In July 2008, attorney Arnebeck asked U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey to hold onto all of Roves e-mails. Rove was identified in the lawsuit as the principal perpetrator of a pattern of corrupt activity under the Ohio Corrupt Practices Act. We have been confidentially informed by a source we believe to be credible that Karl Rove has threatened Michael Connell . . . that if he does not agree to take the fall for election fraud in Ohio, his wife Heather will be prosecuted for supposed law lobby violations.

Then, in September, Connell got issued a subpoena. His attorney, Bill Todd, who happened to also have been legal counsel for Bush/Cheney 04, said that Connell couldnt be deposed before the election because he was too busy working for the John McCain campaign. Shortly before the November election, Connell appeared with a trio of lawyers before an Ohio judge, who ordered him to give a deposition. With the election one day away, Connell denied any role in recommending the Chattanooga SMARTech company to Ohio officials in 2004, but he did admit for the record that his company had subcontracted with SMARTech.

This might have shaken up Rove and company. In mid-October, Rove had an article in the Wall Street Journal headlined Obama Hasnt Closed the Sale. The latest Gallup tracking poll showed nearly twice as many undecided voters than in the 2004 election, Rove said, so Obamas 7.3% lead didnt necessarily mean that much. McCain, entering the final weekend of the race, predicted a come-from-behind victory, based on how things were looking in battleground states like Ohio. But then suddenly, on Monday night, after Connell gave his deposition, it all changed. The new Rove electoral map predicted a 338-to-200 electoral vote margin in favor of Obama. Rove had basically done a 180-degree turn.