Ron Berry came to Secretary of State Carnahan's office through Missouri Pro-Vote, a far left group with heavy ties to ACORN and SEIU. In 2007, he was extremely helpful to Project Vote's Michael Slater and ACORN's Jeff Ordower, proving them timely access to information, including research into quotations from Republicans.
But that's not the worst of it. Berry was considered a safe bet to pass confidential information to inside Carnahan's office. This string of emails from October 28, 2008 is a smoking gun showing how the most radical elements of Carnahan's staff kept information from lawyers involved in gathering information for a pending lawsuit on voter rolls.
This email thread discusses a press release to be sent out threatening litigation if Project Votes demands are not met. It involves ACORN, Project Vote, the Advancement Project, and a public relations firms called Massey Media. The people involved are deciding on whether or not to use the threat of litigation in the press release to put additional pressure on the Jackson County Board of Elections.
Nicole Kovite of Project Vote dissents, stating that the threat of litigation may shut off her communications with Secretary of State lawyers who are crucial in gathering information to bring the lawsuit.
She says,
If the SOS does not answer my questions about this procedure, we may not have enough information to bring a lawsuit at all right now. I am very concerned that if this press release goes out with the paragraph that mentions litigation, that the SOS will not return my calls and we will be cut off from some very important information.
Simply stated, a press release leak about litigation may prevent us from bringing a lawsuit at this point.
That is some damning material. Kovite is clear that threats of litigation will stop the lawsuit from going forward.
And then the unthinkable happens. Jeff Ordower forwards the entire email thread to Ron Berry in Robin Carnahan's office, with instructions not to reply to this email. The email is sent to his blackberry, and it's clear that Ordower is under the mistaken impression that this thread won't show up in a Sunshine Request if Berry doesn't reply.
Big Mistake. Huge.
In forwarding this email, Ordower is giving Ron Berry access to information that Project Vote plans to sue. Why does Ordower feel that Berry won't immediately take this to higher ups and shut down communication with Nicole Kovite? Why is Berry given insider information that was just discussed as damaging to Kovite's research?
There is no question as to why. They know Berry will pass it on only to the right people inside Robin Carnahan's office.
This is the price you pay for hiring far left wing radicals into your staff. The next question is what is to be done about it.
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