DID THE COCHRAN CAMPAIGN ILLEGALLY BUY VOTES IN THE MISSISSIPPI RUNOFF ELECTION

DID THE COCHRAN CAMPAIGN ILLEGALLY BUY VOTES IN THE MISSISSIPPI RUNOFF ELECTION? HERE IS WHAT WE KNOW.

Very serious allegations have been leveled in the MS runoff election between incumbent U.S. Senator Thad Cochran and State Senator Chris McDaniel. Of all the charges of malfeasance, arguably the most serious is that of illegal vote buying on behalf of the Cochran campaign. This article attempts to review and document these charges in a way that allows the reader to review the evidence and information in an unbiased light, so that the reader can arrive at an informed opinion as to these allegations. Detailed citations, where available, are provided via footnote so that the reader can review the original sources of information.

History of the Initial Primary Results In Mississippi

On June 3, 2014, State Senator Chris McDaniel won more votes in the Republican primary than 40+ year incumbent U.S. Senator Thad Cochran. Due to a third candidate in the Republican primary, however, Mr. McDaniel was unable to eclipse the 50% mark, which, according to state law, required a runoff. This runoff election was scheduled for June 24th. Reports have swirled that Mr. Cochran did not want to run for reelection this year, but that he was convinced to do so by the people behind his campaign, namely, the all-powerful Barbour family. After Mr. Cochran lost the initial Republican primary to Mr. McDaniel on June 3, 2014, reports indicate that Mr. Cochran wished to concede to Mr. McDaniel. However, the Barbour family allegedly convinced Mr. Cochran to stay in the race and participate in the runoff election. It should be noted that, if the Republicans retake the U.S. Senate in 2014, as is widely expected by many pundits, due to seniority rules, Mr. Cochran would chair the Appropriations Committee, which has the final say over where billions of dollars are spent and with whom. Clearly, whomever Mr. Cochran answers to will have a tremendous say as to where taxpayer funds are spent. Thus, for certain interests, having Mr. Cochran win the Republican primary in Mississippi was worth untold amounts of money. Allegations of vote buying and walking around money in the black community first surface.

After it was clear that U.S. Senator Thad Cochran would not win a primary runoff consisting solely of Republican voters, his campaign took a different tact. For the runoff election, the campaign focused on traditionally Democrat voters, namely black voters in Jackson and the Delta areas of Mississippi. On or around June 17, 2014, just after midnight, Rickey Cole sent a Facebook message to Ric McCluskey, a top aide of Senator McDaniels campaign, that read as follows:Pete Perry is paying James Scooby Doo Warren thousands of dollars to funnel to black preachers and others to get-out-the-vote for Cochran. He is working with Lane (LC) Murray and probably also Greg Brand. Large sums of cash are being passed around. These guys are old-school walking around money vote buyers. It is happening in Hinds County, but they are trying to move black voters in the Delta, adams, jefferson, and clairborne too. Need some out-of-state media to put some heavy scrutiny on Pete asap.

This Facebook message was intended to be private, but was disclosed by a tweet by MS State Senator Tony Smith, also a McDaniel supporter. Now remember, dear reader, the names mentioned in this message: Rickey Cole; Pete Perry; James Scooby Doo Warren; Lane (LC) Murray; and Greg Brand. All these names will be important to our story.Before introducing Rickey Cole, it is important to understand the political realities on the ground in Mississippi. On a statewide basis, the Republicans own this state. No Democrat has been elected to a federal, state-wide office in forever. The Barbour family runs this state and have their hands in every political pie imaginable. As many readers will bemoan in states like California, New York, and Illinois, where Democrats have complete control of the government, the same is true in Mississippi, where the Republicans run the state and have complete control over all of its state-wide functions. Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. So who is Rickey Cole? Well, Mr. Cole is the Chairman of the Mississippi Democratic Party. He is a soft spoken, farmer-type, who speaks in a Southern dialect, and does not mince words. He is a lonely man fighting an un-winnable battle, but he is literally the chief member of the Democrat party in Mississippi. And he has never backed down from, nor recanted, the allegations made in the above-quoted Facebook message. When contacted, Mr. Cole said the following, confirming his allegations:

