BBV: My meeting with the Secret Service - report

[BevHarris]

BLACK BOX INVESTIGATIVE REPORTS — Friday Jan. 9, 2004

Full report on http://www.blackboxvoting.org (I think it's going up on the http://www.blackboxvoting.com site too, a shorter version)

My meeting with the Secret Service, and the VoteHere "hack"
— Bev Harris

I met with Secret Service agent Michael Levin on Jan. 9, 2004, in a meeting that calls into question the accuracy of a recent VoteHere report alleging that the firm was hacked and that they had specific information on the suspect, who VoteHere CEO Jim Adler claims is a critic of electronic voting. Two citizens who are very interested in ensuring the integrity of our vote, Tom and Steve, drove 60 miles from Snohomish to accompany me in this meeting, and I am so thankful -- and impressed -- at receiving such support.

VoteHere reported an alleged hacking to the press on December 29, 2003. Articles on this can be found in an "MSNBC.com exclusive" at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3825143/ and by AP Wire reporter Ted Bridis at http://www.crn.com/sections/BreakingNews/dailyarchives.asp?ArticleID=46918. The information was picked up by at least 57 news outlets. Now let's see how much of it was true:

"We caught the intruder, identified him by name. We know where he lives. We think this is political. There have been break-ins around election companies and we think this is related,"
said Jim Adler, according to the AP Wire service story.

"We do not have a suspect," Michael Levin, investigating agent for the Secret Service Cybercrime division, told me today.

I asked the Secret Service agent this: "But AP Wire, the Seattle Times, and MSNBC reported that there is a suspect and that this person is supposedly an opponent to e-voting."

"We do not have a specific suspect at this time," the agent repeated.

"But in the news media it specifically reported that they have identified the intruder by name, and know where he lives. Is that not true, then?" I asked.

"That is a press statement by the president of a company. Read between the lines."

According to MSNBC, "While gaining entry, the intruder set off an electronic 'trip wire' that alerted VoteHere, he (Adler) said. Federal authorities were immediately told of the break-in, Adler said, and the intruder's activities were monitored as part of the investigation. Then access was blocked."

"This is not true," said the Secret Service agent, in a phone conversation with me on Jan. 7.

The AP story reported: "Adler would not identify the company's chief suspect but said he thinks the person was linked to the debate over the security of electronic voting. The same individual may be tied to the theft in March of internal documents from Diebold Election Systems of Canton, Ohio."

This is one of the most peculiar parts of the story. In fact, it sounds a bit concocted. Makes one wonder whether the "hack" happened at all (it probably did), or if it might have been enabled, or at least, its motivation might perhaps be tied to other situations.

Let me explain. Examining the VoteHere source code is not worth a cup of warm spit to any activist I know. That's because hundreds of millions of votes are being cast on Diebold, ES&S, Sequoia and Hart Intercivic, and that's where the focus has been -- not on VoteHere, who has not yet achieved significant market share.

In early October, at the time of this alleged "hack," the Diebold memos had been made public and voting integrity activists were engaged in a feeding frenzy to analyze them. Sequoia software had just become available on an open web site. There was too much to examine at once, and in the unlikely event that an activist might want to hack something -- and I don't know any activists who engage in hacking company Web sites -- VoteHere would have been one of the least likely targets. Why bother with hacking VoteHere? Here's a possible reason:

To anyone who can claim to have "hacked" them, the Diebold memos are worth a pile of cash 200 feet high (stacked in $100 bills). That is because the Diebold memos contain evidence, when compared with R.F.P. sales bids made by Diebold, that Diebold made fraudulent claims when selling its system. Now in fact, the Diebold memos were leaked, not hacked, by someone with inside access, using an employee I.D. number. But why trouble ourselves with facts? Read on:

If government entities that purchased Diebold voting systems request reimbursement under HAVA, a person who claims to have originated the evidence for a fraudulent claims case -- even if such evidence was stolen or hacked -- could then file a Qui Tam whistleblower case. I've gone on record as disagreeing in principle with any Qui Tam that requires a gag order, because I feel that open discussion of flaws and fraud is of critical importance, and time is of the essence. But there is a lot of money involved for someone willing to accept a gag order. In such a case, the whistleblower can request treble damages, which will reimburse the government agency that bought the flawed voting system; up to 30 percent could go back to the whistleblower as a "bounty" for catching the fraudulent claims.

Diebold sales: Georgia, $54 million; Arizona, $52 million; Maryland, $53 million; San Diego, $33 million; Ohio, $75 million. Let's round this off to a quarter of a billion. Treble damages = $750 million (3/4 billion); 30 percent = about a quarter billion. Hack off 30 percent of that for the lawyers and you're left with perhaps $160 million to be divvied up among the folks who can claim a combination of origination of the evidence and scientific expertise to analyze it.

