Purchasing the company that KNOWINGLY produced inaccurate lists of felons, who are barred from voting in Florida, with information provided by Texas (where the governor was running for president) and supplied to Florida (where the governor is the candidate's brother), resulting in tens of thousands of black voters, who were not felons, being disenfranchised in the 2000 election and thus ensuring the election of George W. Bush.
To be sure, Katherine Harris's Elections Division in Florida stated it only wanted 80% accuracy on the list. Choicepoint has testified this to a panel called by US Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, according to footage in American Blackout.
"They warned the state and took the money," Palast said.
Plus, "Choicepoint said we warned the state it was wrong. They can't say that and also say, 'It wasn't us,' [it was the company that we acquired]. They can't have it both ways," Palast said.
Besides, at the time, "they were very proud to claim entire credit for the voter rolls of Florida," Palast said.
Choicepoint purchased Bode Technologies, the biggest private DNA testing lab, and was given the contract for identifying 9/11 victims. In an April 2002 interview with The Atlanta Journal Constitution, Choicepoint CEO, Derek Smith, said, "We have spent the last five years preparing our business for an environment we thought was coming. The events of September 11th did not surprise us as a corporation." Choicepoint was also paid to identify victims of Hurricane Katrina. They just announced their Bode Technologies subsidiary is being sold.
According to Greg Palast, Choicepoint was awarded over a billion dollars in national security contracts. Since Choicepoint database information was obtained for "commercial purposes," Bush can bypass constitutional limits on government domestic spying by obtaining information directly from Choicepoint, rather than relying on the FBI, which has yet to operate an effective computer system.
Choicepoint obtained voter registration lists for Argentina, Venezuela, and Mexico - all countries with presidents, or presidential candidates, who lead anti-Bush national factions. Argentina threatened to arrest Choicepoint contractors. Mexico did arrest Choicepoint data thieves. On his website, Palast pointed out our government may still be holding a copy of this information, using it to assist the conservative Mexican presidential candidate, Felipe Calderon, in stealing last weekend's election.
In 2005, Choicepoint announced it sold 163,000 consumer records (including Social Security numbers and credit information) to identity thieves. The Federal Trade Commission fined the company a record $15 million, the largest fine ever for this purpose. The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating stock trading by Smith and Curling between the time the company knew about the database scam and the time it became public, according to the AJC.
Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue signed the anti-immigration bill SB529 into law in April 2006. The law, already imitated and passed in Colorado, requires employers to access a special national database before hiring anyone to ensure they are US citizens or legal immigrants. Perdue has accepted campaign contributions from Derek Smith and David Davis, another ChoicePoint executive. Choicepoint has contributed heavily to the Republican Party. Can we bet on which company will get the contract?
Choicepoint is also heavily involved in lobbying for bills that involve removing restrictions to gathering and distributing personal information, Harris said.
SO WHAT?
Is it possible, as some voting rights activists who are accepting money from the Curlings have suggested, that the Curlings are wonderful people and this is just Mr. Curling's day job?
Yes.
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