Brooks Brothers riot

One man dirty trick  is other man civic participation "
Roger Stone

***
Brooks Brothers riot

Duration November 22, 2000
Location Miami-Dade County, Florida
Motive Disrupt recount of votes in the 2000 United States presidential election
Target Officials canvassing the vote

The Brooks Brothers riot was a demonstration led by Republican staffers at a meeting of election canvassers in Miami-Dade County, Florida, on November 22, 2000, during a recount of votes made during the 2000 United States presidential election, with the goal of shutting down the recount. After demonstrations and acts of violence, local officials shut down the recount early. This had the effect of ensuring that the December 12 "safe harbor" deadline set by Title 3 of the United States Code could not be met, guaranteeing that George W. Bush would win the 2000 election.

The name referenced the protesters' corporate attire; described by Paul Gigot in an editorial for The Wall Street Journal as "50-year-old white lawyers with cell phones and Hermes ties", differentiating them from local citizens concerned about vote counting.[1] Many of the demonstrators were Republican staffers.[2] Both Roger Stone and Brad Blakeman take credit for managing the riot from a command post, although their accounts contradict each other.[2] Republican New York Representative John E. Sweeney gave the signal that started the riot,[3] telling an aide to "shut it down".[4][5]

Background
Main article: 2000 United States presidential election recount in Florida §
Recount
In the 2000 United States presidential election between candidates George W. Bush and Al Gore, in the state of Florida, George W. Bush achieved an election night majority by 1,784 votes, a very close margin. Due to the closeness of the race, and irregularities such as hanging chads, the Gore campaign successfully advocated for a re-count of certain ballots. Miami-Dade County was one of the counties where ballots were re-counted.

The Miami-Dade County Democratic Party chairman suspected that thousands of ballots in this county might have been affected by a voting machine glitch.[6] He suspected that these ballots, after re-tallying, would help candidate Al Gore.[6] Miami-Dade County official canvassers, in order to meet a court-ordered deadline, decided to limit the county's recount to the 10,750 ballots that their tabulation machines had been unable to tally. They moved the counting process to a smaller room, closer to the ballot-scanning equipment, to speed up the process, at a distance from the media. Republican officials objected to this change.

The demonstration
Hundreds of people, including many Republican staffers,[3][7] descended upon South Florida to protest the state's recounts.[7] The demonstration was organized by these operatives, sometimes referred to as the "Brooks Brothers Brigade",[8] to oppose the recount of ballots during the Florida election recount. The official canvassers, to speed up the process and meet their deadline, moved the counting process into a new room, and members of the media were restricted to a distance of 25 feet away.

Republicans objected to this change of plans. John E. Sweeney of New York, nicknamed "Congressman Kick-Ass" by President Bush for his work in Florida,[9] set the incident in motion[10] by telling an aide to 'stop them'[1][5] and to "Shut it down."[1][5] The demonstration turned violent and, according to The New York Times, "several people were trampled, punched or kicked when protesters tried to rush the doors outside the office of the Miami-Dade supervisor of elections. Sheriff's deputies restored order." Democratic National Committee aide Luis Rosero claimed to be kicked and punched outside of Leahy's office.[11] Within two hours after the event, the canvassing board unanimously voted to shut down the count, in part due to perceptions that the process was not open or fair, and in part because the court-mandated deadline had become impossible to meet, due to the interference.[11][12]

Sweeney defended his actions, arguing that his aim was not to stop the hand recount, but to restore the process to public view.[3] Other Bush supporters acknowledged they hoped to end the recount. "We were trying to stop the recount; Bush had already won," said Evilio Cepero, a reporter for WAQI, an influential Spanish talk radio station in Miami. "We were urging people to come downtown and support and protest this injustice." A Republican lawyer commented, "People were pounding on the doors, but they had an absolute right to get in."[11] The protest interfered with attendance by official observers and hindered access by members of the press.[13] In a radio interview in Albany on November 28, Sweeney said, "What I essentially told my people is, 'You've got to stop them'." "Whether I said, 'You've got to shut it down' or 'stop them,' I frankly don't quite recall."[3]