All this discussion of Qui Tam is for one simple, though speculative, purpose: To illustrate that there are motivations for claiming a hacking activity. For one who successfully claims origination to the Diebold memos, even if one was claiming they are "hacked," the monetary sums are certainly enough to take a fall -- six months easy time, or maybe, none at all. But who would believe you if you just claimed, "hey, I hacked the Diebold memos, give the money to me!" No, you'd want to do something like hack something else, perhaps something that would only result in a slap on the wrist because it was going to be released anyway. Something where they carefully document the hack. Then you say "OK, I admit I hacked that and hey, I hacked the Diebold memos too!" (Reminder: they were leaked, not hacked, and the Diebold Memos are not related to the Diebold FTP site, which contained source code and program files).

It is this little Qui Tam formula that I submitted to the FBI and the Secret Service when they inquired about the hack. The FBI was all ears. The Secret Service, not so interested. We'll see how it pans out.

Now, back to my conversations today:

The "trip wire" story was written by Alan Boyle on Dec. 29, 2003. I spoke with Boyle today. Boyle works on the Microsoft campus, and his employer is owned by Microsoft and NBC. He replied that maybe VoteHere was monitoring activities at the time, but the law enforcement agencies were not.

As an aside, I said, "So I notice you work on the Microsoft campus. I can assume, then, that you won't be reporting favorably on any Black Box Voting research." (Microsoft software is used by voting industry giants Diebold Election Systems and Sequoia Voting Systems.)

"Oh, you're such a cynic," he replied lightly.

I found it interesting that the VoteHere story showed up as an "MSNBC exclusive," complete with publicity photograph. I asked the AP reporter, Ted Bridis, about this.

"There was kind of an interesting chronology on this. We were tipped a few days before our story ran that there had been this hack. I called VoteHere. They seemed surprised to hear from me and said, 'Is this about the MSNBC story?' It seemed like they had been shopping the story to MSNBC."

According to the MSNBC story, Adler said his company has "seen some connection" between the criticism of e-voting systems and October's computer break-in, but he declined to go into specifics.

"I don't want to necessarily politicize this," he said. "This is just a crime ... We feel that it may have been politically motivated," Adler said.

This is a rather self-serving statement. VoteHere has been at the receiving end of criticism by activists concerned about the integrity of our voting system. How handy it is to implicate activists. Politically speaking, the chairman of VoteHere, Ralph Munro, former Washington Secretary of State, is facing an ethics investigation, launched by voting integrity advocates who disapprove of Munro's stepping from regulator (Secretary of State) to regulatee (VoteHere board) without waiting the required two-year time span, and to the current close ties with Munro's protege, current Washington Secretary of Sate Sam Reed, who has been a proponent of VoteHere. Also "politically," Reed is being challenged by Andy Stephenson, a voting rights advocate who is running for Secretary of State on the Democratic ticket.

According to the Seattle Times, "VoteHere released some of its source code earlier this year to be scrutinized by VerifiedVoting.org, a grass-roots organization pressing for accountability in election systems."

In fact, VoteHere delayed the release of its source code and did not release it to VerifiedVoting.org.

"We were not happy about it," said VerifiedVoting webmaster Greg Dinger, of the delay. "I suggested to Dr. Dill that he not put the general VoteHere information on the site at all. But Dr. Dill said he'd made an agreement and was going to stick by it."

No one has adequately explained why VoteHere delayed its scheduled release of source code, but now the same source code has been "hacked," which has been the subject of an odd press release by a company that supposedly specializes in Internet voting security and voting verification. Conveniently, the firm blamed the alleged hacking on activists, the "hacker" then shopped the VoteHere source code to activists, including me, in an apparent entrapment attempt, by sending an email that invited clicking a link to the VoteHere source code; and, (possibly lucratively) VoteHere has now tied said hacking to origination for the Diebold Memos.

All this, but the Secret Service says they do not have a suspect. In fact, they have not yet proven that a crime even exists.

Stay tuned.

[Unforgiven]

1. Kick!

;)

[linazelle]

2. My B. S. detector is off the meter....

"...The same individual may be tied to the theft in March of internal documents from Diebold Election Systems of Canton, Ohio."

This is one of the most peculiar parts of the story. In fact, it sounds a bit concocted..."

You're right about this. They are trying to roll all this together into a neat little package tying it back to your original access to the Diebold records along with a nexus to illegality. What a setup. :eyes:

[rucky]

3. Wow...one click of the mouse

and the whole story could've changed.

You have incredible radar.

[Robb]

5. That's for dang sure.

Thanks for the post, Bev.

