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June 06, 2007BELTWAY BLOGROLL
Ky. Prosecutors Investigate Republican Blogger
Reprinted from today's PM Edition of Technology Daily
By Michael Martinez
Another blog scandal has erupted in the Bluegrass State. Kentucky prosecutors announced this week the launch of a preliminary review into how a Republican political blogger obtained state telephone records that he posted on his site to damage Democratic candidates for statewide office.
The state attorney general's office is looking into how Brett Hall, a former spokesman for Republican Gov. Ernie Fletcher, accessed records he mentioned in a recent post on his blog, KyPolitics.
Hall posted excerpts of messages left for now-State Auditor Crit Luallen by Democratic attorney general candidate Jack Conway. Conway uttered a disparaging remark about former U.S. Rep. Anne Northup, R-Ky., who last month lost Kentucky's GOP gubernatorial primary.
Luallen, who was working for former Democratic Gov. Paul Patton when the message was left for her, is up for re-election this year. Conway won the Democratic bid to replace Attorney General Greg Stumbo in last month's primary. Hall has removed the post that contained the excerpts of Conway's call to Luallen.
A Stumbo spokeswoman would not elaborate on the preliminary probe when asked for comment Wednesday. Conway and Luallen are calling for an independent investigation.
In a post earlier this week, Hall said he is committed to protecting his source. He previously told the Louisville Courier-Journal that he obtained the information through a public-records request but later acknowledged that was a fabrication.
He also accused "liberal" reporters of sensationalizing the story and blasted Democratic public officials for "attempting to criminalize something that is nothing more than an exercise of the First Amendment."
"What has transpired in recent days is the making of a political cooking show, complete with two Democrat constitutional offices working together to prevent further information from being published," he wrote.
Hall denied that Fletcher had anything to do with the issue. Fletcher overcame controversies of his own to defeat Northup in the primary. Fletcher was indicted last year in a hiring scandal but was never charged with any crimes.
"Not having talked with [Fletcher] at all about this or any other related topic, I can well imagine he is not pleased," Hall said. "You see, the [Fletcher] I know doesn't countenance the shading of the truth. But, try to convince the 'glass is half-empty crowd' of that."
Fletcher was at the center of a separate blog controversy last summer. Democratic blogger Mark Nickolas of the BluegrassReport accused Fletcher's administration in federal court of blocking state employees from reading the blogger's site for political reasons. Nickolas also managed the failed gubernatorial campaign of now-U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler against Fletcher in 2003.
In a post on Tuesday, Nickolas said he is having a hard time believing that Fletcher had nothing to do with Hall's predicament. "Another year, another Fletcher scandal concerning improper official conduct," Nickolas wrote.
Calls to Fletcher's office were not returned before deadline.
Posted by Danny | 04:43 PM
