Who is Michael L. Connell?

If you want to know -- and you should -- check out ePluribus Media's two part investigation, here and here. Michael J. Connell is the GOP tech guru who was allowed to work "behind the firewall," setting up telecommunications for the House of Representatives.

GovTech -- founded in April of 2000 by Connell's wife Heather and Synhorst (with Connell as registered agent) -- quickly distanced itself from New Media's reputation as the "Bell Labs of the Republican Party." Instead, GovTech claimed instead to be a "non-partisan" and "woman-owned IT solutions firm." But GovTech fortunes depended entirely on New Media, and how the remainder of the year played out.

This "woman owned" runaround has got to stop. Connell's background should be kept in mind as you re-read this piece about Kenny "the Kapo" Blackwell in Ohio: "Ohio's election website still sent real-time results to GOP mirror server."

By the way -- the proverbial "little birdie" has told me that Smartech president Jeff Averbeck has refused to talk to journalists trying to get a foothold on this story. Seems to me we need a congressional investigation...