It is who you know…not what you know!!

As you folks might suspect this Investigative Journalism Gig I’ve got going results in developing sources of information throughout the Spokane Community so I’m privy to a lot of information you are not and I try to inform you of what I know as much as possible without divulging sources, including those at the Spokesman Review, Local Government, Criminal Justice, etcetera.

One of the things I find funny is the way the SR handled a recent Letter to The Editor written by retired SPD Sargent Mike Yates who along with many other retired SPD Cops has a lot of insight with respect to not only SPD but also The Condon Administration, as do many of us retired cops most of whom are doing their best to help get the old organization out from under the corruption that permeates it.

 

Yate’s letter did get into the print and e-versions of the SR but of course NOT into the online version which is followed by many including Politicians, Cops, Lawyers, Other Media, and of course the Condon Administration who follow it religiously and especially the SR Comments Section.

 

 

This is what got in the print and e-version on 6/5/2016:

 

I hope the police chief selection panel chosen by Mayor Condon to replace Spokane’s shamed previous chief, will focus on potential candidates’ integrity, experience, and proven accountability. The past couple of chiefs chosen by inadequate and deficient panels have failed miserably.

 

The only legitimate outside chief of Spokane was Terry Mangan. He had the attributes and vision to modernize the Spokane Police Department and understood our NW culture. Unfortunately, the powers that be continue to make bad chief choices, in favor of choosing a candidate who is more committed to answering to Mr. Condon’s corrupt agenda.

 

The chosen candidate must be able to take into account the adverse impact previous outside chiefs have had when they attempted to ignore Spokane’s unique culture. I submit, the only culture that needs to be examined is the one created by Mr. Condon, Theresa Sanders and Frank Straub.

 

The Spokane Police department has been jerked around enough. The re-occurring problem in the past decade has been a lack of fundamental law enforcement leadership. That potential leadership can be found in the current rank and file of the department or from the Inland Northwest. Not some outsider.

 

Michael Yates

SPD Sgt. Retired

 

 

This is what didn’t get in because it was too long:

 

 

I hope the police chief selection panel chosen by Mayor Condon to replace Spokane’s shamed previous chief, will finally focus on the candidate’s integrity, experience, and proven accountability to the citizens he/she will serve. The past couple of chiefs chosen by inadequate and deficient panels and/or committees have miserably failed to take into account the Inland Northwest’s unique culture. In my opinion the first and only legitimate outside chief of Spokane was Terry Mangan. He had the above attributes and vision to modernize the Spokane Police Department and understood our NW cultural. Unfortunately, and evidently the powers that be (mayor and council), do not consider a culture audit as a prerequisite for a professional law enforcement leader. As evidenced by continuing to make bad chief choices, in favor of attempting to find a chief who is more committed to answering to Mr. Condon’s agenda, rather than leading and mentoring a police department. It will not surprise me if the future repeats the past if the currently designated panel does not think carefully about the cultural aspects of the Spokane community. Any candidate chosen must be able to assess and assimilate into the community. They must take into account the adverse impact previous outside chiefs have had when they attempted to ignore Spokane’s unique culture. I submit to you, the only culture that needs to be examined is the one created by Mr. Condon and Frank Straub.  That is the source of the corruption degrading Spokane. Selby exited quickly, and Nancy got out quickly.  Once Teresa Sanders goes, we just have to wait for Mr. Condon to go. The Spokane Police department has been jerked around enough already.  The political atmosphere of City Hall, and the jockeying of positions and favors rendered, has caught the SPD in its crosshairs.  The SPD needs to be shielded from that corruption so that they can do the difficult and dangerous job of policing without interference from what Mr. Condon has created at City Hall. The reoccurring problem in the past decade has been a lack of fundamental law enforcement leadership. That potential leadership can be found in the current rank and file of the department or from the Inland Northwest.    Sgt. Michael Yates SPD Retired

___________________________________________________

 

These are the only letters that made it to the online version of the SR:

 

 

Boy…you sure have to wonder why Yate’s letter didn’t appear in the online version, perhaps it was a lack of Bandwidth? 🙂

 

 

 

 

The SR of course receives many LTEs, emails, and even phone calls that are never published or we don’t hear about, which in many cases are made fun of in the newsroom or on SR Staff personal Twitter or Websites. I thought this one Addy Hatch tweeted about was kind of funny and appropriate for this story, especially since Addy is bucking for Gary Graham’s job when he retires.

