Turner’s success, however, has made him the target of a vicious and illegal phony email scam. Bogus emails containing odd and crass criticisms of HD101 candidates Paula Pierson and Dr. Vickie Barnett have been set up to look as though they are coming from a Turner Campaign staffer. The obvious intention is to smear Turner by making it appear as though he is launching unfair negative attacks.
However, the scam may be considerably more complicated and devious.
Bizarre Twist
The emails are so amateurishly designed and written that it is obvious they did not come from the Turner Campaign. In fact, in the first email sent, Chris “Turner” is misspelled as Chris “Tuner.” Moreover, the email pseudonym address paullevarsmith at gmail.com is used even though there is no Paul Smith associated with the Turner campaign. Turner’s campaign manager is a woman named Kate Fox, and the Turner Campaign doesn’t use gmail accounts for its communication.
Bizarre Twist Two
Also, by right clicking on the images in the document and then examining the document properties, the author is revealed as “Noland.” It so happens that “Noland Dion Harper” is the husband of HD 101 candidate Dr. Vickie Barnett (full name: Vacochia Izola Barnett). In short, the bogus emails sent by a fake Chris Turner staffer appear to have been composed on a computer owned by Dr. Vickie Barnett’s husband.
Bizarre Twist Three
An ongoing email exchange on Facebook is taking place between Dr. Vickie Barnett’s campaign manager, Frieda Porter, and the fake Turner staffer. In the exchange, the imposter is presenting himself as an oafish, racially insensitive fool. Frieda Porter is reacting to his racially charged comments and expressing (or feigning) offense and outrage. Of course, if the emails were drafted and sent by the Barnett Campaign, then her campaign manager is engaging in an elaborate and ongoing phony conversation on Facebook meant to mislead voters and drive them away from Turner.
Just Twisted
Is Dr. Barnett Being Set Up While Chris Turner is Being Smeared?
It is hard to imagine that the Barnett campaign, or most any campaign, would be so foolish and incompetent as to compose obviously bogus emails and then leave a trail of evidence leading directly back to the candidate’s own house. For Frieda Porter to engage in an elaborate and sometimes emotional email exchange with a person she knows is a fake calls for a level of dishonesty and depravity unusual even in hard-nosed politics.
Perhaps there’s another explanation, however, if Dr. Barnett’s campaign is given the benefit of doubt. It is not impossible, and not particularly difficult, to change the “author” in the document property field of an email attachment. Another candidate in the race, or an organization opposed to Turner’s election, might set up just such an elaborate scheme to smear Chris Turner while leaving Dr. Vickie Barnett exposed to any legal fallout.>
It May Be Up to Prosecutors to Sort It Out
Whether Dr. Vickie Barnett has launched a bizarre and clumsy attack on Chris Turner, or whether she and Turner are both being unfairly targeted by another candidate is not clear. There is no doubt, however, that the law has been broken. Misrepresenting the identity of a candidate or their representative is a direct violation of the Texas Election Code, which plainly reads:
Sec. 255.005. MISREPRESENTATION OF IDENTITY. (a) A person commits an offense if, with intent to injure a candidate or influence the result of an election, the person misrepresents the person ’s identity or, if acting or purporting to act as an agent, misrepresents the identity of the agent ’s principal, in political advertising or a campaign communication.(b) An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor. Amended by Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 899, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1,;1987; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 864, Sec. 249, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.
