RUSH: Was it last Thursday or last Friday that we learned via the Columbus newspaper, the Columbus Dispatch, that the authorities — the attorney general and so forth in Ohio — had decided it was unlikely that they were going to prosecute me or charge me with voter fraud. Was that Thursday or Friday? All these days run together. Okay, Friday the 28th it was. Well, the Drive-By Media was distressed. So they went and they got this reporter. Fox News Channel went and got this reporter, his name is Mark Niquette, and they had him on Greta Van Susteren’s show on Friday night. We have three sound bites. I just want to put this to bed now, because I know a lot of people have been concerned about being dragged to the hoosegow in handcuffs and so forth, charged with voter fraud. It’s unlikely, but as you’ll hear in the sound bites, it’s not totally, totally over with. ‘Will Rush’s dream come true,’ Van Susteren says, ‘that he’s led off in handcuffs? Mark, in your reporting have you discovered where there’s a law that Rush could possibly be violating by encouraging people to cross over and vote Democrat for Senator Clinton?’
NIQUETTE: There is a law here in Ohio that if you’re going to switch parties in the primary, you have to sign this form that says you support the principals of the other party whose ballots —
RUSH: Stop the tape. It’s unconstitutional. U-n-c-o-n-s-t-i-t-u-t-i-o-n-a-l. Unconstitutional! How many times do I have to keep mentioning? Loyalty oath? That wouldn’t stand up for a minute in night court.
NIQUETTE: — are taking, and, uh, as — as Rush suggested, the thought here in Ohio, it’s very — it would be very difficult if not impossible to enforce that statute. In fact, uh, nobody I’ve found has — has said there is somebody who’s been prosecuted for essentially, you know, lying on this form. When we asked the attorney general’s office here in Ohio whether they intended to prosecute Rush Limbaugh, the answer was they have no intention to prosecute because, uh, ‘lying through your teeth and being stupid is not a crime.’
RUSH: Lying through my teeth and being stupid are not even relevant to what we did here in Operation Chaos. (laughing) We didn’t lie to anybody, and there’s nothing but brilliance associated here with Operation Chaos. By the way, an Ohio resident sent Koko, our webmaster, one of those leaflets or those doorknob things that Obama was passing out and putting on the doors of the homes of Republicans in Ohio; urging them to reregister as Democrats and go vote for him! This is why… They wanted to ‘frog march’ Karl Rove out of the White House over the Scooter Libby thing. I don’t want to be frog-marched in anywhere, but it was tempting for the handcuffs scenario. Sound bite number two. Van Susteren says, ‘Well, is this getting very much attention in Ohio?’
NIQUETTE: Well, it is. Uh, this process is not new in Ohio. We’ve had people crossing over, uh, for, you know, many elections, but it’s gotten more attention this year, in part because of, uh, Rush Limbaugh’s Operation Chaos campaign, but again, the — the problem is, you know, how you prosecute someone for deciding who to vote for in a race.
RUSH: Exactly. In an election, you can vote for whatever you want, as long as you’re registered — unless you’re an illegal and you don’t have to be — and you can vote for whoever you want to for whatever reason! Next question from Van Susteren: ‘Is there any way to determine whether or not any of them crossed over because they thought Rush gave ’em a good idea?’
NIQUETTE: Well, there was some thought that you could prosecute people who openly admitted, ‘Yes, I voted only because Rush Limbaugh suggested I cause chaos in the democratic process here in Ohio,’ people who openly admitted that they signed this affirmation form and — and weren’t serious about it. In fact, there was some thought — or some — some s-suggestion in Cuyahoga County, uh, the largest county here in Ohio that some of these voters could be prosecuted, but the secretary of state, uh, in Ohio pretty much, uh, put cold water on that, saying, you know, that might be getting close to center — censorship, and not something they should really be thinking about doing.
RUSH: So, you see, the door hasn’t been totally shut. They’re still considering options, which is why you gotta be careful. I have to be careful, and some of you people in Ohio. You do not taunt law enforcement. You do not beg them to pursue you. (laughing) It’s like the red flag being waived in front of the bull. Again, that was Mark Niquette. (N-i-q-u-e-t-t-e for those of you in Rio Linda). If you want to send him fan mail, he is at the Columbus Dispatch. He was on Greta Van Susteren’s show Friday night on Fox.