We thought the following news item would interest Nevada News & Views readers. Ms. O'Donnell will be the guest speaker at First Friday on September 2. – Ed.
(Delaware News) – Lawyers for the Delaware Republican Party and the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), Michael Toner and Brandis Zehr, now face a complaint before the DC Bar for false statements and a frivolous September 9, 2010, complaint against Christine O'Donnell and the Tea Party Express.
The Federal Election Commission is also being asked to update its “First General Counsel Report” with a “SECOND General Counsel Report” correcting the obvious error launched into circulation by Michael Toner and Brandis Zehr.
The rules governing attorneys in D.C., the District of Columbia Rules of Professional Conduct, require attorneys to take affirmative action to CORRECT false statements previously made to a “tribunal” such as the FEC.
Thus, DEGOP attorneys Toner and Zehr are violating the rules of the D.C. Bar by failing to correct the falsehood as much as by initially filing the false allegation in September. (The FEC constitutes a “tribunal” when it is formally deciding complaints about alleged violations of FEC regulations.)
On September 9, 2010, a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) was filed against Christine O'Donnell and the Tea Party Express by the Delaware Republican Party (DEGOP) — then under different management led by Tom Ross.
The complaint against Christine O'Donnell and the Tea Party Express falsely claimed that Evan Quietsch was the Press Secretary for the O'Donnell campaign, and that — because of that — Evan Quietsch's frequent contacts with Tea Party Express was coordination between Friends of Christine O'Donnell and the Tea Party Express.
Tom Ross at the DEGOP obviously falsely communicated to Michael Toner and Brandis Zehr that Evan Quietsch was the “Press Secretary” for Friends of Christine O'Donnell — when he never was. The error probably began with the DEGOP, not with their lawyers. Yet the lawyers are responsible for the contents of the complaint even if misinformed by their client.
This key allegation was and is false. Evan Quietsch was not part of Friends of Christine O'Donnell under any title or in any position until the O'Donnell campaign expanded in late September. On and before September 9, 2010, Evan Quietsch was an independent political activist who expressed his own preferences in the Mike Castle vs. Christine O'Donnell primary.
But on and before September 9, 2010, Evan Quietsch was not speaking “for” the O'Donnell campaign when talking to the Tea Party Express.
Therefore, there was no coordination by or through Evan Quietsch, because he was independent of the campaign.
However, attorneys are obligated to double-check and confirm key factual allegations in official legal filings. They may not simply pass along rumor and gossip as legally-significant fact in official complaints.
Thus, even though Tom Ross (or Ross' team at the DEGOP) wrongly told the NRSC's attorneys that the “Press Secretary” for O'Donnell Evan Quietsch was talking daily to the Tea Party Express — when Quietsch was not part of O'Donnell's formal campaign at all — Sen. Cornyn's attorneys Toner and Zehr were required to CONFIRM if that key factual allegation was true or face.
Some are confused by the fact that independent political activists line up for one candidate or another. However, the key claim was that the official campaign for Christine O'Donnell, Friends of Christine O'Donnell, was directly and officially and formally “COORDINATING” with the Tea Party Express (Our Country Deserves Better PAC).
Therefore, Toner and Zehr's complaint to the FEC depended upon the proposition that Evan Quietsch was formally part of the O'Donnell campaign, not simply a supporter.
Click here to read the demand upon the Federal Election Commission for a corrected SECOND General Counsel Report correcting the error: http://www.defenseforvirginia.com/FECCorrectionDemandEvanQuietsch.pdf
Click here for the Complaint to the DC Bar against Michael Toner and Brandis Zehr, attorneys for the Delaware Republican Party and for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which fought for Mike Castle over Christine O'Donnell: http://www.defenseforvirginia.com/TonerZehrDCBarComplaint.pdf
Attorney Jonathon Moseley is obligated under the rules governing attorneys (which are the same under Rule 3.3 in both D.C. and Virginia) to report the misconduct by Michael Toner and Brandis Zehr.
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