 

 

Kip Hill’s now infamous email to a reader also gives you a pretty good idea of where some of the SR Staff stand when it comes to their readers.

I still don’t understand why Kip Hill blocked me from his Twitter site? 🙂

 

Kipp Hill did subsequently apologize for his comments…but only on his own website.

https://misplacedjayhawkreporter.wordpress.com/2015/02/07/sorry-for-words-in-tweet-not-message/

 

 

Since Nick Deshais is again moving on to greener pastures it looks like Kip Hill will be covering City Hall, which should be interesting. Less Bike stories and more Video Game stories one would guess.

 

Perhaps my favorite expression of what the SR staff really think of their readers is this one by David Wasson who has also left the SR for greener pastures described readers as “spastic dogs with severe diarrhea” …that one I loved.

 

 

 

 

If you think that is bad you should hear some of the names they have for me!! 🙂

 

I could go on and on with copies with the things people have tried to get the SR to report on, but here are just a few.

 

 

 

To: Crooks Gary garyc@spokesman.com

Subject: Letter to the editor

Mayor Condon and the city council agreed to an investigation of the mayors conduct during the Chief Straub-Monique Cotton disputes. Since then I have asked the mayor repeatedly to respond to questions about Chief Dobrow’s administration. I even emailed these questions to the recent KSPS city hall talk show. He has refused to answer any of my requests. Council President Stuckart has told me he can’t do anything and it’s up to the voters to recall Condon. Here are my questions; 1.  What investigation is going on into the accusations against Chief Smith and IA Sgt. Staben for rendering criminal assistance in tipping off Sgt. Ennis of the pending sexual assault investigation by the Sheriff’s Office? 2.  Is there any ongoing investigation into Chief Dobrow’s promotion of an officer involved in the infamous SPD salute of Karl Thompson in a federal courtroom in front of the innocent victim, Otto Zehm’s family and friends? And then stating he didn’t know Zehm’s family was in the courtroom! 3.  Has Chief Dobrow explained to your satisfaction why he sent a captain home for a 30 day paid

suspension for allegedly moving used furniture to a new precinct? Is no one responsible in city hall?

 

____________________________________________________

 

 

