Advertisement - story continues below
Things have just turned very sour for the GOPe and Thad Cochran.
Angered by the fact that Thad Cochran’s camp stiffed him after he helped them commit a massive voter fraud in the GOP primary, a Black Mississippi minister, the Reverend Stevie Fielder of the First Union Missionary Baptist Church, has come forward to admit his part in the crimes–and he is naming names. Fielder says that, acting in concert with Saleem Baird of the Cochran camp, he agreed to pay $15.00 each to black Democrats who crossed over to vote for Cochran in last month’s runoff against Chris McDaniel. Fielder was to receive $16,000 in return.
The conduct admitted to by Rev. Fielder constitutes violations of both federal and Mississippi State voting laws and could put all of the conspirators in prison. What makes this charge so believable is that just three years ago, the head of the Mississippi NAACP was sent to prison for voter fraud.
Advertisement - story continues below
Text messages and a recorded interview in the possession of Gotnews.com confirm that not only Baird, but Cochran Campaign Manager Kirk Sims, was also involved in the fraudulent scheme to buy black votes in a state where they are readily available for sale.
As revealed by Fielder, the plot called for him to deal with both Baird and a person named “Amanda”–who is most likely Amanda Shook, Cochran’s Director of Operations. It is important to note that Saleem Baird is a paid member of the staff of Mississippi’s other United States Senator, Roger Wicker. This suggests that the entire Mississippi Republican establishment was in on this crime. Given that Baird was arrested in 2011 for operating an illegal strip club and still kept his job with Wicker, it is entirely likely that Baird would be seen as the perfect person to set this fraud in motion.
According to the Reverend’s statement, it was Baird who convinced him that Chris McDaniel is a racist who had to be kept out of office–even if it meant committing voter fraud to do so.
Advertisement - story continues below
Although he is a Democrat, Reverend Fielder says he has voted Republican before; and he went on to insist that he committed his crime out of fear of seeing McDaniel elected rather than because of the money involved in his fraud.
When asked what he thought should happen in regard to the election, he said it should “definitely …. not be allowed to stand,” and that he would support McDaniel in the future, “He’s been done wrong. He’s not what they said that he is,” he added.
While confession is good for the soul, and we can root for Reverend Fielder to be treated leniently because of his cooperation, let’s also hope he has to support Chris McDaniel from a prison cell where he belongs.
This is not over by a long shot.
Advertisement - story continues below
The views expressed in this opinion article are solely those of their author and are not necessarily either shared or endorsed by the owners of this website.
Advertisement