Current Cicilline Aides Named in Gemma’s Accusations
Friday, August 24, 2012
Two of incumbent Congressman David Cicilline’s current staff members are named in sworn statements by individuals accusing Cicilline of being connected to an extensive voter fraud scheme dating back to his 2002 campaign for Mayor of Providence, according to documents released by the Anthony Gemma campaign Thursday.
Andujar earned $44,750 in 2011 and Bizzacco was paid $69,611.07, according to Legistorm.com.
The accusations against the two aides are part of a slew of claims released by the Gemma campaign, which hired TRP Associates, a private firm run by former State Troopers to investigate voter fraud related to Congressman Cicilline. Gemma, who has retained former Attorney General James O’Neil as his lawyer, claims the firm uncovered a significant amount of additional information that it has given to the State Police and federal authorities, but he has yet to make any of the information public.
Cicilline campaign manager Eric Hyers has called Gemma’s accusations an “outrageous political stunt” and said Thursday that Cicilline has not been contacted by authorities in regards to voter fraud. He said the campaign does not plan to comment on every rumor leveled against Cicilline by Gemma.
"We're not going to comment every time Anthony Gemma makes another bizarre allegation,” Hyers said. “Anyone who claims he has seen people holed up in their attics with weapons clearly can't be trusted."
Cicilline Staff Members Named
Hyers was referring to a comment Gemma made during his Wednesday afternoon press conference, where he suggested that certain city residents are in fear about their names being made public in regards to alleged voter fraud. Gemma repeated that claim Thursday during a morning radio interview on WPRO.
Providence Public Safety Commissioner Steven Pare told GoLocalProv that, “we have no concerns that people are hiding in their attics with weapons."
During his press conference, Gemma read portions of five sworn statements from residents saying they participated in or were a victim of voter fraud. In some cases, the statements are not directly tied to the Congressman, but the claims that include Andujar and Bizzacco suggest the two were working on behalf of Cicilline.
According to one of the statements, a person who identified themselves as a “volunteer for David Cicilline’s Mayoral campaign” in 2002, claims they witnessed Cicilline campaign staffers identify unlikely voters and assign those names to impersonators who were paid to vote in their place.
“I personally overheard conversations between Andy and other campaign staffers, as well as the runners to carry out the above referenced voter fraud,” the statement reads. “I also personally overheard Andy makes calls to order more cash, which would then be distributed to runners when they ran out of money.”
In another statement, the wife of former Ward 8 Council candidate Eulogio Acevedo alleges that in 2006, she was told by Bizzacco that she had to resign from her position in the Providence Tax Assessor’s office because of her husband’s candidacy. In a separate sworn statement, Mr. Acevedo, who finished third in a Democratic primary that year, claimed that Cicilline supported eventual winner Leon Tejada.
During his Wednesday press conference, Gemma claimed his hired investigators found evidence that individuals were paid to vote multiple times, paid to impersonate actual voters, registered to vote at business addresses, abandoned buildings and vacant lots and driven in from out-of-state to vote at multiple polling places. Gemma also referenced Andujar and Bizzacco, but did not specifically mention their names at the time.
“In virtually each and every instance of voter fraud document by TRP, we find David Cicilline’s closest political operatives and allies – two of who are on his Congressional staff this very day, being by you and me with our taxpayer dollars – as they orchestrate and facilitate voter fraud-related criminal acts,” Gemma said.
Gemma Says He Produced “Smoking Gun” Evidence
Still, others remain unconvinced.
Dr. Daniel Harrop, a Republican who took on Cicillne in the 2006 Mayor’s race, said he sees no basis for the accusations leveled against Cicilline. He said there was never any reason to commit voter fraud in 2006 because the race was never in doubt.
“It’s ridiculous. I strongly support Brendan Doherty for Congress this year, and hope to retire the Congressman in November, but I see no basis for these accusations,” Harrop said Wednesday. “Even in my internal polling, I never got above 20 percent of the possible vote, and finished with about 18 percent on election day.”
A day after Gemma’s press conference Katrina Therien, chairwoman of the Rhode Island Association of City and Town Democratic Chairs, accused the candidate of attempting “smear and defeat” the Congressman.
"Anthony Gemma's allegations are outrageous, reckless, and irresponsible,” she said. “He failed spectacularly in his desperate press conference gimmick to produce any evidence whatsoever that David Cicilline has committed criminal actions.”
Gemma maintains he has produced “smoking gun” evidence that connects Cicilline to voter fraud.
“The common denominator in all of this criminality is the specter of David Cicilline,” he said.
Gemma and Cicilline are scheduled to participate in their first debate Tuesday evening at Rhode Island College.
Dan McGowan can be reached at dmcgowan@golocalprov.com. Follow him on Twitter: @danmcgowan.