To: Caldwell Bert Bertc@spokesman.com

Subject: Guest editorial

Guest Editorial Recent reporting by the Spokesman Review newspaper has revealed that Mayor Condon’s administrative staff have been avoiding their responsibilities on a larger scale than previously thought. Besides his assistant Theresa Sanders, his legal department and human resource office were complicit in covering up complaints against the mayors chief of police, Frank Straub. It now seems clear they were all aware of multiple complaints against Straub for creating a hostile work environment for many months. No one acted on these complaints even though state law required they do so on allegations of sexual harassment. It seems an unlikely coincidence that this failure to act occurred during the year Mayor Condon was running for re- election. We now know that Frank Straub may have been the worst boss in the city’s history, yet the mayor allowed him to stay on the job for nearly 6 months after learning of the serious allegations made against him. Mayor Condon finally fired Straub in late Sept. of 2015. The mayor was then elected for a second term. Now that the first of the lawsuits expected from Straub’s tenure as the mayors handpicked Chief has been filed, the city council should waste no more time in demanding the mayor resign. We know that City Council President Ben Stuckart and the mayor refuse to speak to each other. The mayor added another assistant to the city payroll to act as the go-between for communications with the council. Under these awkward and unprofessional conditions, the council should demand Condon’s resignation. It is now abundantly clear that they mayor has compromised his integrity and creditability by his lack of candor and truthfulness during the Straub conflict. His lack of responsible leadership has left a vacuum throughout city hall. The council does not need to wait several months for the so-called independent investigation to report its findings. Mayor Condon’s administration has already proven itself dysfunctional on many levels and unable to lead with creditability. The city council should be aware that the mayors second choice for police chief, Rick Dobrow, created an atmosphere of mistrust and doubts about his leadership skills during his tenure. As reported in a Dec. 4, 2015 Spokesman Review story, Chief Dobrow appointed Capt. Rick Meidl as assistant chief. Chief Meidl was the ranking officer present at the infamous salute by 50 SPD officers in a federal courtroom. They stood and saluted as fellow officer Karl Thompson was led out of the courtroom on his way to prison. He had been convicted of a felony for his part in the homicide of an innocent man, Otto Zehm. After his recent promotion Asst. Chief Meidl explained his unprofessional behavior by stating ” nobody in the courtroom knew anyone from Zehm’s family was there”. Chief Dobrow went on to state the mayor was apparently satisfied with this ridiculous excuse for the insulting behavior of saluting the felon who had helped kill Otto Zehm. No officer has ever been held accountable for their disrespectful misconduct in a federal courtroom. There is also the question of why Chief Dobrow has failed to act in the criminal case involving his then Asst. Chief Shelby Smith for tipping off Sgt Ennis of the pending investigation against him for sexual assault. According to a Spokesman Review story on Dec. 4, 2015, Chief Smith was the source for informing former Police Guild President, Sgt. Gately and Internal Affairs Sgt. Staben of the criminal investigation being conducted by the Sheriff’s Office. He called them, then later met with them in his office to keep them informed of the investigation and pending search warrant for Sgt. Ennis. Both Gately and Staben made several calls to Ennis, then reported back to Chief Smith that Sgt. Ennis was being kept up to date on when the search warrant would be served on him. This tip off to Ennis resulted in Sgt. Gately being charged with rendering criminal assistance and obstruction of an officer. Chief Smith, Smith and Sgt. Staben were not charged in spite of the overwhelming evidence they were complicit in the tip off. There has been no mention of where Chief Dobrow was during this incident. Chief Dobrow seemed to show little leadership and accountability when it came to disciplining his employees. He sent a command officer, Capt. Brad Arleth, home with pay for a 30-day suspension supposedly for moving old office furniture to the new downtown precinct when told not to by an unnamed city employee. This precinct move itself is now under fire. One more problem for Chief Dobrow who has now abruptly announced his retirement claiming among other things, he is tired. Mayor Condon has now appointed his third police chief, attorney Jim McDevitt, a close political ally of the mayors. He was appointed to the new chief selection committee by the mayor and is now taking over the department without any actual police experience. He made the statement that when he takes over in March, “we need to put a lot of stuff behind us”. That is exactly the problem now facing the mayor and his police department. For the sake of the taxpayers and citizens of Spokane, Ben Stuckart and the City Council must act to prevent any more wrongdoing by the mayor and his police department to further damage the reputation and creditability of the SPD. City employees must be held accountable, not put behind us. ______________________________________________________

 

To: Shawn Vestal shawnv@spokesman.com

It appears in this morning’s article by Shawn that you probably struck a nerve and he laid out the course this fiasco is taking. All of the problem cases the city is faced with are the result of the mayor making the decision as to how these cases were to be handled. We can be assured that the final decisions were the work of his staff and he signed off on them. You are correct in stating the mayor does not want any of these cases to go to trial because he doesn’t want the can of worms to be opened. IMOP the attorneys for those persons who stand in the corridors waiting to file or have filed are going to wait and drag their feet to see what happens in the Straub case. That will give them an idea as to what the mayor is willing to pay to keep the facts from the public. Everybody knows he is trying to salvage his political future which looks pretty dismal from my perspective. I am waiting for Doug Clark to come out with an article apologizing for the articles he wrote about Sgt. Gately and setting his column straight. I don’t know Gately but Clark did a real hatchet job on him and after the bell is rung there is no way to un-ring it as you and I know. Maybe Gately has a case of malicious reporting. I bet Clark will never admit in writing that he might have been mistaken. Keep the fires burning.

___________________________________________________

 

What is kind of funny regarding the above contacts with the SR is who are actually afforded the opportunity to express their opinions often in the SR, perhaps the most notable is Stacy Cowles and David Condon’s good buddy Jim McDevitt.

