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Home ยป News ยป News ยป Maine company tied to Chinese fundraising scandal with Obama.com
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Maine company tied to Chinese fundraising scandal with Obama.com

Steve RobinsonBy Steve RobinsonOctober 8, 20125 Comments4 Mins Read
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Obama.com owned by bundler in Shanghai with business ties to Chinese government

A breaking story on Brietbart.com reveals thatย the Obama.com website is owned byย a U.S. citizen living in Shanghai, China and may provide the opportunity forย foreign or fraudulent donations.ย The website is managed by a small web development firm, Wicked Global, in Maine.ย Greg Dorrย of Wicked Global lists on hisย LinkedIn pageย his additional employment with Peace Action Maine and Maine Voices for Palestinian Rights.

Thisย storyย was written byย Wynton Hall onย Brietbart.com.

In an explosive report set to send shockwaves through official Washington, theย Government Accountability Institute (GAI)ย released a 108-page GAI investigation into the threat of foreign and fraudulent Internet campaign donations in U.S. federal elections(visitย campaignfundingrisks.comย to download the full report).

Breitbart News obtained an advance copy of the bombshellย reportย which reveals that the Obama.com website is not owned by the presidentโ€™s campaign but rather by Obamabundlerย Robert Roche, a U.S. citizen living in Shanghai, China. Roche is the chairman of a Chinese infomercial company, Acorn International, with ties to state-controlled banks that allow it to โ€œgain revenue through credit card transactions with Chinese banks.โ€

According to the GAI report, 68 percent of all Internet traffic to Obama.com comes from foreign visitors.

Thereโ€™s more.

The unusual Obama.com website redirects traffic directly to a donation page on the Obama campaignโ€™s official website, my.barackobama.com, which does not require donors tob enter their credit card security code (known as the CVV code), thereby increasing the likelihood of foreign or fraudulent donations. The website is managed by a small web development firm, Wicked Global, in Maine. One of Wicked Globalโ€™s employees, Greg Dorr, lists on hisย LinkedIn pageย his additional employment with Peace Action Maine and Maine Voices for Palestinian Rights.

This is from the report:

On October 4, 2010, Obama.comโ€™s site registration was changed from โ€œRoche, Robertโ€ toย an anonymous registration with a company called Domains By Proxy, which is owned byย GoDaddy. Later, server hosting was changed from Japan Global Media Online toย Hostmonster/Bluehost.com, a company based out of Utah.

Administration of the page was taken over by a small company with only four employeesย listed on its website. Wicked Global, of Waterville, Maine, registered to a 25-year-old formerย Harvard student named Derek Dorr. Another Dorr, Gregory, is listed as โ€œLead Marketingโ€ forย Wicked Global and lists additional work for himself on LinkedIn: fundraising and programย director for Peace Action Maine and as a โ€œprivate consultantโ€ with Maine Voices for Palestinianย Rights.

Confirming Wicked Globalโ€™s association with Obama.com is simple enough. First,ย the Google Analytics account registered to Obama.com is registered to Wicked Global as well.ย Second, when someone forces an error on Obama.com they are prompted to contact Wickedย Global.

Who arranged for Wicked Global to oversee Obama.com, and why that was done isย unknown.

And there’s still more.

In 2011, Mr. Roche obtained one of the most sought-after pieces of real estate in Washington, DC: a seat at theย head tableย for President Obamaโ€™s State Dinner for Chinese President Hu Jintao. How Rocheโ€”a man whose infomercial company hawks fitness equipment, cell phones, and breast enhancement productsโ€”landed a seat alongside Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former President Bill Clinton, Sen. John Kerry, former President Jimmy Carter, and Chinese President Hu Jintao remains unclear.

Since 2009, White House Visitor Logs list the name Robert Roche at leastย 19 times, despite the fact Mr. Rocheโ€™s primary residence is in China.

Mr. Roche, who is originally from Chicago, is aย co-chairย of the Technology Initiative for the Obama campaign.

According toย Acorn Internationalโ€™sย prospectus, the success of Mr. Rocheโ€™s company hinges on maintaining access to state-run media and โ€œpreferential tax treatments and subsidiesโ€ doled out by the Peopleโ€™s Republic of China (PRC):

Our business depends on our access to TV media time to market our products and services in Chinaโ€ฆ.PRC law is vague and is subject to discretionary interpretation and enforcement by PRC authoritiesโ€ฆLoss of these preferential tax treatments and subsidies could have material and adverse effects on our results of operations and financial conditions.

In addition to the Obama.com redirect revelation, the Government Accountability Institute reportโ€”America the Vulnerable: Are Foreign And Fraudulent Online Contributions Influencing U.S. Elections?โ€”exposes myriad gaping online security holes that stand to threaten the integrity of House, Senate, and presidential elections.

 

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Steve Robinson
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Steve Robinson is the Editor-in-Chief of The Maine Wire. โ€ชHe can be reached by email at [email protected].

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angrybruin
angrybruin
13 years ago

Wow. Obama tied to an Obama bundler in bed with the Chinese? I’m shocked.

0
Patten_Pete
Patten_Pete
13 years ago

His LinkedIn profile leads us to a Bob Schaible at:
http://www.masada2000.org/list-S.html

Also, Dorr and Schaible are tied to:
http://www.peaceactionme.org/about

Who is funding these outfits?

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Levanger Hallowell
Levanger Hallowell
13 years ago

Nice work!….my worse suspicions once again confirmed…ah, the spirit of Bill Clinton and Charlie Trie live on!

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