[Indiana_Dem]

4. Thank you for the update

This is heavy stuff!

[TacticalPeek]

6. Fascinating.

However, one must apply truckloads of salt to conclusions one might reach about what one has heard or inferred from professional investigators.

And what an AMAZING amount of inaccuracies in the 'reporting' on this!


:kick:

(I dunno, Bev's posts just make me want to KICK for some reason.)

[gristy]

7. Thanks for the update, Bev.

.

[creativelcro]

9. Thanks Bev! Glad you're OK. Still, not clear what is going on...

[Military Brat]

8. I must go now and lie down

My mind is dizzy from all the game-playing.

Bev, you are the sharpest woman on the planet.

[Champion Jack]

10. This just gets weirder and weirder...

Thanks for the update Bev.

[Capn Sunshine]

11. ...and the hits just keep on coming!"

How long before the BFEE ..or in a less conspiratorial guise, the Bush/Cheney reelect people, express interest in this?

Weirder and weirder.....

[Junkdrawer]

12. Sounding more and more like entrapment...

The Plan:

Step 1: You’re given the bait

Step 2: You bite

Step 3: VoteHere reports crime to FBI/Secret Service

Step 4: MSNBC is given the story

Result: Your arrested before the book is published


What Happened:

Step 1: You’re given the bait

Step 2: You demur; report entrapment to FBI

Step 3a: VoteHere delays in reporting the crime to FBI/Secret Service.

Step 3b: (Only a possibility) Diebold reports their memo leak as a crime

Step 4: MSNBC is given the story anyway (Miscommunication somewhere?)

Step 5: Secret Service is obliged to interview you because of your complaint(and may be secretly trying to do background investigation on the Diebold memo incident???)

Result: Book is out, but I'd watch my back on a Diebold/VoteHere frame-up.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

14. hope the fuck we never have to have "Free MuBeva" T Shirts made

be safe bev!

[punpirate]

13. A lot to digest, but...

... here are a few off-the-top of my head musings. Issues of qui tam aside, VoteHere was one of vocal principals in the meetings with the ITAA rep, yes? Could this be a little negative campaigning to improve industry image? Headlines: "Voting Software Company Catches Hacker."

Kill two birds with one stone routine. VoteHere code isn't ready for public review. Code is suddenly "hacked," requiring internal company examination. "Hacker" is said to be an activist. See above.

Discovery is proceeding in one Mr. D.S.'s lawsuit. Something potentially embarrassing is found. Hack story produced to cover. Activist blamed, because it's good press, and immediately shifts attention away from company.

Now, for qui tam: VoteHere has spent lots of development money on software, and not gained much in receipts--just an upcoming deal with Sequoia. Directly, make some money and look like a hero to election officials. Indirectly, something wrong with deal with Sequoia, and it looks like beached-whale time. Desperation sets in. Even more indirectly, insurance is involved, even though Adler claims no financial loss in initial story.

More far out: random hacker with nothing at all to do with anything gets stuck in honeypot. Company exploits for unknown reasons.

No hack at all. Just free advertising.

Far, far, far out. Arranged hack and attendant publicity to further public support for Patriot Act cyber-crimes provisions. VoteHere a willing participant because of board membership.

Head spinning, and as Dilbert says, "must... not... lose... consciousness...."

Cheers.

[Zan_of_Texas]

15. I used to believe everything people told me.

Hah, that was a long time ago!

Thanks for the report, Bev. Now my brow is going into near permanent furrowed mode.

You folks who understand electrons and their footprints -- would it be possible for VoteHere or whoever to fake being the victim of a hack, and would it be possible to plant enough electrons to make it look like a certain person did it?

We know from the voting machines that the electrons can be made to change. The whole business of music downloading being practically equated to terrorism has me worried that, just like the cops dropping a baggie of drugs in someone's car, the cyber cops could somehow frame someone for a cybercrime.

Enlighten me. Should I be paranoid about other things?

[TrogL]

22. Faking a hack is easy

Better yet, just hire a tame hacker.

[ret5hd]

16. My initial reaction...

just a gut feeling...

due to Ted Bridis' reaction I would look for ties between votehere execs and msnbc execs...before the story ran, votehere execs were aware. so it was "reported" to msnbc...who at msnbc? collusion?

i dont know, just wondering.

[BevHarris]

18. As usual, Pun, you've got great analytical skills

Agree with every possibility you've outlined, except one: Dan Spillane lawsuit against VoteHere settled a couple months back. He's hot on the trail of something else (unrelated to voting). Look out, because Mr. Spillane's brain is quite formidable.

