As I wrote yesterday, no blogger or reporter in the entire world has written more posts or stories about Secretary of State Mark Ritchie other than yours truly. I am still reviewing the hundreds of posts that I have written about Ritchie and will be posting updates to this post over the next 24 hours.

I want to thank the dedciated reader of Minnesota Democrats Exposed who sent me the picture above from Team Franken’s Flickr page of “non-partisan” Secretary of State Mark Ritchie speaking at a DFL event earlier this year.  Don’t you love that Al Franken sign? It’s a great picture for my post detailing Ritchie’s hyper-partisan past.

I appreciated your patience and please check back to Minnesota Democrats Exposed for more information.

UPDATE: Liberal supporters of Secretary of State Mark Ritchie are trying to defend him from the accusation that his candidacy had been promoted by the Communist Party USA. As the blogger who broke the story about his candidacy being promotion by the Communist Party USA, please see the links below to my original posts.

WHO IS MARK RITCHIE?

I wrote my first post about Mark Ritchie in September 2005, and I have since published close to 200 posts about Ritchie on Minnesota Democrats Exposed. Click here for a listing of every post about Ritchie on Minnesota Democrats Exposed. Below is a partial summary of my posts about Ritchie.

RITCHIE’S CANDIDACY PROMOTED BY COMMUNIST PARTY USA PUBLICATION

Mark Ritchie’s campaign for Secretary of State was promoted on Communist Party USA website.

RICHTIE’S WRITINGS PUBLISHED BY NEWSPAPER WITH “A SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP WITH THE COMMUNIST PARTY USA”

Ritchie’s writings have been published by newspaper with “a special relationship with the Communist Party USA.”

RITCHIE CONNECTION TO COMMUNIST PARTY USA MENTIONED IN STAR TRIBUNE

Click here for my post that highlights the Star Tribune mentioning Ritchie’s connection to the Communist Party USA.

RITCHIE CONSIDERED “THOUGHT LEADER” OF WTO PROTEST IN SEATTLE

Click here to read Paul Hawken report on the protests of the WTO in Seattle.  He lists Ritchie as a “thought leader” of the protest. Click here for my original post from 2006.

RITCHIE’S CONNECTION TO THE RADICAL ECO-TERRORIST GROUP EARTH FIRST!

Click here for my post that with information that connects Mark Ritchie to the radical eco-terrorist group Earth First!

MEET A MARK RITCHIE CONTRIBUTOR: PRO-CASTRO, COMMUNIST SYMPATHIZER SANDRA LEVINSON

Click here for my post on Sandra Levinson, the executive director of the Center for Cuban Studies, who contributed $250.00 on March 27, 2006 to Mark Ritchie’s campaign.

MEET A MARK RITCHIE CONTRIBUTOR: FINANCIER OF ULTRA-LIBERAL ACTIVISM DRUMMOND PIKE

Click here for my post on Drummond Pike, the founder and president of the Tides Foundation, who contributed $500.00 [joint contribution with wife Liza] on September 2, 2006 to Mark Ritchie’s campaign.

MEET A MARK RITCHIE CONTRIBUTOR: RADICAL ENVIRONMEMTALIST WENDY GORDON ROCKEFELLER

Click here for my post on Wendy Gordon Rockefeller, who contributed $150.00 on September 2, 2006 to Mark Ritchie’s campaign.

MEET A MARK RITCHIE CONTRIBUTOR: FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTOR TO ULTRA-PARTISAN LIBERAL GROUPS, GEORGE SOROS

Click here for my post on George Soros, who contributed $250.00 on September 2, 2006 to Mark Ritchie’s campaign.

“NONPARTISAN” SECRETARY OF STATE RITCHIE DOES SOME PARTISAN REDECORATING

Click here for my post exposing the partisan redecorating Ritchie did to the Secretary of State’s office after he was elected.