 

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2015/mar/08/james-mcdevitt-hindsight-give-insight-on-race-poli/

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2011/jul/16/condon-working-hard/

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2014/aug/08/endorsement-incorrect/

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2015/jul/15/spokane-city-council-sends-immigration-initiative/

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2005/may/21/prosecutor-special-panel-to-investigate-mayor/

https://examplepro.me/2016/02/09/the-saga-of-james-mcdevitt/

https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/dd6d1e87-bbb2-40e8-aa48-cc419edcecbb

 

 

I REPORT YOU DECIDE OR LAUGH!!!

Extremely liberal Spokesman Review Columnist, Shawn Vestal, offered up this opinion piece on June 2^nd, 2016.

 

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2016/jun/02/shawn-vestal-mayor-cant-defend-secrecy-in-one-brea/

One of the truly laughable statements Vestal makes in his column is this.

 

“The council members should not have done business on private emails. But Condon doesn’t seem to understand that the problem with that email isn’t that it reveals political motives. Heck, his own letter is more nakedly political – more beside the point and opportunistic. The problem would be that public officials were doing business out of public view, which is precisely the kind of secrecy Condon is trying to defend, only for much, much greater stakes.”

 

Even though Vestal’s Columns appear in the news section of the SR most readers know they are simply opinion pieces. Vestal has been provided a platform to express his opinions, a privilege most folks don’t have, but Vestal in providing his opinions to the public continually leaves out facts important to his story. The same is true for the SR’s token conservative Sue Lani Madsen who, not surprisingly, has not shared her opinion on the Condon Administration.

There are many examples of Vestal’s leaving important facts out of his opinions, he even did a half hearted mea culpa regarding his Rachel Dolezal column, but that is the only one in recent memory and I doubt you will see one with his column linked above.

 

Here are the FACTS regarding the use of private email and cell phones:

 

1) As I have pointed out time and again, at least at this point, there is nothing illegal, unethical, or wrong about government employees in the State of Washington using their private cell phone or email to conduct government business.

2) It only becomes illegal, unethical, or wrong when the government business conducted is hidden from the public.

3) The lead case on the matter is Nissen v Pierce County, which would be a good read for anyone, including Shawn Vestal

https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/da95d1fd-1caa-4c5f-88ed-81515ceebf32

***4) We as taxpayers actually pay for City of Spokane Employees to use their own private cell phones, messaging, and email.

https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/48c2c86c-7255-48bf-b5bf-b6ae862cc216

 

5) Mayor David Condon, under oath, declared he uses his private cell phone, messaging, and email. As do several others in the Condon Administration, here are a few:

Condon:

https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/8f933389-e7f4-4bdd-af40-89a1a826fae2

Isserlis:

https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/1b9e152c-0e7a-4918-bf9f-e0f1c154d4fe

https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/0725ba4c-5e01-4286-857a-4f5cfc082d0a

Sanders:

https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/61e653cf-8c44-47a0-8a06-c25d9ff9a93d

Lowe:

https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/8c44084f-f26e-405f-b294-deb035fa644a

Coddington:

https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/415f6bae-c56c-4ffd-b536-225ca2e9230c

Eadie:

https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/2442e4d4-8f2d-42bd-8ec7-b4756008ec84

Williams:

https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/93525d6d-ae4d-4ff8-b68f-9dc158d53813

 

Sources (Confidential Informants in LEO terms) inform me that Shawn Vestal is among many of the people at the SR that follow my stories, so I find it odd that he wouldn’t include all of the FACTS readily available to him in his opinion piece and would say; “The council members should not have done business on private emails.”.

 

*** Item 4) was noted of course because in many instances WE pay City Employees to use their private devices, and at least in my opinion, WE have a right to access the City Business conducted on those devices and not have it hidden.

The question that other members of the press should be asking are the same ones I continue to ask…but for the most part they don’t.

 

I’m waiting of course for more forced transparency on the part of the Condon Administration with yet another request. A request I might add any self-respecting Journalist, Columnist, Reporter, or Investigative Reporter would have made long ago.

 

Another funny quote from Vestal’s opinion story:

 

“The mayor is asking us to be scandalized by a nothingburger, while insisting that we pay no attention to the documents he wants to keep behind a curtain.”

