It is an honor for our campaign to be under such intense scrutiny in the final days of the campaign. Because if we were not the frontrunner, these attacks by the opposition would not be necessary. We must be doing something right!
There has been a campaign over the last three months to take down Michael Del Rosso. They are attempting to take down a man who could not be a finer example of what our Founders envisioned as to what a citizen statesman should be.
While I can understand that Michael is a larger than life type of person that some people may fail to appreciate, Steve Albertson, in previous Bull Elephant articles, is attempting to paint Michael as a failed businessman and a fraud who needs a job.
We have repeatedly said that Michael gave up his lucrative career in technology, and the compensation that went with it, to prevent the coming train wreck and yes, we really meant it!
In the half-decade preceding his move to Albemarle county, Michael, as a technology executive, made $2,085,198.00 in gross salary from 2001-2006. During that time period, he paid $526,000 in federal and state taxes. He was the Chief Technology Officer at three public companies: Quantum Corporation, Legato Systems, Inc., and OTG Software, Inc., the latter two now part of EMC, and was founding CTO of iDEFENSE (acquired by VeriSign). Evidence of this is available on the internet from contemporary press releases and news article. Anyone who doubts it should google it and check for themselves. These are the CPA certified numbers for this period.
| IRS FORM 1040 | IRS FORM 1040 | State Income | |
| “Total Income” | “Total Tax” | Tax | |
| 2001 | $198,378.00 | $38,454.00 | $9,568.00 |
| 2002 | $400,632.00 | $106,805.00 | $20,922.00 |
| 2003 | $548,035.00 | $124,865.00 | $18,792.00 |
| 2004 | $261,011.00 | $38,961.00 | $13,031.00 |
| 2005 | $490,273.00 | $112,352.00 | $32,853.00 |
| 2006 | $186,779.00 | $6,540.00 | $2,991.00 |
| TOTAL | $2,085,108.00 | $427,977.00 | $98,157.00 |
If anyone would like to inspect Michael’s tax returns, they are welcome to make an appointment to inspect them in person.
By 2006, Michael was traveling back and forth frequently to D.C. to work on matters of national security. Five years after 9/11, Michael knew that something had to be done about a multi-trillion war where we had failed to identify the enemy. In 2005, we imposed constitutions in Afghanistan and Iraq that were completely subordinated to Islamic Law. This was the stated victory objective of Osama Bin Laden.
Michael knew that this insanity could not be allowed to stand. So, in 2006 he decided to exit the corporate life, left his lucrative career and lifestyle in California and moved three hours south of D.C. to Charlottesville. He did this so he could devote more time to his now almost full-time, but unpaid, job of addressing the most important issues that the government and political elites were ignoring. However, perceiving the dangers of Washington, D.C., he wanted his family safely away from D.C.
In order to generate income to support himself and his family, Michael either was brought into or founded several small companies.
Michael has NEVER embellished the success of the current three small companies* he is involved with. On the campaign trail, he always mentions his success as a technology executive in terms of the FACT that he was Chief Technology Officer of the three public technology companies. Does anyone care to dispute this? Tyler Pieron, Steve Alberston and others, I ask you to please produce a single time on the campaign trail where Michael has embellished the success of his current small businesses. Michael’s detractors are conflating his work as CTO for the three major companies prior to his 2006 conversion with his work in the three small companies post 2006.
Addressing some of the other whoppers being spread:
– Michael was never fired from Quantum.
– He never claimed to have graduated from NYU. Michael left college early to support his family, discovered great gifts in computer engineering, and made it his career. You may recall the same thing happened to Bill Gates, Michael Dell, Oracle’s Larry Ellison and others. My favorite such story is that of John Glenn. He never finished college yet became such an accomplished test pilot that even though NASA had a hard requirement of a four-year engineering degree, they were so impressed by John Glenn that he was one of the original Mercury 7. Michael’s employment application with Quantum showed he left college early, as do his other employment applications. It is also available for inspection upon appointment.
– His company, LTS, never owed $135,000 in back taxes or fees. LTS is a Subchapter-S corporation where all profits and loss are passed through to shareholders; hence it never pays taxes, let alone owes $135,000. LTS did at one time owe a couple hundred dollars in annual franchise fees for all of eight weeks, which was paid. None of his current three companies owe any back fees or taxes, nor does Michael personally.