“NONPARTISAN” SECRETARY OF STATE RITCHIE SPEAKS AT EVENT HOSTED BY LEFTIST ORGANIZATION

Click here for my post about Ritchie, who promised to be “nonpartisan“, attending a forum hosted by the leftist organization People For the American Way [PFAW].

“NONPARTISAN” SECRETARY OF STATE RITCHIE LAUNCHES PARTISAN ATTACK ON MDE DURING AIR AMERICA INTERVIEW

Click here for my post about “nonpartisan” Ritchie launching a partisan attack on me, live on air during an interview on Air America.

STAR TRIBUNE ARTICLE DETAILS CONFLICT BETWEEN REPUBLICANS AND RITCHIE

In February 2007, the Star Tribune published an article about the growing battles between Secretary of State Mark Ritchie and Republicans. Click here for my post.

MAN WHO CALLED NEW YORK CITY “HYMIE TOWN” IS FEATURED ON OFFICIAL SOS WEBSITE

Click here for my post about Secretary of State Mark Ritchie putting quotes from Jessie Jackson, who once referred to New York City has “Hymie Town”, on the front page of the Secretary of State’s official website.

]]> http://www.minnesotademocratsexposed.com/2008/11/12/who-is-mark-ritchie-a-complete-background/feed/ 29 http://www.minnesotademocratsexposed.com/2008/01/21/whoops-e-mail-sent-from-secretary-of-state-ritchies-office-about-precinct-caucuses-drives-traffic-to-porn-site/ http://www.minnesotademocratsexposed.com/2008/01/21/whoops-e-mail-sent-from-secretary-of-state-ritchies-office-about-precinct-caucuses-drives-traffic-to-porn-site/#comments Mon, 21 Jan 2008 21:31:44 +0000 Michael B. Brodkorb http://www.minnesotademocratsexposed.com/2008/01/21/whoops-e-mail-sent-from-secretary-of-state-ritchies-office-about-precinct-caucuses-drives-traffic-to-porn-site/ There are days when Minnesota Democrats make it far too easy to expose their embarrassing behavior. Today is one of those days.

Late last week, a representative of Secretary of State Mark Ritchie office sent an email to county election officials regarding Minnesota's upcoming precinct caucuses. The email contained a generic template for a press release that county offices could use to promote a precinct caucus finder on Secretary of State Mark Ritchie's official website.

Contained in the third paragraph of the press release was the web address for a porn website. The staffer who prepared this email must have thought (actually, they weren't thinking) they were typing in a generic website address, but the website listed [in red below] in the release is a porn website:

"[COUNTY/CITY] residents interested in attending a precinct caucus should go to the [COUNTY/CITY WEB SITE at www.xxx.us ] or the Secretary of State Web site at www.sos.state.mn.us  and click on the Precinct Caucus Finder link. The caucus finder will display caucus times and locations provided by the political parties. If a date and location are not available for a party’s caucus, the Web site directs users to a link to the party’s Web site for more information." 

One click on the link provided by Ritchie's office in the e-mail and you're looking at porn. Secretary of State Mark Ritchie's office can't even promote Minnesota's precinct caucuses without screwing up. A porn site?  Come on. 

I'll repeat what I wrote earlier: incompetent is the best word to describe Secretary of State Ritchie Mark. Here's another way to say incompetent: Brownie Ritchie, you're doing a heckuva job.

I want to thank the dedicated reader of Minnesota Democrats Exposed who sent me the e-mail from Ritchie's office.

In each interview, Nobles specifically discussed Minnesota Statue 3.978, Subdivision (b): "[a] person who swears falsely concerning any matter stated under oath is guilty of a gross misdemeanor. "

It is with great surprise that I read Ritchie's answer to a question in which he states that he's "never been engaged in electoral politics before, never active in a political party" after Nobles specifically states that it is a gross misdemeanor to give a false statement: 

I will be posting Secretary of State Mark Ritchie's interview later this evening. I will be highlighting one answer that Ritchie provided under oath that the dedicated readers of Minnesota Democrats Exposed may find inaccurate or untruthful.

