Saturday, July 01, 2006
Bill Scheurer's Press Release About His Federal Court Case
Constantine also asked about how many signatures the Scheurer campaign already had and would continue to gather through campaign volunteers. He continued to ask this throughout the remaining petition drive period. As per Exhibit A below, Constantine agreed to collect 10,000 signatures by the end of the petition period on Sunday, June 25. The filing deadline was Monday, June 26.
Constantine gave Scheurer his A.R. Consulting Group business card, with his personal and firm phone numbers. Constantine continued to communicate with Scheurer for the rest of the petition period through the contact information he provided, including telephone and email.
Scheurer and his campaign volunteers continued their efforts, collecting approximately 8,000 signatures by June 18. With Constantine's 10,000 signatures and a final volunteer push on the weekend of June 24-25, Scheurer would succeed in getting on the 2006 ballot -- with a wide margin over the statutory 14,000 signatures, to overcome any potential challenges of specific signatures due to wrong addresses or other such details.
Per the contract, Constantine gave Scheurer weekly updates on details such as where A.R. Consulting Group’s signature gatherers were working (to ensure they did not overlap with volunteer teams), how many names his paid signature gathering staff were getting, and other details. He reported he was getting over 2,000 signatures a week -- on track to deliver the agreed 10,000 names.
As the 3rd week began, Scheurer began asking Constantine to get together to deliver the first 5,000 signatures he said that he had and pick up his first check. Constantine told Scheurer he had been called to Washington, DC for the week and would have to do this the following week.
Thereafter, Constantine started failing to promptly return calls to his business and cell phone numbers, and communicated with Scheurer primarily by email. After some email exchanges, Constantine agreed to the evening of Monday, June 19, as the time when the initial batch of signatures would be exchanged for the first check.
After he failed to call that Monday to confirm the specific time and place, Constantine abruptly emailed Scheurer around midnight, apologizing and saying he was detained by a family medical emergency. Additional messages by Scheurer to Constantine’s voicemail were returned by a final email on Tuesday night, pasted below (Exhibit B), in which Constantine claimed that he was in a Milwaukee hospital on a “matter of life and death.” That night, the Scheurer campaign called every hospital in the Milwaukee area and was told there were no patients with the last name of Constantine in any of them.
When Scheurer called the A.R. Consulting Group phone number the next morning, Wednesday June 21, a man named "Jimmy” (Anthony Constantine's brother) answered the phone and stated that Anthony Constantine was at work and provided Constantine's work phone number. That number was for the Chicago office of Democratic Congressman Dan Lipinski.
When Scheurer asked for Anthony Constantine, Scheurer was informed that Constantine had “just stepped out of the office for a moment.” A second call to that number an hour later resulted in a Lipinski staffer informing the caller that Anthony Constantine was in the congressman's LaGrange office. A caller to that office was informed that Constantine had “stepped out for a moment.”
As all signs pointed to the fact that the signature-collecting contract agreed by Constantine was a fraud, that the purported signatures gathered would not be forthcoming, and that this fraud had been used in an attempt to prevent Scheurer from qualifying for the ballot -- Scheurer made a final effort to speak with Constantine, offering him a chance to clear his name before the issue was revealed to the public, the state board of elections, and prosecuting authorities.
Finally, late in the day on Thursday June 22, Constantine picked up one of many repeated calls to his cell phone number. When confronted with the fraud, Constantine claimed he had never met anyone named Bill Scheurer, and had made no agreement to collect signatures. He confirmed that the phone numbers on the A.R. Consulting Group business card were his, and that he was the principal of that firm.
Constantine became belligerent when the issue was raised that emails sent on election business during work hours by someone employed by the federal government could be a violation of the Hatch Act, in addition to the issues of fraud related to the contract itself. He repeatedly insisted that he could not be guilty of any fraud because he had not signed any written contract with Scheurer or received any money from him -- two points that Constantine brought up on his own, revealing a personal knowledge of the details of the criminal fraud operation without being told of them.
Scheurer suggested that Constantine stop by the campaign office to “show his face” to establish that he was not the person who met with Scheurer, since they had met in person. He also asked Constantine to bring his brother Jimmy to this meeting. Scheurer noted that if Constantine himself was also a victim of a crime -- i.e., the theft of Constantine's identity by someone falsely representing himself to be him, in the course of the commitment of wire fraud, election fraud, and contract fraud -- a quick visit could clear up this aspect of the matter. Constantine has not made such a visit. Moreover, Scheurer has additional concrete evidence pointing to use of A.R. Consulting Group’s resources in the perpetration of this criminal fraud.
