News (AP) - Patterson calls for 1-man grand jury to investigate dubious 'Tea Party' filings

Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson has directed his staff to prepare a petition asking the Circuit Court to impanel a one man grand jury to investigate whether Jason Bauer and others behind the dubious Tea Party candidate filings committed any crimes such as perjury, election fraud, misconduct in office, uttering and/or publishing and obstruction of justice. The petition is expected to be filed in Oakland County Circuit Court this week. "There are people who would subvert the political process to their own ends, and will engage in criminal activity to undermine the system and achieve their nefarious goals," said Patterson. If the petition is approved by the Circuit Court, the judges will impanel one of their own to sit as the one man grand jury for a limited time to determine whether a crime was committed when Jason Bauer notarized and filed fraudulent candidate papers on behalf of questionable "Tea Party" candidates. A one man grand jury has broad powers including the issuance of subpoenas, granting of immunity to witnesses, holding witnesses in contempt, and at the conclusion, issue indictments. As with all grand juries, the inquiry is conducted in secret for the duration the grand jury is impaneled. Based on recent information, Patterson says he believes the case against Bauer is strong. "It is unknown at this time whether Bauer was acting alone, or whether others are involved in these dubious 'Tea Party' candidate filings," Patterson said. "But a one man grand jury has broad powers to get to the bottom of this fraudulent election scheme." Published: Fri, Aug 27, 2010

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