Several of the protestors were identified as Republican congressional staffers.[3][7] A number of the demonstrators later took jobs in the incoming Bush administration.[14]

Participants
A partial list:[14]

Brad Blakeman, Republican strategist.[2]
Chuck Royal, legislative assistant to Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.)[15]
Duane Gibson, a Don Young aide on the House Resources Committee who worked for Ted Stevens, then became a lobbyist associated with Jack Abramoff[16]
Garry Malphrus, who became deputy director of the White House Domestic Policy Council during the Bush administration[14]
Joel Kaplan, who became a policy advisor in the Bush administration, and later Vice President of U.S. Public Policy for Facebook, Inc[17][18]
Kevin Smith, a former GOP House aide[14]
Layna McConkey Peltier, a former Senate and House aide[19]
Marjorie Strayer, an aide to New Mexico's Republican congresswoman, Heather Wilson.[7]
Matt Schlapp, a former Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-KS) House aide, becoming the White House political director during the Bush administration,[14] and director of the American Conservative Union in 2014.[20]
Roger Morse, a former House aide who became a lobbyist[14]
Roger Stone,[21] a self-described "GOP Hitman"[22] and former member of Nixon's Committee for the Re-Election of the President
Rory Cooper, a former staffer for the National Republican Congressional Committee and later the White House Homeland Security Council[14]
Steven Brophy, a former GOP Senate aide to Senators Fred Thompson, Bill Frist, and in 2003, Representative Marsha Blackburn, and later became V.P. at Dollar General[23]
Tom Pyle, a former Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) staffer who later worked for Koch Industries[14]
Legacy
According to conversations leaked to The Washington Post by journalist and liberal activist Sarah Ashton-Cirillo—who had worked for the Nevada Republican Party under an assumed hard-right, Trumpist persona—a vice president at consultancy McShane LLC claimed that Republican congressman Paul Gosar was planning a "Brooks Brothers Riot" in Arizona to disrupt the counting of votes in the 2020 United States presidential election, and told Ashton-Cirillo to "get the Proud Boys out" for a similar event in Clark County, Nevada. Gosar denies having discussed any protests with the McShane vice president.[24]