And I really have no conclusions about this matter. One of the reasons I brought up the ol' Qui Tam is to get the law enforcement guys aware that there is more than one possible motive here.

By the way, in the other thread on this I reported that I have to go back Wednesday for the real interview. My wonderful friends from Snohomish weren't allowed to observe the interview, and I declined to go upstairs in the FBI building without an observer, so I'll need to return with a lawyer. Thus, the conversation took place in the lobby of the FBI building in front of Tom and Steve.

Then we went across the street where Tom and Steve treated me to a latte and a cookie. And what a great bakery the "Specialty Bakery" is. Mmm.

One day soon I'll have to start working on my disguise (losing weight). In the mean time, I'll enjoy the bakery every time I go to the FBI building.

Bev

[nostamj]

17. well.... that will take your mind off the frigid apartment!

:nuke: <--- my head

you can't make this kind of shit up!

ok: who's going to play Bev in the mini-series?

[Unforgiven]

19. How about

Katherine Harris, she knows a lot about vote theft and could probably write the script as well. yuk,yuk!

[nostamj]

23. no... the makeup bill alone would sink the budget

AND i really think casting a soulless crone criminal bitch bushbutt-licking POS as Bev just sends the wrong message...

my HO, :shrug:

<could you tell this was really a :kick: ??? >

[Andy_Stephenson]

28. Kathy Bates...

and a cast of thousands. If they have a small role as me...I want Eric Stoltz to play me. Termite has the hots for him. :eyes:

Edit: Remember her in Misery? That crazed look in here eye? I saw Bev like that once...Bev has chutzpah! She can be glib (with elected officials) and warm and friendly to everyone else even critics. But it is open Season on the officials fer sure, people eat it up. You should see her work a crowd. My god! She is an inspiration! No one in last night's meeting could hold a candle to her. NO ONE!

[BevHarris]

29. 'cept you, Andy ("we have the documents!")

No one in last night's meeting could hold a candle to her.

The scariest part of last year was 12 months ago, before I joined Democratic Underground, when I sat alone in my basement looking at the facts and thought "what am I looking at?"

The best part of 2003 was meeting people, mostly through DU, like GodBushnCheney (Andy Stephenson) and DemActivist, who provided such brilliant companionship during a pretty scary journey.

Yeah. It might be scary in 2004, but at least the BOOK IS OUT.

And you should have seen Andy at last night's meeting. Sam Reed was stonewalling (again) saying the SIGNED documents which assigned a fake NASED number to software that was not authorized and was used in two elections would be explained "later" when they complied with a public records request. "We have the documents," Andy called out, telling Reed that it wasn't the state certification documents we needed, but rather, an explanation of why the hell the Secretary of State's office signed something that was clearly in violation of our own state law.

At least six people in the crowd started shouting at secretary of state Sam Reed to explain it NOW. And, I'm sure in large part due to Andy's call for action and Robin's great writing, I think we shocked the League of Women Voters with the turnout of passionate activists last night. It was 200+ and standing room only. My guess is, like in Georgia, Washington state will cancel all remaining dog-and-pony shows.

A lot of people are kicking ass here.

And if you want to know who the quietest person is that kicks the most ass of all, it is RedEagle. Officials quake when they see her. She is quite possibly the top talent, nationwide, in legislative reform for elections. Quietly figuring things out and sticking those pesky bills in front of legislators.

I'll tell you another one: Her name is Robin. She's from Portland, and sometimes goes by the screen names of "Carmen" and "Dagmar." An amazing talent, very loyal friend, great legal mind and a kick-ass writer.

Junkdrawer's another. ParanoidPat's another. You'd be surprised at the depth of talent that comes from right here at DU.

God, you people are cool!

Bev Harris

[RedEagle]

41. Bev, I don't make people quake...

...make them grimmace or their face screw up kinda funny, keep being an irritant, but not quake.

No one wants to do paperwork!

Now, up on the soapbox:

DU'ers, if you want to really effect change, get copies of your state's election laws.

Find out where the problems are, where there need to be improvements, then write legislation to correct it, and get your senators and representatives working for the PEOPLE instead of vendors/corporations via the Secretary of State.

The Secretary of State's office has very, very little oversight, and a lot of power. (Got that from a friend) This is something we need to work on changing, too, after we get an honest vote in 2004.

[Unforgiven]

37. Forgot

about the makeup thing. I guess that leaves out Tammy Faye Baker as well. Damn, it's so hard to find good help these days.

[RedEagle]

20. Hmmm....

...I thought Ret5hd's thought interesting.

Relationships between MSNBC and VoteHere or VoteHere BOD, backers, partners....I don't know, companies who have INVESTED in VoteHere?

