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| Scott Rosen was a citizen of [[Mala]] province in the [[Virtual Commonwealth of Cyberia]]. He served with distinction in the [[First War of Cyberian Liberation]]. | | Scott Rosen was a citizen of [[Mala]] province in the [[Virtual Commonwealth of Cyberia]]. He served with distinction in the [[First War of Cyberian Liberation]]. |
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| He became enmeshed in an alleged voting scandal. The following is taken from the [[Mattimeo Messenger]] of April 22, 1999. | | He became enmeshed in an alleged voting scandal. |
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| '''(The Messenger was run by an opponent of Rosen, and it should be considered as such.)'''
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| ''The Chamber of Deputies was stunned by a voting scandal occurring in the weekend voting for the new Chamber Speaker. The scandal, which has become known as "Fraudgate," led to the resignation from the Chamber of three prominent members of the Conservative Party delegation: Skinner Layne (CP-Lasteria), Tim Dunkin (CP-Menet) and Scott Rosen (CP-Mala). Dunkin and Rosen have also resigned from Cyberia entirely.
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| The whole affair started on Sunday morning, when Conservative Floor Leader Adam Graham contacted President Ken Kerns and Outgoing Speaker Peter Hickey (CD-Mattimeo), informing them that Layne had informed Graham that he had, on the instructions of Scott Rosen, falsified an e-mail message allegedly from Deputy Jeffery Vance (CP-Windsor) in which Vance's vote was cast for Speaker Candidate Daniel Davis (SP-Bava). Graham stated that he was going to be the new CP floor leader and that he did not want to be in complicity with electoral fraud. Vance later denied sending the e-mail vote for Davis that was ascribed to him.
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| Later in the day, a note allegedly from Layne was posted on the Chamber mailing list in which Layne allegedly offered his resignation from the Chamber and admitted to committing "an immoral, and possibly illegal, act." Layne immediately denied authoring this message and accused Graham of falsifying both the Vance e-mail and the alleged Layne resignation, using a false e-mail program which enables the sending of e-mails under the names of other people. Layne was supported in his accusations by Tim Dunkin. Layne and Dunkin accused Graham of perpetrating the scandal in order to advance his own position in the Conservative Party, especially by discrediting Layne, then Graham's major opponent for the CP Presidential nomination. Both Graham and Layne accused each other of using "sinister" means to try to "destroy" the other. Rosen also denied the statements made by Graham, commenting that he believed they were prompted by a "big fight" between Layne, Rosen and Graham on Saturday night.
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| Hickey, the outgoing Speaker, then took the following steps. Hickey first suspended the Speaker Elections pending the outcome of a Chamber investigation of the scandal. He also suspended Rosen and later, Layne and Graham. Finally, the Speaker appointed a Special Investigative Committee, consisting of Deps. Victor Rice (CD-Bava), Daniel Longstreet (LP-Menet) and Dheeraj Jagadev (SP-Menet) to investigate the scandal and prepare a report and recommendations for the consideration of the entire Chamber. Hickey later rescinded the summary suspensions and put the matter of whether to suspend the three Deputies to a vote of the Chamber, after being informed by Davis, the Chamber Parliamentarian, that any suspension must be approved by a 3/4 majority vote of the entire Chamber. Dunkin, accusing Hickey of being unable to conduct an impartial investigation, demanded an investigation by President Kerns. Hickey informed Dunkin that the scandal was a Chamber matter and that the Chamber would investigate it, and that the Speaker would hold Dunkin in contempt of the Chamber if he further attempted to sidetrack or hinder the investigation.
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| Graham produced as evidence of his claims a transcript, purportedly of an ICQ conversation between he and Layne, in which Layne admits to falsifying the Vance vote and furthermore, implicates both Rosen and Sen. Jack Santucci (CP-Mattimeo) in the scandal. Rosen supposedly ordered Layne to falsify the e-mail and Santucci allegedly made the CP aware of the false e-mailer and urged the party to use it if necessary. Layne, Dunkin and Rosen denounced the transcript as a fabrication of Graham's. Santucci is presently on vacation and was unavailable for comment.