On the weekend of June 24-25, dozens of Scheurer campaign volunteers went out into the district and gathered approximately 5,000 more voter signatures for his candidacy to appear on the ballot. Scheurer filed his petition at the State Board of Elections in Springfield, Illinois on Monday, June 26, as required by law. A leading Democratic operative immediately ordered a copy of the petition. The Democrats have confirmed that they will file an objection, seeking to keep Scheurer off the ballot. The Republicans have publicly stated that they will not file any objection, and have called for Scheurer to be included in the race.
If Scheurer ultimately is denied a spot on the ballot in November 2006, for the IL-8th Congressional District, it will be a direct result of this election fraud. He intends to vigorously assert and defend the right of voters to have him on the ballot as they have shown their desire -- evidenced by thousands of signatures by registered voters in the district.
EXHIBIT A
Mr. Scheurer,
Thank you for your time on the telephone last week. I am sorry I had to postpone our meeting on Friday.
As I mentioned on the phone, I try for both quality and quantity in organizing petition drives. I sincerely hope the guys your are working with picked up the pace for you over the weekend, but if you are still looking for some help in meeting your petition goals, I would be eager to meet with you.
Per our conversation, I am confident I would be able to bring at least 10 seasoned circulators to the 8th District between now and June 25. These are individuals I have worked with in the campaigns of Secretary of State White and Circuit Court Clerk Brown, as well as other political efforts.
I am confident that each of my associates will be able to produce on average between 200 and 250 signatures per week (including the coming Memorial Day holiday) with an efficacy rate of 75-80 percent. In short, we should be able to collect approximately 10,000 signatures for your campaign through June 25 and about 8,000 if you plan on filing June 19.
I look forward to discussing this proposal in more detail with you at your convenience.
Thank you again, and I wish you the best of luck in your effort to provide a real choice to the voters of the 8th District.
Sincerely,
Anthony Constantine
AR Consulting
(708) 484-0185
EXHIBIT B
Bill,
I am in a hospital up in Milwaukee - I will call you when I get back to town tomorrow evening. Sorry about the delay, but it is truly a matter of life and death.
ARC
Constantine gave Scheurer his A.R. Consulting Group business card, with his personal and firm phone numbers. Constantine continued to communicate with Scheurer for the rest of the petition period through the contact information he provided, including telephone and email.
Scheurer and his campaign volunteers continued their efforts, collecting approximately 8,000 signatures by June 18. With Constantine's 10,000 signatures and a final volunteer push on the weekend of June 24-25, Scheurer would succeed in getting on the 2006 ballot -- with a wide margin over the statutory 14,000 signatures, to overcome any potential challenges of specific signatures due to wrong addresses or other such details.
Per the contract, Constantine gave Scheurer weekly updates on details such as where A.R. Consulting Group’s signature gatherers were working (to ensure they did not overlap with volunteer teams), how many names his paid signature gathering staff were getting, and other details. He reported he was getting over 2,000 signatures a week -- on track to deliver the agreed 10,000 names.
As the 3rd week began, Scheurer began asking Constantine to get together to deliver the first 5,000 signatures he said that he had and pick up his first check. Constantine told Scheurer he had been called to Washington, DC for the week and would have to do this the following week.
Thereafter, Constantine started failing to promptly return calls to his business and cell phone numbers, and communicated with Scheurer primarily by email. After some email exchanges, Constantine agreed to the evening of Monday, June 19, as the time when the initial batch of signatures would be exchanged for the first check.
After he failed to call that Monday to confirm the specific time and place, Constantine abruptly emailed Scheurer around midnight, apologizing and saying he was detained by a family medical emergency. Additional messages by Scheurer to Constantine’s voicemail were returned by a final email on Tuesday night, pasted below (Exhibit B), in which Constantine claimed that he was in a Milwaukee hospital on a “matter of life and death.” That night, the Scheurer campaign called every hospital in the Milwaukee area and was told there were no patients with the last name of Constantine in any of them.
When Scheurer called the A.R. Consulting Group phone number the next morning, Wednesday June 21, a man named "Jimmy” (Anthony Constantine's brother) answered the phone and stated that Anthony Constantine was at work and provided Constantine's work phone number. That number was for the Chicago office of Democratic Congressman Dan Lipinski.
