, the whistleblower approached
Spoonamore because of his qualifications and asked him to examine
the Diebold patch.
McCain adviser reported patch to Justice Department
The Ohio press conference was organized by Cliff Arnebeck and three
other attorneys, who had filed a challenge to the results of that
the 2004 presidential election in Ohio in December, 2004. That
challenge was withdrawn, but in August 2006 Arnebeck filed a new
case, King Lincoln Bronzeville Neighborhood Association v.
Blackwell, alleging civil rights violations in the 2004 voting. The
case was stayed in 2007. On Thursday, Arnebeck filed a motion to
remove the stay and allow fresh investigation.
Individuals close to Arnebeck’s office said Spoonamore confirmed
that the patch included nothing to repair a clock problem. Instead,
he identified two parallel programs, both having the full software
code and even the same audio instructions for the deaf. Spoonamore
said he could not understand the need for a second copy of the exact
same program — and without access to the machine for which the patch
was designed, he could not learn more. Instead, he said he took the
evidence to the Cyber-Security Division of the Department of Justice
and reported the series of events to authorities. The Justice
Department has not yet acted on his report.
Allegations surrounding Ohio in 2004
At the Ohio press conference yesterday, the former McCain adviser
said Michael Connell, of the Republican Internet development firm
New Media Communications, had designed a system that made possible
the real-time “tuning” of election tabulators once Ohio Secretary of
State Kenneth Blackwell had outsourced the hosting of vote counting
on the same server which hosted GOP campaign IT systems. He said he
didn’t believe Connell was behind the alleged fraud, but that he
should be considered a key witness.
Spoonamore also confirmed he’s working with Connell on overseas
election issues and that Connell is now working as John McCain’s IT
developer.
Connell has a long history with the Republican Party’s IT
infrastructure. In 2001, for example, he set up MajorityWhip.gov for
then House Majority Whip Tom DeLay. He also helped built
georgewbush.com, as well as the Ohio GOP site Spoonamore referenced.
Sources close to Spoonamore said he was very concerned that he would
lose his contracts as a result of coming forward and would take a
“large financial hit.” These sources added that, despite his
concerns, Spoonamore felt obligated to reveal what he knows to the
public. “He felt he had no choice as an American citizen but to come
forward, and he also knows the likely consequences of him doing so,”
one source said.
An audio file of the press conference is available [2]
here.
