Reply #54: MORE links, info.

[Dover]

Source Watch: Michael Connell

Michael (Mike) L. Connell is President, Chief Political Strategist and CEO of New Media Communications, Inc., a Republican website development and internet services firm based in Richfield, OH.

New Media's GOP clients are a "'Who's Who' of Republican politics", having provided campaign web services and Internet strategy for Bush-Cheney 2000/2004, as well as Dick Armey, Spencer Abraham for Senate 2000, Heather Wilson for Congress 2000/2002/2004, Rick Santorum for Senate 2000/2006, and John Thune for Senate 2002/2004 to name just a few. New Media also designed GOP.com for the Republican National Committee, RGA.org for the Republican Governors Association, and between two and three dozen state GOP sites.

In April 2001, Connell spun-off GovTech Solutions from New Media to handle its growing list of federal government clients, such as MajorityWhip.gov for Tom DeLay and Johnny Isakson. Business filings in the state of Ohio show that Govtech's founding members were Connell's wife Heather, and the well-known GOP operative and Chairman of the DCI Group, Thomas J. Synhorst. By 2004, Govtech's clients would grow to include more than 20 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, GOP.gov, the web site of the House Republican Conference, and the House Intelligence, Judiciary, Financial Services, Way and Means, and Administration committees. The latter was acquired while House Administration was chaired by former-U.S. Rep. Bob Ney of Ohio, who was convicted in 2006 of conspiracy to defraud the United States...cont'd

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Mike_Connell


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Velvet Revolution Report

Tuesday, December 18, 2007
By Nathan Diebenow, Associate Editor

WASHINGTON , D.C. — They say it’s better to give than receive.

But this holiday season, the Velvet Revolution says, "Hey! Why not both?"
The Washington, D.C. non-profit is offering a half a million dollars to whistleblowers.
In exchange, VR wants information about what they describe as a very crooked, Republican operative.
His name is Michael Connell.

More specifically, VR wants the low-down about his companies: Gov Tech Solutions, New Media Communications, and Connell/Donatelli.

The first two are based in Ohio.
That last one is in Virginia.
So what’s so bad about Connell and his businesses?
Well, the guys over at VR hear that Connell and his companies involved themselves in the United States Attorney scandal.

The website domain that Connell used for George W. Bush’s presidential bids was the same that White House officials used to hide data on the U.S. attorneys that were fired.

But Connell is notorious for being a "Bush loyalist." ...cont'd

http://www.lonestaricon.com/absolutenm/anmviewer.asp?a=2186&z=202

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Bush’s Hometown Paper Reports On Our Mike Connell Investigation


Some good news out of Texas recently and a tip off to all those press people who ignored our previous scoops about problems with our elections. Bush’s hometown newspaper, the Lonestar Iconoclast, recently did a nice story about our investigation of Bush loyalist Mike Connell and how he was tapped by George Bush Sr. in 1986 to embed the GOP takeover of the government into the country’s IT network.

Connell is a computer genius who Daddy Bush introduced to Karl Rove and Jeb Bush way before Dubya took the White House. Connell created the first GOP website, controlled the election computers in Florida 2000 and Ohio 2004, launched www.georgebush.com, and has been involved in virtually every election scandal the past decade – NH phone jamming, Swift Boat Veterans Against Kerry, false phone and direct mail scripting, WH email scandal, US Attorney scandal, and others. His companies control the majority of GOP IT work, and the scary thing is that his company GovTech Solutions is now behind the firewall of key committees in Congress, including Judiciary, Intelligence, Ways and Means, and Administration...cont'd

http://www.velvetrevolution.us/electionstrikeforce/2008/01/bushs_hometown_paper_reports_o.html

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Judge Orders Mike Connell To Submit To Deposition 24 Hours Before Election
http://www.911truth.org/article.php?story=20081103152432155

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Ohio Attorneys Seek Protection for Mike Connell and his Family against Alleged Threats from Karl Rove.
Sources close to the Ohio Corrupt Practices Act/RICO claim sent us a copy of the following letter that asks Attorney General Mukasey for protection for Michael Connell and his family who have been allegedly threatened by Karl Rove. Rove is believed to be the strategic mastermind behind the Bush 2004 re-election campaign and the possible Ohio election improprieties. The alleged threats appear to be the result of the re-opening, through the Ohio Corrupt Practices Act/RICO claim, of the stalled investigation into the 2004 Ohio Elections...cont'd

http://discuss.epluribusmedia.net/node/2164

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BIO
Mike Connell:

President, New Media Communications, Inc.

Mike Connell is the president of New Media Communications, Inc., a high-tech marketing firm that specializes in putting the latest computer technology to work for its political and commercial clients.

Connell's expertise includes database application and website development for issue advocacy, grassroots lobbying, and elected office political campaigns.

Connell began his political career in 1986 when he served as Finance Director on Congressman Jim Leach’s reelection campaign. Following that race, he went to work for George Bush’s presidential campaign in Iowa.

Following the Iowa Caucuses, Connell was promoted to Bush's Washington headquarters and was tasked with developing a comprehensive delegate tracking system for the Republican National Convention.

Connell received a presidential appointment to the Department of Energy as a Legislative Affairs Specialist in early 1989, but returned to the Midwest to work on Indiana Senator Dan Coats' 1990 campaign.

After Coats' election, Connell spent the next year in Iowa working on legislative redistricting. In 1992, Connell managed a congressional challenger race in New Hampshire. Connell returned to Capitol Hill in 1993 to serve as Ohio Congressman Martin Hoke's Press Secretary. Connell left government service in January 1995 to form New Media Communications, Inc.

Best known for his Internet work on behalf of the Jeb Bush for Governor campaign (FL), Mike’s experience in this field is much broader. Political clients in 1998 also include Bob Taft for Governor (OH); the Illinois, Ohio and Iowa Republican Parties; several House leadership PACs, as well as presidential aspirants. Most recently, his firm has completed comprehensive redesigns of the Republican National Committee and Campaign for a New America (Lamar Alexander) websites.

Recognized by Campaigns & Elections as a "Rising Star of 1998," Mike speaks regularly on the subject of politics and the Internet for groups including the American Association for Political Consultants, Republican National Committee and state political parties. Connell's articles have been published by Campaigns & Elections and he is a contributing editor for .netpulse.

http://www.hks.harvard.edu/visions/Campaigning_on_the_Net/connell.htm