I fail to see where there is a scandal. Michael does not have any tax liens, bankruptcies, or anything of the like. He pays his bills on time and has no vices. He is being attacked because he is not currently a wealthy man monetarily? Really? Michael does not define success by his gross income. Just like many in the Tea Party movement today, and the people serving as Delegates at the Convention, Michael is a patriot that puts Country before his net worth and before self.
Michael does what is necessary to support himself and his family, but he has also spent thousands of hours over the last several years working to move the needle on the most important federal issues. We need him in Congress. This is why Major General (Ret.) Greg Schumacher, Admiral (Ret.) Ace Lyons, Rear Admiral (Ret. Navy) Chuck Kubic, Captain (Ret.) Pete Phillips, LTC (Ret.) Kelly Snapp, Major, (Ret.) Steve Coughlin, and National Security Expert Rich Higgins have spent multiple weekends campaigning for Michael in the district. They have worked with Michael and can testify to his intellect, integrity, and expertise.
But Michael doesn’t need anyone to justify his success, he justifies to God only.
The people attacking Michael are desperate not because they have serious concerns about Michael’s qualifications for Congress, but because they are members of the GOP Establishment. They want to make sure the Establishment choice for this seat gets into Congress. Many of them were vocal supporters of Eric Cantor in his campaign against Dave Brat. The last thing they want is another Dave Brat in Washington.
There has been a clear campaign to take down Del Rosso over the last three months. They are solely dedicated to destroying the candidacy of Michael Del Rosso. Why might this be? Could it be that Michael is the Establishment’s biggest nightmare?
The pattern is clear. There has been an orchestrated effort to take down Del Rosso since February. Are the voters of the 5th District going to allow this to stand?
And a note to Steve Albertson, why have you refused to disclose your support of Tom Garrett in your articles covering the 5th District race? You have told people for months that you were supporting Garrett. Additionally, Mr. Albertson, not once did you reach out to the Del Rosso campaign in order to allow us to comment on any of the articles you have written on the 5th District race. Regarding your most recent article, did you do your due diligence on the other candidates? Tom Garrett made $56,710 in 2015. He has limited assets and has not paid off a student loan from 2000. We could care less, but if you were playing fair, wouldn’t you make this a story as well? And how is any of this relevant in the first place?
Michael is the only candidate who has been thoroughly vetted by the way of a constant smear campaign. The mendacious attacks prove that Michael is the most battle tested candidate and is ready to take on and defeat Jane Dittmar in November.
We are done answering false, rabbit trail accusations and will turn back to our more pressing concern – preparing for this Saturday’s Convention where Michael Del Rosso will be nominated to be our next Republican Congressman from the 5th District of Virginia.
Sincerely,
Gray Delany
Campaign Manager
Del Rosso for Congress
* Michael was hired as a consultant by the board of directors of Nimaya, Inc., a venture-backed enterprise software company, in 2008 to perform a statutory restructuring. He completed the restructuring in 90 days. Michael made the company profitable in less than two years. The company is an ongoing concern with solid annual revenues from high margin software licenses. This is one of the ways Michael pays his bills, in addition to consulting revenue.
LTS Corporation has a GSA schedule and in 2014 was awarded a US government IDIQ IT contract valued at up to $50M for up to five years with the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Michael’s successful proposal for this contract cost around $100,000.00 to prepare, but HRSA has yet to issue any task orders on this contract, so there is no revenue flow. Let me know when the government decides to become efficient.
Acuity Tech Solutions is a subchapter-S consulting company for running executive professional services contracts, all revenue is passed through to either consultants or shareholders with no retained assets to speak of, much like a small law firm.
26 comments
[…] article. (For a trip through the weeds, Del Rosso’s campaign manager can walk you through them HERE.) Mr. Albertson claimed Mr. Del Rosso was basically a poverty case, even though Mr. Del Rosso’s […]
Delaney has serious credibility problems of his own.