Comments:
robert phellps
6:53am on Friday, August 24, 2012
I don't doubt that there are people crying, afraid for their lives w/weaponry ready BUT not because of politics!! NO WAY AG?
Oberon Sexton
8:07am on Friday, August 24, 2012
It is shameful that golocal would reprint the names of the people that Gemma is smearing. He didnt produce a single witness to back up his claims but you're willing to reprint another unsubstantiated allegation? Gemma's top advisers include JFK conspiracy nuts and Cianci-era political hacks. Maybe GoLocal could check out those stories instead of helping Anthony's kamikaze mission.
Jonathan Flynn
8:47am on Friday, August 24, 2012
Who are the retired state troopers? If they own a company, why are they not named?
Dan McGowan
8:51am on Friday, August 24, 2012
Jonathan, we've named them in the past, but I'm happy to edit to print their names. There names are Dennis Pincince, James Mullen and Thomas Underhill
Thanks for reading,
Dan
dmcgowan@golocalprov.com
Jonathan Flynn
8:53am on Friday, August 24, 2012
Thank you , Dan. I looked at their web site and it makes no mention of the principals. I found that a little odd.
anthony sionni
8:57am on Friday, August 24, 2012
uhh ,hello the people signed affidavits , thats not rumors I call that evidence and their is much more to come!
anthony sionni
9:00am on Friday, August 24, 2012
The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, commonly referred to as the RICO Act or simply RICO, is a United States federal law that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization. The RICO Act focuses specifically on racketeering, and it allows for the leaders of a syndicate to be tried for the crimes which they ordered others to do or assisted them, closing a perceived loophole that allowed someone who told a man to, for example, murder, to be exempt from the trial because they did not actually do it.
Dan McGowan
9:02am on Friday, August 24, 2012
With all the money I assume they are making from Mr. Gemma, an update to even a 2004-era website might be worth the investment.
Charles Drago
9:21am on Friday, August 24, 2012
"Oberon Sexton," an identity that very well may be used by more than one Cicilline hack, returns.
"Oberon Sexton," like all pseudonyms, is a refuge for moral, physical, and intellectual cowards.
My strong guess is that among the cowards hiding behind "Oberon Sexton" are Matthew "The Teacher" Jerzyk and Gonzalo "The Little Mayor" Cuervo.
Charles Drago
9:29am on Friday, August 24, 2012
Daniel Harrop argues, with the political savvy of a soft shell crab, that "there was never any reason to commit voter fraud in 2006 because the race was never in doubt."
It's never too late to begin an education in political science, Cicilline style. So pay attention, Dr. Harrop. You might learn something.
Why did David Cicilline feel the need to fix the municipal election of 2006 when he was all but assured of his personal mayoral victory?
Two reasons.
1. Cicilline wanted to oust John Lombardi as president of the Providence Council so as to control the Legislative Branch of Providence's municipal government.. To do so, he targeted the Lombardi-affiliated incumbent in Ward 5 and the open seat in Ward 8.
Cicilline's voter fraud insured the elections of Leon Tejada and Michael Solomon, respectively.
2. Tejada was to play a critical role in a Cicilline-orchestrated, other-than-legal "business venture" relating to the transfer of public property to a Caribbean nation.
Note that John Lombardi lost his bid for another term as Council president in January, 2007, and that Tejada and Solomon dutifully voted for David Cicilline's sock puppet, Peter Mancini.
Wake up, Doctor Harrop. Your political insight is worthless -- which explains, I'd submit, your support of Brendan Doherty.
Meanwhile, the ignorance of Providence politics exhibited by Dan "Fox" McGowan, the author of this "news story," comes as small surprise.
Charles Drago
9:57am on Friday, August 24, 2012
Correction to my post directly above:
Cicilline's voter fraud insured the elections of Michael Solomon and Leon Tejada, respectively.
Michael Napolitano
10:18am on Friday, August 24, 2012
The History of David Cicilline-
-Providence finances (category 5 hurricane) covered up for months and lied about to voters
-$75,000 bad check bounced on city of Providence by David Cicilline’s brother, Cicilline claims no knowledge, others say he knew.
-The Providence Community Action Program (PROCAP) in receivership now, linked to Cicilline
-Providence Economic Development Partnership(PEDP), High default rate on loans, another link to Cicilline
-JOBS NOW-Cicilline gets federal money for his supporters, including CAPCO Steel
-Redistricting of Congressional District 1, 70,000 voters moved to help Cicilline, when only roughly 10% of that needed to be moved.
Now Cicilline is being accused of being involved in voter fraud. Does his past historical pattern prove otherwise? Would anyone place their money on the fact that David Cicilline had no knowledge of this? Yes, I recognize that this must all be proven by law enforcement and will be difficult for it to stick to the teflon Congressman.
Add to this the fact that David Cicciline scares our senior citizens into voting for him. His constant lies about Republicans wanting to end Social Security and Medicare, are forever in his playbook because he can’t run on anything else.