When Scheurer asked for Anthony Constantine, Scheurer was informed that Constantine had “just stepped out of the office for a moment.” A second call to that number an hour later resulted in a Lipinski staffer informing the caller that Anthony Constantine was in the congressman's LaGrange office. A caller to that office was informed that Constantine had “stepped out for a moment.”
As all signs pointed to the fact that the signature-collecting contract agreed by Constantine was a fraud, that the purported signatures gathered would not be forthcoming, and that this fraud had been used in an attempt to prevent Scheurer from qualifying for the ballot -- Scheurer made a final effort to speak with Constantine, offering him a chance to clear his name before the issue was revealed to the public, the state board of elections, and prosecuting authorities.
Finally, late in the day on Thursday June 22, Constantine picked up one of many repeated calls to his cell phone number. When confronted with the fraud, Constantine claimed he had never met anyone named Bill Scheurer, and had made no agreement to collect signatures. He confirmed that the phone numbers on the A.R. Consulting Group business card were his, and that he was the principal of that firm.
Constantine became belligerent when the issue was raised that emails sent on election business during work hours by someone employed by the federal government could be a violation of the Hatch Act, in addition to the issues of fraud related to the contract itself. He repeatedly insisted that he could not be guilty of any fraud because he had not signed any written contract with Scheurer or received any money from him -- two points that Constantine brought up on his own, revealing a personal knowledge of the details of the criminal fraud operation without being told of them.
Scheurer suggested that Constantine stop by the campaign office to “show his face” to establish that he was not the person who met with Scheurer, since they had met in person. He also asked Constantine to bring his brother Jimmy to this meeting. Scheurer noted that if Constantine himself was also a victim of a crime -- i.e., the theft of Constantine's identity by someone falsely representing himself to be him, in the course of the commitment of wire fraud, election fraud, and contract fraud -- a quick visit could clear up this aspect of the matter. Constantine has not made such a visit. Moreover, Scheurer has additional concrete evidence pointing to use of A.R. Consulting Group’s resources in the perpetration of this criminal fraud.
On the weekend of June 24-25, dozens of Scheurer campaign volunteers went out into the district and gathered approximately 5,000 more voter signatures for his candidacy to appear on the ballot. Scheurer filed his petition at the State Board of Elections in Springfield, Illinois on Monday, June 26, as required by law. A leading Democratic operative immediately ordered a copy of the petition. The Democrats have confirmed that they will file an objection, seeking to keep Scheurer off the ballot. The Republicans have publicly stated that they will not file any objection, and have called for Scheurer to be included in the race.
If Scheurer ultimately is denied a spot on the ballot in November 2006, for the IL-8th Congressional District, it will be a direct result of this election fraud. He intends to vigorously assert and defend the right of voters to have him on the ballot as they have shown their desire -- evidenced by thousands of signatures by registered voters in the district.
EXHIBIT A
Mr. Scheurer,
Thank you for your time on the telephone last week. I am sorry I had to postpone our meeting on Friday.
As I mentioned on the phone, I try for both quality and quantity in organizing petition drives. I sincerely hope the guys your are working with picked up the pace for you over the weekend, but if you are still looking for some help in meeting your petition goals, I would be eager to meet with you.
Per our conversation, I am confident I would be able to bring at least 10 seasoned circulators to the 8th District between now and June 25. These are individuals I have worked with in the campaigns of Secretary of State White and Circuit Court Clerk Brown, as well as other political efforts.
I am confident that each of my associates will be able to produce on average between 200 and 250 signatures per week (including the coming Memorial Day holiday) with an efficacy rate of 75-80 percent. In short, we should be able to collect approximately 10,000 signatures for your campaign through June 25 and about 8,000 if you plan on filing June 19.
I look forward to discussing this proposal in more detail with you at your convenience.
Thank you again, and I wish you the best of luck in your effort to provide a real choice to the voters of the 8th District.
Sincerely,
Anthony Constantine
AR Consulting
(708) 484-0185
EXHIBIT B
Bill,
I am in a hospital up in Milwaukee - I will call you when I get back to town tomorrow evening. Sorry about the delay, but it is truly a matter of life and death.
ARC
# posted by Cal Skinner : 2:53 PM