[Generic Other]

21. Bev, you have nerves of steel

What a nerverattling experience. And it's not over? You have to go again? I would be a basket case. But you! You went across the street and ate the feds favorite donut shop! One a cool cookie!
Bette Davis blood running in your veins!

Be careful. I for one distinctly remember the threads where you discussed the "honeypot" and how fishy you thought it was. You were so right.

Pandora's box ready to release the evils of the world on any curious BBVer unwise enough to peek inside.

I'm glad you have a lawyer. Be careful. And stay strong!

[BevHarris]

25. Actually I'm broke as can be and don't "have a lawyer"

But I met one Thursday night who has been giving presentations on (against) the Patriot Act, and he expressed interest in helping me.

I'm gonna lean on a good Samaritan attorney and the Lord. Actually, just the latter has worked fine so far.

I've worked with the FBI twice before on financial fraud cases. Actually, that's another reason I thought this whole thing was fishy. They don't really "work with you" they sort of suck out the information and then they do whatever they want. They also don't share a whole lot of detail about the perps, even with the victim of a crime. So when Jim Adler started saying "we worked together" type stuff and spouting all kinds of details, I knew that had to be coming from him, not the agent.

Another comment, upthread, was very good. We shouldn't assume that just because they said "we have no suspect" that this means they have no suspect. As a matter of fact, didn't they tell O.J. that he wasn't a "suspect" -- ?

But I am sure I'm not a suspect. I actually do have stuff that needs to be turned over, like the e-mails from the "hacker" (hope I can find them). They were sent while my Web site was shut down and I was having trouble with my main account, so they went to a temporary Yahoo account I had set up. I think I forwarded them. Then the VoteHere source code, as I recall, went to my blackboxvoting.com e-mail, but when the BBV.com site got hacked, or actually, fake-spam attacked, that e-mail was shut down. I think the VoteHere entrapment e-mail eventually ended up on my Dad's computer. I warned him not to click on it and explained why, and that really freaked my mom out. They deleted everything. Think I forwarded it to some account or other at some point before deletion. Pretty sure I did. Or burned it to a CD, in which case finding it may be a challenge.

He did tell me that if I don't answer questions they're going to call me up in front of a grand jury. That's fine. Actually, I'm one of the good guys, and not really worried as long as whatever is done is on the up and up. I just didn't think it was a great idea to get interviewed without any witnesses. Also, I do want a tape of the meeting, or something.

OK, enough musing. It's making life interesting, anyway.

[creativelcro]

31. Bev, which instance of e-mail shut-down was this ?

There have been many, over the last few months :) Man, I only hope it's not the she I think it might be...

>>
But I am sure I'm not a suspect. I actually do have stuff that needs to be turned over, like the e-mails from the "hacker" (hope I can find them). They were sent while my Web site was shut down and I was having trouble with my main account, so they went to a temporary Yahoo account I had set up.
>>

[BevHarris]

32. E-mail shutdowns...

Access to my email through blackboxvoting.org was shut down when my Web site was shut down after the second Diebold cease and desist. It looks like Diebold triggered the C&D, but there were other people who also wanted my site shut down.

At this time I set up a Yahoo account, which appeared on the temporary page telling people the site was down. I later discovered that the blackboxvoting.org email had never been shut down at all, and was being rerouted to someone else.

I get tons of tips and documents from people all the time. That's been happening for more than a year, and the intercepting of these tips and documents may have been why the blackboxvoting.org e-mail was rerouted. Who knows. At the Yahoo account, a person sent me a document, an exit poll for the California recall election. It was not particularly useful but did serve to get e-mail correspondence going back and forth between us.

Then David Allen set up an email for me with blackboxvoting.com. At the Yahoo account, the person asked if I wanted more information, and I probably said something like sure, if you've got something I should see, send it, but told them to send any documents to the new blackboxvoting.com address because my Yahoo address got filled up right away if people sent attachments.

So then this email appears on the blackboxvoting.com email and it invited me to click a link for VoteHere source code.

I was not interested in VoteHere and, those of you who have followed my work or read my book will know, I can't actually do anything with code analysis myself because I'm not a computer person. It also seemed very suspicious, since VoteHere was saying they were going to release that code. There were a number of other things that had my antennas up. I pretty much immediately decided that it was an entrapment effort, but didn't reveal my take on it to the sender; instead I invited the sender to do a phone interview with me.

They did so, and engaged in an unconvincing phone call. During this call, I asked how they got the VoteHere stuff and they said they hacked it. They also tried to claim origination on the Diebold memos in this call, saying they hacked those, too. However, they failed a test question that required them to know some information about the Diebold Memo leaker. I told them not to send me anything hacked or stolen, as I wasn't interested in anything obtained that way. I did ask a bunch more questions. Every time I asked a tough question, they put me on hold, I assume to go ask someone what to say. It was rather dorky and for this reason I did not assume the entrapment effort was a high level thing.

