Election Lawyer Needed

For that story I tipped earlier.

Here's what we need:

1) Someone with experience analyzing disclosure forms.

2) Someone with experience at analyzing what those disclosure forms might be hiding -- i.e., what is expected is that we have some hidden payouts, achieved through a cut-out. We'd like someone who knows a bit about Democratic connections, so that he or she could look at forms and say, "Oh yes. That guy there? That consultant? He has a long history of working with [X]." So a bit of forensics are needed -- companies may be hidden inside companies, consultants may be providing insulation to still other consultants.

It's actually this part that's the most important -- a familiarity not just with the law, but with the players.

Bear in mind this is not primarily a legal question. I only ask for election lawyers because, well, who the hell else deals with this crap on a daily basis?

3) Someone who's definitely on our team and can prove it by a voucher from others on the team.

4) Someone who can do this, um, pretty much for free.

5) Also, be aware, there is an allegation coming at the end of this, hopefully. If you're not comfortable with that, this isn't for you. The guy doing this is careful, and will not claim an proven connection if he can't. He will, however, point out circumstantial evidence suggesting such a connection. We'd like to firm that up, but this guy is already pretty sure he has enough to go on, so he is probably going with it.

So be aware, if your ethics preclude you from getting involved in an investigation where the conclusions are mostly already known -- this guy just wants additional proof; smoking gun would be nice, but is not necessary -- then you shouldn't respond.

6) Confidentiality is yours if you want it. However, we sure would like that Killer Quote, if your expertise allows you to make it.

Please let me know if you can help.

How big is it? It's eh big. It will be a modestly sized story, or would be, anyway, if the media weren't determined to embargo all negative stories about The One and/or The One's Masters.

It's not huge. But it is a story.

In the Media? Opensecrets.org has a pay service with (I assume) more features and a better search capability. Media services, I'm thinking, subscribe.

If you're in the media or otherwise have access to opensecrets' pay service, and think you have a good idea of how to do database searches, drop me a line.

posted by Ace at 09:44 PM

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