Del Rosso and Gray taking another stab at the old Razzle Dazzle? Well, I will do agree with something Gray said: It is the end of the campaign for Del Rosso. There is no scandal – there were questions about his record that have been dodged for months. So much of this entire issue could have been avoided by being upfront, honest and transparent. Perhaps he was getting bad advice by campaign staff? Perhaps to create the necessary records, reinstate failed businesses and lay the foundation for a cover-up? I don’t know. I have several friends that support him completely, and I respect their decisions.
In the end, I am very glad that Mr. Del Rosso has decided to address these issues. But I do know that trying to avoid answering questions by having a coterie of supporters attacking delegates is not a strategy that will work in the November election. We don’t need to repeat the mistakes made in 2008 where Virgil Goode lost to Perriello.
Having said that, I’m not sure these responses address the issues – Every question about his business activities in question are in the past 10 years, yet he talks about the time period of 10-20 years ago. To claim he has never embellished his business record and that that Michael gave up his lucrative career in technology, and the compensation that went with it, to prevent the coming train wreck? This is a new one, because he always talks about how he is (not was) a successful CEO…not how he was a CTO 20 years ago.
Mr. Del Rosso is not being attacked because he is not wealthy; he is being questioned because his previous and repeated statements are difficult to reconcile with the facts. Like Mr. Albertson stated: “It’s also deceptive to say that he’s good at what he does when those companies became worthless while he was CEO.”
If there is any conflation about his pre-2006 actions and his post-2006 conversion (from what to what??) that is because it was done so, either inadvertently or purposefully, by Mr. Del Rosso. As Mr. Albertson identified: “it is deceptive for a candidate to make hay on the campaign trail about *being* (not “having been”) a successful technology executive, with grandiose titles and such, when the two companies he owns are valued at less than $1000.” Only after being called out for it did he even bother to re-register his companies, at a cost of $3,000 for one of them, which was out of business for 3+ years. It makes no sense to me. See for yourself: http://imgur.com/a/HhVte
He never misled anyone about graduating NYU? Beats me. But if I saw this (http://imgur.com/qq4ITqV) on a resume, it would lead me to believe he graduated. People can make up their own minds.
Although the Del Rosso campaign repeatedly stated “There has been a clear campaign to take down Del Rosso over the last three months. They are solely dedicated to destroying the candidacy of Michael Del Rosso” this reflects a persecution complex, not the facts. Had they addressed these issues instead of denying, attacking or obfuscating, I doubt any of us would have heard about any of this. I don’t know of any other candidate that has used deception and trickery to advance their cause.
But I do know that Mr. Del Rosso’s (now former) campaign staffer and surrogate has sent out deceptive emails (http://thebullelephant.com/memo-5th-district-not-right-way-win/) attacking other candidates. Yet another ‘Team Del Rosso’ member, who didn’t disclose his affiliation initially, sent out an email to all the delegates, helpfully provided by the Del Rosso campaign, that “one of those Sons of Liberty is Senator Tom Garrett of Buckingham. Senator Garrett’s battle for liberty has been exemplary and productive!…..a Congressman Garrett in Washington might not be so bad, but a Senator Garrett NOT in Richmond will be devastating!” Someone else operating under the pseudonym “Virginia True” somehow has obtained the complete delegate list and is sending out emails regularly advertising a website dedicated to attacking Tom Garrett and supporting Del Rosso (http://imgur.com/w942bfV). Finally, there are ‘anonymous’ robocalls attacking Tom Garrett. I don’t know if Mr. Del Rosso even knows about these actions being undertaken on his behalf or if it is the work of campaign staff- either way, it is abundantly clear that playing the victim card because people have questions is not quite accurate.
I will say this in conclusion: I would much rather hash these issues and concerns out now as a party issue, instead of being blindsided by a compliant media running weeks and months of hit pieces, FEC investigations and other shenanigans. I look forward to putting this all behind us on Saturday.
I must be a dupe for supporting Del Rosso. Alas, I’ve joined a list of dupes including the following:
Dana Rohrabachel, Richard Viguerie, Michele Bachmann, Louie Gohmert, Dr. James Dobson, General Jerry Boykin, and Admiral Ace Lyons.
I guess it’s nice to be a dupe sometimes.
That is truly a list of dupes.