I never heard from them since.

Bev

[AP]

47. A grand jury is a great place to go if you want to never get charged with

a crime.

Generally (check with your lawyer) whenever you respond to a question responsively, you can never be charged with crimes you admit. If I remember correctly, you get immunity for whatever transaction you admit. (I could be wrong, and it might be that they can simply never use the evidence you admit against you.) Anyone here know?

In any event, when people start threatening you with the idea that they're going to call you before a grand jury, if you're a criminal who knows the law, you might look forward to it.

[banana republican]

24. QUI TAM

If we are really talking Qui Tam and the sales you indicated are reasonable the that is enough to sink Deadbolt and possibly the senator who is associated with them.

It seems to me that Deadbolt is trying to get the SS to do its investigation for them. What I mean is that Deadbolt may want to get as much information through the SS as possible (remember that a senator owns deadbolt and I would assume that he has security clearances) in preparation for the law suit.

I don't know if this is correct or not but I feel that the SS is being used as a pawn in this matter.

[BevHarris]

26. The senator is associated with ES&S. Diebold has the goofy CEO

who promised to "deliver the votes"

And VoteHere has the CIA director on its board.

And Hart Intercivic has the investor who bought the Texas Rangers from Bush.

And Sequoia has the pro-zionist investor who was accused of trying to buy Tony Blair's middle east policy.

This can be found in the new chapter, "Chapter 8" which is now posted at http://www.blackboxvoting.org and http://www.blackboxvoting.com

Ahem.

Who was it that thought it was a good idea to privatize the vote?

[FreakinDJ]

34. Good work Bev

Oh what a wicked web we weave when first we practice to decive

amazing; the old wives saying still holds true today

[banana republican]

43. I'll bake you a file... I mean cake...

[FreakinDJ]

27. You need to be a little worried Bev

Bey we love you here

but I would not be to sure about those agents. As far as I am concerned i hope to live long enough to see your name in school history books as one of the true patriots of America that helped save the democracy.

Bev I listened to the mother of this kid they railroaded. Here is his web site.

http://www.raisethefist.com/index1.html

Much of what your telling us about your interview sounds very familiar to the tactics they used on this kid. Sneaky, underhanded, shut the fu@k up tactics.

His mother is now running the site to tell of her son's plight with the G Edger shots they are using to silence dissent. If you haven't heard her on the radio interviews contact her. The story she well tell you is going to raise the hairs on the back of your neck. It was a file on his server they used against him. Even when he proved he did not place it there. The way they trumpt up so called evidence against him sounds too close for comfort.

Take care of yourself, back up every thing, document every thing, clean house

[DUreader]

38. I heard that woman on FlashPoints, She Kicks ASS!!

That is One Scary Story

[nostamj]

30. kick

now off to see if there's a thread on last night's meeting!

[FreakinDJ]

33. kick

<kick>

[loudsue]

35. Bev...you're beyond awesome...

This type of attempted entrapment, and all the harrassment you're experiencing, is nothing more than evidence that you have fingered some very high level criminals attempting to put other criminals in public office.

This, my friends, is corporate/mafia shit pure and simple. There seem to be TWO DIFFERENT camps in SS/FBI/CIA law enforcement: one camp is there to fight crime, one camp is there to assist criminal acts. I hope you have the good guys on your side, Bev...good guys with lots of good connections to protect you.

You, and Andy, and the real activists on this are my most beloved heros -- and I haven't had many true heros in my life.

O8) Sending prayers for your success and safety! O8)

:kick::kick::kick::kick::kick:

[Andy_Stephenson]

39. Awwwww shucks (Blush)

Now see what you went and did. :loveya:

[FreakinDJ]

36. I want every one to know

This is the REAL DEAL guys

What Bev is presenting to us is VERY REAL and she certainly has done her home work on this. Her actions can only be described as courageous. Her work stupendous.

I am not kidding when I say I hope to live long enough to see Bev's name in history books in our schools. She is a true patriot in every sense of the word.

But now I am worried for her safety. She is definitely ruffling the feathers of a very corrupt, very powerful bunch of thieves. We need to support her in any means we can. Even if only clicking her links it shows the would be character assassins, entrapment architects, she has support, she has followers, that America is watching

[AtTheEndOfTheDay]

40. God bless you and good luck!

I hope these bastards don't kill you. You're in the same game as Silkwood. Be careful and not alone much.

[Generic Other]

42. More twists than a pretzel

I just got a notification from the auditor’s office that my county is piloting the SERVE program which will allow military overseas to vote electronically.

