Sean Smith & the phony hacking story

My mother always said that (0.00 / 0)

lying 

gets you nowhere in life.

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by: Sue @ Thu Dec 21, 2006 at 02:21:39 AM UTC

Sean's words to Matthews (4.00 / 1)

Okay, just for the record, I'm typing up a transcript here of exactly what Sean Smith said:

MATTHEWS:  Well, we're gonna talk right now, Chris, to Sean Smith who's campaign manager to the Joe Lieberman campaign so let's get it right now from the horse's mouth. Sean, what do you believe the Lamont people did to you to disrupt your campaign today?

SMITH:  Well, somebody has embarked on a coordinated attack on our website and our email system. They're denying voters in Connecticut a chance to communicate with our campaign.  They're denying us a chance to communicate to voters of Connecticut. This is going to have a supressive impact on voter turnout and the Lamont campaign and Ned Lamont specifically should categorically denounce these kind of dirty tricks and he should order his supporters or whoever is behind this to cease and desist immediately.

MATTHEWS: Technically, how do you know your system was hacked into?

SMITH:  Well, we know that it has been under a barrage of hits over the last 24 hours. They've put up this message on the web site that says that we've somehow not paid our bills  and they've denied any and all ability for us to communicate internally and to the public.

MATTHEWS:  But can you say categorically that this was sabotage?  Categorically?

SMITH:  We can say categorically that we've paid all of our bills and there's no internal glitches in our campaign, uh, and look, this is---

MATTHEWS:  But can you categorically accuse---uh, no, really this is the point of this -- do you believe this was an offensive action by your opponents?  Can you say categorically that you are the victim of sabotage?

SMITH:  We can say that, I don't know if it was our opponent's campaign but the supporters of our opponent and the people who have been attacking Joe Lieberman for two years on the internet are the type of---uh, you know---

MATTHEWS:  Sean?  Sean, I can't hear you.

SMITH: Can you hear me?

MATTHEWS: Are you back in, Sean?

SMITH:  I can hear you, Chris...

MATTHEWS:  Okay, Sean, let me ask you again.  You have a system that's shut down.  You're saying there's someone who's put up on your web site that you haven't paid your bills and you're saying it was sabotage by someone who was supportive of your opponent Ned Lamont.  Is that correct?

SMITH: We have asked law enforcement to get to the bottom of this.  We've asked the U.S. Attorney and we've asked the Connecticut Attorney General to get to the bottom of this.  We don't know who's behind it but but we do know that our opponent could get out there in front of the voters of Connecticut right now and ask whoever it is whether it's his supporters or not to denounce this kind of politics and to cease and desist and let every voter in Connecticut have the right to vote.

MATTHEWS: Do you believe, knowing the technology as you know it, that Ned Lamont could go and make a phone call right now or go on television and say right now to this person you believe is doing this sabotage to you and correct the problem right away.  Do you believe that he has it within his power to correct this problem and refuses to do so?

SMITH: I believe that he refuses to stand up to the people who have been supporters of his and opponents of us when they have attacked Joe Lieberman personally, they have attacked Joe Lieberman's family, they've attacked Joe Lieberman's positions---

MATTHEWS:  Yeah, but that's not the point we're talking about, Sean.  We're talking about a technical assault on your campaign - sabotage. You're accusing your opponents of sabotage, are you not?  Let's get to the bottom of this.

SMITH:  We have asked law enforcement to investigate this and to see who exactly is behind it but Ned Lamont---

MATTHEWS: Okay, so you don't know.  So you don't know.  So you don't know who's behind it.

SMITH:  We don't know who's behind it but we do know that Ned Lamont could stand up in front of Connecticut voters today and ask whoever is behind this to cease and desist.

MATTHEWS:  But if you don't know who's behind it, how do you know Joe, uh, how do you know Ned Lamont could influence them to stop doing what they're doing?

SMITH:  Well, Ned Lamont has been the darling of people who are on the Internet this entire campaign.  They have backed him, they have raised money for him, they have promoted his candidacy---

MATTHEWS:  Yeah.

SMITH:  ---he has benefitted from day one, and you know, he is unwilling to stand up to them if in fact they are the ones behind this.  He has in the past refused to get involved when his opponents have gone beyond the pale and attacked Joe Lieberman ---

MATTHEWS:  Right.

SMITH: ---and Joe Lieberman's family.  So it's a pattern of Ned Lamont refusing to stand up and do the right thing.

MATTHEWS: Okay, so it's a pattern.  You're going by the fact it's a pattern.  You're saying it's an MO, they're willing to do what is necessary. Has Senator Lieberman been brought up to date by you on this on this?  Have you talked to him about what you believe is sabotage?

SMITH:  Yes, I have, and he's troubled by it.  He believes that if it causes one voter to be able to make it to the polls or not get a ride to the polls that it's a disgrace and he's deeply troubled by it.

MATTHEWS:  Does he believe as the former Attorney General of this state that it's a criminal act to hack into someone's system and supress voting by killing your pulling operation, that's what you're concerned about, obviously, your pulling opersation - getting people out to vote and getting them transportation.  Do you believe that allies of your opponent or the opponent himself, Mr. Ned Lamont and his people have hacked into your system for the purpose of supressing your efforts to get out the vote.  Do you believe that?

SMITH: I believe that somebody has done that and that's why we've asked for an investigation and Senator Lieberman is with us in asking for this investigation.

MATTHEWS:  Okay, he's asking for an investigation.  Does he want a criminal investigation?  As the former Attorney General of the state he ought to know what's against the law.  Is it against the law to do what you are accusing your opponents of doing?

SMITH:  The campaign has filed a complaint and asked for the investigation.

