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Katherine Harris Image Museum
for
Katherine Harris Image Museum
Gratitude? Bush Opposes Katherine Harris In Florida Senate Elections
Advisers to Pres Bush are worried by Rep Katherine Harris's interest in running for Senate in Florida in 2004, fearing that she will drive state's Democrats to polls in record number because of her lead role in Florida's presidential recount in 2000, when she was secretary of state; Housing Sec Mel [Martinez], with reported White House encouragement, says he will seriously consider reversing his earlier decision not to seek Senate seat in 2004; Harris says she has not reached decision but will not do anything to undermine Bush's re-election; Gov Jeb Bush, president's brother, is said to have been initially miffed by White House effort to micromanage his state's politics by encouraging Martinez's candidacy. (NYT, 12.06.03)
FLORIDA: H.U.D. SECRETARY RESIGNS Mel Martinez, who has been urged by the White House to run for the Senate in Florida, said he was resigning as secretary of housing and urban development. Mr. Martinez, a Cuban-born former chief executive of Orange County, Fla., has been near the bottom in polls for the Senate seat being vacated by a Democrat, Bob Graham. Bush political strategists have asked him to run, concerned that the candidacy of another Republican, Representative Katherine Harris, Florida's secretary of state during the disputed 2000 presidential voting, may hurt the president. (NYT 12.10.03)
In the wake of Katherine Harris' announcement on Tuesday that she will run for Congress, Democrats.com has launched a campaign to indict Katherine Harris. "Katherine Harris has committed nearly 20 crimes during 2 1/2 years in office," said Democrats.com co-founder Bob Fertik. "Katherine Harris belongs in jail, not the United States Congress," he said. "We are calling on Florida Attorney General Bob Butterworth and Leon County State Attorney Willie Meggs to do their jobs and hold Harris accountable," said co-founder David Lytel.
Democrats.com has documented many of Harris' crimes, using publicly available materials, at http://democrats.com/harris Democrats.com has identified 14 crimes committed by Harris during the 2000 election. The most egregious of these crimes included:
* Fraudulent Felon Purge: Harris contracted with Choicepoint/DBT, a private company with Republican connections, to remove felons from Florida's voter lists. Harris' staff instructed Choicepoint/DBT to deliberately use error-prone matching criteria, allowed Choicepoint/DBT to purge felons from states that automatically restore voting rights, and failed to require Choicepoint/DBT to make phone calls to verify potential felons, as required under the state's contract. Altogether, these actions caused the disenfranchisement of thousands of eligible voters. These voters were disproportionately black and Democratic, and their disenfranchisement probably cost Al Gore the election, since he lost by only 537 votes.
* Republican War Room: During the post-election recount, Harris allowed Republican operatives to work in her office, which was supposed to ensure a legal and impartial recount. These operatives illegally coordinated with Bush-Cheney campaign lawyers on the interpretation of key election laws, and drafted partisan speeches for her, including one rejecting the Palm Beach recount several hours before the deadline.
* Overseas Military Ballots: Harris allowed county canvassing boards to count 680 overseas military ballots that were clearly illegal, including ballots that were cast after Election Day.
According to Fertik, "Katherine Harris was a pro-Bush partisan from the beginning of the 2000 campaign until the day the U.S. Supreme Court stopped all counts and declared Bush the winner. Katherine Harris broke numerous election laws to make sure that Al Gore's votes would not be fairly counted. If Florida had an honest and law-abiding Secretary of State, Al Gore would be President today." In addition, Democrats.com has identified five other non-election crimes committed by Harris, including first-class airfare, personal calls on her cell phone, and violation of the inspector general law. According to Fertik, "Katherine Harris believes she is above the law. Her arrogance is unmatched among public officials in the United States. If she is elected to Congress, she will be an embarassment to the entire nation." --10/4/01
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