Michael Connell
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- For other notable people with the name Mike Connell see the Mike Connell disambiguation page
Michael L. Connell (1963 – December 19, 2008) was a high-level Republican consultant who was subpoenaed in a case regarding alleged tampering with the 2004 U.S. Presidential election. He was killed in a plane crash on December 19, 2008.
Connell lived in Bath Township, near Akron, Ohio.[1] He was served with a subpoena in Ohio on September 22, 2008,[2] in a case alleging that vote-tampering during the 2004 presidential election resulted in civil-rights violations. Connell, president of GovTech Solutions and New Media Communications, was a website designer and IT professional and created a website for Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell that presented the results of the 2004 election in real time as they were tabulated. At the time, Blackwell was also chairman of the Bush-Cheney 2004 reelection effort in Ohio. Connell refused to testify or to produce documents relating to the system used in the 2004 and 2006 elections, lawyers said.[3]
In July 2008, Ohio attorney Cliff Arnebeck, who had headed Moss v. Bush, alleged that Karl Rove had threatened Connell and threatened prosecution of Connell's wife for lobbying violations unless her husband "took the fall" for election fraud in Ohio, in an email he sent to Attorney General Michael Mukasey asking for protection for Connell. [4][5]
At about 6 p.m. on December 19, 2008, Connell was killed, at the age of 45,[1] in the crash of a single-engine 1997 Piper Saratoga private airplane, model number PA-32R-301T, with tail number N9299N, which he was flying, which occurred in Lake Township, between 2.5 and 3 miles short of the runway at the Akron-Canton Airport near Akron, Ohio. Connell was alone in the plane and had been returning from the College Park Airport in Maryland, near Washington, D.C..[6] The plane crashed on its final approach to the airport's main runway, between two houses, one of which was vacant. Connell had flown the plane from the Akron-Canton Airport to the College Park Airport on Thursday morning, December 18, 2008, and according to the Stark County, Ohio coroner, Connell had on his person a receipt for a breakfast he had purchased in Washington, D.C. on Friday, December 19, 2008.
It was reported following the crash that a close friend had warned him not to fly his plane because it might be sabotaged, and twice in the two months prior to the crash Connell had canceled flights due to "something wrong with his plane."[5]
On December 31, 2008 it was reported that air traffic controllers had noted prior to the crash that Connell was off course, that they had been in communication with him regarding this, and that he had been trying to get back on course at the time of the crash. There were reported to have been no signs of mechanical problems with the plane.[7]
References
- ^ a b "Stark Co. plane crash: Who was Michael Connell?". wkyc.com. 2008-12-20. Retrieved 2008-12-21.
- ^ Ilene Proctor for VelvetRevolution.us (1 Oct 08). "Bush/Rove/GOP Computer Expert Michael Connell Stonewalls Federal Subpoena in Case..." Reuters. Retrieved 28 Dec 08.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=and|date=(help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Larisa Alexandrovna and Muriel Kane (Published: Monday September 29, 2008). "Republican IT consultant subpoenaed in case alleging tampering with 2004 election". rawstory.com. Retrieved 2008-12-20.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Brad Friedman (7/24/2008 3:59PM). "Rove Threatened GOP IT Guru If He Does Not 'Take the Fall' for Election Fraud in Ohio, Says Attorney". bradblog.com. Retrieved 2008-12-20.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b http://www.russiatoday.com/features/news/35193
- ^ Jewell Cardwell, John Higgins and David Knox (POSTED: 11:30 p.m. EST, Dec 19, 2008). "UPDATE: Pilot killed as plane crashes in Lake Twp". ohio.com. Retrieved 2008-12-20.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ http://www.cantonrep.com/news/x512369135/Pilot-killed-in-crash-had-strayed-off-course
External links
- Democracy Now! program, October 22, 2008
- Democracy Now! program, November 3, 2008
- "The suspicious, disturbing death of election rigger Michael Connell", by Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman, December 20, 2008
- "PHOTOS, Flight Log of Mike Connell Plane Crash - Witness in Bush/Rove Vote Tampering, Dies in Plane Crash", by Clayton Hallmark, December 23, 2008
- Official crash report from NTSB