Posted on 05/14/2005 7:17:26 PM PDT by conservative in nyc
Kidded by a colleague about his "deviousness," one-time gubernatorial aide Joseph F. Steffen Jr. replied that he had "never been caught at anything," according to an e-mail released yesterday by the Maryland Insurance Administration.
The e-mail, written four months before he acknowledged spreading rumors about Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley's private life, was among 242 pages of documents released yesterday by the insurance administration in response to a freedom of information request by The Sun, The Washington Post and the Associated Press.
In the e-mail exchange, Amy Stupi, an insurance administration employee who struck up a friendship with Steffen during his time at the agency, hinted that she had conducted an Internet search to find information about the longtime aide to Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. as U.S. congressman and Maryland governor.
She sent him a link to a Web page listing an appearance by another man named Joe Steffen on talk radio in Georgia. That Joe Steffen is listed as the spokesman for the Chatham County, Ga., Democratic Party. The Steffen in Maryland has long been associated with Republican politics and worked with Ehrlich for more than a decade.
"I expected to find something. i mean something on you on the internet, what with all your deviousness and whatnot ... but to no avail," she wrote.
Steffen replied: "Who, me!? I've never -- NEVER -- been caught at anything. Suspected of much, but nothing provable -- and if anyone does hit me with something, without being able to prove it -- well, that is slander (or libel if it's a written attack) and I will clean their clock in court."
In February, Ehrlich fired Steffen after learning that he bragged online about a widespread effort to spread rumors about O'Malley.
(Excerpt) Read more at baltimoresun.com ...
NCPAC/MD4Bush Ping!
The Balimur Sun has long had this problem.
Oh, nevermind!
More of the Baltimore Sun's libel.
I wish this thing would go to court.
Thanks for the ping.
That is an outright lie. He never acknowledged spreading rumors. The early articles all cited his posts to Free Republic, but close examination of the threads in question reveal that other posters may have spread rumors or asked questions, but MD4Bush did not. It has also been said that he did not spread rumors in his private e-mails either.
This reporter is a liar.
NCPAC was Steffen. MD4Bush posted private Freepmails on FR where Steffen obliquely referred to something that sure sounded like an admission of spreading rumors. And that's as good as admitting it to the liberal media, right?
Steffen didn't admit anything of the sort because he didn't spread any rumors. He DID admit to discussing the rumors brought up by MD4Bush on FR, but he didn't offer any himself. When I read the exchange between the two, it seemed as though MD4Bush was goading Steffen into saying something so that he COULD be accused of spreading rumors, but Steffen didn't take the bait.
That was my take, too. I think Steffen was too smart to take the bait.
Steffen replied: "Who, me!? I've never -- NEVER -- been caught at anything. Suspected of much, but nothing provable -- and if anyone does hit me with something, without being able to prove it -- well, that is slander (or libel if it's a written attack) and I will clean their clock in court."
It doesn't sound like Steffen gets sloppy.
Thanks for the ping!
RE: he acknowledged spreading rumors about Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley's private life
WHAT LIARS! Please, a libel lawsuit ... PLEASE!
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