Watching the Democrats and their leadership line up behind a man who has a pattern as I have illustrated above should show the voters of Rhode Island what their party is all about! Is anyone surprised? We are ranked 50th for business, number 2 for unemployment, and get a D- in transparency. Have the voters of RI had enough yet?
Charles Drago
10:34am on Friday, August 24, 2012
Another tragic impact of David Cicilline's rule of ruin: Republicans conflating his personal incompetence and dishonor with the noble history, values, and traditions of the Democratic Party as epitomized by its greatest leaders.
Ed Pacheco is a bought-and-paid for subsidy of Cicilline Enterprises. This pathetic little hack's very close personal relationship to Cicilline accounts for the former's current position.
Poor Ed Pacheco -- he can't even give good figurehead.
Todd B
10:50am on Friday, August 24, 2012
"He didnt produce a single witness to back up his claims..."
Gemma produced sworn, signed affidavits that were executed before an individual who was issued a notary's license by the State of RI. Some of the witnesses should be extremely easy to identify. For example, one of the witnesses desks was described as being immediately in front of Cicilline's press secretary in Cicilline campaign headquarters. Call me crazy, but I don't think you'd need to be Woodward or Bernstein to figure out the identity of that witness.
As for identifying Andujar and Bizzacco, it's the media's job to shine light on the issue, not to protect people in power. The more information that comes out in the press, the better, as that is what will ultimately lead to the truth. Identify EVERYONE allegedly involved in this mess.
@Michael Napolitano: I also was amazed at the degree to which the Democratic establishment is backing Cicilline. It reminds me of the Penn State officials who blindly backed Jerry Sandusky just assuming the criminal allegations were false. Funny, how the GOP establishment dumps Akin overboard for his dumb comments, but the RI Democratic establishment defends someone accused of criminal wrongdoing.
As for the RI GOP's reaction to the case, it seems to be taking the position of a neutral observer--which may explain why the party is irrelevant. Why did it take Anthony Gemma to uncover this?
Also, I find myself in the unusual position of agreeing with Charles Drago when it comes to Harrop. I have no doubt that Harrop is a nice and honest guy, but he does seem to be clueless about Providence politics. He automatically assumed that the alleged voter fraud was directed at him and issued a statement on that basis. If he had looked beyond himself, he probably would have understood why there was a benefit for Cicilline's campaign to commit voter fraud the year he was running.
Scott Dickerson
10:53am on Friday, August 24, 2012
There is so much corruption in the democrat party is anyone surprised. Even their so called A-list of Raimondo and Tavares all supporting Cicilline. This party is controlled by its leadership at all levels. Fox and Paiva Weed in the legislature control everything that hits the floor. The leadership is controlled by the public sector unions..look at folks like Ciccone and Regerrio. This party is corrupt and must be gutted from the inside! Credit goes to Gemma for standing for what he believes in and doing the right thing when none of the others would. Now maybe people will stop voting for the same idiots over and over.
jon paycheck
11:38am on Friday, August 24, 2012
regarding cicclini...yu really ahve to woder what he was doing in 8 years. granted there were problems building over the last 40 years but.
no public safety officer, schools are a mess, roads are amess, voter fraud, $75k check, providence housing authority mess, providence small loan fund was a mess. downtown was falling apart, no contract with fire fighters, no contract with brown or other colleges, no changes to pension system, a complete buget disaster
the guy was in there for 8 years.
i realize that the extreme left blindly supports him but can they tell me anything he did in 8 years.
Todd B
3:08pm on Friday, August 24, 2012
@jon: I heard someone making the case for Cicilline and it went something like this, "Ciciilline may not have done a great job as mayor Providence and may have been late admitting it, but that was then. He hasn't screwed anything up since getting elected to Congress and his office does a good job with constituent affairs."
That was from one of Cicilline's SUPPORTERS. Loosely translated that means "Sure he did a terrible job as mayor and lied about it. But now that he doesn't have any power, he hasn't screwed anything up and he buys seniors a lot of spaghetti dinners." For some so-called "progressive" RI voters and the Democratic establishment, that appears to be enough.
If Cicilline makes it through to the general election, I bet he'll still get at least 35% of the votes.
Tony Pelliccio
7:18pm on Friday, August 24, 2012
I've debunked this one - registered to vote at business addresses:
They had either wrong spelling, or wrong address or both. I found the people they mentioned in my copy of the RI Central Voter Registration DB.
So if that's a fabrication I'd have to guess that a lot more is fabrication too.
Scott Dickerson
7:45pm on Friday, August 24, 2012
Of course, David Cicilline is so honest who would ever believe he is involved in voter fraud. Yeah, right! Wondering how his supporters can look themselves in the mirror. David Cicilline is the poster child for self-serving politicians. Maybe you can debunk Providence's financial category 5 hurricane while your at it.