MATTHEWS:  But there must be some crime that you're asking to be investigated. What is the crime?

SMITH:  Well, it is a crime to hack into somebody's Web site and to access the information.  It's a federal crime and that's why we're asking the U.S. Attorney to look into it.

MATTHEWS:  You said that the evidence you have of criminal behavior on the part of the Lamont people, the people supporting Lamont, is that they've hitten you with a lot of hits.  Tell me what technical information you have about the breakdown of your system that leads you to believe this is sabotage.  What's your technical indicator that it's sabotage?

SMITH:  Well, they've overloaded, there's been a coordinated campaign to attack the web site, to drive up traffic in ways that are not normal in this kind of daily activity, even on election day. 

MATTHEWS: Right.

SMITH: They've completely shut it down, they've posted messages on our web site and they've completely disabled our ability to communicate with our voters and with our supporters.

MATTHEWS:  How big a pulling operation do you have, how many voters are you trying to contact between now, for example, and the end of voting at eight o'clock tonight.  How many people will not get the word, will not get transportation, because of this breakdown in your machinery?

SMITH:  Well, we have tens of thousands of supporters that we communicate with online every day, and not only that, I mean, there's voters who go to our Web site to get our phone number to call us and ask us for a ride to the poll or ask us for information and those voters right now are being denied that and that's outrageous.

MATTHEWS:  Let me ask you about the technical possibilities, the people you talk to. Is there any other suspect here besides sabotage?  Is it possible that something has gone wrong in your relationship to your supplier to your web site. Who's paid the bills?  Have you talked to the person who pays the bills and made sure that they're up to date for the Web site?

SMITH:  Of course we have.  We've exhausted all those internal possibilities and we've checked them all, checked all the boxes and we're confident this is not a problem internally from our campaign.

MATTHEWS:  What do you make of the comment by the DailyKos about this, saying that this is ridiculous, that it shows you're prejudiced towards bloggers?

SMITH:  Heh heh heh heh heh heh.  Well, I think it's laughable like most of the things that come from him in this campaign.

MATTHEWS:  What do you think the role of the bloggers we'll be seen as at the end of the campaign tonight? Are you gonna say that they end up being the villians here?

SMITH: Well, I think that what's going to be said when this night is all over is that they took their best shot at Joe Lieberman and they came up short.

MATTHEWS:  And so you'll still be able to win tonight despite this what you call sabotage of your technical ability to reach voters tonight?

SMITH:  Yeah, that's right because voters in Connecticut are going to reject this kind of politics and if Ned Lamont and his supporters and the opponents of our campaign won't stop this, the voters of Connecticut will by their actions and by turning out to the polls tonight.

MATTHEWS: Do you believe, let's end up this conversation now -- You believe, basically, Sean Smith, campaign manager for Joe Lieberman, that you have been the victims of sabotage, yes or no?

SMITH:  I believe that the voters of Connecticut have been
victims of sabotage and that their ability to communicate to our campaign and get information about voting today has has happened and it's a disgrace and I would hope that Ned Lamont would stand up and say so himself.

MATTHEWS:  So when they go to your Web site right now your supporters and find that it's not operative, when they hope to get an email from you or send an email from you and they can't send it, that's the fault of Ned Lamont because he won't stop this sabotage.  Is that your point?

MATTHEWS: It's the fault of somebody, that's why we've asked for an investigation--

MATTHEWS: but you won't get the results of any investigation TODAY, so what's good is---I'm asking about today, between now and when people vote today, should they be thinking that Ned Lamont has been guilty, at least, of not calling off the dogs?  What do you want them to think about Ned Lamont between now and election time tonight?

SMITH:  Heh heh heh.  Well, I think they should be very troubled---

MATTHEWS:  On this point, on this point--

SMITH:  I think they should be troubled by Ned Lamont's refusal to stand up and ask for accountability and ask for everyone in Connecticut to have the right to vote.  He should show some leadership---

MATTHEWS:  Okay, so you hold him responsible for not--so basically to put words in your mouth, he won't call off the dogs.

SMITH:  We won't call off the dogs and if he wants to be a United States Senator he should show some leadership, he should show some backbone, we haven't seen much of that from him in this campaign at all.  Today presents an opportunity for him.  I don't think he's going to take it.

MATTHEWS:  If you guys lose a close one tonight, it's a squeaker, are you gonna blame it on this?

SMITH:  We're not going to lose tonight, Chris.  We're going to win and we're going to have a great victory party.

MATTHEWS:  Okay, thank you very much.  Great to have you on by phone... We'd love to have you on live right here in downtown New Haven.  Sean Smith, Campaign Manager, back to you Chris Jensen.

Whew!  That was LONG.  A HUGE amount of air time for Sean Smith to say that Ned Lamont was responsible without actually saying that Ned Lamont was responsible, to blame the alleged sabotage on us without directly answering Matthews' questions.  Preserving his own plausible deniability.  Typing the whole thing as I was listening made me so much more conscious of how deliberate, how careful, how manipulative Sean Smith was in clearly accusing Lamont supporters and blaming Ned Lamont personally without actually saying the direct words when asked directly by Matthews. 

I wonder if Sean Smith sleeps at night.

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by: Maura @ Thu Dec 21, 2006 at 07:41:24 AM UTC

Only the MAIN STREAM MEDIA (0.00 / 0)

Only (NOBALLS) Matthews and the MAIN STREAM CORP: MEDIA believed in the HACKING story in the first place. THEY would have lied about anything to keep there boy LIEberman in the SENATE.

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by: blackjack @ Thu Dec 21, 2006 at 09:55:06 AM UTC

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