I missed this one by several weeks; my apologies.
Ann Coulter has been cleared (sort of) of voter fraud charges.
I say "sort of" because the circumstances are rather weird.
Coulter's lawyer suggested that Ann put the wrong address down out of concern about a potential stalker -- which doesn't make it legal, by the way.
Then an FBI agent, Jim Fitzgerald, made an unsolicited call to the investigating officer to confirm that he was "working" a stalking incident involving Coulter.
Here's where the trail gets really murky.
As for Coulter's alleged stalker, check this out: Fitzgerald identified him as conservative Christian, rabid anti-Coulter blogger Dan Borchers of coulterwatch.com. Borchers said he remembers talking to two FBI agents about stalking accusations — in 1998.
Told those facts, Fitzgerald conceded that there was no reason to keep "working" the case.
Meanwhile, amid stonewalling by Coulter's lawyer, investigating officer Kristine Villa closed the voter fraud investigation -- without interviewing Coulter, the real-estate agent whose address she used, or any of Coulter's or the agent's neighbors.
To be fair, the poll worker who first reported Coulter's potential crime backtracked on his story somewhat:
Whited, a staunch Republican who once ran for West Palm Beach mayor, told Page Two last year that Coulter dashed out of his polling place when he asked her to write a change of address. He later bragged on a radio show that he witnessed her committing a felony.
To Villa three months ago, however, Whited said Coulter may have misunderstood him and that he may have had a hand in her voting in the wrong precinct.
The FBI is conducting an internal investigation of Fitzgerald's actions. For what it's worth (and it's not worth much), an anti-Coulter site that has been following the case closely (and for which Borchers is a guest blogger) quotes Borchers claiming Fitzgerald is an ex-boyfriend of Coulter's -- but provides no evidence to back that up.
Back in Palm Beach, meanwhile, elections supervisor Arthur Anderson is considering whether to ask the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to look into the case now that the Palm Beach police have closed their investigation.
I certainly hope there will be more to this little saga. Especially now that it has taken a really weird turn.
Coulter, politics, midtopia
15 comments:
What I find weird is that you think it's weird and want to continue pursuing it.
I searched to see if you thought it weird when Sandy Berger stole highly classified documents, hid them, picked them up later, took them to his office where he intentionally destroyed all evidence of them----and if you were interested in continuing pursuit of the truth in that matter. Couldn't find it. In fact, as I recall you were perfectly willing to just "let it go."
JP5
Oh, c'mon JP5.
First, I've always made clear that my interest in Ann Coulter's criminal career is not serious and rests largely on her status as a repulsive human being.
Second, what's not weird about it? Ex-boyfriend FBI agent calling and using a 9-year-old incident as an excuse for her, and the investigator closing the case without talking to any of the people involved. Yeah, that's just normal everyday stuff....
If you are unaware of my views on Berger, it is because you have deliberately forgotten them. I didn't have this blog when he was arrested, but at the time I said an investigation was warranted. Then came the plea deal, then came the IG report. I wrote about the latter, and as far as the former, I didn't see much point in second guessing the decision of the Republican-run Justice Department. There's no reason to think they would let him off easily for no good reason.
But mostly: lighten up. Trying to draw a parallel between the Coulter and Berger cases is just silly.
JP5,
Why do you read this blog? You seem to be offended by what Sean posts so why bother reading it? You think Sean has a double standard? So what? It's his blog. And you searched to see if Sean had said anything about Berger? Do you have a life? Or do you go around generally calling out people for not being fair to Republicans?
As for Coulter, why would a conservative Christian be anti-Coulter? I thought she was the hero of the far right.
Marc: JP5 and I know each other from a political discussion board I hang out on. I like having her around; not only does she articulate the viewpoint of an extreme Republican and Bush partisan, but I prefer that to having a blog that is simply an echo-chamber of like-thinking minds.
Sean---in your first thread you state that the claim about the FBI agent being a former boyfriend was the unsubstantiated claim of a rabid conservative blogger. And yet, in your rsponse to me above, you state it as fact.
And the "9-year old incident" wasn't an excuse for anything. It was the LEGITIMATE EXPLANATION of why she does not use her real address.
And the reason the investigator closed the case so easily is that she talked to the person who started the rumor that Anne Coulter had voted illegally....and who cleared it up.
Marc---I think ALL Democrats have a double standard. They make it apparent each and every day. I happen to believe that Sean is one of the fairer Dems. That's why I post here and on another Political Board with him. The second reason I post here is so that there will be an opposing view here, which always makes for more interesting debate. Do you only post where everyone agrees with your views?