I cant prove any of it yet. This is just what I heard. [I] think it warrants investigating, because I dont know all of the details on it I just got word that James [Scooby Doo Warren] was bragging that he got money. The reason I sent that text [Facebook message] is because I wanted the McDaniel people to know that there was an effort out here ongoing to mobilize Democratic voters to vote for Cochran. Thats simply because I dont like the idea of Democrats voting in the Republican primary or Republicans voting in the Democratic primary. I believe members of each party should vote in their own primaries.

If anyone would know that the Democrat vote-buying/walking around money machine had been activated, it would be Rickey Cole. He is the head of the Democrat party in Mississippi. He has never backed down from his allegations of vote buying. He has never retracted any of his claims. Although he has admitted he has no direct proof, he has stated that his intelligence on the ground indicates that indeed the Cochran campaign was out in the black community buying votes. Around July 11, 2014, Mr. Cole, responding to his Democrat colleagues that would prefer Mr. Cole keep quiet in order to ensure that the Tea Party loses no matter who wins, stated as follows:I have been brought to task by [my fellow Democrats] who expect me to exercise my duties from a lofty plain, and not sully myself or the party by stooping to even comment on the Republican internal fight. Let me be plain, so you will understand who we are facing, who I am and how I operate. Genteel old Thad Cochran is Haley Barbours puppet. Haley Barbour is an insatiably greedy hog who has spent his entire life using the federal and state governments as his personal ATM machine My mission in life is to catch that big fat boar, cut him and fry him out for lard. If you can show me how to do that without getting a little dirty, then you know a lot more about hogs and mud than I do.

This is from the top Democrat official in Mississippi. He knows all the players, he knows who the Democrat machine is in Mississippi, and he has never once recanted from his original allegations. And although Mr. Cole may speak in Southern parlance regarding his big fat boar comments, one knows from reading this that the man is not a liar. If anything, he has confirmed his original allegations and has supported Chris McDaniels efforts in challenging the runoff results. Now, I know one might say, Mr. Cole, as the head of the Democrat party, has an interest in creating as much discord as possible among the Republican party. This is true. He is, after all, the Democrat official in Mississippi and would benefit from total discord in the Republican primary in favor of the Democrat candidate, Travis Childers for U.S. Senate (a candidate, may I remind the reader, who is arguably more conservative than many incumbent Republican candidates for U.S. Senate).

But to counter-balance this inherent bias, the reader also should be aware of the following. As stated above, Mr. Cole has taken considerable criticism from his own base for his outspoken views on the corruption that occurred in the Mississippi runoff election. Many of those in the Democrat party hate the Tea Party more than the Republican establishment and were elated that Chris McDaniel presumably lost the runoff contest. Mr. Cole has been heavily criticized by his own base for his comments. But may I suggest, dear reader, that this is how you know what Mr. Cole says is true. His base may hate the Tea Party, but Mr. Cole hates the Barbour family even more. And from well before the runoff was even held, he was sounding the alarm for a reason. His contacts in the Democrat machine told him exactly what was going on. Mr. Cole cannot be discredited, his sources are unimpeachable, and he has shined a light on the tactics that the Cochran campaign was using in the runoff election.

As we proceed, Mr. Coles allegations are not only going to be confirmed, but they are going to be buttressed by all of the known facts in relation to what happened during the GOP runoff in Mississippi.

Bombshell Allegations of Vote Buying Are Made By A Black Preacher in Meridian, Mississippi.

A local reverend, Stevie Fielder, a self-proclaimed associate pastor at historic First Union Missionary Baptist Church, and a former official at Meridians redevelopment agency, told Charles Johnson, founder of Gotnews.com, that he delivered at least hundreds of black voters and votes for Thad Cochran in the runoff election by paying these voters $15 each to vote for Cochran. Rev. Fielders direct contact with the Cochran campaign was Saleem Baird, the Director of Minority Outreach for the Cochran campaign. Mr. Johnson paid Rev. Fielder to see the text messages from Mr. Baird. Per Mr. Johnson, he did not pay Rev. Fielder for the interview that is related in the article. These text messages, copies of which are available at the Gotnews.com webpage, read as follows:

12:31 p.m. on 6-21-14 [From Baird to Fielder]: Im wirking my way that way Ill get with you thats a guarantee.

