I’m still waiting to see proof that anyone from Baird’s Office ever did what they repeatedly said they did…

Rebutting Columbian Editor Lou Brancaccio: My name is “blogger”

I am the Private citizen who telephoned the Capitol Hill Police Department on Friday morning, August 21 2009, and I was the subject of Columbian Editor Lou Brancaccio’s Press Talk column from August 25th, “Moving Forward on the Baird Story”.

http://columbian.com/article/20090825/NEWS02/708259998/-1/NEWS

When I read a report that morning by Kathy Durbin of the Columbian that Congressman Brian Baird had reported a second “death threat” to the Capitol Hill Police, but was in fact based on a telephone threat he had received earlier in the month, I decided to see if I could find out any more information than what newspaper was reporting.

I used the internet search engine Google to find the web page of the Capitol Hill Police Department. On their “Contact the US Capitol Hill Police” I found :

Watch Commander’s Office:
202-224-0908
(Citizen inquiries or concerns)

I called the Watch Commander’s Office , clearly identified myself and told that person who I was, and that I was seeking confirmation that 2 “Death threats” against my US Congressman had in fact been properly reported and were in fact being investigated. The Watch Commander told me that the “Threats Office” might be able to help me and transferred my call to them.

When I talked to the Agent at the Threats Office, they told me the same thing that Mr. Brancaccio has already related (at least in part) in that the Agent could neither confirm or deny that any Investigation was or was not underway as a matter of policy. He did tell me that he could not investigate anything without a report being generated by the “Records and Reports Office”. He said he would try to transfer me, but gave me their unlisted number just in case. (202-593-4099 as it was listed in my initial report).

I called “Records and Reports” and identified myself as a private Citizen and said approximately the following:
Quote:

“My name is Bob Koski, I am a Private Citizen living in Vancouver Washington, and my local newspaper is telling me today that there have been 2 different “Death threats” made against my US Congressman Brian Baird, and that these matters have been “turned over to the Capitol Hill Police Department for investigation”. I am not calling to ask about any details, or to interfere in any way with an investigation that may be in progress, all I want to know is (A) Has there been a report made to your office about these Death Threats, and (B) are they under investigation?”
The answers I got were “No” and “No”. I left my full name and home telephone number with “Records and Reports” and asked that person to call me personally if they found out anything further.

I believe in my heart that I got an honest answer to a direct question precisely because I did not call and identify myself as a blogger who was just looking for something to talk about. I called in a quiet, calm and respectful manner, and connected on a personal level, one private citizen to another.

I deliberately did not ask for any identifying information from any of the people I talked to. I am not a professional journalist, but I am no child either. I am perfectly aware of the serious consequences that people are subjected to all the time for making unauthorized statements on matters like this. I attribute my ability to get an honest answer to being honest and non-threatening in my inquiry.

Since I placed these called from my home, I have my personal telephone records that will be available for Public examination as soon as I get them in the mail, to anyone who wishes to verify my calls. If necessary, the Capitol Hill Police can be asked to verify that I made those calls as well through their own records that prove they received the long-distance calls I placed to them from my home..

Mr. Brancaccio chose not to try and verify the statements I made at my website and e-mailed directly to his attention that same Friday morning, until sometime Monday when he realized that the story had been picked up Portland talk radio host Victoria Taft, who announced Monday afternoon that she was going to be discussing this issue with me on her show at Five O’Clock. Mr. Brancaccio rushed his column into print shortly before Victoria Taft went live that day.

I stand by every statement I have made to date. I am convinced that as of Friday morning, August 21, 2009, no formal report on any death threats against Congressman Baird had been made to the Capitol Hill Police. That is what I told Victoria Taft on the air shortly after Lou Brancaccio rushed his column to print.

As I made perfectly clear from the beginning, I am not interested in compromising an investigation, or being responsible for getting anyone fired, but considering the lack of direct information about these “death threats” it is now incumbent upon Congressman Baird to set the record straight himself.

In the interest of finding the truth, I am offering the following to anyone who wishes to verify my story:

1. I am willing to submit to a polygraph test to verify the accuracy of my statements of August 21st.

2. I am willing to swear out an official Deposition or Affidavit swearing to the accuracy of those same statements.

3. I am willing to submit my personal telephone records to prove that I really did make those calls.

4. I will talk to anyone, at any time, on the record and for direct attribution to me personally, about the exact details of what I discovered on August 21, 2009.

Anyone who wishes to contact me about this can e-mail me at:

bkoski@worldaccessnet.com

This morning I proffered an Olive Branch to Editorial Editor John Laird at the Columbian. I told him I regretted all of the bad blood between the paper and this website, and appealed to him for an opportunity to tell you exactly what I am telling you now, and he flatly rejected the offer. He did not even offer to connect me with one of his reporters to try and address what I sent to him directly last Friday.

I am exploring other opportunities to get the truth out about what I have said to date, and that I stand by every word. The columbian is clearly not interested in the truth, and have clearly rejected an honest offer from me to try and take the first step toward healing these gaping wounds that the columbian and I have inflicted on one another for what will soon enter it’s fourth year.

In my view, the only person who can truly settle this controversy now is Congressman Baird himself, and I call on him to issue a definitive written statement on these matters that directly details what happened, and when, and publish it himself on his website. I do not want to hear anything else that has been filtered through his Chief of staff, his District Director, the Columbian or anyone else.

I think that is a reasonable solution to this mess, and I will work to get that message directly to Congressman Brian Baird.

Your move Congressman.