See also
2002 New Hampshire Senate election phone jamming scandal
Ballot Security Task Force, a controversial group founded in 1981 by the Republican National Committee and accused of intimidating voters and discouraging voter turnout among likely Democratic voters in New Jersey.
Bush v. Gore, the 2000 Supreme Court decision deciding the fate of the 2000 United States presidential election.
Democratic backsliding in the United States – Ongoing American political phenomenon
January 6 United States Capitol attack – 2021 mob attempt to prevent Presidential electoral vote count
Republican efforts to restrict voting following the 2020 presidential election
References
 Gigot, Paul A. (November 24, 2000). "Miami Heat: A burgher rebellion in Dade County". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on February 16, 2006.
 Miller, Michael E. (November 15, 2018). "'It's insanity!': How the 'Brooks Brothers Riot' killed the 2000 recount in Miami". Washington Post.
 "Sweeney and the Siege of Miami", Slate, Timothy Noah, November 28, 2000. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
 Gigot, Paul A. (November 24, 2000). "Miami Heat: A burgher rebellion in Dade County". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on February 16, 2006.
 Dana Canedy, Dexter Filkins (November 23, 2000), "Counting the Vote: Miami-Dade County; A Wild Day in Miami, With an End to Recounting, and Democrats' Going to Court", The New York Times
 "'It's insanity!': How the 'Brooks Brothers Riot' killed the 2000 recount in Miami". The Washington Post. The county's Democratic Party chairman was worried that thousands of Miami-Dade ballots might have been affected by a voting machine glitch, potentially costing Gore the election.
 "Mob Scene in Miami", Time, November 26, 2000
 Pullizi, Henry J (August 4, 2009), "White House Brushes Off Health-Care Protests", The Wall Street Journal.
 Staba, David (August 22, 2006), "Race Profile: The 20th District in New York", The New York Times,
 Lantigua, John (November 28, 2000): Miami's rent-a-riot Archived August 19, 2006, at the Wayback Machine, Salon, Politics
 Dexter Filkins and Dana Canedy. "Protest Influenced Miami-Dade's Decision to Stop Recount", The New York Times, November 24, 2008
 Joe Conason (December 3, 2000). "Right-Wingers Praise Antics of Bush Thugs" The New York Observer
 Clary, Mike (December 2, 2000). "Miami Mayor Denies Gore Urged Him to Publicly Support Recount". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 15, 2016.
 Kamen, Al (January 24, 2005). "Miami 'Riot' Squad: Where Are They Now?". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on July 24, 2008.
 Miami 'Riot' Squad: Where Are They Now?, Washington Post, January 24, 2005.
 Manufactured Protesters Are Killing Democracy, Huffington Post, September 7, 2009. Retrieved January 4, 2018.
 Rood, Justin (April 19, 2006). "New WH Policy Chief Was "Brooks Brothers" Rioter". Talking Points Memo.
 Gold, Ashley (March 27, 2019). "The People With Power on Facebook's Policy and Communications Team". The Information.
 Heard on the Hill: Still a Riot, 10 Years Later[permanent dead link], Roll Call, Alison McSherry, November 15, 2010. Retrieved January 4, 2017.
 Matt Schlapp elected ACU chairman, Politico, Katie Glueck, June 19, 2014. Retrieved February 6, 2023.
 Reinhard, Beth (May 17, 2008). "Bush strategist shares insight on '00 recount". Miami Herald. Archived from the original on March 29, 2019. Retrieved July 24, 2011.
 Sarlin, Benjamin (November 20, 2008). "A GOP Dirty Trickster Has Second Thoughts". The Daily Beast.
 Steve Brophy honored by Tennessee National Guard, Williamson Herald, Mindy Tate, January 22, 2009. Retrieved January 4, 2017.
 Scherer, Michael (June 2, 2021). "To build a crowd for a pro-Trump rally, Nevada GOP consultant sought help from Proud Boys". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. OCLC 1330888409. Archived from the original on April 19, 2022. Retrieved August 9, 2022.
(1996) 2000 United States presidential election (2004 ;)
Categories: 2000 riots2000 United States presidential election in FloridaDemonstrationsHistory of Miami-Dade County, FloridaProtests against results of electionsRiots and civil disorder in Miami-Dade County, Florida


***
2019
 
Analysis
Roger Stone: a master of the political dirty trick
Ed Pilkington
in New York
Beginning with Richard Nixon in the early 1970s, the former adviser for Donald Trump has made a career of ruthless campaigning

Sat 26 Jan 2019
The raid happened before dawn, a Swat team of heavily-armed FBI agents in camouflage uniforms rushing between Florida palm trees to confront their target. The spectacle was laden with melodrama, surprisingly so given who had ordered it: Robert Mueller, the special counsel in the Russia investigation who has turned understatement into an art form.

Former Trump Associate Roger Stone Arrested In Charges Related To Mueller Investigation.
Roger Stone says he won't testify against Trump after Mueller indictment

But for the man at the receiving end of the FBI swoop, the fireworks were entirely in keeping. Roger Stone, the political consultant indicted on seven counts on Friday in Mueller’s probe into Russia interference in the 2016 US election, is a connoisseur of political pyrotechnics.

The 66-year-old was one of the “ratfuckers” who engaged in dirty tricks on behalf of Richard Nixon in the early 1970s, when he was still a teenager. From there he carved out a career in the dark arts of ruthless campaigning, working for Ronald Reagan, Bob Dole and latterly Donald Trump.

His attachment to Nixon is enduring, literally so in the form of the disgraced former president’s grinning face tattooed on his back. As Stone emerged from a Fort Lauderdale courthouse following his indictment later on Friday, he alluded to his hero by making the same “V for victory” pose that Nixon adopted in 1974 as he boarded Marine One for the last time.

An arch conspiracy theorist, Stone embraced “fake news” before the term existed. His blurring of the lines between real and make-believe goes so far that it is hard to tell where the real Roger Stone ends and the fictitious Roger Stone begins, replete with top hat and tails, chauffeur-driven Jaguars and martinis mixed to a recipe given to him by Nixon, who in turn inherited it, like the V-sign, from Winston Churchill.

