'Karl Rove's IT guru' Mike Connell dies in plane crash

Originally posted by Leo Strauss
A top level Republican IT consultant who was set to testify in a case alleging GOP election tampering in Ohio died in a plane crash late Friday night.

I wonder if he was smart enough to leave a video-recorded affidavit of his knowledge? Nobody that takes on the power elite should have any illusion about life expectancy.

adap2k.blogspot.com...

Today Attorney Cliff Arnebeck, who last week filed papers seeking discovery and depositions from Karl Rove and others for election manipulation, wrote to Attorney General Mukasey asking for protection for GOP IT guru Michael Connell and his wife Heather.

Mr. Arnebeck stated that he had received credible confidential information from various sources indicating that Rove and his henchmen threatened Mr. and Mrs. Connell. In short, Rove et al, either directly or indirectly, demanded that Connell take the fall for the election manipulation or the Justice Department would target Mrs. Connell for some lobby related money laundering.

Arnebeck, an officer of the federal court, took these threats seriously. First he reported this to the federal judge handling the case, the Ohio Attorney General and the United States Attorney in Columbus.

Next he wrote to Attorney General Michael Mukasey insisting on protection for the Connells.

[edit on 20/12/2008 by kosmicjack]

reply to post by AllSeeingI


Awesome post AllSeeingI~!

Well, i'm not a pilot, but I've flow as a passenger (right seat?) about 20 times to get fairly good idea of the necessary pre-flight checks that you should do. 1 of which, CHECK YOUR GAS.

Now, what pilot making this trip, would NOT want to check his gas. Seriously... I'd be checking his flight logs.. but ..*meh*.. probably already altered..

If we were all paid just one hundred of the lowest denominators in our local currencies for every aeroplane that just happened to "fall out of the sky" on the eve of something important (such as this), there would be no "credit crunch"...

Just read about this, here is a link to the story with UPDATES and COMMENTS from the site of Larisa Alexandrovna the investigative reporter...

One Of My Sourses Died In A Plane Crash Last Night

UPDATE ONE

Okay children - because that is what I am going to call adults who willfully mis-read information. I will say this AGAIN (as I have twice in the above entry and also used bold case so that no one would miss the caveat), I am NOT - I repeat NOT - saying this was a). a murder, b). that it was in any way connected to the White House or to Karl Rove, and c). that I am convinced of any of the above three.

Don't get too excited yet folks!

UPDATE THREE

Okay, so I have some additional information from an airport source. Here is what I have learned:

1. Connell may not have run out of gas, but may have hit an ice patch. The initial call I got described him running out of gas. That is no longer what is said to have happened.

2. The problem with that is - as I just learned - his plane was "equipped to deal with ice on all key surfaces," like wings for example. Remember, I am not an expert on aviation or even mildly informed on different types of planes. So I will add to this when I get more information relating to the actual plane and its abilities, specs, etc.

3. He took off from a small airport called College Park.

4. He was aware of the ice conditions, and remained grounded at that airport for two hours until he felt comfortable to fly (again, from an airport source).

That is the latest. I will keep you posted - hopefully when I learn something new.

Please visit the above article for lots of links from one of the main investigators of this case since it started.

Q: why do these people in key positions of influence live such perilous lives? Eg: why fly a small plane in such adverse conditions. Asking for trouble imo.

Personally, I feel this may be nothing more than misadventure, but the "powers that be" are probably breathing a sigh of relief! Another one to keep us guessing eh?

A couple of the links from the above article:

Break-ins plague targets of political prosecutions

Karl Rove Running Elections from the White House

This is why we weren't born with wings regardless of it being an accident or not!

He was flying a piper super cub. This is one of the simplest planes I have ever flown. If he ran out of fuel he must have not done his pre-flight correctly or his tank float was stuck. I know my dad taught me not to trust such things but to actually look in the tank and see what the level is so that if the float level meter was stuck at a high spot and the actual level was much lower you would not be taking a header into the country side.

The super cub also is very light and will glide nicely without power for a considerable distance. His running into that hill sounds more like his altimeter was dialed down to give him a false reading to me. They just have to have someone at the crash site early enough to turn the knob back to where it should be to reset that level and no one would be the wiser.


[edit on 12/20/2008 by UFOTECH]

reply to post by UFOTECH


Here is a question raised on the blog he was a source for:

www.atlargely.com...

I have one small question. If the plane came down, innocently and without malice, because it ran out of fuel, what is the explanation of the following report of the plane's behavior after the crash?

LAKE TWP.: A single-prop, private airplane crashed next to a vacant house on Charolais Street Northwest Friday evening, exploding into flames and killing the pilot.

Michael Connell, 45, of Bath Township, was alone in the plane, according to State Highway Patrol Lt. Eric Sheppard.

www.ohio.com...





[edit on 20/12/2008 by kosmicjack]

reply to post by kosmicjack


It is an obvious question, but probably one that the "authorities" will never manage to actually answer - for some reason or other.

Presumably, the identification of the body is a 'given' here. There are numerous possibilities.