JP5
In your first thread you state that the claim about the FBI agent being a former boyfriend was the unsubstantiated claim of a rabid conservative blogger. And yet, in your rsponse to me above, you state it as fact.
Didn't mean it as fact, merely part of why the whole case has gotten decidedly weird.
And the "9-year old incident" wasn't an excuse for anything. It was the LEGITIMATE EXPLANATION of why she does not use her real address.
Not only was the "stalking" accusation apparently baseless even in 1998, but it does not actually excuse lying about one's address on a voter registration form.
And the reason the investigator closed the case so easily is that she talked to the person who started the rumor that Anne Coulter had voted illegally....and who cleared it up.
Didn't seem particularly cleared up to me -- unless they didn't think they had a case without his testimony. Which doesn't seem to be the case, considering they have her listing an address on her voting form that she doesn't actually live at. That's about as open-and-shut as it gets.
Regardless of legal embraglios, Anne Coulter remains a hateful, divisive, right-wing propagandist.
As for JP5 posting here, let it continue. It's really entertaining to see Sean routinely expose the flaws in that pretzel logic. It provides a stage for typical Republican partisanship to be demolished by rationality.
- Caracarn
Sean says...."Didn't seem particularly cleared up to me -- unless they didn't think they had a case without his testimony. Which doesn't seem to be the case, considering they have her listing an address on her voting form that she doesn't actually live at. That's about as open-and-shut as it gets."
Okay....so you've decided she must be guilty. What possibly could have been her reason....if not the one she gave??? So, what do you want to happen to her for using her friend's address? And do you honestly think that she thought her ONE vote would change an outcome and so therefore she decided to lie for THAT reason????
Come on....
JP5
Caracarn says..."As for JP5 posting here, let it continue."
Well, gee----I certainly hope so. This IS the United States of America, isn't it?
JP5
Okay....so you've decided she must be guilty.
No, no.... more like rabidly hoping.
What possibly could have been her reason....if not the one she gave???
Well a), she didn't give that reason; the detective never got to interview her. And b), the stated reason does not magically make it legal to lie on your voter form.
So, what do you want to happen to her for using her friend's address?
I thought I was clear on that: "root for the jail term." Not because I think this is a serious crime, but because Coulter is a vile slug. Or, to quote one of my favorite movies, a "miserable vomitous mass."
And do you honestly think that she thought her ONE vote would change an outcome and so therefore she decided to lie for THAT reason????
So voter fraud is okay when it's only one voter? Man, you law-and-order types really confuse me sometimes. You're all "throw the book at 'em" -- until it's people you like under the microscope.
Sean.
I havent been posting comments recently here .
You havent lost me. I do check it everyday.
It is that this forum has become a little too much to handle for me.
Sometimes I have written with a lot of sarcasm and cynicism but even I cant handle the venom of late here in the comments section. Comments that dont encourage debate with an open mind. Comments that sometimes feel like personal attacks on all fair minded people.
GK
Glad you're still around, GK. Try not to let JP5 get to you; she's actually a pretty decent person at heart. And it's far more lively in the comments section with her around!
Sean---using another address for a legitimate reason would not be considered "voter fraud." She was not trying to pull anything over on anyone; just trying to protect her life from a nutcase. Voter fraud is where you slash the tires of the Republican vans so that they cannot pick up voters to deliver them to the polls.
You said..."Man, you law-and-order types really confuse me sometimes. You're all "throw the book at 'em" -- until it's people you like under the microscope."
I could say the exact same thing about you...didn't you say the other day on the other board that I should not take so much glee in Congressman Jefferson's situation? So, what are you doing???? And yet the "crimes" here aren't even in the same ballpark.
GK----if you read objectively the Dems posts on many of these boards you'll discover they are not all such "fair-minded people."
BTW, am I the ONLY Republican that posts on this board? You all act as if you rarely get opposing views.
JP5
using another address for a legitimate reason would not be considered "voter fraud."
Point is that legally it's not a "legitimate reason." The wrong address means she votes in the wrong precinct, meaning she votes in races she's not entitled to vote in.
I could say the exact same thing about you...didn't you say the other day on the other board that I should not take so much glee in Congressman Jefferson's situation? So, what are you doing????
Again, I've made clear from the beginning that I'm doing this for fun, not out of serious political or legal conviction. Ann is such a toad that I simply wish for this to turn out badly for her. I'm not pretending to be consistent in this case.
BTW, am I the ONLY Republican that posts on this board? You all act as if you rarely get opposing views.
Not the only Republican, but probably the only member of the red-meat base, and almost undoubtedly the only Bush fan. Blogs, being somewhat personal things, tend to attract like-minded folks more than those who think the opposite.
Wow. Great comeback.
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