Ehrlich Alleges 'Blackmail' By Former State Employee -WP

[Rose Siding]

Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. accused a former state employee yesterday of trying to "blackmail" him. The woman involved said she was trying to protect herself against a retaliatory "whisper campaign" by the administration that could cost her a job.

And after a winter of partisanship and allegations of political dirty tricks, the tension ratcheted up another level when Ehrlich (R) stood in front of the State House and charged that there was a campaign at work to make his administration look bad.

"We really want to know about any political orchestration" by Democrats, Ehrlich told reporters.

The latest accusations still involve Joseph Steffen, the longtime aide whom Ehrlich fired last month for circulating rumors about a political rival, Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley (D). Ehrlich dismissed Steffen immediately after learning from The Washington Post that Steffen had boasted on the Internet about spreading gossip about O'Malley's marriage.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64412-2005Mar24.html

[Frances]

1. Thanks for posting this

I lived in Maryland until after the 2002 election. I worked for Ehrlich's opponent and knew in my bones that Ehrlich was a Bush clone. But the Post's election coverage of Ehrlich was glowing while their coverage of KKT was very critical. It's good to see that the Post is now reporting on Ehrlich objectively.