3:12 p.m. on 6-21-14 [From Baird to Fielder]: Send me individual names and amounts along with home addresses to saleem@thadforms.com and Ill have money separated in envelopes at the office waiting for you.

3:12 p.m. on 6-21-14 [From Baird to Fielder]: Im heading back from Brookhaven to Jackson but I can tell them to release those funds to you.

(FN 5) Before getting to the interview with Rev. Fielder, a brief introduction to Mr. Baird is in order. Saleem Baird was a member of Senator Roger Wickers (the other US Senator from Mississippi) staff and has taken a leave from that position to assist in Cochrans reelection campaign. Several years ago, Mr. Baird was arrested and charged with running an illegal strip club in a shady night club in Jackson, MS. (FN 5) Mr. Baird also was known on social media as Saleem da Dream, before his social media sites were deleted immediately after this interview with Rev. Fielder broke. Since the runoff election, Mr. Baird has been unavailable for comment.In his interview, Rev. Fielder stated that he was promised to be paid $16,000 by Mr. Baird from the Cochran campaign for delivering black votes to Cochran in the runoff by paying roughly $15 per vote. In addition to the money, Rev. Fielder said he was motivated to do this work because Mr. Baird assured Rev. Fielder that Chris McDaniel was a racist. A charge that Rev. Fielder later found out was untrue. Rev. Fielder specifically stated:They said they needed black votes [Baird told me to] give the fifteen dollars in each envelope to people as they go in and vote. You know, not right outside of the polling place but [I] would actually recruit people with the $15 dollars and they would go in and vote.

(FN 5) Rev. Fielder said he received thousands of dollars in envelopes from Baird and distributed them accordingly. Fielder also said he went to the campaign office on another occasion to pick up $300 in cash and was among a room full of people who were doing the same thing he was.

However, when Rev. Fielder went to collect the $16,000 he was owed for paying black voters $15 per vote, Rev. Fielder states that Baird stiffed him. Baird even asked him to delete all texts between the two of them. Fielder also stated that he spoke with Kirk Sims, the Cochran campaign manager about the matter and a woman named Amanda, most likely Amanda Shook. (The importance of these names shall be explained later). All refused to pay Fielder the agreed upon $16,000. (FN 5)

The interview ended with Rev. Fielder stating that he already had been contacted by the Cochran camp: They want me to erase everything, and they want to pay me And [someone from McDaniels camp doesnt have a big window to pay Rev. Fielder for the remainder of his information] cuz I know at 5, Im supposed to meet ah, them, some of em was claiming from out of town some kind of way. I dont know a Johnny barbour, some barbour guy, you know em? On June 30, 2014, Fielder confirmed that he is an associate pastor at First Union Missionary Baptist Church and that he leveled the allegations discussed above in an interview with Charles Johnson of Gotnews.com.

Who is Kirk Sims? Mr. Sims was the campaign manager for Thad Cochrans reelection bid. Mr. Sims also was formerly the Chief of Staff for current Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant. Kirk Sims is also U.S. Senator Roger Wickers son-in-law. Soon after these vote-buying allegations surfaced, Mr. Sims was suddenly replaced/stepped down from the Cochran campaign. Mr. Sims has since been unavailable for comment.

Who is Amanda Shook? Ms. Shook is a 27 year-old Direct of Operations for the Cochran campaign. Ms. Shook previously worked for Mr. Sims in the office of Governor Phil Bryant, where Ms. Shook served as his scheduler. (FN 8) As will be discussed later, apparently this 27 year old also had her hands on tens of thousands in cash. Soon after the election, Ms. Shook left for the Caribbean and has been unavailable for comment.

