Lusk Loses Appeal, Ignores Questions
News — By Julian Belyea on October 9, 2009 at 8:00 amUPDATE 10/11:
After former SGA Sen. William Lusk lost his appeal of the major election violation finding by the SGA Elections Commission, KnightNews.com tried asking him about the situation.
He immediately left the room, talked on the phone and then ignored us and quickly walked out of the Student Union while our camera was rolling.
We hoped to ask Lusk tough questions about this cloud of controversy hanging over SGA and College Republicans.
We wanted to ask:
Does he have any regrets about what he did?
Would he have done anything differently?
What does he think about the vicious attacks against CJ Cooper, including falsely accusing her of being a prostitute, his apparent supporters were posting on KnightNews.com and other campus media because she turned him in for alleged bribery?
Does he condone these attacks? Does he think they should stop?
Is he at all sorry about the difficult time College Republicans, SGA and CJ Cooper are going through as a result of this scandal?
Why would he joke about apparent bribery in the first place?
Does he think it was fair that he brought a lawyer to testify on his behalf, when the other side had no lawyer?
OUR ORIGINAL BREAKING NEWS STORY FROM FRIDAY:
After nearly six hours of testimony and deliberation, the SGA Judicial Council upheld the Elections Commission’s decision to slap former veteran SGA Sen. Will Lusk with a Major Violation which, barring some unforseen outside intervention, has cost him his senate career.
The justices had been deliberating about Lusk’s SGA future for almost two hours.
During the hearing, Lusk brought in an attorney to testify on his behalf and argue that the phone call where Lusk was caught discussing ways in which the Unite Ticket could secure a College Republican endorsement should not be used against him, because he claimed he didn’t hear a warning on the other end of the phone letting him know the phone call was being recorded.
Throughout the hearing, KnightNews.com provided a live video stream over the internet. Due to internet congestion, we had a some blackout periods.
To view portions of this live feed, visit http://www.livestream.com/knightnews.
There, you can click “ON DEMAND” below to watch some earlier footage of the appeal.
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38 Comments
Ya’ll should have voted BAMF.
@this is insane
you’re an idiot, did you click on the names its spam, just masked as positive comments on really old articles. Duh.
its appears to me that KnightNews staff is actually taking the time to flood their site with positive comments…. if they didn’t lack every last ounce of credibility and integrity maybe they wouldn’t have to spend so much time doing that.
Here’s an idea… instead of defending your sorry excuse for a blog (if you even want to give it that much credit) why don’t you try making something credible out of this.
Sure you may draw fans but you’re not properly informing the public and thus you are not fulfilling the duties of a true journalist. THIS IS NOT JOURNALISM!
MY FACEBOOK STATUS IS MORE CREDIBLE THAT YOUR STORIES
Lusk does have a legitimate concern about the recording not being usable and the election committee should never have heard it; however, the main question is whether or not he attempted bribery.
There were 49 people on the Unite Ticket. In my opinion, it’s highly unlikely that all of them would join the College Republicans just to push for an endorsement. It’s also been noted that in the past CR had been neutral in elections.
As a rational individual, I would have immediately realized that Lusk was joking about having 49 people join CR. Yes, it’s common for politicians to cross political borders to collect votes, but it’s just plain silly to contribute funds to your competition. It’d be like everyone on the Unite ticket paying dues to join the Democrats.
I’d like to hear the recording that was played at the original meeting though. Overall, this is a really silly precedent to set because it limits what college students can say to develop hypothetical scenarios because the next thing you know we’ll be getting fined out of spite.
@I see: If you’re going to tell people who don’t like KnightNews to get off of it, then I really hope you also agree that if someone (like Will) doesn’t like KnightNews that they shouldn’t speak to their reporters either and would never think to insult someone who chooses that option.
But then, the general rule seems to be that people who write or support this site have a shared logical reasoning deficit, so I guess I shouldn’t expect too much.
if you dont like knightnews then get the f off it.
