MilwaukeeWorld: Retraction and Apology for December, 2004 item

Dear Reader, On December 13, 2004, I wrote the following: "And then, we all remember that Dave Begel was accused of solicitingsignatures for Gary George¹s gubernatorial campaign on state time. Isn¹t it time we mention -- and I can prove this one -- that Begel wasn¹tsoliciting campaign signatures as much as he was forging them? Go back tothe files and take a look that is Begel¹s handwriting all over.

Mr Begel contacted me on January 12, 2006 with this message:

“This is a lie. I demand a retraction and an apology, in writing and in yourcolumn. As you know, handwriting experts hired by the Milwaukee CountyDistrict Attorney, clearly said the signatures in question were not myhandwriting.” Apology and Retraction: I apologize to David C. Begel and retract my statement that I could prove he was the signatory of forged nomination papers. I should have said, as did a forensic expert, that there were “irregularities in the signatures on the papers” circulated by Dave Begel, Debbie Thao and Locha Thao. I should not have attributed the signatures themselves to Dave Begel. The forensic expert told me that the signatures, in her opinion, were not in Begel's handwriting.

For further information, including examples of the nomination papers, complaints and affidavits filed in the case, I am grateful to wispolitics.com for maintaining, in its archives, the documents below, which the reader is welcome to examine.

The first link is to the affidavit of a forensic handwriting expert, and the second is a complaint filed with the State of Wisconsin Elections Board that includes the affidavit referenced above and other documents in the case.

http://archive.wispolitics.com/freeser/features/featdl/george/attachE.pdf

http://archive.wispolitics.com/freeser/features/f0207/f02071601.html

I apologize for any loss of reputation Mr. Begel may have suffered due to my posting.

Michael Horne

Editor / Publisher