1. He is dead, it was an accident.
   
2. He is dead, it wasn't an 'accident'
   
3. He is not dead, but 'erased' as in witness protection
   
4. He is not dead, but 'dissapeared' - either by his own wit, or with help
   

I suspect his public profile and attention made him an unlikely assassination target, one could argue. On the other hand, perhaps that makes him an even easier target.

Means, motive, opportunity. Of those means, and opportunity are self-evident.

What 'fall' is there to take here. The embarrassment of being caught? Jail and fines? Or did he know 'more than we think.'

Lot's of questions, not many answers forthcoming.

This thread I posted on Election day
has the link that speaks in detail how the deed was done in the 2004 elections on NPR.....

Check it out....

I come from a long line of pilots, up to myself. I can say without any reservation that someone with a pilots license would not "run out of gas" during a flight. Just my two cents.

I think the "out of gas" thing has been debunked according to Alexandrovna's site. Now the alleged cause is a "patch of ice". I guess they mean ice on the wings. Anyone know about this type of plane in those conditions?

www.atlargely.com...

UPDATE THREE

Okay, so I have some additional information from an airport source. Here is what I have learned:

1. Connell may not have run out of gas, but may have hit an ice patch. The initial call I got described him running out of gas. That is no longer what is said to have happened.

2. The problem with that is - as I just learned - his plane was "equipped to deal with ice on all key surfaces," like wings for example. Remember, I am not an expert on aviation or even mildly informed on different types of planes. So I will add to this when I get more information relating to the actual plane and its abilities, specs, etc.

3. He took off from a small airport called College Park.

4. He was aware of the ice conditions, and remained grounded at that airport for two hours until he felt comfortable to fly (again, from an airport source).

[edit on 20/12/2008 by kosmicjack]

It's not "fishy". The guy was bumped off. End of story.

[edit on 20-12-2008 by Phazon]

reply to post by Maxmars



Let's hope it's C. That would stur things up a bit. But it's more likely B i'm afraid.

Originally posted by northof8
Well we can say that this isn't as bad as the Clintons. They have left a wake of bodies over the decades that is just laughed off or ignored altogether. They did it before, during and after Clinton was in office. Just wait until Obama gets going.

I have a feeling Obama will make Clinton and Bush look like angels...

Nporthof8

The cliinton list should be ignored.

The reason? the list includes 5 aviators which I KNEW PERSONALLY. I was in VAW-124 when 603 went into the med. The weather was the worst that night. The only reason why they were even flying was because they were doing what is known as "in-chop". We , the TR, were coming into the med, and the America was on it's way home.

Bill Clinton had been to the ship 1 week prior as we left for cruise, and the pilots were the best in the Hawkeye community. This is where the conspiracy comes from.

But no one realizes what actually happened had nothing to do with a conspiracy. You see the weather was so bad that the CO of the f-14 squadron (Fighter aviators are top notch), waved himself off it was so bad. Every other bird went through several touch and go's

Bear Ace 603 had a touch-n-go as well, which means they dropped the tailhook, but just didn't hit the deck in the sweetspot needed to catch a trap. So they were heading back around for a second attempt. They were flying on only instruments, they believed they were higher than they actually were, and when they turned to port side to come back around into the pattern in which they decline, they hit the water.

Anyway... recently I went looking for information on this and found it on the clinton list.

That situation is completely baseless and thus I am highly suspicious of any of the other claims of clinton related death conspiracies.

Now... the circumstances of this one, his approaching testimony, his concern about threats, etc does make me raise my eyebrows...


But I dunno... it's quite possible that he was afraid for his life and screwed up his pre flight in a hurry. I dunno... Wasn't there.



[edit on 20-12-2008 by HunkaHunka]

Look if he was an IT guru he must have had backups. NO DOUBT! It is a question of how smart he was and who he trusted. Perhaps a copy of these backups are with the presiding judge. But in these circles the judge may not be someone to trust???

Let's hope he managed to get some copies to the press. It was reported in the article he feared for his life. There must have been someone he could trust with the backups.

This story runs deep. This guy was involved in the missing email controversies, the AG firings etc etc. He was a weak link and they took care of that link.

We can only hope he was as good or better than the guys after him. We need to monitor the internet for leaks of the incriminating evidence.

I'm interested to see if the fuel selector valve will be found in the off position, hopefully the spooks have found a different technique by now.

McConnell's atty. is telling a Federal Judge that he and his wife's lives are in danger and that they are being threatened with prison on possibly trumped up charges, one would like to assume the man knew the 'cat was out of the bag' i.e. he is in the GOP's bad-books.

What one cannot assume is that he was able to keep incriminating info/data backed-up and secure, IT guy or not. The GOP knew they were trying to make him the fall guy long before he figured it out. They would have had him under every type of surveillance and gained access to any data he had and clearly had him set-up for the fall. Hence, him be willing to testify (give a verbal account) for the prosecution.

S & F for the OP and let's all Subscribe to the thread (it will show on your myATS if you are reading and not posting so you can follow-up. )

interesting situation - that crash site is about a mile from me

Iand - might'a seen Connell at a local coffee shop with some guys in sunglasses last night

Several neighbors, bundled up against the frigid temperature, were walking around taking pictures with their cell-phone cameras.

Nice to know the neighbors were so concerned, they looked for survivors, tried to put out the fire before the fire dept got there, ect.