GOP Senator Thad Cochran
It is not uncommon for Dems to be involved in voter fraud. NOW it appears the Republican Establishment feels so threatened by the Tea Party Movement they are linking with Dems in voter fraud practices in Primary Runoff elections. Incumbent Senator Thad Cochran’s campaign made money available to Black-Americans through Churches in Mississippi to buy votes to beat Tea Party favorite Chris McDaniel an incumbent State Senator. My fellow Conservatives, THAT IS ILLEGAL!
JRH 7/2/14
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BOMBSHELL! Black Pastor: Thad Cochran Bought ‘Hundreds or Even Thousands’ of ‘Black Votes’
July 1, 2014
Republican establishment-backed Senator Thad Cochran has been accused of dirty tricks and unethical tactics in the Mississippi GOP Senate primary runoff on June 24, but the accusations have just leapfrogged from the unethical to the highly illegal, making the validity of the election results questionable.
“They [Cochran campaign] told me to offer blacks $15 each and to vote for Thad,” said Reverend Stevie Fielder, a black pastor from the First Union Missionary Baptist Church, told Charles C. Johnson, in a shocking interview on Monday.
Fielder told Johnson (listen to interview below) that he brought “hundreds or even thousand” of blacks to the polls after being convinced by the Cochran campaign that Tea Party challenger, Mississippi State Senator Chris McDaniel, was a “racist.” Fielder says he was also offered $16,000 to by the Cochran campaign to pull off the vote buying scheme, but the campaign broke their promise and refused to pay him after he delivered the votes.
“They said they needed black votes,” Fielder said about the Cochran campaign’s scheme to buy Democrat votes in order to rig the election in his favor.
According to the report from Johnson on his Got News site, the vote buying scheme was implemented by Saleem Baird of the Cochran campaign, and Kirk Sims, a legislative aide to U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, Cochran’s junior colleague from Mississippi:
Fielder told Johnson (listen to interview below) that he brought “hundreds or even thousand” of blacks to the polls after being convinced by the Cochran campaign that Tea Party challenger, Mississippi State Senator Chris McDaniel, was a “racist.” Fielder says he was also offered $16,000 to by the Cochran campaign to pull off the vote buying scheme, but the campaign broke their promise and refused to pay him after he delivered the votes.
“They said they needed black votes,” Fielder said about the Cochran campaign’s scheme to buy Democrat votes in order to rig the election in his favor.
According to the report from Johnson on his Got News site, the vote buying scheme was implemented by Saleem Baird of the Cochran campaign, and Kirk Sims, a legislative aide to U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, Cochran’s junior colleague from Mississippi:
Text messages released to Got News and a recorded interview with Reverend Fielder confirmed that Saleem Baird, a staffer with the Cochran campaign and current legislative aide to U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, and Cochran campaign manager, Kirk Sims, were involved in a $15-per-vote cash bribery scheme to target members of the black community.
“They said they needed black votes,” said the Reverend Fielder on the phone. He says Baird told him 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 he would actually recruit people with the $15 dollars and they would go in and vote.” Fielder said he received thousands of dollars in envelopes from Baird and distributed them accordingly. Fielder also says 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.
“They said they needed black votes,” said the Reverend Fielder on the phone. He says Baird told him 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 he would actually recruit people with the $15 dollars and they would go in and vote.” Fielder said he received thousands of dollars in envelopes from Baird and distributed them accordingly. Fielder also says 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.
Reverend Fielder showed Johnson text messages from his cell phone, claiming they were from Baird, coordinating the money delivery in exchange for votes in favor of 76-year-old Thad Cochran, a 42-year Washington veteran.
Fielder told Johnson that Saleem Baird personally delivered the cash “from the campaign” to bribe the black voters.
According to the Cochran campaign, Cochran received 35,000 Democrat votes in the Republican runoff, but only 6,700 more votes than McDaniel overall, indicating that Democrats selected the GOP Senate nominee for the State of Mississippi.