 

Well of course he is Mr. Vestal! Most folks can see that even many Conservatives, and to add to his narrative the newspaper you work for is making every effort to assist in helping the Cowles Candidate by attempting to mitigate and belittle any effort to bring forward the truth.

For those that aren’t aware the Reporters and Columnists at the SR religiously read and follow the comments made to their stories and if a critical comment is made about the story or the reporter those comments, factual or not, are quickly deleted, regardless of the source of the comment.

A perfect example here:

 

 

I REPORT YOU DECIDE!!! 

 

More Hilarious Spokane Stuff (HSS)!

 

UPDATE…UPDATE !!!!

 

Along with requesting comment from Mayor Condon I also requested comment from the entire City Council. Council President Ben Stuckart did respond with a copy of his press response to Condon’s press release.

https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/4dd42383-5fb4-462d-8291-100721859b63

 

This paragraph in Stuckart’s release has some merit, but will likely never happen because it would provide the investigator far too many leads that would get to the truth. Lets be clear, an Investigator not documenting Attorney Client Privilege in their report is an everyday occurrence. My reports, when on the defense side, never included ACP however I was always provided investigative leads from information provided via the privilege.

 

“On Friday, May 27th and again, on Monday, May 30th I asked Mayor Condon to meet with myself and the investigative committee to discuss the possibility, suggested by the committee, that the City hire Michael Harrington as special City Attorney for the investigation. This solution would not require the waiver of attorney-client privilege. In fact, it would allow documents to be released to the investigator, who would be retained by Mr. Harrington, under the protection of attorney-client privilege. Meanwhile, Ms. Cappel would write her report, which the Council could decide to release to the public. Only if the independent investigator decides that attorney-client privileged documents are relevant to and add to her report would she then use those documents in a later, supplemental report. The Council would then have to determine whether to release that supplemental report as well.”

 

 

The Stuckart press release was prepared this AM, so it will be interesting to see if Kip Hill chooses to update his story and do some more work on it.

 

Sooner or later the entire City Council has to realize that there will be only one option left for them or this thing will be strung out until the end of Condon’s term.

 

 

_______________________________________

This very poorly done May 31^st, 2016 story written by Kip Hill of the Spokesman Review clearly demonstrates how Mayor Condon is using his close relationship with the SR to plead his case that the investigation into his bungling of the Cotton/Straub case is a political hatchet job. Of course there is politics involved in this…there always is in any investigation of government misconduct, that is the way our system works, and politics always get in the way of the public learning the truth.

Condon of course is doing everything possible to keep the public from knowing the full truth behind the Cotton/Straub case which if it came out would seriously hurt his further political ambitions. On the other hand, Stuckart is taking every advantage of Condon’s blundering to further his political ambitions…so what’s new? Nothing…really it is the same game played day in and day out throughout America.

 

Some key factors to remember is that the Cotton/Straub case isn’t the only Condon Administration Blunder there are of course many more; Lynden Smithson, Lydia Taylor, Brad Arleth, Carly Cortright, Scott Chesney, Nancy Goodspeed, Liane Carlson, Sonya O’Brien, Rachel Dolezal, Melisa Nystrom, and on and on. One of the things you can pretty well be assured of is that you will never see all of Condon’s personnel blunders appear together in a Spokesman Review Article…after all the SR endorsed him and of course the Cowles Family are some of his biggest campaign contributors.

 

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2016/may/31/mayor-condon-accuses-council-president-of-politici/

 

One of the funny thing in Hill’s story is the link to the letter Condon provided to all the media, which gives a pretty good picture of what in going on with the political games and the cover-up.

This paragraph says it all:

 

 

https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/c5e19263-dd4f-4b66-b1ae-0dfefc971f4a

 

So the Mayor has his side doing PRRs and reporting the responses to him. Or did the Mayor’s lawyer submit the PRR? Was it Condon’s good buddy Michael Cannon again? Where did the Mayor get the information from the PRR? Those are questions any good investigative reporter would ask, so I will ask the Mayor, but keep in mind the Mayor never responds to me, nor will he grant me an interview so I will likely have to do another PRR to find out who submitted the PRR.