Who Is Rev. Stevie Fielder?

Rev. Fielder claims to be an associate pastor at the First Missionary Baptist Church in Meridian. But church Deacon Robert Markham and church member Melba Clark, who also is a member (and former long-time chairman) of the Lauderdale County Democratic Executive Committee (Meridian is in Lauderdale County) state that he is not an associate pastor at the church but is a self-proclaimed minister and that Rev. Fielders reputation in the community is less than stellar. (one wonders why the Clarion Ledger could not interview the actual pastor of the church, but this is unclear).

Apparently this is not the first time Mr. Fielder has been hired by the GOP to GOTV in the black community. In 2011, Mississippi State House Speaker Pro Tem Greg Snowden, R-Meridian, said he hired Fielder for campaign work. I hired the guy to help me campaign in the black community, Snowden said. He put up signs and helped turn out the vote for me. I havent talked to or seen him for a couple of years. Snowden said that he doubts there was any vote buying in Lauderdale in the June 24 runoff, in part from just looking at the results. Snowden continued: (Fielder) said he got hundreds or thousands of people to the polls But if you look precinct by precinct, you dont see a big African-American turnout for anybody. Maybe it was up slightly, perhaps, but not by hundreds or thousands. (FN 10) One wonders exactly what Mr. Snowden would be doing examining precinct by precinct returns if he was not involved in the runoff. Meridian is a town of roughly 40,000 people, which is roughly 61% black.

At bottom, no one will seriously dispute that Rev. Fielder is motivated by money. Nor is it in dispute that Rev. Fielder may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer and that he may have a less than stellar reputation. All that is accepted, understood and taken for granted for purposes of this article. But it does not mean that what he is saying here is untrue. After all, individuals with stellar reputations are usually not good conduits for massive election fraud and would not usually stoop to handing out envelopes with cash to buy votes from poor blacks. And smart people usually do not admit to engaging in multiple federal felonies, such as vote buying, which is why there usually is never much evidence of the practice. But perhaps Rev. Fielders need for money finally allowed some light to shine on the practice and reveal what really goes on in good-ole machine politics in every major city in America. And, perhaps, Rev. Fielder truly felt that Chris McDaniel had been wrongly attacked as a racist and he wanted to right his part in this wrong.Whatever the reasons, all of this background matters not. What matters is the evidence and testimony provided by Rev. Fielder. What further matters is the incredible response by the Cochran campaign and the information that has since come to light since Rev. Fielder gave his first interview. As the reader will see, all of this information combined will become a very grave matter for the Cochran camp.

The Cochran Camp Responds To These Vote-Buying Allegations

The day after these blockbuster allegations surfaced, the Cochran campaigns spokesman, Jordan Russell responded, stating that the allegations were baseless and false. Russell continued:

We hire a lot of people black, white, young, old to help get-out-the-vote efforts Whether youre a high school kid in northeast Jackson or a retired nurse in Greenwood, if youre out working doors for us, you get paid in cash, in an envelope. Saleem asked the guy for names and addresses for (FEC) filing purposes. Why would you ask a guy for names and addresses if youre buying votes?(FN 10) Jordan confirmed that the campaign agreed to pay Fielder $600, half up front, for campaign work.

He was paid for reimbursement for gas, driving people around, get-out-the-vote work But he never completed any work for the second $300. He never provided any names and addresses of people he said he was getting He waffled on providing names and addresses.

(FN 10) Russell said the campaigns standard rate for people knocking on doors and doing other GOTV work is 25 a shift -- $25 in the morning, then a lunch break, then $25 for the afternoon. (FN 10)

Russell also implicitly threatened Rev. Fielder and the reporter who printed Rev. Fielders allegations: If I were these two men, who made the claims or wrote the story, I would be talking to a lawyer, Russell said. Because we are most definitely talking to ours. Apparently Mr. Russell is not aware of, nor has he read, the First Amendment and its guarantee of protections to the press. But I digress.

