Who is the masked blogger behind OMalleyWatch.com, which has brought to light several allegations about Gov. Martin O?Malley and his administration since it was launched in mid-May?
O?Malley?s communications staff is convinced that former Gov. Robert Ehrlich and the top aides he brought to the law firm of Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice are behind it.
The Ehrlich team is equally adamant that it isn?t behind the blog, and it would like to know who it is.
“We are desperately trying to find that out,” Ehrlich told The Examiner in a recent interview. “We really want to know who it is. These guys have gone to extraordinary lengths to protect their identity.”
But “we certainly applaud their efforts,” Ehrlich added.
Martin Watcher, as the unidentified master of the Web blog calls himself or herself, won?t communicate except by e-mail.
“I don?t work at Womble and the former Gov wouldn?t know my name,” Watcher told The Examiner in an e-mail last week.
“Although I?m sure you could find a picture with his [Ehrlich?s] arm around me at a campaign rally and the new Gov?s folks would accuse me of being his best friend.”
Watcher insisted he or she also has no present or past connection to the state Republican Party.
Rights and wrongs
The Examiner found that the site was registered May 18 for a two-year period by Domains By Proxy Inc. Martin Watcher often has some good sources, and among his or her firsts are:
» The story about a judge finding that a Transportation Department employee had been fired for political reasons. The full decision was posted on the Web.
» The scheduled events O?Malley had missed because of what his staff called a “long-standing” fishing trip with his son.
» The firing Thursday of the assistant secretary for real estate who approved controversial appraisals in a land deal.
The Web site has gotten a number of things wrong, as O?Malley staff members are quick to point out, such as a library event that was never on the schedule of events O?Malley missed during a fishing trip.
The most questionable and unverifiable story was “the Governor?s secret plan to introduce a 9 cent per gallon gas tax increase in a special session,” an item attributed to “a very reliable source within legislative leadership.”
The governor may very well propose a gas tax increase to replenish the transportation fund, as some legislative leaders have advocated.
But the day after it was posted, House Speaker Michael Busch, D-Anne Arundel County, told reporters, “I don?t know anything about it.”
O?Malley?s communications chief, Steve Kearney, said, “It?s so secret, I don?t know about it.”
But OMalleyWatch.com has not pulled back on the “secret plan.”
AT A GLANCE
OMalleyWatch.com is registered through GoDaddy.com, which is hosted by Domains By Proxy Inc., a Scotsdale, Ariz., company.
“Domains By Proxy was conceived to deal with one of the biggest shortcomings of the Internet ? the loss of privacy,” according to the Domains By Proxy Web site. “We believe you should be able to keep your personal information private when you register a domain ? and now you can, by switching your ?public? registration to a ?private? one, using our patented private registration process.”