 

It will be interesting to see if the Mayor answers, or whether I have to bother Ms. Pfister again. Either way we likely will get an indication of just how political the cover-up and investigation into the cover-up has become.

 

BACKGROUND

Please keep in mind that part of Chris Cappel’s contract is to look into the rotten job the City of Spokane does with PRR requests, something Kip Hill neglected to mention so I will. Here is just a little background on how hard the Condon Administration is trying to keep the truth from becoming public.

How is the Attorney Client Privilege Game played with the Public in Spokane? Well this should give you an idea, I think I have covered it pretty well previously.

Is it unprecedented to have another party review Attorney Client Privilege Issues? Hell no it isn’t! I agreed to have the City Hearing Examiner review the City’s claims of ACP in two of my PRRs.

 

 

I won’t get in to the City Hearing Examiner being “independent” issue…that is a whole other story. Unfortunately, because this case involves a local issue the State Attorney General’s Office of Open Government Office refuses to get involved.

http://www.atg.wa.gov/open-government-ombuds-function

 

https://examplepro.me/2016/02/15/ever-wonder-what-attorney-client-privilege-and-work-product-is-in-the-city-attorneys-office/

https://examplepro.me/2016/02/11/the-privlege-game-and-how-it-is-played-by-the-condon-administration/

https://examplepromeblog.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=625&action=edit

https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/be579e8e-6522-434a-bcd1-7cd05f175bf7

https://examplepro.me/2016/03/04/a-very-odd-choice/

 

McGinn, Cotton/Straub

https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/677160ec-3464-4bda-bf35-116393690013

 

McGinn, Lynden Smithson

https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/3ac0e3fc-8eb5-40d2-9632-c7fb5433f4c1

 

CONCLUSION

 

The FACTS are and the TRUTH is that there is only one way to resolve issues regarding PRRs or Discovery and that is through the Courts, in many cases all the way to the Washington State Supreme Court. The Cowles family doesn’t fight anymore so don’t count on them. Council President Stuckart, either crap or get off the pot, I’m guessing the Community is as tired of reading the Subpoena Threat as much as I am…just do it and let the Courts decide or forget about it.

 

 

I REPORT YOU DECIDE!!!

 

 

UPDATE!! UPDATE!!

 

I MADE A MISTAKE!!!

I am always willing to admit when I have made a mistake, and I try and correct them right away. I was wrong!! The Judge in the Bolton case has NOT YET RULED on the Government’s Motion for Dismissal. I should have checked and I didn’t. But boy if he does rule in the Government’s favor…what a can of worms that would open up including Patriot Act Issues.

 

Another thing I need to point out for all of my new followers including those on the East Coast is that my writing style is a bit different than most Investigative Reporters so you can’t give my stuff a quick read, there are times I may emphasize a point by mocking a point. In Bolton’s case she did NOT release TOP SECRET STUFF, or NATIONAL SECURITY INFORMATION!! She was accused of sharing PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION (PII), which is completely different than the Clinton case, and demonstrates the irony I’m trying to point out. We write and think differently out West!!!

______________________________________________

The release of the OIG Report regarding Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton and other Secretaries of State requires me to speed ahead sooner than anticipated with Part Two of this series.

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2016/may/25/hillary-clinton-faulted-on-emails-by-state-departm/

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/26/us/politics/state-department-hillary-clinton-emails.html?_r=0

http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/25/politics/state-department-report-faults-clinton-over-email-use/

You can read the OIG Investigation Report on Hillary Clinton and the other Secretary of States at the link below:

https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/44f1e34f-acd4-4656-b7ff-5c1633bbc241

________________________

CONCLUSION

Longstanding, systemic weaknesses related to electronic records and communications have existed within the Office of the Secretary that go well beyond the tenure of any one Secretary of State. OIG recognizes that technology and Department policy have evolved considerably since Secretary Albright’s tenure began in 1997. Nevertheless, the Department generally and the Office of the Secretary in particular have been slow to recognize and to manage effectively the legal requirements and cybersecurity risks associated with electronic data communications, particularly as those risks pertain to its most senior leadership. OIG expects that its recommendations will move the Department steps closer to meaningfully addressing these risks.