Mr. Russell concluded that the runoff campaign was: one of the most labor intensive efforts in the history of Mississippi politics, and that the Cochran campaign spent more than $500,000 on GOTV work, including technology, phone calling and door-to-door work. (FN 10)

Soon after this response by the Cochran campaign, they had to respond to yet another scandal whereby 27 year old Amanda Shook had access to some $53,000 in cash to support get-out-the-vote operations. The reimbursements filed for Shook has shockingly big numbers, such as payments of $8,000, $10,000, and $15,000. Cochran campaign adviser Austin Barbour said that the filings were a mistake by the campaigns treasurer. Barbour stated that these payments should be listed as cash payments to dozens of people who helped knock on doors and with other GOTV work. Amanda, as director of operations, is like our office manager, Barbour said. So she would run to the bank to get cash to pay field workers. Our treasurer screwed up, and we are fixing it right now Barbour said. Barbour said campaign workers on Tuesday had names and addresses of people spread out on the conference room table and were compiling an amended report. (FN 11)

Responding to questions about the propriety of using so much cash, Barbour stated: Everybody pays in cash. Lets say Im a field rep for Madison County. I dont know on a particular day if 50 people are going to show up or 40 I dont know who is going to show up. I dont know whether some will work only one shift, others two shifts. Trying to have checks for everybody is a waste of time. And if you dont pay people that day, they walk, they may not come back. (FN 11) Some dedicated campaign workers, eh? But remember the numbers Mr. Barbour cites, that is the key.

Does The Cochran Camps Response To Rev. Fielders Allegations Make Sense?

Why would the Cochran camp ask for names and addresses?The only kryptonite that the Cochran camp likes to rely on is found in its main debunking question, to wit: Why would you ask a guy for names and addresses if youre buying votes? A very fair question. But one that is easily answerable. Bill Pascoe, a longtime campaign consultant responded to this question as follows: Youd ask for names and addresses to verify that the votes you bought were votes from people who are actually registered to vote, and to serve as a check on your vote buyers to make sure theyre not just making up and handing in names to get the cash. (FN 8) Pascoe has managed statewide campaigns in New Jersey, Illinois, and Louisiana where vote-buying operations are legendary. (FN 8)Or one could posit that the prowess of a James Scooby Doo Warren in getting black voters to the polls is something that is a given. In other words, one does not need to check in on Scooby Doo to make sure he is earning his money. Everyone in Mississippi knows he can get the job done. Rev. Fielder, perhaps he does not have the bona fides yet, and thats why it is necessary to check that the voters he is proposing to deliver to the polls for the runoff are actually registered Democrat voters and that Rev. Fielder does not simply intend to pocket the money and walk off into the sunset. And finally, are names and addresses ever needed in vote-buying operations these days? Well, from none other than conservative bulwark The New York Times, we can read about a vote buying case in Texas, reported in January 2014. DONNA, Tex. In this Rio Grande Valley town of trailer parks and weedy lots eight miles from the Mexico border, people call them runners or politiqueras the campaign workers who use their network of relatives and friends to deliver votes for their candidates. They travel around town with binders stuffed with the names and addresses of registered voters, driving residents to and from the polls According to court documents, the typical payment to a voter was $10 This story has a familiar ring to it, no? Of all the Cochrans camps responses to the vote-buying allegations, the fact that Mr. Baird mentioned names and addresses is the only one that makes any sense. But as discussed above, while one can attribute the desire for this information to allow the Cochran camp to make proper FEC filings for its door knockers, one also can attribute the desire for this information to the fact that the Cochran campaign would not want pay an unknown entity Rev. Fielder thousands of dollars without verifying he could actually deliver the voters to the polls.