It is illegal under several provisions of Mississippi law and federal law for campaign officials to bribe voters with cash. Such actions are punishable up to five years in jail. (MS Code 97-13-1; MS Code 97-13-3 (2013) (Federal Code 18 U.S.C. 597, U.S.C. 1973i(c)) Voter fraud schemes are not unusual for Mississippi. In 1999 Mississippi’s attorney general reported massive voter fraud allegations throughout the Magnolia state. In 2011, a Mississippi NAACP leader was sent to prison for voter fraud, according to the Daily Caller.
“They sold me on the fact that he [Chris McDaniel} was a racist,” said Reverend Fielder, explaining that his motivation for cooperating in the scheme wasn’t the money, but was to keep a “racist” from being elected. Fielder admitted he had no information to indicate that McDaniel was a racist, other than the assurances he received from the Cochran campaign.
“I thought what I did was wrong,” Fielder said apologetically.
Do you think Senator Thad Cochran’s campaign committed crimes in the Mississippi GOP Senate runoff election? Take the Official Tea Party Poll. Click HERE!
Fielder told Johnson that Saleem Baird personally delivered the cash “from the campaign” to bribe the black voters.
According to the Cochran campaign, Cochran received 35,000 Democrat votes in the Republican runoff, but only 6,700 more votes than McDaniel overall, indicating that Democrats selected the GOP Senate nominee for the State of Mississippi.
It is illegal under several provisions of Mississippi law and federal law for campaign officials to bribe voters with cash. Such actions are punishable up to five years in jail. (MS Code 97-13-1; MS Code 97-13-3 (2013) (Federal Code 18 U.S.C. 597, U.S.C. 1973i(c)) Voter fraud schemes are not unusual for Mississippi. In 1999 Mississippi’s attorney general reported massive voter fraud allegations throughout the Magnolia state. In 2011, a Mississippi NAACP leader was sent to prison for voter fraud, according to the Daily Caller.
“They sold me on the fact that he [Chris McDaniel} was a racist,” said Reverend Fielder, explaining that his motivation for cooperating in the scheme wasn’t the money, but was to keep a “racist” from being elected. Fielder admitted he had no information to indicate that McDaniel was a racist, other than the assurances he received from the Cochran campaign.
“I thought what I did was wrong,” Fielder said apologetically.
Do you think Senator Thad Cochran’s campaign committed crimes in the Mississippi GOP Senate runoff election? Take the Official Tea Party Poll. Click HERE!
Hear interview below:
Published by GotnewsPublished on Jun 30, 2014
[Blog Editor: The Got News link given within the Youtube post goes directly to the text of this story. I am unsure if Got News runs all their stories under one link or if they intend to later assign a specified link. I have a sense that the story at Got News penned by Charles C. Johnson might disappear when the news cycle moves on. That bugs me. When I source something I like it to be available; ergo I am also going to cross post Johnson’s report on this blog below.]
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Cochran Campaign Manager, Staffer Busted in Illegal Vote Buying Operation
By Charles C. Johnson
No Date Provided
Democrat black reverend, who brought "hundreds" to the polls for promise of payment, exposes alleged massive voter fraud, vote buying operation by Cochran campaign.
Reverend Stevie Fielder
A black reverend stiffed by the Cochran campaign has exposed an alleged criminal conspiracy by Cochran staffers to commit massive voter fraud ahead of Tuesday's controversial U.S. Senate Republican runoff election in Mississippi.
Reverend Stevie Fielder, associate pastor at historic First Union Missionary Baptist Church and former official at Meridian's redevelopment agency, says he delivered "hundreds or even thousands," of blacks to the polls after being offered money and being assured by a Cochran campaign operative that Chris McDaniel was a racist. "They [the Cochran campaign] told me to offer blacks fifteen dollars each and to vote for Thad."
It is illegal under several provisions of Mississippi law and federal law for campaign officials to bribe voters with cash and punishable up to five years in jail. (MS Code 97-13-1; MS Code 97-13-3 (2013) (Federal Code 18 U.S.C. 597, U.S.C. 1973i(c)) Voter fraud schemes are not unusual for Mississippi. In 1999 Mississippi's attorney general reported massive voter fraud allegations throughout the Magnolia state. In 2011, a Mississippi NAACP leader was sent to prison for voter fraud, according to the Daily Caller.
