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| Still from the 1957 classic film, "12 Angry Men" |
Update: Jury finds Frank Raia GUILTY.
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Day two of deliberations in the voter-bribery trial of Frank Raia, and no verdict... yet.
After deliberations began yesterday, the jury had asked to see transcripts of six witnesses. They were, as reported by Hudson County View:
"...Brian Cardino; a former Senior Hudson County Board of Elections Clerk Investigator, Andrew Canonico; the treasurer for Let the People Decide and four voters: Latasha Swinton, Marquitha Allen, Patricia Tirado and Tracy Stepherson."
They also asked a question about the legality of bringing concealed ballots to an election headquarters.
And? The judge dismissed the panel by 3 PM. Now, 24 hours later, still no verdict...
Pupie-watch sure is a nail-biter. What's taking them so long? Are they split? Will it be a hung jury? Is there one holdout? Tick... tick... tick...
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| Wrong kind of tick. |
Stay tuned, people.
If there was a moment when things became "radicalized" in reform, it was the Occhipinti special election in 2010. He got 1209 votes. He paid 575 people to "work" for him. That's 2.1 votes per "worker."
ReplyDeleteBeth became CC chair, as pre-arranged, while denial of the obvious criminality prevailed among Team Beth, online and off.
Having grown up in Cook County where it takes a lot to make anyone blush, it was as embarrassing a display of political lawlessness as I had ever seen. Remember - this was just 3 months to the day after Cammarano was sentenced. The message was clear. The grifting classes had finally coalesced and law enforcement wasn't going to do anything about it.
This just left our voices, and our voices got harsh. The more so as we were met by "curious gals" who acted like butter couldn't possibly melt in their mouth as they told one winking lie after another on behalf of corrupt enterprises.
(Because God has a wickedly twisted sense of humor, CG turned up as a "character witness" for the very obviously guilty Raia last week, joining Eduardo as one of the people who truly didn't have to let their lives go down the crapper this way, but did anyway.)
This verdict certainly blows a long awaited hole in what we all knew was happening all along and had to listen to the Beth's Squealers deny in the haughtiest possible terms. That chapter has finally ended.
But the book is hardly over. Frank was not a genius. Nor was he the only one with the "guts" to run it as a full-scale operation. It doesn't take guts when LE looks the other way at a 575:1209 ratio and several signed affidavits from people acknowledging being paid to vote.
No, it was low-hanging fruit. Everyone saw it, everyone went for it. It was considered stupid not to go for it. The first person who tells you it was just Frank is the one you should arrest next. Except for the Good Government Trio who don't engage in vote-buying themselves, but have come depend on the council support of people who do. And now must pretend they don't.
Numbers to consider.
2017
- Defusco: 325 (mayor)
- Romano: 506 (mayor)
2015
- Ramos: 271 (council)
2011
- Ramos: 399 (assembly)
Fortunately, on this blog you don't have to pretend that's all hunky dory. And you don't have to vote for or support people who pretend it's all hunky dory either.
If vote-buying was the issue that truly became the bloody shirt for reform, then there is no worse betrayal than these politicians not addressing this practice in their ranks. So far, not one fucking word.
I think the #'s you cite are just VBM's. For Ramos the magic # is paid worker/voters, which is probably double.
ReplyDeleteAnybody who pretends the problem is only VBM's and that paying people to vote at the polls is OK is a facilitator of corruption.
Someone should ask Fisher, the official spokeswoman and borgbrain of the three "good government" council people whether it's OK for Ramos to "hire" half the people who vote for him.
It would be interesting to see her stumble through her non answer.
My guess - she'd say that if anything were amiss, law enforcement would have dealt with it. Then she'd go on about what a shame it is that you don't respect our first responders and how much she personally admires them and believes everyone should....
DeleteIt's not hard to guess with her type. Actually with any of their types.
That is true, numbers. But the F. B. I. Agent who testified at the Raia trial said that 95% of those paid by the campaign had requested mail-in ballots. The obvious inference of the engorged vbm totals cited by Dang is that 'a lot' of them were 'campaign workers.' The F. B. I. Agent also told us that many who Bluewater had paid by check (off a list Raia's campaign provided) were NOT reported on any ELECs! They were discovered by the govt, via whatever methods the govt employed. Big victory for the U. S. Attorney and F. B. I.
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