However, as seen below, the Cochran camps other responses vitiates any ground it could have held that all these cash envelope payments were kosher and that it was primarily concerned with making accurate FEC filings.[I]f youre out working doors for us, you get paid in cash, in an envelope.This statement frankly makes no sense. The author of this article has reviewed every page of the Cochran camps FEC filing for the period of the runoff. While there were a lot of strange/very high amounts paid to certain individuals for GOTV efforts, with regard to those apparently working doors there were only 79 such workers. Now that number might be off by a few, as those FEC filings tend to blur together, but not more. A normal door knocker is defined, as used in this article, as someone who receives $100 or less per day for their services. There were only 79 such workers for the whole runoff period that were paid by the Cochran camp!How many of these grunt workers received their payment by cash in an envelope? Better yet, how many of these grunt workers received their payment via cash envelope by some conduit such as a black preacher like Rev. Fielder? The names and addresses of each of these grunt workers is listed in the Cochran FEC filings. A few phone calls, perhaps some subpoenas, could answer these questions in no time.

But is cash, used like this, common in federal elections? Not at all, says Rickey Cole, the top Democrat official in Mississippi. Mr. Cole stated: In a federal election, its frowned upon. All the training weve had for many years now strongly discourages distributions of cash or acceptance of donations of cash. It is still fairly common in state elections, but state filing requirements are not as onerous as the FEC They want all documents, a paper trail. If I were running a federal campaign, I dont think I would want to be dealing in cash. (FN 11)

The Cochran campaign agreed to pay Fielder $600, half up front, for campaign work. He was paid for reimbursement for gas, driving people around, get-out-the-vote work the campaigns standard rate for people knocking on doors and doing other GOTV work is 25 a shift -- $25 in the morning, then a lunch break, then $25 for the afternoon.

For GOTV work, the Cochran camp apparently pays $50 per day. So, if we are to believe the Cochran camp, they were proposing to pay Rev. Fielder, a man with a bad reputation that was little-known and not even a real minister, $600 to do what? Drive people around and hand out envelopes of cash containing $25 or $50 apiece to GOTV workers? Yes, this makes no sense. For the entire state of Mississippi, for the entire runoff period, the Cochran camp literally had 79 grunt GOTV door knockers (many from the same family). None of these grunt GOTV workers had a Meridian address. The amount of money that Cochrans campaign had agreed to pay Fielder, $600, would have meant that he at least would have had to bring 10 full day (only for one full day, mind you) GOTV grunt workers in to work (excepting $100 for gas money) to equal the amount of money Cochran agreed to pay him.

Would it not be some strange anomaly that this little known black preacher with a bad reputation would be able to provide Cochran with more than 10% of his GOTV army for the runoff? Especially since Rev. Fielder is from Meridian, which is a town where the Cochran camp had absolutely no GOTV presence in terms of grunt workers? This makes absolutely no sense. Does anyone reading this legitimately believe that the Cochran campaign would pay Rev. Fielder $600 to distribute envelopes of cash to GOTV grunt workers? Does anyone legitimately believe that the Cochran camp, if all was kosher, would trust that much cash in envelopes to a man with such a bad reputation, like Rev. Fielder? Again, phone calls and/or subpoenas to all of the 79 grunt GOTV workers should answer this question as to whether 1) they were paid with cash in envelopes; and 2) whether they were paid in cash in envelopes by third party black reverends such as Rev. Fielder. The Cochran camps response to its involvement with Rev. Fielder raises many more red flags and questions than it answers. The runoff campaign was: one of the most labor intensive efforts in the history of Mississippi politics, and that the Cochran campaign spent more than $500,000 on GOTV work, including technology, phone calling and door-to-door work.Yes, one does wonder where all that money went. Again, the author of this article has reviewed every page of the Cochran camps FEC filings for the runoff and has discovered that there were only 79 grunt GOTV volunteers. But, for ease of math, let us assume this number is 80. Further, let us make the following assumptions: 80 grunt GOTV workers worked for 5 days each and made $100 per day (this is extremely overstating it, but to be conservative, let us take these numbers as true). In total, for grunt GOTV door-to-door workers, this equals $40,000. (again, very few of the grunt GOTV workers worked 5 days a week and/or were paid $100 per day, thus the real number is likely almost half of $40,000). Where did the rest of the money go? Is having 79 GOTV grunt workers, many of whom only worked one or two days, really that labor intensive? It must have been a lot of technology and/or phone-calling workResponding to questions regarding the propriety of 27 year old Amanda Shook having tens of thousands of dollars in cash, Mr. Austin Barbour stated: Everybody pays in cash. Lets say Im a field rep for Madison County. I dont know on a particular day if 50 people are going to show up or 40 I dont know who is going to show up. I dont know whether some will work only one shift, others two shifts.Yes, Mr. Barbour, if you were a field rep. for Madison County, MS and 50 or 40 people showed up to do paid door-knocking work for Cochran, this would literally be a miracle. Again, for the ENTIRE runoff period, for the ENTIRE state of Mississippi, the Cochran camp literally had 79 grunt GOTV door-knockers work for it. In other words, if all of a sudden one day, in one county in MS, more than HALF of your total grunt GOTV workers showed up seeking to be paid to hit the pavement, that could cause a problem. But the fact that Mr. Barbour would rely on such an impossibility to justify the very questionable circumstances of Ms. Shook having access to an incredible amount of cash should raise red flags with every thinking person reading this article.