It would seem that laws were broken here, too. At the direction of the Cochran campaign, Reverend Fielder went "door to door, different places, mostly impoverished neighborhoods, to the housing authorities and stuff like that," telling fellow blacks that McDaniel was a racist and promising them $15 per vote. "They sold me on the fact that he was a racist and that the right thing to do was to keep him out of office," Fielder says.
Text messages released to Got News and a recorded interview with Reverend Fielder confirmed that Saleem Baird, a staffer with the Cochran campaign and current legislative aide to U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, and Cochran campaign manager, Kirk Sims, were involved in a $15-per-vote cash bribery scheme to target members of the black community.
"They said they needed black votes," said the Reverend Fielder on the phone. He says Baird told him 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 he would actually recruit people with the $15 dollars and they would go in and vote." Fielder said he received thousands of dollars in envelopes from Baird and distributed them accordingly. Fielder also says 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.
Fielder said that Saleem Baird was doing the same thing with people all over the state. Fielder believes that the racism charge against McDaniel and the
promise of $15 a vote motivated 'thousands' of black Democrats like him to vote for Cochran in the runoff. When asked if Fielder would have been more suspicious of Baird's promises had he been white, Fielder replied, "Yes, definitely."
promise of $15 a vote motivated 'thousands' of black Democrats like him to vote for Cochran in the runoff. When asked if Fielder would have been more suspicious of Baird's promises had he been white, Fielder replied, "Yes, definitely."
For his efforts, Fielder says the Cochran campaign and Baird promised him $16,000 for paying black voters $15 a vote, but Baird wound up stiffing him. Baird even asked him to delete all texts between the two of them. In addition to Baird, Fielder says he spoke with Kirk Sims, the Cochran campaign manager, and a woman named "Amanda" with the campaign, most likely Amanda Shook, director of operations to re-elect Thad Cochran. All refused to pay him the agreed upon amount of $16,000.
Baird realized he had been lied to when he "took a good look at the campaign ads" and realized "McDaniel was not a racist...me and other people were misguided and misled."
Fielder confronted Saleem the weekend before the election and asked about whether or not McDaniel was actually a racist and Baird confirmed it. Baird "personally confirmed that McDaniel was a racist." Baird 'manipulated me to manipulate many other people," says Fielder. Baird did not disclose that he worked as a paid legislative staffer for Senator Roger Wicker. Fielder also says he spoke with campaign manager Kirk Sims about getting paid and about the ethical complaints he had.
Fielder is a Democrat but said he has voted for Republicans in the past. And though Fielder is being paid for his story by Got News, he says he'd come forward anyway. "I thought what I did was wrong." Fielder said he was motivated mostly by concerns that McDaniel was a racist, not money.
As to what should happen next, 'definitely the election should not be allowed to stand," says Fielder, who says he'll support McDaniel in event of a special election. 'He's been done wrong. He's not what they said that he is.'
Got News tried calling both Baird and Sims with Fielder on the line. We got through to Sims but Sims insisted that there was a bad connection when Fielder asked about the racist smear campaign against Chris McDaniel and hung up. Were Baird found to have violated any laws in this matter, this would not be his first time he had a brush with the wrong side of the law. In 2011, Baird, who is a legislative staffer with U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, was allowed to keep his job with the senator after being arrested on charges of running an illegal strip joint in Jackson.
Fully aware that we have helped reveal the Cochran campaign may be involved in a criminal conspiracy, Got News will turn over any and all evidence to law enforcement. Joel Gilbert produced the video of the phone call for Got News.
Got News--which will provide additional stories in the coming days--is made possible by donations from individuals like you. Please consider supporting our independent journalism. www.gofundme.com/charlescjohnsonresearch
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BOMBSHELL! Black Pastor: Thad Cochran Bought ‘Hundreds or Even Thousands’ of ‘Black Votes’
About Matthew Burke:
Matthew Burke is a former Financial Advisor/Planner for 24 years. He was a 2010 Constitutional Conservative candidate for U.S. Congress in Washington State. View all Posts by Matthew Burke
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Cochran Campaign Manager, Staffer Busted in Illegal Vote Buying Operation
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