Roger Stone at his office in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in 2014.
Roger Stone at his office in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in 2014. Photograph: Miami Herald/MCT via Getty Images
“The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about,” Stone said on the steps of the Florida courthouse, as though dictating his own epitaph.

There are flashes of that rapscallion Stone in Mueller’s 23-page indictment. The document quotes a text message sent by Stone to a person alleged to be his go-between with WikiLeaks during the 2016 election.

In it, Stone circles back yet again to Nixon as he tries to persuade the intermediary to keep his mouth shut when facing investigators. “Stonewall it,” the text says. ‘Plead the fifth. Anything to save the plan … Richard Nixon.”

In further attempts allegedly to lean on the individual – dubbed “Person 2” in the indictment but presumed to be the radio host Randy Credico – Stone drew on a character from The Godfather: Part II. Do a “Frank Pentangeli” he exhorted, referring to the movie mobster who under duress retracts his testimony against mafia boss Michael Corleone in front of a congressional committee.

The new charges concentrate on Stone’s alleged lies about his actions concerning WikiLeaks and its release of thousands of Democratic emails reportedly hacked by Russian agents during the 2016 election. Seasoned observers of Stone will be less than astonished by such accusations, given his relativist approach to right and wrong.

This combination of pictures created on January 8, 2018 shows files photos of FBI Director Robert Mueller (L) on June 19, 2013, in Washington, DC; and US President Donald Trump on December 15, 2017, in Washington, DC. - Donald Trump has transmitted on November 20, 2018, his written responses to questions by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election that brought the president to office. (Photos by SAUL LOEB and Brendan Smialowski / AFP)SAUL LOEB,BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images
'He has moved incredibly quickly': Mueller nears Trump endgame
Read more
As he told the Guardian in 2017: “One man’s dirty trick is another man’s civic participation.”

But Mueller goes much further. He presents a mass of detail alleging Stone was proactive both in seeking information about WikiLeaks’ hacked material and, crucially, in passing that information to senior figures within the Trump campaign.

As such, Stone acts as a lightning conductor, channeling the legal peril posed by Mueller deep into the heart of Trump’s inner circle. After the first tranche of stolen Democratic emails was released by WikiLeaks in July 2016, Mueller notes, “a senior Trump Campaign official was directed to contact Stone about any additional releases … Stone thereafter told the Trump Campaign about potential future releases of damaging material by [WikiLeaks]”.

“Directed”: the word will send shivers down White House spines. Though the individual who did the directing remains a mystery, speculation will inevitably veer towards the occupant of the Oval Office.

Trump and Stone go back decades. Stone first urged the real estate developer to stand for president in the 1980s, was Trump’s main adviser when he toyed with running in 2000, and duly entered the presidential campaign when Trump took the leap in 2015.

Roger Stone was Donald Trump’s main adviser when he flirted with running for president in 2000.
Roger Stone was Donald Trump’s main adviser when he flirted with running for president in 2000. Photograph: The Washington Post/Getty Images
The pair are natural allies. Stone’s adoration of Nixon as a political strongman is shared by Trump. They both see themselves as outsiders; are attracted to conspiracy theories – the “birther” lie that Barack Obama was born in Kenya was propagated by both; and have a profoundly relaxed approach to veracity.

Stone calls himself a “fervent supporter” of the president and “one of his oldest friends”. Trump, by contrast, sensing danger perhaps, has tried to put distance between them. In 2008 he told the New Yorker: “Roger is a stone-cold loser.” He went on to complain that Stone “always tries taking credit for things he never did”, inadvertently pointing towards another quality they have in common.

Stone quit the Trump campaign in August 2015. Was he fired, did he walk? The reality was, true to form, opaque. But even after departing, as Mueller spells out, Stone kept in close touch with senior figures such as Steve Bannon.

On the steps of the Fort Lauderdale courthouse following his indictment, Stone proclaimed himself “not guilty”. He declared: “I will not testify against the president.”

As a statement of intent, it was entirely unambiguous. Donald Trump should be worried.