Knight News please stop commenting on your own blog acting like a reader and trying to defend your bs excuse for a name… YOU AREN’T A NEWS SOURCE… CHANGE YOUR NAME TO KNIGHTGOSSIP!!!
Glad he didn’t answer those questions… they are either obvious, irrelevant or loaded (or a combination of those). This blog is trash. He didn’t talk to CFF either (he left the SU right after) and they didn’t post a bitch fit or chase him down… they just took quotes right from the actual hearing…
Wow! What do you know? Non biased or loaded information from something that actually happened!
From an economic standpoint, instead of hiring a lawyer, Lusk could have spent those attorney fees on his bribery attempt and actually been successful with it.
In an effort to get him to answer your questions, might I suggest that you ask those questions.
Just saying his name and asking for comment is not a tough question. At least, like, speak your questions at him.
That gives you the opportunity to say that you at least did ask these queries, instead of, you know, complaining that you never got the opportunity to.
Right?
Ben Dover = seems like a douche
What a douche to offer bribery.. What a douche to record the convo..
The SGA is made of giant douches and turd sandwiches, and Knightnews is the monkey on a string to report it all..
What a compelling story from a trusted name in news.
Jesus,
He offered to enroll all of the people on his ticket to become part of the UCF Republican team, if they would back them up. To become a UCF Republican member- there is a fee. There is money involved, hence the bribery.
I’m confused how this is bribery according to election statutes. what he did sounds exactly like paying for an advertisement, which many other candidates did as well. . . how is this bribery? other candidates have paid for advertisements before… why can’t he? he never offered money for votes, just an advertisement / endorsement
It’s called implied consent… the same way if you call a credit card company or something and a recorded voice says “because quality is important to us, this call may be monitored or recorded.”
If you tell the recording “no” before it transfers you to the real person, the fact that you stay on the phone when you know you’re being recorded means you’re giving your implied consent that you agree to it.
I’m confused about the reasoning regarding why the recording was even allowable. After doing a quick Google search, it seems like recording a phone call in this state requires consent by both parties, not just a warning. I don’t know why Lusk’s advisers/lawwyers didn’t argue that the recording was flat out illegal, whether or not he heard the warning CJ gave Lusk.
http://www.citmedialaw.org/legal-guide/florida/florida-recording-law
I still don’t get how people say knightnews is biased. They talked to Lusk and gave him free airtime when he was running for senate….he loved getting his face on tv then.
But now when knightnews wants to ask the tough questions (like a REAL news source should) about his disgraceful scandal… Lusk shuts up, and instead goes to the future who will talk to him about how he was only fighting for the studnets, hot himself:
“In that sense, I think I won,” Lusk said. “This appeal wasn’t about my Senate position, it was about affording students the due process rights they deserve.”
What a load of $hit.
He and his friends are calling a girl a whore and trying to destroy her for doing the right thing, and no one is holding him accountable for it except knightnews. Are we that sexist now that this is OK!?
You guys are horrible. Obv he’s not going to speak to a news org that’s been out to get him..will isn’t stupid and he knows that knightnews is a corrupt, bullshit site that lacks any shread of journalistic integrity and now credibility. He won’t talk to you because you’re scandalizing a situation and have refused to cover all sides. CJ deserves to be personally attacked- she only did this to humiliate an outstanding person. She entrapped him in the conversation and its obvious that her motives were purely selfish. She had no intention of doing the “right” thing.
Lusk ignores you because your site is NOT a news source, why would he talk to a gossip site that is trying to make him look as poorly as possible.
Oh I completely agree, Lusk whined oh woh is me, please give me a break. He is not the victim. I am for having to read this all the time. It’s time for that douche to disappear back into the swampy abyss he crawled out of.
Ok really… of course he’ll talk to CFF instead of Knightnews…. look at the difference between the questions. Knightnews actually planned to ask him TOUGH QUESTIONS. CFF gave him a FREE PASS and allowed him to paint himself as a victim and martyr who will use his setback to “fix” statutes for other students.
