UpChuck’s bigoted, sexist emails emerge
by David Benzion · 01/08/2008 5:49 pmAre there NO adults currently occupying desk space in the Harris County DA’s office?
First, there were intimate emails to his executive secretary. Now 11 News has obtained hundreds of other Chuck Rosenthal e-mails, some that are racially and sexually charged.
Some of the most disturbing e-mails were exchanged between Rosenthal and his friend Sam Siegler.
Including one Aug. 16, titled “Slick Willy.” The e-mail describes Bill Clinton as the closest thing to having a black man as president, because, “He played the sax…” “He smoked weed,” and “He had his way with ugly white women.”
It also said he doesn’t work, but still gets a government check every month.
The very day after, Siegler e-mailed Rosenthal a video of unsuspecting women attacked on public streets. Men wearing hooded sweatshirts and sunglasses rip their clothes off, leaving them stunned and naked in public.
And who is Siegler?
Besides being Rosenthal’s personal physician, Dr. Siegler is the husband of Assistant District Attorney and Republican Party District Attorney candidate Kelly Siegler.
His comments to us?
“I’m a private citizen. I’m a doctor, I’m his doctor, we’re friends,” Siegler said. “It’s the United States of America, and I didn’t think there was anything illegal about that particular e-mail.
“I didn’t intend for it to be offensive. I didn’t e-mail anybody that I thought would be offended by it.”
A couple of dozen e-mails also raise questions as to how much Rosenthal was running his District Attorney campaign from the criminal courthouse.
Numerous messages deal with organizing his re-election barbecue fundraiser as well as finalizing his bio for his campaign website.
All of the e-mails surfaced during a federal civil rights lawsuit, in which two brothers claimed they were beaten and arrested by sheriff’s deputies.
The district attorney’s office provided hundreds of documents and video attachments. But in many of the e-mails, it’s unclear exactly who sent what.
Including several files of hardcore pornography, too graphic to show on TV or on KHOU.com.
So what does Chuck Rosenthal have to say?
When 11 News asked for an interview this afternoon, he sent an e-mail saying his attorney advised him it would be a violation of a federal judge’s orders to discuss the case outside of an upcoming hearing on the matter.
And secondly, Rosenthal said he was on his way to watch his daughter play soccer.
Stepping away from the keyboard before I write something I’ll regret.
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I don’t like him, but am not comfortable with us going through his emails. Big brother will be reading all our emails, if we aren’t careful.
~( 8(l) DO’H
Well, that sure didn’t take very long.
I bet it will be an interesting evening at the Siegler household as well.
Thankfully, we still have Jim Leitner.
Phil
Its always “interesting” at the Sieglers
My understanding, fwiw, is that this merely the tinniest tip of a very big iceberg.
#1 AW
When you are a public official, it is not appropriate to use government computers and e-mail for personal purposes. There are many alternatives. As a matter of record, anything contained in a communication generated on a government computer is public information with certain narrow exceptions.
David - The Al Jolson quote was serious. You ain’t seen nothin yet.
#4 - So I hear.
Full disclosure: I do not like Rosenthal.
This iceberg tip is juvenile if one intends to make credible case against Rosenthal and not be rendered to the flamer section of the bleachers should pace their rhetoric.
Kudos to LST for their coverage of this story.
LST is The Reformed Blog!
I know the rules Texpat, and I am not condoning any campaign work he did. I am not in the situation to have a company computer. But, I am betting the majority of folks get emails from friends at their work address. I just think it’s petty to publish his private email, along with his emails that pertain to offense. There’s a moral aspect to this. He can be investigated, and found to have abused and broken laws, but to make his private email public is just not necessary.
Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time!
What kind of porn was it? Gay? Kiddie? Fetish? It makes a difference . . .
That being said, ya can’t much hammer someone when they are SENT, well, anything. Now, if ya FORWARD that inappropriate tidbit, yer backside SHOULD be in a sling.
Which could be bondage.
We only have “ourselves” to blame; someone is electing these idiots.
#11 AW
There are millions of Americans who use their company e-mail for personal purposes. Most of them work for private sector companies who don’t really care about it. When someone works for the government it is an entirely different set of rules. As citizens we own the land, building, desks, light fixtures, computers, servers, files and every other thing in those facilities. The product of all those public employees is our property, not theirs. If Rosenthal chose to record his personal communications on government computers, it is his problem, not ours.
There have been circumstances when I did consulting work for others, in their offices, utilizing their computer systems. I never used the e-mail accounts I had there for any personal application. I always used either a separate computer (my own) or accessed a personal email account from the web to conduct any personal business. I never wanted there to be a conflict of interest, or the appearance thereof, with other clients, customers or personal contacts. Most of all, I wanted to avoid a record of my personal business collected onto somebody else’s backup system.
Is this so difficult to expect from an elected official ? I think not.
and now back to the real world…
I agree Nat and AW, childish.
It’s already getting worse. Watermelon and KFC jokes from the guy who puts more black perps on death row than any other prosecutor in the country…
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/09/us/09texas.html?ref=us
good god man.. use a private line.. or don’t be such an f-up..
He’s still running for re-election?
FYI for the latest:
FROM KHOU.com: More damning e-mails
uncovered in DA’s office
Geez, they are just emails. I am betting most of the population has gotten similarly risue emails, if not worse. They are just emails, meant to be private.
There are bigger issues to worry about.
Lets hope no one goes through YOUR email!! How many of you would be up sh*t creek w/o a paddle?