________________________

After reading the various media reports and reviewing the OIG Report regarding Clinton and others, along with knowing there is an FBI investigation into the issue I couldn’t help but wonder if the FBI does find probable cause to believe Hillary Clinton committed a crime and do submit a case to United States Attorney General Loretta Lynch for prosecution if AG Lynch will use the same reasoning she did in her failed effort to get the Bolton case dismissed right here in little ole Spokane. The reasoning Lynch used in the Bolton case is that the “Executive Branch” has “broad discretion” when it comes to access Secret Stuff and the Judicial Branch has no business sticking their nose in when it comes to National Security Information; “-under Title VII or otherwise- “. That theory didn’t fly with the Judge in the Bolton case, and I have a hard time believing it would fly in the Clinton case, should there be one, with both the Judiciary or most of the public.

_____________________________________

 

At his point the only documentation I have for the OIG Investigation of Ms. Bolton is the Investigative Summary linked below.

 

https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/b2892a2e-ba5e-4a8e-b4b9-3a44cff49522

 

If this case isn’t settled and the full discovery process is actually completed I should have the full OIG Investigation of Bolton once that process is complete. It appears the investigation of Bolton took well over two years to complete. As you can see from the Bolton Investigative Summary the OIG found the following:

“Findings of Misconduct by an AUSA for Improperly Receiving, Viewing, Copying, and Sharing Personally Identifiable Information of Coworkers, and Lacking Candor with Supervisors “

So basically according to all the documents available Bolton received, viewed, copied, and shared information copied on a computer disc that contained the names, addresses, social security numbers, and salaries of her coworkers, and that she lacked candor with her supervisors.

“The investigation determined that the AUSA had previously received from EOUSA, as a result of a Freedom of Information Act request, salary and bonus information for USAO attorneys, with the attorneys’ names excluded.”

 

I’m going to put the “Lack of Candor” finding on hold at this point but if you read the litigation documents and compare the “Lack of Candor” issue between Clinton and Bolton IMO it really makes one wonder.

Keep in mind that an Independent Federal Prosecutor reviewed the Bolton case and found the charges made by Ormsby against Bolton were not warranted so we are left, at this point, with what the OIG came up with in the Summary. The OIG says Bolton was a bad girl because after she received Freedom of Information Act records regarding the disparity between the salaries in the local office of the US Attorney, which is PUBLIC information and took her well over THREE YEARS to receive. Those records did not identify who was making how much money or their gender so somehow, which is unclear at this point, but the government alleges there was some kind of a conspiracy between Bolton and the IT Guy Michael Eddy to get information that would demonstrate the gender salary disparity.

Why in the hell it would take over THREE YEARS to come up with salary information in a small office like the Spokane Office of the US Attorney is a big question, even though federal FOIA requests can take one or two years for response three years to me means someone really didn’t want Bolton to know.

 

The problem for Bolton is that IT Guy Eddy copied records from a government computer…not super-secret stuff as in the case of Clinton…but salary information of and personal identifiers of US Attorneys all over the US.

I’m going to offer two pieces of advice here for all of my readers which is based upon many, many years of experience with IT Folks.

1) Conspiracy aside, ALWAYS, and I MEAN ALWAYS, be very specific with ANY request you make to any IT person male or female or you are going to get so much crap you can’t use it will bog you down.

2) Learn and understand that IT Folks by their very nature think differently than most folks when it comes to data and what is important so you have to lead them and not follow them.

 

So the question I have is what happened to co-conspirator Michael Eddy? Was he charged with a crime, or disciplined in any way? The only thing I have been able to determine at this point is that Eddy may still be in Government Employ and may have been transferred to Hanford. I don’t know if he maintained his Top Secret Clearance but if in fact he did I hope someone is watching to make sure he doesn’t pass on information to the Russians or the Chinese, especially if he is in fact at Hanford. Now if he runs across data being hidden from the public regarding dangerous leakage…please have at it again Mr. Eddy and be a “Whistleblower” again.

 

What is really funny, at least to me, is that at the time Bolton received the Top-Secret salary information, she had a TS Clearance, because she on a daily basis dealt with not only records containing personal history information, but also personal financial information (IRS, Banks, Social Security etc.), and occasionally National Security Information. Yet she couldn’t be trusted with salary information.