Again, for the entire runoff period, the Cochran camp had 79 paid grunt GOTV workers knocking on doors. One does not need to hire Rev. Fielder to pay them. They do not cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to be paid. And Im guessing, that if they are called to testify under oath, that not a one of them will say they were paid in cash in an envelope. And Im further guessing, that even if this bizarre method of payment did occur, that these GOTV workers got their payment directly from Cochran HQ and not some third party conduit, such as Rev. Fielder. Hopefully, we will know the facts soon enough.

Aside From Rev. Fielder And Rickey Cole, Were There Any Other Reports Of Vote Buying In The Mississippi Senate Runoff Election? Putting aside the allegations from Mr. Cole and Rev. Fielder for the moment, did any other allegations regarding vote-buying surface? The answer to this question is yes, as detailed below.

Black conservative Mississippi radio hose Kim Wade of WYAB posted on Facebook, before the runoff, the following:Ok, here the going rate being paid by the cross over votes Tues [runoff]. hranThe bag man is dispensing $5,000 a pop. Their contact guy will pay the pastor $2000 cash if instruction to go out and vote for Thad comes from the pulpit. $1000 cash to the pastor if the pastor allows a 3rd party to make the appeal. Individuals are to be offered $25.00 to vote. Most of that money is usually kept by the pastor and his money contact and they just make the appeal to their members. So if you get the appeal this Sunday. You can take it to the bank your pastor is on the take. If your pastor will take money under the table. Hell take it off the top of the table.

Black conservative activist Jeremiah Boddie, again reported before the runoff, a supporter of Cochrans primary challenger state Sen. Chris McDaniel, said he has absolutely heard of these street money efforts from Cochrans team. They always pay their volunteers, and its known that they pay people to do certain things for their campaign and they incentivize them to pay people to get out and vote for them. Boddie said in an interview. Boddie added that he thinks the tactic is the most desperate, pathetic thing Ive ever seen in my human life. (FN 3)Finally, Chris McDaniels challenge to the runoff results included a recording of a Ms. Julie Patrick, who was a Republican poll worker in a predominantly Democrat precinct of Marshall County, MS. Ms. Patrick described her observations of voters leaving the precinct she was observing discussing how they would use the vouchers they were given to get paid for voting.

What Have The Facts Revealed Since The Runoff?

The facts have revealed that Rickey Cole was exactly right. Pete Perry, the Republican chairman of Hinds County where Thad Cochran made up almost his entire margin of victory during the runoff election was paid $111,000 by Mississippi Conservatives, the SuperPAC run by Haley Barbour, during the period of the runoff election. During the runoff period, Mississippi Conservatives paid Pete Perrys company, Paradigm Government Relations, $111,000. In an interview with Breitbart news, Perry said he hoped that money routed through a company he controls wasnt being used for walking around money. However, other than saying he didnt pay James Scooby Doo Warren directly, Perry wouldnt say where the money had gone. None of your business, Perry told Breitbart news when asked for detail on his payment process, adding that explaining how it was used would help McDaniels campaign.