Blais Hazelwood
8:13pm on Friday, August 24, 2012
With all the evidence presented forward to the proper authorities, how will this play out? It is really a travesty of Justice if this doesn't turn into a RICO charge. If IF IF the evidence is as clear and accurate as reported then ChickaChini better do some jail time. Buddy Cianci who did more with his little pinky for the City of Providence than any other Mayor since, did hard time with less evidence. Where is Angel Tavares in all of this? Quiet as a mouse scared in a whole. Is it a coincidence that Angel came out late in support of David? Perhaps, this goes deeper and higher up the food chain than we all know. I certainly know this, Doherty can sit back now and just watch. He is a lock for the seat now. I also would like to add Gemma made a smart move waiting till after the mail in ballots were all in to make his announcement. Why do I get the feeling that a massive amount of mail ins will come from the Dominican....Hey Sionni, I bash you often in good fun but let it be known I really hope some criminal charges finally come Chickachini's way. GOOD JOB TEAM GEMMA!
Charles Drago
9:11pm on Friday, August 24, 2012
"Tony Pelliccio" --
You've reviewed all of Gemma's research material in this regard?
Really?
And just how did you get access to it?
Utter nonsense from a Cicilline surrogate.
Charles Drago
9:12pm on Friday, August 24, 2012
Brendan Doherty is shaking in his $600 boots.
And with good reason.
paul zecchino
9:46pm on Friday, August 24, 2012
TRP Associates can hve any kind of website they choose, including none whatsoever. It's their decision to make, and not that of the Website Critics who post here.
Do posters who claim it's unusual for the principals in a PI firm to not post their photos on the company website really believe that?
There's a simple explanation for the absence of photos on a PI site, and I for one am not about to offer it, it's so elementary.
Obviously, Mr. Gemma's assertions have struck not merely a nerve, but they've apparently stepped on a bundle branch of them, from the squawking of the left-o shill parrots.
paul zecchino
10:06pm on Friday, August 24, 2012
Well, let's see, this is an old an familiar pattern common among those involved in The Zecchino Estate Grift, including 'mastermind' Girard R. Visconti.
You make a statement they can't factually refute, they insult you and smear your good name. You ask questions they find inconvenient, they insult you and change the subject. If you persist, they threaten and then retaliate by all necessary means.
So, here Mr. Gemma makes statements, to which they respond by implying he's outrageous, reckless, etc.
So, Mr. Gemma ups the ante by naming names.
Good for him. He's brave. People respect and admire bravery. People dislike leftist rhetorical tricks and in time, tend to distance themselves from those who employ them.
Charles Drago
11:27pm on Friday, August 24, 2012
Now the attempt is being made to draw a distinction between Anthony Gemma and progressive politics.
Don't even think about it.
David Cicilline is the antithesis of the values of the progressive movement.
Those ostensibly from the left who rush to defend him are ignoramuses and/or bought-and-paid-for hacks.
Anthony Gemma is as forward-thinking as any politician in Rhode Island.
Unlike David Cicilline and his surrogates, Anthony Gemma is an honorable, truthful, courageous human being.
robert phellps
11:42pm on Friday, August 24, 2012
Thanks for the "copy & paste" of the RICO act from Wiki.
Mr Drago..other than Gemma & yourself is there anyone you like, appreciate, tolerate?
wow..one insult after another..we get it..you are smart but jeez, come up for air..and not that you will take it but I advise you to back off insulting Brendan..especially if you drive
anthony sionni
2:30am on Saturday, August 25, 2012
no problem robert,copy paste works well on my computer,saves me time typing!
Tony,just because you have a different address ,that doesn't mean its accurate.
robert phellps
6:47am on Saturday, August 25, 2012
Anthony..maybe Drago will like your honesty..maybe
Charles Drago
8:20am on Saturday, August 25, 2012
One of Go Local Prov's most prolific, sniveling little cowards reappears, this time as "Robert Phellps."
This time he's threatening retribution by the State Police on all who question the professional abilities of Brendan Doherty.
I'm sure troopers in every barracks will be thrilled with your warning.
It's all over, "Robert Phellps." You and your ilk lose.
Heil be seeing you.
Todd B
4:50pm on Saturday, August 25, 2012
Looks like the Projo has put up a video of a former Cicilline worker agreeing to take $$$ in exchange for absentee ballots. It makes me wonder if Gemma intentionally sucked the Cicilline campaign into denying the charges given how the tape surfaced 48 hours after the press conference.
Todd B
4:50pm on Saturday, August 25, 2012
Looks like the Projo has put up a video of a former Cicilline worker agreeing to take $$$ in exchange for absentee ballots. It makes me wonder if Gemma intentionally sucked the Cicilline campaign into denying the charges given how the tape surfaced 48 hours after the press conference.
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