Click here for the complete editorial. 

I completely agree. It took two Republicans, John Tomczak and Mark Giga, to keep partisan politics out of Secretary of State Mark Ritchie's office.  Ritchie couldn't keep his promise to be a "non-partisan" secretary of state.

If Minnesota's first-term DFL secretary of state had owned up when first asked about giving his campaign the names and addresses of people who participated in a series of civic engagement meetings his office sponsored, the matter likely would have blown over weeks ago." Source: Star Tribune, January 9, 2008

Click here for the complete editorial. 

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"When Ritchie failed to tell the whole story for several weeks, not only to this newspaper but also to the Office of the Legislative Auditor, he enlarged his error. Nobles was right to rap him for changing his story about how his campaign obtained the data between a first exchange on Nov. 9 and a subsequent e-mail on Nov. 20.

Nobles' report said Ritchie's initial dissembling to the office charged with evaluating state agency conduct was 'a serious breach of responsibility' that 'did not fulfill his legal obligation.' That last line hints at the possibility of more official proceedings — and where there's an opening to go after Ritchie, Republican officials have shown themselves excessively eager to seize it. Their overblown rhetoric, going so far as to call for Ritchie's resignation, calls their sense of proportion into question. Their zeal makes plausible DFL claims that Ritchie's real offense in GOP eyes is something else — perhaps his vigorous defense of the opportunity to register to vote on Election Day." Source: Star Tribune, January 9, 2008

Click here for the complete editorial.

But the report criticized Ritchie for failing at first to be forthcoming with the Legislative Auditor's investigation of the complaint, filed by two long-time Republican activists." Source: Star Tribune, January 8, 2008

Click here for the complete story. 

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"But Ritchie's initially contradictory responses to Nobles' inquiries required the unusual step of requiring Ritchie and other members of his office to be interviewed under oath.

'Mr. Ritchie never provided us with a convincing explanation as to why he waited eleven days after the formal written response was delivered (and eight days after the deadline to the OLA) to acknowledge that he personally provided the civic education information to his campaign,' the report said." Source: Star Tribune, January 8, 2008

Click here for the complete story. 

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"But the auditor’s report also concluded that Ritchie did not fulfill his legal obligation to make a full and quick response to the Auditor’s Office.

'We think it is a serious breach of responsibility for a public official not to fully and promptly respond to a request for information from the Office of the Legislative Auditor,' the report states." Source: ECM Publishing, January 8, 2008

Click here for the complete story. 

"The report was not without criticism. Ritchie initially denied having any role in the mailing list matter. But he later admitted to the Star Tribune that he had shared the names with his campaign. That revelation prompted Nobles to expand his investigation and conduct interviews under oath.

'I don't know if I would characterize it as a scolding, but it certainly sends a message to the Secretary of State and to others that when they receive a request from us in the context of a potential investigation they need to take it very seriously,' Nobles said." Source: MPR, January 8, 2008

Click here for the complete story.

Ritchie receives a strong rebuke from Nobles' and the DFL decides to celebrate.  What a bonehead move.

UPDATE: I came over to watch DFL Party Chairman Brian Melendez attempt to spin today's report from the Minnesota Legislative Auditor Jim Nobles.   

UPDATE #2: This could get very interesting as GOP Party Chairman Ron Carey just walked in to respond to Melendez's spin.

UPDATE #3: Wow, Melendez is getting really desperate and he sounds really angry.  Melendez should have walked around the block before he started speaking. 

UPDATE #4: In a very gusty move, GOP Party Chairman Ron Carey just walked up to the podium after Melendez was done and is doing his own press conference.  That takes guts.

UPDATE #5: The staff from the DFL does not look very happy as Chairman Carey has just taken over the press event. 

UPDATE #6: The event is over and wow…Chairman Carey just hit a home run. I'll have more on this exchange later today.