What a load of bs. Lusk should apologize for the disgrace he brought upon himself and SGA, not make excuses. And CFF should be asking him tough questions too… they’re better than that!
This is getting old.. why would you get onto the guy for not answering stupid questions attacking his character after he already had to answer them for hours in front of the judges? I wouldnt want to answer questions from a site that is completely biasedagainst me either. I dont know the guy but for those of you who think hes not answering any questions, youre wrong. he just doesnt feel like being attacked. Completely understandable in my opinion. oh and he does answer questions for the main campus news site.
who cares what he did, look at what those senate “suits” are wearing, sooooo wack
Personal attacks towards anyone involved proves of low intelligence. With that being said, CJ Cooper is a brilliant person who is not afraid to stand up for what she believes in. Not everyone may agree with her views, but if you did, as I do, you would realize she follows code of honesty, integrity and respect. Someone called her “hard-headed” and “non-compassionate”, if I were her I would take hard-headed as a complement as she is not flaky in her decisions, she wont back down, and has firm values and beliefs. As for compassion, I can say that as far as I know CJ’s a darn good conservative republican who would fight for whats RIGHT- I think that’s compassionate enough.
Thank you CJ Cooper for doing what you feel is right, and for being a strong republican that is so obviously needed right now. I am behind you 100%
To the blog maker, I hope you feel dumb, you should. CJ is beautiful in the pictures you posted, shes having fun, in a proper environment, wearing conservative attire and there’s nothing wrong with that at all. That’s more than you can say about MOST 18/19/20/21 year old girls in college.
That blog is one of the dumbest things I’ve ever seen. What exactly are you trying to prove with it?
Yeah I agree with you CJ is hot… and at the end of the day, both Lusk and CJ don’t have their senate seat, but at least CJ has her looks and her reputation. Now Lusk has neither.
And Lusk is really hurting knightnews by not talking to them… oh well, I guess knightnews is good enough for Marcus Jordan, but not Lusk. Get over yourself Will… your attitude of thinking your better than you really are is what landed you in this disgrace. And your friends attacking CJ is only doing more to hurt your reputation, not hers.
Can we all just agree that CJ is smoking hot? I mean you got fat girls and jort wearing losers trying to tear her down but it still wont change the fact that she is really good looking. All in all my vote is for she’s smoking hot… Who’s with me?
It is really sad how Lusk and his supporters still feel the need to attack CJ like that. You are just as low as he is. Next you’re going to say its a joke, when someone finds out who you are.
http://blogagainstcj.blogspot.com/2009/10/truth-about-christian-conservative.html
Here is your true Christian conservative…note…the 20-year-old Christian conservative.
http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=94458366&albumID=1472857&imageID=31463208#a=1472857&i=31472250
Casey Jo likes to say she is a good Christian girl and that she was just trying to “do the right thing” even with all the people “threatening” her.
Here is your good ole Christian conservative 20-year-old girl
Casey Jo…if you can’t handle fire, don’t start the flame!
And for whomever wrote that under CJ’s name, we love you!
ok.. For about the 3rd or 4th time now, could all of you that are posting comments under my name please stop… It is quite childish and pathetic…
Thanks
I have successfully carried out my vengeance! That is what you get for not putting me on a SGA ticket you slime ball!
He got a lawyer to represent him? That’s really sad. The lawyer is there solely for intimidation. A highly educated and experienced lawyer vs. a set of sga judges with no degree; not very equal. The lawyer will twist the law to get what what he wants and there will be no opposing attorney to object to his statements or a real judge to shut him down. He can twist and interpret the law however he wants and they will believe whatever he says… because he’s a lawyer
Your dunkin donuts coffee is no match for my Lionel Hutz
It makes me sick to my stomach. Hopefully justice will prevail
Of course one of the senators on the ticket I vote for is charged with bribery…just my luck.