Gilliard Blanning Reportedly Behind Deceptive and Misleading Email

A friend forwarded me an email (see below) which they were able to trace back to a Gilliard Blanning ISP!  Gilliard Blanning is Hutchens' campaign consultantant.  The firm has connections to several corruption investigations (see bottom).  Hutchens is righteously scared that she will loose this election on June 8th.  I have been hearing overwhelming support for Hunt which was appearently demonstrated at a downtown Santa Ana rally today.  I expect more of these types of emails in the days to come.

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: "no-reply@votercommunication.com"
To:
Sent: Wed, June 2, 2010 11:25:54 AM
Subject: Hunt Rally Today To Defend Gang-Banger Work
Bill Hunt will Defend His Gang-Banger Defense Work at Protest Rally in Front of Santa Ana Police Department
Pivate investigator Bill Hunt will try to revive his faltering campaign for Sheriff by defending the indefensible – his work to help violent gang-bangers escape punishment. Hunt is holding a protest rally in front of the Santa Ana Police Department at 11:30 AM today to defend himself.

An interesting side note is that Gilliard Blanning has done very little for one of their other candidates, Shawn Nelson, who is running for the 4th Supervisorial District seat vacated by newly elected Chris Norby. I haven't seen any smear emails from Gilliard Blanning against Harry Sidhu. Maybe Shawn isn't paying for the Platinum Campaign Package that Hutchens is. Or maybe Shawn is paying more and getting better advice, like "don't run a negative campaign; let the independent expenditures do that."

You might recall Gilliard Blanning and Associates was visited back in February of this year by investigators from the Riverside County DA's Office as was reported HERE and HERE. Several of their clients have been named as defendants in a corruption and conspiracy case as mentioned in the Press-Enterprise article. I hope no one at Gilliard Blanning or any of their "associates" needs a defense attorney.  Surely the defense attorney will want to hire a private investigator and we can't have that!

Prominent GOP Insider Represents and Supports Democratic Candidate

Why is John Lewis, whose own partner, VP Matt Holder, is an alternate on the OC GOP central committee supporting, endorsing, and working for a Democrat? It isn’t as if this was some up and coming blue-dog Dem that there might be hope of converting to the red side either. This is the notorious Tom Daly whom FFFF has been reporting on for several months as perhaps the most egregious and dubious waster of public funds that OC tax-payers have seen in a long time, maybe ever!

Clearly John Lewis isn’t doing it because he believes his own rhetoric…or does he? This mailer/advertisement says Daly is a “tax fighter has cut wasteful spending…” I suppose John Lewis has missed the news: Tom Daly has cost OC taxpayers millions upon millions of dollars of needless spending for the sole purpose of satisfying donors, their friends, and their families. No, I think Lewis got that memo. In fact, I think Lewis is a big part of that waste, though I don’t have any tangible proof. I have only heard the rumors about Lewis hanging around the OC Hall of Administration looking to get into the budget meetings of Daly et al. But the new security system makes it tough to sneak in and grease the wheels of department heads. Less the contrary be shown, these are still just rumors.

Regardless, why is this former California GOP State Senator working for Daly? According to his website, Lewis has worked on sports facilities. Does that include sports museums and sports hall of fame like what Daly has been working on? One can only guess.

The only reason I bring any of this up is because the OC Register did a short piece on this. In the article, Lewis says he doesn’t know why OC Assessor Webster Guillory’s photo was not included in the ad. That seems like a big OOOPS for a firm who touts being consultants to guys like Congressman Ed Royce and Assemblyman Chris Norby. The “mistake?” seems like something a high school intern might make, not a big time GOP (sometimes Democratic) consultant might make. So what gives?

And I haven’t even mentioned Hutchens, who, according to the Press Telegram, hired Gilliard-Blanning as her political consultant. I tell you, some of these “Republicans” sure get around. Maybe Guillory should call Gilliard so he can get his face out there to voters.  Until then, here is Wenster Guillory.

Hutchens Consultant Under Investigation for Corruption

Riverside County DA sends investigators to Northern California political consultant's office

12:02 PM PST on Thursday, March 4, 2010

By JIM MILLER

Sacramento Bureau

Special Section: San Jacinto Corruption Probe

SACRAMENTO - Riverside County district attorney investigators showed up last week at the Northern California offices of a prominent Republican consulting firm and a bookkeeping business linked to a defendant in the campaign-finance prosecution of several Inland political and civic leaders.

Gilliard Blanning and Associates of Rocklin and the KAL Group of Willows have advised dozens of candidates and campaign groups in the Inland area and around the state over the years.

During the 2008 election cycle, the companies worked for a committee involved in the hard-fought Republican primary for Riverside County's 37th Senate District between then-Assemblyman John Benoit and former Assemblyman Russ Bogh.

District attorney investigators spent part of last Thursday at Gilliard Blanning's office.

The same day, members of the district attorney's political corruption unit served a search warrant at the KAL Group, according to government records.

A spokesman for Riverside County District Attorney Rod Pacheco would neither confirm nor deny last week's activities. David Gilliard, a GOP campaign veteran, has not returned several phone calls in recent days. KAL Group owner Kelly Lawler also has not returned requests for comment.

In November, Pacheco's office announced a 155-count indictment alleging that nine people, including four of the five San Jacinto City Council members, conspired to skirt campaign contribution limits and funnel money into the 2006 Assembly candidacy of San Jacinto Councilman Jim Ayres.

Neither Gilliard Blanning nor the KAL Group was part of the indictment. State records show that neither business was involved in the 2006 Assembly primary race at the heart of the November case.

Speculation in political circles has centered on ties between the two firms and Stephen R. Holgate, one of the defendants in the Riverside County case.

In spring 2008, Holgate, an Inland developer and former CHP officer, largely bankrolled a pro-Benoit campaign committee called Conservative Leaders of America, giving it $100,000.

Almost all of the advertising money went through Gilliard Blanning. The KAL Group, the committee's treasurer, was paid about $2,000.

The committee paid for a barrage of TV ads and mailers promoting Benoit or opposing Bogh.

Bogh is a close political ally of Pacheco.

Benoit's consultant in 2008, Jim Nygren, said Wednesday that he has not had any communication with Pacheco's office.

Rocklin police Lt. Lon Milka said officers assisted the Riverside County investigators at a Rocklin address that matches that of Gilliard Blanning and Associates.

A report from the Glenn County Sheriff's Department said two sheriff's officials accompanied the investigators to Lawler's home office in unincorporated Willows.

Staff writers Dug Begley, Duane W. Gang and Rich De Atley contributed to this report.

Gilliard is a partner in campaign consulting firm Gilliard Blanning Wysocki & Associates (GBWA) http://www.gbwasacramento.com/team/

July 2008: Gilliard hired on as manager of Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens' 2010 campaign.


2007-08: GBWA managed the following campaigns in the June 3, 2008 primary:
Duncan D. Hunter, 52nd congressional district
Mimi Walters, 33rd Senate District
Brian Nestande, 64th Assembly District
Jeff Miller, 71st Assembly district


October, 2007: Gilliard is directing the effort to gather signatures toward qualifiying for the ballot the Presidential Election Reform Act initiative. Source: http://www.totalcapitol.com/?news_id=795318&redirect=http://www.sacbee.com/capolitics/story/448235.html

Gillard is an adviser to Rep. Darrell Issa