I am curious to know who’s got the government contract on these voting machines. Does any one know? Is it VoteHere? Diebold? Or? If it’s VoteHere then it might explain why they are out to silence Bev before she messes up their plans. At least it would help me see what they stood to gain by getting Bev out of the way. And how the Feds might fit in. Am I way off base?

This idea of using electronic voting for the military is really creepy. And the government is actively promoting it. I’m naturally suspicious after what they did with the military vote in Florida. This seems like a perfect place to fudge the vote if you ask me.

Who is trying to frame you, Bev? A corporate suit? Another activist? The Feds? Freepers? Your life is becoming a Tom Clancy novel.

Something foul is afoot. I can smell it. Even all your usual devil’s advocates have no cynical advice. They are being awfully quiet. It’s like in the Westerns when the hero rides into an empty town. That's when he knows he’s in danger.

Eyes open.

In the meantime, how the heck do we fight this stuff?

<snip>Pierce County has been selected to participate in an internet voting pilot project for the 2004 Presidential Election. The name of this Pilot Project is called SERVE, which stands for the "Secure Electronic Registration and Voting Experiment."

The seven counties in the State of Washington that have been selected are Pierce, Thurston, Spokane, Kitsap, Snohomish, Cowlitz and Yakima. There are seven States who will be participating in this project and they include Arkansas, Florida, Hawaii, North Carolina, South Carolina, Utah and Washington.

Those who will be able to participate in Pierce County will be Pierce County citizens who are uniformed and/or overseas voters.<snip>
http://www.piercecountywa.org/pc/abtus/ourorg/aud/elections/serve.htm


Are you a Uniformed Services member or dependent? Are you a U.S. citizen living overseas?

In 2004, you can take part in an exciting new initiative called SERVE (Secure Electronic Registration and Voting Experiment), which will let eligible U.S. citizens vote from any Windows-based computer with Internet access, anywhere in the world!

Find out how you can participate by exploring this site.

http://www.serveusa.gov/public/aca.aspx

[RedEagle]

44. Your Senator and Reps voted for it....

In spite of testimony as to how foolish it would be.

You see, it was PR'd as patriotic.

And one legislator has a child in the armed forces who missed the last election, so was gung ho on SERVE.

Mass denial of the obvious- get to vote, don't know if the vote counts as cast.

Get on your legislator's case NOW! Ask them to repeal the bill they passed last session. By the way, that bill had a gag order in it, too. The AG's office wouldn't deal with it.

There is supposed to have been or will be an independent panel review of the project. I would demand to see that review and if it is negative, require the project be dumped.

It is not right to put the vote of our armed forces in jeopardy.

The military was NEVER tasked to make sure the troops got a chance to vote.

A GAO report said that the biggest problem was administrative- officers would be assigned to insure voting, and they just flat refused.

This is another example of the wrong "cure" for the problem, and playing the "for our troops" card to the max- and just another way to rip them off.

[BevHarris]

45. The SERVE contract is Accenture/Hart Intercivic

Used to be election.com. And they won't just be putting overseas military on it, they will have domestic military and overseas nonmilitary also.

Heard Dr. Barbara Simon blast the security of the proposed SERVE project. No paper ballot audit trail, and they're using insecure home PCs to vote.

Bev

[FreakinDJ]

46. So that means

you can log in a multiple of times under different names ?

Or is this just plain hackable as it sounds

[RedEagle]

48. It's as bad as it sounds

PC's

Microsoft based

election.com (who went down in an election in Canada due to the slammer virus, because they hadn't put the patch in)(And VoteHere in a story about the supposed hack said they had been late with a patch, too)

On the Internet. The Internet has been described as never meant to be a "secure" environment in the first place.

[JohnGideon]

49. Windows 98 with Active-X

That's the software that will be allowing 200,000 potential voters to vote on the Internet in the Nov. 2004 election.

[Generic Other]

50. Wait, you can't even get support for WIN 98 anymore

This is crazy!

[peacetalksforall]

51. As someone who knows little about the subject...here I go again

with Hollywood script scenarios....

If (as I believe), an inordinate number of Bush supporters and Republicans are involved in the electronic voting business...

and if (as I believe), their intention is to steal votes and make money at the same time...

and if (as I believe), they are not getting away with the theft or riches...

because states are rethinking and/or cancelling orders...

then couldn't this be a way out financially for VoteHere - concoct something about not being able to recover - especially in addition to or despite their other purpose - as an encyrption company (if I understood that correctly from one of the last threads). It would also be an out for the former sos whose close and quaint relationship with the current sos - end it before it is investigated.