I have just received the transcript of the interviews Nobles conducted under oath with Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, Catherine Mohn, executive assistant to Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, Bert Black, Legal Advisor to Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, and Beth Fraser, Director of Governmental Affairs for Secretary of State Mark Ritchie.  

In my opinion, these interviews are full of inconsistent statements and they shows the levels at which Ritchie and members of his office provided roadblocks to Nobles' investigation.

I will be post the transcript of these interviews as soon as possible on Minnesota Democrats Exposed.

Democrats shouldn't be "endzone" dancing today, as Ritchie's problems could be getting worse. Please check back to Minnesota Democrats Exposed for more information on this developing story. 

"The fact that Mr. Ritchie did not acknowledge his action in the written response we received on November 9 created suspicion and led to our decision to require Mr. Ritchie and his staff to be interviewed under oath.  We think it is a serious breach of responsibility for a public official not to fully and promptly respond to a request for information from the Office of the Legislative Auditor.  OLA is the investigative office of the Minnesota Legislature, with responsibility to 'see that all provisions of law respecting the appropriate and economic use of public funds are complied with…,' and authority to 'investigate allegations of noncompliance by employees of departments and agencies of the state government….'    

During our interview with Mr. Ritchie, we asked several questions about the November 9 and November 20 responses.  Mr. Ritchie acknowledged that he was aware that the request for information from the Legislative Auditor was part of an investigative process and that he had a legal obligation to respond. He acknowledged knowing that the information was due by November 12 and reviewing drafts of Mr. Black’s response before it was sent to us.

During their interviews, both Mr. Ritchie and Mr. Black told us there were two responses because they thought both 'the office' and 'the campaign' needed to respond to the Legislative Auditor’s request.  But, as noted above, this rationale was not presented in the November 9 letter, or at any other time before we interviewed Mr. Ritchie and his staff.  Moreover, Mr. Ritchie never provided us with a convincing explanation as to why he waited eleven days after the formal written response was delivered (and eight days after the deadline) to OLA to acknowledge that he personally provided the civic education information to his campaign." Source: Legislative Auditor's Report, January 8, 2007

Ritchie promised to be a non-partisan secretary of state, but was caught lying in the growing scandal surrounding allegations that he used his official office to fund his political machine. Legislators, conservative bloggers, liberal bloggers, Republicans and Democrats all believe that Secretary of State Ritchie lied.

But I'm hearing mixed reviews on what Nobles will report.  Ritchie may be cleared or it may be a more of a mixed bag for our dear "non-partisan" Secretary of State.  From a political and public relations standpoint, Ritchie has been damaged. Sadly, so has the office he occupies.  

Please check back to Minnesota Democrats Exposed for more information on Nobles' report…the complete report.

One of the examples I cited was that Secretary of Mark Ritchie's "Election and Voting" Meeting and Event Calendar didn't list the precinct caucuses as an event.  Please note in the picture below that February 5, 2008 has no events listed.  An event for January 28, 2008 is listed but nothing for February 5, 2008, the day of Minnesota's precinct caucuses.   

Within hours of my post, Secretary of State Mark Ritchie's office added information about precinct caucuses to the"Election and Voting" Meeting and Event Calendar. Please note in the picture below that February 5, 2008 now lists precinct caucuses.  

Secretary of State Mark Ritchie's office has also now created a specific event page for Minnesota's precinct caucuses and placed a link to the previously hard-to-find caucus brochure on the front page. 

I feel really good about the fact that my post yesterday exposing this problem had a positive impact and now voters can easily find information on Minnesota's upcoming precinct caucuses.

The website of Minnesota's Secretary of State is usually a good place to find information on Minnesota precinct caucuses. Recent examples would be 2002, 2004, and 2006, when then-Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer actively promoted Minnesota's precinct caucuses on her official website. Kiffmeyer even promoted the potential date of future precinct caucuses.