 

I suppose the Government’s position would be that she couldn’t be trusted because she passed Top-Secret information to these people.

 

Well…the fact is most of the people on the above list do have, or did have at the time TS Clearances, and because the current record does not include full discovery including the two year OIG Investigation we don’t know if Bolton actually passed on Top-Secret Stuff like AUSA addresses, phone numbers, social security numbers, etc….to anyone. Also of note is that Stephanie Van Marter is on the list. She is another AUSA in the local office that filed a complaint similar to Bolton’s with EEOC. That complaint was settled. If this goes to court perhaps we will all be able to read it like we have Bolton’s.

I haven’t read the FOIA that Bolton submitted to obtain salary information for the local office of the USAG, but in reading the litigation file I had to laugh at this:

 

As you can see Bolton was beefed by Ormsby back in 2011 when he first took office and found out that she had submitted a FOIA regarding salaries in the office. Keep in mind that the timeline demonstrates that she believed the “good ole boy network” was a fixture during Jim McDevitt’s Republican Appointed time in office so the case transcends party lines. Bolton may not have been aware of exactly how close McDevitt and Ormsby actually are despite the different party affiliations.

It sure looks to me like this “Admonishment” by Ormsby, which was not placed in Bolton’s personnel file and only surfaced in the defense of Bolton’s lawsuit had an agenda attached. I read Ormsby “Admonishment” letter the same way I have read a lot of similar letters; “Okay girl…you want to play…we will play!”. But you can decide for yourself. Here is where Bolton’s simple FOIA request ended up, and why it is being litigated.

Ormsby Charges Against Bolton:

https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/ca5656f9-a1e4-43b1-a2e3-1aef72105685

Bolton Suspension From NSI Access

https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/4d6ca0ba-1e29-4119-ac9f-5d4b9c0311b4

 

Obviously Bolton was in a pickle as early as 2010, so what does one do when you are in the type of pickle she was in? Well the answer is you get more women involved! So at some point Bolton reaches out to three other women for help, and since all of those women have publically expressed their crusade for equality for women one would think they would be lining up to help out…right? Nah…not right… this a political thing for crying out loud. Bolton may have been better off seeking help from the women on the Spokane City Council.

Bolton covers the political bases by reaching out to the women who represent her at the Federal Level, Republican Cathy McMorris-Rogers, Maria Cantwell, and of course Patty Murray. Apparently her case is too much of a hot potato for all three and she gets no help at all. Perhaps Bolton wasn’t aware that Patty Murray was the one that nominated Ormsby and if gender inequality became an issue, as well as some of the dastardly conduct that has been alleged on the part of some folks in Ormsby’s office were to surface… see might not look too great.

 

After reading this on Patty Murray’s website I reached out to her for comment on my stories.

Senator Murray,

I am an Investigative Reporter located in Spokane. I do stories on local Criminal Justice Issues and as a result of my investigative reporting I have learned that you received contact from Ms. Jill Bolton, whom I am sure you know, is suing the US Government over an allegation of Gender Inequality, an issue you have great interest in. Since Michael Ormsby is the individual you nominated for our local US Attorney here in Spokane, and you received a request for help from Ms. Bolton prior to her being accused by USA Ormsby of several felonies I would really appreciate getting your comments on the situation, and learn about your interaction with USA Ormsby after Ms. Bolton reached out to you for help. I am doing a series of stories on this case and would very much like to have your comments regarding the issue as soon as possible.

 

https://examplepro.me/2016/05/24/local-case-national-implicationsor-not-part-one/

 

 

Respectfully,

Brian R Breen

______________________________

I have reached out to several people involved in this case besides Patty Murray but have not yet received a response, when and if I get any response I will of course report them, but don’t hold your breath.

I have reached out to Bolton’s lawyer Mary Schultz who has rightfully taken the typical lawyer position in the interest of her client and will not respond to some of my requests, basically telling me that she doesn’t want to play her hand yet, which is understandable.

 

Lots more to come…I hope!!!

 

I REPORT YOU DECIDE!!!!