At the same time, it only takes a Rovian to suggest that it would be worthwhile to attempt to bring protagonists down with them.

Simple - but it adds variation on the speculation.

The other thought is a ditto on what others have said about not trusting the investigators - plus - making sure all your plans for witnesses are never messed up. Ask to be deposed?

[RedEagle]

52. Interesting.....hmmmm

Kick!

[RedEagle]

53. Back Up

Kick!

[truthspeaker]

54. kick - and I expect another update on Wednesday

after your second interview.

[RedEagle]

55. Just a reminder...

...or is this rescheduled? Lot's going on Wednesday!

Kick!

[BevHarris]

56. I may be taking it off the record Wednesday

I have at least two meetings scheduled immediately afterward, so you may not hear from me immediately.

I will be at the important meeting in Olympia. I encourage other Washingtonians to attend. If you are from Seattle and need a ride, let us know.

Bev

[RedEagle]

57. If You Come to Olympia, Some Tips

Rally around big John Gideon, 6'7" bear with a beard, but he has to run from another meeting before,

or Bev

There is a procedure and plan to follow, so that everything goes smoothly in the hearing.

Everyone bring a statement about the voting issue, and about Reed's bill, which only calls for a paper record, makes the elecronic record the legal record except for recounts, and manual recounts only happen when races are .25% close. (Make 8 copies, at least, one for each committe member and a staffer. The rest can go to any Governor's staff there and the press)

Reed said he'd mandate paper ballots, and this is what we got. Oh, only machines at precincts are under this requirement. So, hey, what happens if some other non-precinct form of voting is instituted? What if they don't call them precincts any more?

No mandatory audit, the Secretary of State can approve any darn system changes he wants.....

Yeh, Reed PR'd the press then junked the PR in the bill.

[mrsteve]

58. Kick - back to the front page

Let's let more people see this, hmmm?

:kick:

[SeattleRob]

59. kick indeed

:kick:

[BevHarris]

60. Report from Wednesday meeting

Not going to put this on its own thread.

Yes, had an hour and a half interview with a Secret Service agent and an FBI agent. They treated me to an English muffin and a nice glass of orange juice.

I am not going to go into the details, other than that the meeting was cordial and interesting. I hope they catch the perp.

Bev Harris

[ParanoidPat]

61. Glad to hear all went well......

......So it seems that they (FBI / SS) are of the belief that a break in of the VoteHere server did occur.

(Or at least one was reported!) :evilgrin:

Did you remember to wipe your prints off the OJ glass? ;-)

[BevHarris]

62. They're of the belief that one was reported

Keeping minds open on the explanations. I thought the questions were very good ones.

Bev

[Rex]

63. Like I said before, this is a fishing expedition.

Actually it sounds far more like a pathetic (on the part of VoteHere) attempt to smear someones credibility.

[BevHarris]

64. Mmm. Well, the questions were pretty focused

I didn't get the impression it was a fishing expedition. Very possibly I can't read people very well -- but my impression was that the investigator is a straight-up guy looking for answers, whatever they might be.

At any rate, I decided some months ago that if any investigation or other action ensues, I will just be straightforward with all of it.

I think the answers can be found on this one. I'd like to see that.

Bev

[Rex]

65. IMO, it seems like the 'electronic voting industry' is trying

to determine who is their biggest threat, and then find a way to deal with him/her before the 2004 elections. Remember, we live in an environment that allows for insinuation to be preached as gospel on CNN/Fox etc. If someone is suspected of doing something (like hacking) then they are as guilty as if they actually did hack into VoteHere (or whoever the victim of the day may be).

It does sound like the SS fella was straight forward with you, but they are trained to be ambivalent in interviews.

I'm sure you will get to the bottom of this, I've been reading about BBV since the days of talon.com and have total faith in you, and the rest of the BBV crew.

Did you ever find out who was shadowing you in that GMC Envoy? That would have been the first thing I would have looked into.

[BevHarris]

66. Well, the SS and the FBI don't use that kind of vehicle to follow people

at least, that's what the agent said. He also said that if it was a private detective following Andy (no one followed me, it was Andy Stephenson who was followed) -- anyway, if it was a detective, the police probably would have told Andy that.

My bet is that the stalking of Andy Stephenson was an intimidation attempt. That's because the person made themselves so obvious. Andy is ruffling some serious feathers. Gosh, it's hard not to give hints on what's next, but it's pretty good.

Bev

[creativelcro]

67. The fact that officially they don't use that kind of vehicle

seems like a reason to use it, in practice. Anyway, Andy should have taken a picture of this guy... Perhaps he's on the payroll of some higher-ups in WA, who knows ?... Seriously, Andy probably should bring with him a voice recorder and a camera all the time, these days...