But sadly, an interested voter looking for information on Minnesota's upcoming precinct caucuses wouldn't be able to easily find information on Secretary of State Mark Ritchie's official website.

You'd practically need a map to find the information. From the Secretary of State's homepage, you have to go to "About the Office," and then to "News," and then to "Publications," and then scroll down under "Elections & Voting: Voter Information" to finally find a document called "Minnesota Precinct Caucuses."  

Even more shocking is that Secretary of Mark Ritchie's "Election and Voting" Meeting and Event Calendar doesn't list the precinct caucuses as an event.  Please note in the picture below that February 5, 2008 has no events listed.  An event for January 28, 2008 is listed but nothing for February 5, 2008, the day of Minnesota's precinct caucuses. 

How lazy is Secretary of State Mark Ritchie when he can't even post information on Minnesota's precinct caucuses on the "Election and Voting" calendar of his official website?  This post is going up at 7:57 a.m., so let's track how quickly Ritchie's office posts information on Minnesota's precinct caucuses.

Here's a suggestion for Secretary of State Mark Ritchie and his staff: create an easy to find "precinct caucus" section of the website so interested parties can actually find information.  Since the caucuses are nearly 30 days away, put a link on the front page of the website. Translation: do your job.

I'll repeat what I wrote earlier: incompetent is the best word to describe Secretary of State Ritchie. Here's another way to say incompetent: Brownie Ritchie, you're doing a heckuva job.

"8. SOS Mark Ritchie — Well, well, looks like we are going bi-partisan this year. Ritchie let his ambition get in the way of….smart politics. Always looking for another way to raise money, Ritchie ventured into the forbidden territory of mixing campaign funding with his government job. He truly made Brodkorb's job way too easy. But the main reason he is on this list is: he lied. Politicians panic when they get caught in the cookie jar and just like your average 5 year old, they always try to hide it. Still, in spite of his transgression, Kiffmeyer was far worse. As I have said before, get politics out of the SOS job and make it an appointed position." Source: Minnesota Network for Progressive Active Blog, December 31, 2007

Click here for the complete post. 

It's a tough start to the new year for Secretary of State Mark Ritchie.

"Ritchie set off a partisan firestorm last month when the names of participants in a state meeting he hosted showed up on his campaign mailing lists. Ritchie initially said he was not involved with the list, but later told a newspaper reporter he had given the names to his campaign. Michael Brodkorb, a Republican blogger, has been busy fanning the controversy, which he describes as a "big deal" politically. Like many Republicans, Brodkorb is convinced Ritchie has his sights set on higher office.

'I think that Secretary of State Ritchie would like to run for governor 2010,' Brodkorb said. 'I think he would like to seek higher office. And I think that's certainly his right and prerogative. But I think first and foremost, if you're going to build the case that you should be elected to higher office, you need to do the job that you're doing right away. And I have concerns as to whether he's doing his job effectively.'

Questions have been raised before about Ritchie and the handling of documents. In 1989, Ritchie was an analyst at the Minnesota Department of Agriculture and sent copies of confidential trade documents to members of Congress. An angered U.S. trade representative claimed the documents were classified. But former state Agriculture commissioner Jim Nichols, who was Ritchie's boss in 1989, insists only public documents were involved.

'As Americans I think we needed to know what our country was doing in international trade negotiations,' Nichols said. 'We were in some cases doing things that were not good for Minnesota farmers. And these documents were public and needed to be in the eyes of the public.'" Source: Minnesota Public Radio, December 17, 2007

Click here for the complete story. 

A dedicated reader of Minnesota Democrats Exposed sent me this clip of a then-candidate Mark Ritchie talking about how “we must have honesty and integrity in our election officials” during the 2006 elections.

I don’t believe most Minnesotans would use the words “honesty” and “integrity” to describe Secretary of State Ritchie these days as he is currently under investigation for using his official office to fund his political machine and then lying about it.