A few things popped out at me about this “article”…
1) It’s heartening to hear that even Del Rosso’s Campaign Manager thinks this is the last week of their campaign. Maybe we can get back to concentrating on candidates with verifiable and real qualifications for the position.
2) The statement that “…Michael left college early to support his family…” is a curious one. Del Rosso graduated from Regis High School in New York in 1975. My research indicates he was living in NY in 1984. He married his (most recent) ex-wife in 1989 in Minnesota. So what family did he allegedly leave college to care for? Are there more layers of the onion that is Michael Del Rosso to peel away? Maybe another family??
3) One thing I can’t stand in politics is people vying for public office who cry foul when their backgrounds are fully investigated. YOU decided to get into this race, so YOU should own everything you put out there and be honest about it, otherwise you don’t deserve the seat. The article states repeatedly that there is an coordinated “effort to take down Michael Del Rosso”. Isn’t that what politics is? Isn’t that what the system is about? If you can’t take the heat… well, you get it.
4) Delaney labels Del Rosso as the “establishment’s worst nightmare”. Didn’t he also use the same term to describe 7th District GOP Chair Fred Gruber? And hasn’t Gruber endorsed Tom Garrett in this race?
5) I, for one, don’t appreciate the repeated insinuation that Del Rosso’s supposed security clearance has anything to do with his role as a “National Security Advisor”. In fact, I’ve seen no evidence of that at all. So I will echo the replies of others on this blog: Does Del Rosso maintain a current government security clearance? If so, to what level, granted by whom and to serve in what role? It’s a simple question, it should result in a simple answer.
After my open letter, it’s no secret that I’m a big Tom Garrett supporter and a friend of his. That aside, I think we have enough charlatans in government, especially at the Federal level. Let’s not make the mistake of putting another slick-talking, carpet-bagging, self-appointed [insert title here] in Washington. Let’s put someone who knows how to get things done and represent Virginia as only a true Virginian & Statesman can.
I don’t know who Steve Albertson is, but as a delegate I have done my best to research all the candidates. The Del Rosso fliers I get all tout him as a strategy expert, but when I tried to verify that he was a security advisor to the Cruz campaign as it says on the flier, everyone I talked to in the Cruz camp said he wasn’t. Dishonesty like that turns me off.
But even before that, when I tried to talk with him at the Hampden-Sydney debate to find out more about who he was, he gave me the cold shoulder and seemed so self-absorbed I didn’t even get a chance to meet him. And I stood there waiting for a good ten minutes. Odd.
I read the other article and the person who write it said he didn’t live in the area but would vote for Thomas Garrett, so why I don’t know who this Grey person thinks he is lyin like that. Why are there so many questions? I heard Michael Del Rossa talk at one of the republican meetings and he never said anything about giving up his business. He kept harping on how he was a super successful business person – looks like that is a bunch of horse manure.
Michael is called ‘the Establishment’s Worse Nightmare,’ but in Gray’s book, ‘How to Bag a RINO,’ Fred Gruber is called the same. Guess who the original ‘Establishment’s Worse Nightmare’ endorsed?
Tom Garrett
Glad to see this retort. This does show Albertson will play fair and allows Gray and others to disagree with venom. Albertson through a shot across the bow and it was returned.
Let the matter be done.
Gentlemen, go run your races and may the best man win! We will have other fights to unite against. Our country is at a pivotal point of no return. Sheath your swords and gird your loins, you are brothers from another mother. 🙂
My questions still stand. Did Mr. Del Rosso hold a Security Clearance? From what Agency? At what level? and when?
I’ve seen you post this question multiple times, yet no one seems inclined to answer it. Makes me wonder how true this claim of a current security clearance really is?
I just had a conversation wit a ” LTC Signal Corp retires” who tells me that Michael hold a clearance from DARPA where he consulted on Computers and the CIA…. I will make a few calls tomorrow to see if I can confirm these statements. BTW the call came from Michael’s Business phone… so he is sharing his phone and delegate contact list with his minions…And Ed Yensho would not lshare that list with me to contact anyone…..
Well, as I echoed in my comment above, I resent the implication that someone consulting on IT has been granted a security clearance because of his “National Security” prowess. Granted, I’m not sure anyone in the campaign has said it, but they may play the old two sentence trick: “Michael is a top-level National Security Advisor. He also holds a secret security clearance.”…. That’s disingenuous at best. Misleading for sure.
