Reports are coming in (via @CFHeather) that a former Obama ’08 staffer – one Zach Edwards, formerly with the 2008 Obama campaign in Iowa and currently up until the arrest working for Link Strategies*, a company affiliated with Sen. Tom Harken (D, IA) – has been arrested for identity theft. The Iowa Department of Public Safety puts it fairly succinctly: “According to the Criminal Complaint, on June 24, 2011, Edwards fraudulently used, or attempted to use, the identity of Iowa Secretary of State Matt Schultz and/or Secretary Schultz’s brother, Thomas Schultz, with the intent to obtain a benefit, in an alleged scheme to falsely implicate Secretary Schultz in perceived illegal or unethical behavior while in office.” In other words: Edwards is accused of trying to pretend to be Schultz in order to get Schultz in trouble. The crime is listed as an ‘Aggravated Misdemeanor,’ but if convicted Edwards could face jail time.
Matt Schultz is a Republican, in case anybody needed to have that spelled out; he was one of the many, many people who helped kick George Soros’ Secretary of State Project in the teeth in 2010. The SoS Project is, of course, an ongoing campaign by Democrats to control the election process in individual states by controlling the Secretary of State position, which is usually the office that oversees elections: and Iowa was definitely on its radar in 2010. Losing that state hurt, particularly since Schultz both opposes Election Day voter registration and supports photo IDs for voting**: two policies that seem to infuriate Democrats all out of proportion to the importance that those people publicly ascribe to either. So it’s not surprising that some poor, misguided individual might have decided to target the Secretary of State in this fashion.
But what is surprising is this passage from the Iowa Republican (the first link above):
Interestingly, on June 24, the same day as Zach Edwards alleged crime, Under the Golden Dome, a blog connected to Iowa Democrats, launched a three-part series of articles critical of Matt Schultz. They were based on documents obtained through an open records request from “a tipster.” The blog alleged that a batch of emails from Schultz’s office “raise some serious questions about his ability to remain independent and ensure election integrity”.
If that checks out, too… well. You don’t often see the Democrats being that sloppy. Man, standards under President Obama are slipping all over.
Moe Lane (crossspost)
*Oddly enough, Link Strategies seems to have scrubbed Edwards from its site.
**This is usually the time when the Left starts whining about how the GOP didn’t require ID in its Presidential caucus. Oddly enough, I agree (without the whining): we should have been checking IDs. We might have had less non-Republicans sneaking in and skewing the results. One in four? – and if you’re waiting to see any of them vote Republican in the general, well, pack a lunch.
Sloppy, or rushed or more confident?
I’ve noticed over the years that they expect other Liberals to cover for them and they’re always shocked if that doesn’t happen.
Rob, the word you’re groping for is “brazen”.
What’s interesting to me about this and a few similar incidents is the evidence of how little control the Administration has below the top-office level. The Chicago Way assumes (with reason) that everybody involved, down to the janitors and junior clerks, is part of The System. It would appear that down in the trenches, so to speak, there are still people concerned with doing their jobs.
We ought to find ways to encourage that. Now that Obama’s re-election is in the bag[*], it may be our only defense.
[*] Yes, Virginia, Teh One will be re-elected. Republicans have, once again, allowed the MSM/DNC to define “acceptable Republican candidate” as either a buffoon or as nearly a Democrat as possible given the slate of candidates. Many will hold their noses and vote for either one, but not enough.
I suppose I have more faith in the American people. Went round-and-round with the husband last fall before the mid-terms; He was convinced the Dems would keep it all. I told him to have faith. And VOTE, of course.
Dirty tricks and Cunningham in AZ will soon tell us if the Chicago-style omerta will shatter or hold up. I’m thinking smithereens. (Blago?)
I tend to agree with lourae on this Ric like I mentioned earlier gas is expected to go to $4 dollars a gallon this summer. The Nato/G8 Summit will be held in Chicago this summer. Want to bet the OWS people try to recreate ’68? The Movie Moguls are so ticked off about O’bama not support SOPA/PIPA that they won’t give him money. A Storm is brewing and a hard rain will be failing on the Democrats. Judging from this story there might be other things moving to.