Two Michigan Democrats indicted in fake Tea Party scandal

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Two former local Democratic party officials from Michigan face up to 14 years behind bars for allegedly forging paperwork to put fake Tea Party candidates on the November 2010 ballot.

Former Oakland County Democratic Chair Mike McGuinness and former Democratic Operations Director Jason Bauer were indicted on a total of nine felony charges this week, local station WJBK reports.

McGuinness and Bauer allegedly tried to put two county commission candidates and a state senate candidate on the ballot without their knowledge, the Detroit Free Press reported, by forging their signatures and falsely swearing under oath about the candidacies.

A Free Press investigation last summer revealed that Bauer had allegedly notarized petitions for a dozen Tea Party candidates statewide, and the Michigan Supreme Court subsequently upheld a ruling to keep candidates associated with the questionable group "The Tea Party" off the 2010 ballot.

Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said this week there were 23 statewide races with suspicious Tea Party candidates, and the investigation may go beyond Oakland County, WJBK reported.

"It was learned that a scheme was developed by a party leader in Lansing to place on the ballot people pretending to be Tea Party activists and that this was going to be a statewide effort," Bouchard said.

Oakland County Prosecutor Jessica Cooper said that the indictment was not about politics.

"We stand together, a Republican sheriff and a Democratic prosecutor, to assure the public that this is not a political investigation or a partisan indictment," Cooper said. "The electoral process is sacred."

[Wrenegade1]

What's obvious is that those guys knew they couldn't win the elections as democrats so they tried to create posers to get elected as Tea Party candidates. I don't think they actually understand the Tea Party members actually do their homework before the vote...

[leon_foonman]

They are doing their homework, 2nd grade arithmetic......

[jessytell]

Well when the liberals of America still support the useless and brainless failed Obama and defend the two criminals in Michigan it is easy to understand why America is sick to death of them. The only good news in all of this is that Obma is on vacation again. I mean maybe he will do less damage to the country while he is away.

[WeHappyFew]

Another astonishingly unbiased piece by the legendary fiscal conservative social liberal independent (ain't they all?!), jessytell.

[san850]

jessytell....I haven't seen any liberals "defending the two criminals in Michigan". You must be halucinating again.

[JRC_903]

Obviously, we do not hold conservatives up the same standard. But when a Democrat steps over the line they must be held accountable.

[IL-Independent]

Oh that is such BS. Figures your party would say that. They are held in the same aspect. They broke the law

[jessytell]

Obviously you do not live in America or never watch CBS,MSNBC,ABC,or CNN because they attack the GOP 100 times to 1 over the Democrats. Finding any reporter on those networks that are fair is harder than finding a non liberal in the school system.

[rightbehind]

Ho Hum.......Yawn.....

[RAS08]

I'm impressed. This actually appeared. And in CBS news at that.

[erichsh]

I'm shocked too. You can be sure however it will appear nowhere else. Now had it been some conservatives pulling the same stunt on liberals - ooh, there would be hell to pay! Front page news everywhere.

[jimatmadison]

As a Dem, this is shameful and these people deserve their punishment.

We need to be better than this. Always.

[san850]

Agree!

[HemiHead66]

Yeah, you keep running your big mouths about Democrats, at least they didn't bash up a girls face and have her say it was a car-load of crazy Republicans with McCain bumper stickers on it. That's EXACTLY what the RNC tried to pull to get people to vote against Obama during the election. They cooked up a scheme with this young girl at their RNC headquarters. They banged up her face and told her to tell the cops it was a car-load of crazies with Obama bumper stickers all over it. The cops didn't believe her and got her to talk. Busted!! The GOP are as low as they come. And the news just came out, guess who is behind the union busting and teacher cuts in Wisconsin? The good ol Koch Brothers. The Tea-Heads were taken for a ride again. Seems the Koch Brothers own a coal company subsidiary with facilities in Green Bay, Manitowoc, Ashland and Sheboygan; six timber plants throughout the state; and a large network of pipelines in Wisconsin. While Koch controls much of the infrastructure in the state, they have laid off workers to boost profits. At a time when Koch Industries owners David and Charles Koch awarded themselves an extra $11 billion of income from the company, Koch slashed jobs at their Green Bay plant. You tea-Heads are as dumb as a box of rocks. You let these rich slobs dangle you on a string like puppets. The top 20% hold 90+% of the country's wealth, and you're gutting teachers making 40 grand a year so some billionaire slob can increase his profits and lay-off workers. Good work, Tea-Freaks! And don't feed me that bull about the rich paying all the taxes. Go look up - 2 thirds of corporations pay zero in taxes in Wisconsin - and see what you find. The way you Tea idiots are going, you'll have this country finished off by 2012.

[jgg000101]

in your first sentence you say it was a carload of crazy republicans with mccain bumper stickers, then you say it was a carload of crazies with obama bumper stickers. It kinda makes you look dumb as a box of rocks.

[jimatmadison]

by jgg000101 March 18, 2011 11:50 PM EDT
"in your first sentence you say it was a carload of crazy republicans with mccain bumper stickers, then you say it was a carload of crazies with obama bumper stickers. It kinda makes you look dumb as a box of rocks."

Missed the "didn't" in the first sentence, jgg?

Changes the whole meaning of the sentence.

Reading is fun-damental. A troll without reading skills should not toss the first box of rocks.

[RatPackSixGun]

Har Har Har!!! Gee what do you know?!? Two Lefties get busted in elections tampering!

The only surprise here is that they got caught. The DNC is so corrupt that even Gaddafi looks honest. Or at least transparent.

How shameful that a tyrannical dictator conducting genocide against his own people is, at his dark twisted core, somehow more honest that the modern US Democratic Party machine.

[meboard]

They got the idea from the State GOP chair...and who is "Gaddafi" Is that a mix of Gondi and Qaddafi?

[WeHappyFew]

What a pair of unconscionable idiots. Let other parties hang themselves with their own rope. They seem quite effective at it.

[armydog1]

Amen to this.
Funding by corporations and lobbysts in my opinion is nothing less than bribery. The American taxpayers are the victims of congress. I believe that the congress sees themselves a some sort of American royalty. There should be a 28th Amendment to the Constitution making congress obey the same laws, and pay the same fees and taxes that we are made to pay.

[david4673]

I think you are off topic.

Congress members do pay taxes and fees like we all do, by the way.