Former TV Reporter Taricani and Gov Candidate Block Brawl on Social Media
Monday, September 18, 2017
Former Rhode Island gubernatorial candidate Ken Block blasted former NBC10 journalist Jim Taricani, after Block posted that Taricani called him a "right-wing extremist" on Facebook, following Block's recent findings on elections and voting records.
Block, who ran on the Moderate Party ticket in 2010 before switching to the Republican Party in 2014, had recently conducted voter -- and purported voter fraud -- research, which he delivered to the Presidential Commission on Election Integrity last week.
Following his presentation, Block posted that Taricani stated on Facebook that "Block is a ring-wing backed extremist."
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTTaricani, who was sentenced to six months home confinement in 2004 for refusing a court order to divulge a source in the Plunder Dome scandal, currently works in public relations in Providence.
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"I am stunned by this outburst, and the venom contained within in it," wrote Block, who acknowledged in the same post that Taricani had apologized.
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The commission -- and its findings - garnered national, and international attention, after the Trump Administration announced its formation in May, announcing the following;
"The Commission on Election Integrity will study vulnerabilities in voting systems used for federal elections that could lead to improper voter registrations, improper voting, fraudulent voter registrations, and fraudulent voting. The Commission will also study concerns about voter suppression, as well as other voting irregularities. The Commission will utilize all available data, including state and federal databases.
Last week, Newsweek reported:
Ken Block, a researcher for ex–White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon’s watchdog group, the Government Accountability Institute, shared with the commission a study he conducted that claims there were nearly 40,000 instances of double-voting in last year’s election. His report, criticized by leading election security experts as being “rife with inaccuracies,” was a primary topic of conversation among the commission members Tuesday, after Block spoke on a panel titled “Current Election Integrity Issues Affecting Public Confidence.”
Block's research -- and the reaction to it -- garnered local response.
"Rhode Islander Ken Block presented findings of his voter roll review to the president’s Advisory Commission on Election Integrity.* Among other things, in that presentation, Block highlights that “30.7% of 2016 votes in Rhode Island were cast by voters with no identifying information in voter registration database," wrote Justin Katz for the Ocean State Current. "He doesn’t allege that those voters are doing anything wrong, but does insist, “It is vitally important to know how many voters in each state cannot be identified by their data.”
On Saturday, Block posted that Taricani "unfriended" him, following the online altercation.
Breaking: former NBC-10 newsman and current PR flak Jim Taricani, after ridiculously tagging me as a right-wing extremist and I called him on it, unfriends me on Facebook. And now back to our regularly scheduled programming. #NBD
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