I was a Sergeant at a local police department working directly under the chief. However, my resume doesn’t read “Deputy Chief”. I teach law enforcement how to respond to active shooter and terrorist threats. Does that make me a counter-terrorism expert? I think not.
I just wish he’d come clean and stop the word games. Hell, I haven’t seen Del Rosso comment at all in any of these forums, so maybe he’s just hiding from the truth. Seems to be a pattern for him.
Have you actually reached out to Mr. Del Rosso at his email address, [email protected]? Seems the most direct way to get an answer. I will go out on a limb here and guess that he did and/or does.
Perhaps such details are best not left to a public comment forum? First rule of fight club and all that.
I saw Richard L Lloyd questioning Tom Garrett’s integrity earlier today, then I remembered Richard L Lloyd was endorsed by Robert Hurt.
Hurt is the establishment, Hurt endorsed Lloyd, so Lloyd is the establishment, and Lloyd endorsed Del Rosso so Del Rosso is the establishment
https://www.facebook.com/RichardLloydforSupervisor/posts/488335234681556
Bravo for an excellent article, Gray! You answered fully and completely counteracted all the smears, innuendos and falsehoods against candidate Michael Del Rosso.
I’m going to share this truthful and factual article all over!
This is getting really tiring. After being involved in politics at various levels and with varying intensities for over 40 years, I can honestly say that this is perhaps the ugliest campaign I have ever seen. Perhaps I’m biased because I consider Michael Del Rosso to be a superb candidate for Congress, but, what has been conducted in the past with a measure of dignity, has now become blood sport. Is this representative of the Republican Party? Is this how those who profess to be conservatives wish to comport themselves? I want to know what the candidates wish to do in the future (which I do know with 3 of them) if elected to Congress, how they will begin reversing the mess in which our country finds itself, and about their personal lives only if there is something truly scurrilous. Enough! And yes, it’s a wonderful article which I, too, will share!
You know what, Kim, I agree. But the best measure of what someone will do in the future is what they have done in the past, especially when it comes to public service. Michael Del Rosso has never worked in public service. Michael Del Rosso bears no credentials that would support his self-assigned title as a “National Security Advisor”. Michael Del Rosso never cared about Virginia before he moved here from California or New York or Minnesota or wherever. Michael Del Rosso never fought for his country. Michael Del Rosso never even graduated college. Is that the measure of a man? No. But I, for one, would like someone representing Virginians in DC who has learned how to think critically and not simply regurgitate what other, more experienced people have told him. I know this post won’t change your mind (or Connie’s), but maybe someone who is undecided will read it and choose someone more qualified.
Patrick, if we continue to believe that the best qualification for elective office is having served in some other elective office, thus perpetuating the “ruling” (aka donor) class and the paternalistic attitude that seems to increasingly prevail in government, we are doomed to making the same mistakes over and over again. It has been said (I won’t attribute this to Einstein since there appears to be some question about the origins) that doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is the definition of….. I have known many members of Congress who came from business backgrounds, from medical backgrounds, from academia – and the list goes on and on. They made enormous contributions. That includes some of our Founding Fathers. I simply draw the line at lies, distortions and misrepresentations. They are designed to mislead. There is no other purpose for them.
Or qualified for election to RNC.
The real test will be if the party is able to rally around our candidates, if we can’t, why bother.
My thanks to Gray and Michael Del Rosso for the thoughtful response. I’ve said my piece on this elsewhere, and will let that stand: it is deceptive for a candidate to make hay on the campaign trail about *being* (not “having been”) a successful technology executive, with grandiose titles and such, when the two companies he owns are valued at less than $1000. (Did he pay more or less than that when he bought them? Hmmm.) Again, it’s not my interest to tear down Michael Del Rosso, but to sound a cautionary note, so I won’t go into additional detail.
I’ll add only two things: (1) I did disclose that I would support Garrett if I were in the 5th; and (2) really? I’m part of the Cantorite establishment? On what planet?
lol…. Albertson = Establishment….. the world is upside down
We are all Cantorites after the primaries.