Well, Mr. Perry, the campaign for the runoff is long since over. So, what did you do with the $111k that was paid to you by Haley Barbour and his Mississippi Conservatives SuperPAC? Can you not provide the people with an accounting of what you did with all that money in only 20 days? The silence on this front is deafening. And these recent FEC disclosures do nothing but buttress Rickey Coles original Facebook message. Additionally, on the first Saturday after the runoff election, Mr. Perry was arrested for DUI.With regard to Pete Perry, Mr. Rickey Cole was exactly right. How can this man be in charge of making sure the election in Hinds County was fair and proper? He accepted more than $100k from Cochrans allies just for the runoff period!! Where did this money go? FEC rules demand a detailed accounting for these funds.What about James Scooby Doo Warren? He was another of the confederates listed in Rickey Coles Facebook message. Well, the shadowy SuperPAC All Citizens for Mississippi reported that Scooby Doo was personally paid $16,000 by that group. Where does All Citizens get their money? Every cent was paid for by Mississippi Conservatives, the SuperPAC run by the Barbours. In other words, the Cochran camp. As an aside, All Citizens paid Roosevelt Daniels four payments of $5,000 each during the runoff period. Mr. Daniels has direct connections with Travis Childers, the GOP opponent in any Senate election for 2014. Going back to Mr. Rickey Coles Facebook message, who is Greg Brand, and what is his involvement in all of this? Well apparently Mr. Brand was the mysterious media buyer behind many of the racist, race-baiting ads against Chris McDaniel. Although Mr. Brand has denied this allegation, documents exist that place Mr. Brands name with many of the racist Citizens for Progress ads that were placed with various MS radio stations. A Summary Of The Evidence That Has Been Revealed So Far. 6-17-14, Rumors of Impropriety Swirl About Cochran Allies Entreaties to Democratic Voters, Breitbart.

HYPERLINK "http://www.newsmax.com/Politics/Thad-Cochran-Haley-Barbour-Chris-McDaniel-PAC/2014/06/17/id/577667/" http://www.newsmax.com/Politics/Thad-Cochran-Haley-Barbour-Chris-McDaniel-PAC/2014/06/17/id/577667/

6-17-14, Rumors of Impropriety Swirl About Cochran Allies Entreaties to Democratic Voters, Breitbart

7-11-14, MS Dem Party Chairman on Haley Barbour: My Mission in Life Is To Catch That Big Fat Boar, Cut Him and Fry Him Out For Lard, Breitbart

7-10-14 (original story published 6-30-14), Cochran Campaign Manger, Staffer Busted In Illegal Vote Buying Operation, Gotnews.com

6-30-14, BREAKING: New Allegations Point to Cochran Campaign In Mississippi Vote Buying Scandal, Red State.

6-30-14, Democrat Pastor Accuses Thad Cochran Campaign of Vote-For-Pay Scheme, Breitbart.

7-10-14, More Evidence of Illegal Cash for Vote Operation by Cochran Campaign Piles Up, Gotnews.com.

7-9-14, Thad Cochran Replaces Campaign Manager Amid Ugly Post-Primary Battle, Breitbart.

7-1-14, Cochran campaign denies vote-buying reports, The Clarion Ledger

7-9-14, Cochran camp says it screwed up cash accounting, The Clarion Ledger

1-12-14, Texas Vote-Buying Case Casts Glare on Tradition of Election Day Goads, The New York Times.

6-20-14, Threats, Bribes, and The KKK: The Most Insane Story Of The MS Senate Race, Breitbart.

8-4-2014, In re: 2014 Republican Primary Election for United States Senate; Complaint of Election Contest at p. 3.

7-17-14, BUSTED AGAIN: Pete Perry Took $171 from Barbour PAC; Said One Bad Apple Spoils All Absentees, Gotnews.com.

6-19-14, MS GOP Chair: Only Those Who Plan to Support GOP Nominee in November Should Vote in Runoff, Breitbart.

7-29-14, Greg Brand: The Controversial Operative Behind Racist Ads in Mississippi, Gotnews.com.