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Monday, December 03, 2007 W.A.D. Edmondson Tells Critics to Go to Hell! Oklahoma Attorney General W. A. Drew Edmondson wrote a response letter to a recent Wall Street Journal “editorial that was critical of his political indictment of Paul Jacob, Susan Johnson, and Rick Carpenter. Any observer of politics, or ordinary citizen for that matter, should be appalled at the sheer arrogance that is on display in Edmondson's letter. For example. Edmondson writes in his first sentence:
"I was surprised at the vigor with which you condemned the state for our prosecution of three individuals who are charged with violating Oklahoma campaign laws."No Mr. Edmondson, WSJ is condemning you because you are trampling over the first amendment and abusing your power as attorney general to simply harass and intimidate these people. We all know how the game is played in these types of frivolous lawsuits brought by overzealous politicians. The real aim is not to win the case, but to drain the defendants' of time, money - and worst of all their peace of mind! Edmondson again attempts to assault the character of the defendants: "The signature gatherers Carpenter, Jacob and Johnson brought into Oklahoma had no intent to live here. They came only to do a job and then move on. They were not residents." From the Sam Adams Alliance website:"Paul outlines in his statement that, as an advisor to the petition drive, he worked with Oklahomans in Action (the backers of the TABOR initiative) to obtain the best petition services, and then to monitor the drive's progress. Oklahomans in Action contracted with National Voter Outreach (NVO), a petition company that had conducted many successful petition drives in the past. The contract specifically stated that NVO be familiar with Oklahoma's petitioning laws." Read more... Edmondson continues: "It’s perfectly legal for out-of-state interests to finance a petition drive. They just have to follow Oklahoma law which includes using only qualified electors to gather signatures. The main point your editorial writers missed is that, through their allegedly illegal actions, Carpenter, Jacob and Johnson silenced the voices of the Oklahoma voters who signed the initiative petition." From Sam Adams Alliance:"Petitioners did not have an easy job of conducting the drive, however—in fact, they faced an aggressive campaign of blockers who were paid by the opposition to harass petitioners and prevent voters from signing the petitions. Needless to say, as a result many petitioners left Oklahoma, and not enough circulators could be found to successfully continue the drive. However, Paul was then informed that under Oklahoma's residency statute, people could move to Oklahoma, immediately declare residency, and thus qualify to begin circulating a petition. NVO received advice and approval directly from officials in the Secretary of State's office, confirming this information. This information was also consistent with the Oklahoma Supreme Court's ruling in a previous case challenging a petition drive on the basis of residency, as well as with Paul's experience monitoring ballot drives in Oklahoma in the 1990s." Read more...Instead of playing politics and running for governor, maybe W. A. D. should be boning up on his law: "Oklahoma law requires signature gatherers to be residents, and a grand jury that reviewed the evidence found Carpenter, Jacob and Johnson “knowingly, willfully, fraudulently and feloniously” violated that law." Ballot Access News: "The Oklahoma indictment against Paul Jacob, Susan Johnson, and Rick Carpenter, for allegedly conspiring to bring out-of-staters to circulate an initiative petition in Oklahoma in 2006, has been dismissed. However, it is likely to be re-filed. The original indictment apparently suffered from a legal flaw relating to the composition of multi-county grand juries. If there is to be a new indictment, it will be brought directly by Oklahoma’s Democratic Attorney General, Drew Edmondson." Read more... And the cherry on top of the ice cream! "If you don’t like this particular statute, go to the legislature and change it." W.A. Drew Edmondson Related: NW Republican: Paul Jacob persecutor feeling the heat LegalNewsline.com: Edmondson wants activists jailed over ballot signatures Labels: AG, Drew Edmondson, Paul Jacob TABOR, Poultry Lawsuit Posted at 12/03/2007 08:33:00 PM 
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