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| On Monday, Layne called upon the Chamber to reject the suspension of himself and Rosen and to vote to suspend Graham. Dunkin claimed that there was no real way to prove who was lying and who was telling the truth and suggested that all three Deputies be temporarily suspended and the Speaker election revoted and that that be the end of the matter. Hickey agreed with Dunkin that the election should be carried on without any of the three being allowed to vote but stated that the investigation would continue, stating, "some very serious offenses were committed -- ones that could be repeated by the culprit(s) in other elections -- and at least an effort must be made to get to the bottom of this and determine who the responsible parties are."
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| The denouement of the affair came on Tuesday. First, Dep. Longstreet posted a message to Dep. Jagadev claiming that Longstreet forged the notes in an attempt to discredit Layne, an old foe of Longstreet's from Cyberland. Later, citing Longstreet's involvement in the scandal, Hickey replaced him on the Special Investigative Committee with Dep. Alessandro Falciatore (LP-Corli).
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| Next, in a momentuous development, Graham produced direct evidence of Layne's involvement in the form of screen shots of the ICQ conversations between Layne and Graham in which Layne admitted forging the note and implicated Rosen and Santucci. Graham released the screen shots to the Cyberian Associated Press and it was then obvious that Graham was telling the truth about Layne.
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| Then, in a stunning post on the Announcements Forum, Dunkin admitted to aiding and abetting Layne in posting the false messages and in attempting to blame Graham for them. Dunkin stated he was not part of the original falsification but that he helped Layne in his attempt to cover up his misdeed and to blame it on Graham. Dunkin stated that he was motivated by a desire to maintin the Conservative plurality in the Chamber, knowing that Layne and Rosen would be removed if the falsifications came to light. Dunkin also admitted to requesting Longstreet, a personal friend, to post an e-mail to the Committee members claiming responsibility for the falsifications. Stating, "Well, I have always been uncomfortable lying, especially if to do so is protecting one who does not deserve protection and harming one who does not deserve harm. So, the lies end here," Dunkin concluded by resigning from the Chamber and Cyberia and urging Cyberians to exonerate Graham and punish Layne to the full extent of the law.
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| A few hours later, Rosen also resigned from both the Chamber and Cyberia, citing the dishonor he had brought upon the Chamber and his regret over his role in the whole affair. The next morning, Layne resigned from the Chamber and from all his positions in both Cyberia and Terra Novum, but indicated he would remain a Cyberian citizen. Fraudgate also signalled the end of the nascent Layne presidential campaign, as Layne also declared he was no longer a candidate. It is widely expected that Layne will now face criminal charges for election tampering.
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| CP Chairman Sen. Jeremy Groghan (CP-Corli) has called upon Layne to resign from the Conservative Party or face expulsion proceedings. Additionally, two prominent Cyberians who were also citizens of the Virtual Republic of Vivaldia, founded by Layne, have resigned their Vivaldian citizenship, apparently in protest of Layne's misdeeds and an unidentified Vivaldian has spoken openly of having his canton secede from Vivaldia. And Dep. Vance, citing real life time constraints and dismay over the use of his name in this incident, has also resigned from the Chamber and from Cyberia.
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| Thus ends the second episode in a little over a year where Skinner Layne has dragged the Conservative Party into a mire of scandal and disgrace through his unprincipled attempts to seize and maintain political power. While the CP will apparently survive this recent debacle, one has to wonder how many more of these incidents the party can bear. And still to be determined is the involvement of Sen. Santucci, who is presently on vacation. Adam Graham has emerged as somewhat of a hero in the affair but it seems certain that Cyberians will think twice in the future when they hear Conservatives harangue them about the need for "morality in government."''
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| Rosen was also a founding member of the nation of [[Terra Novum]], and a distinguished citizen of [[Reunion]]. | | Rosen was also a founding member of the nation of [[Terra Novum]], and a distinguished citizen of [[Reunion]]. |
