Do you honestly think the Journal News is going to post dozens if not hundreds of pages of forms, fitness reports, etc??? I sincerely doubt it. All they will do is have someone look over the docs and see if there is anything out of place. Then they will post a small article or blog on it and then Santos and Co. will just cry that this person was a sympathizer and that the docs need to be made public, or he will cry that we need his medical records and his grammar school files, etc…

Kerry didn’t lose the election because of the Swift Boat Vets. He lost because he was an empty suit and an obvious political opportunist. Swift Vets had virtually no impact on Kerry’s numbers according to polling so how not signing SF-180 cost him anything is beyond me.

Kerry spoke candidly about the SF-180 and how it was for O’Neill, a guy who like Santos has done nothing but personally attack and slander Kerry for years.

I do not see what Greg Ball owes Mike Santos at all. He already released his DD-214 which proved that Santos was wrong when he said Greg was Dishonorably Discharged. Santos refuses to admit he was wrong and LIED about Gregs service. Instead he spends hundreds of thousands of dollars to keep lying!

Look at how this BS developed.

1. Stephens and Santos claim Greg was Dishonorably Discharged from the USAF because of assumptions based on him not fulfilling his full term and misunderstanding what DD in the DD-214 meant.

2. Greg produces a DD-214 as well as recommendations from several commanding officers which prove he was Honorably Discharged and his service was good.

3. Stephens loses by a landslide.

4. Santos and Degnan keep insinuating Greg’s service was dishonorable because he was released early and beg greg to come clean.

5. Greg again shows DD-214 and explains Force Shaping.

6. John Degnan beaten handily in both Primary and General Elections.

7. Santos and co. continue to insinuate dishonorable service despite no evidence. now it has mutated into a grand story of indiscretion and secret back room military deals, involuntary discharges, unfounded allegations of incidents, unfounded allegations of misuse of public funds, etc…

8. no credible news source or individual has asked for an SF-180 from Greg nor has anyone attempted to obtain records through the use of FOI measures that were used for John Kerry.

There is no need for Greg to now, after years of slander, continue to respond to Mike Santos. It is clear Santos will not stop harassing Greg regardless of what the evidence shows. Santos will just continue to speculate and make up more ridiculous claims.

But Ball, if he ever releases his SF-180, will probably try to pull the same stunt. He’ll sign the form but for some friendly outlet that will protect him.

Ball needs to sign the form for the Journal News with the understanding that they’ll post the full, unaltered documents to the data central section of this website. This paper has no problem posting gun records, salary data, home values, etc… so they should have no problem with this.

Ball needs to release his records to a credible paper ASAP and if nothing is found in his record this entire debate will be put to bed.

In other words all the sensationalism was in the possibility that his records were hiding something but when they proved his story the Swift Boat vets ignored it and kept on slandering.

The same will be true of Ball on a less grand scale. Releasing his docs won’t stop this madness.

Has every elected official, or a large majority of them, signed a SF-180 form before seeking election???

My guess would be no since the majority of elected officials who serve on intelligence committees have never served in the armed forces at all.

And if Greg ball had questionable information regarding his past then wouldn’t there already be proof of that out there or worse, wouldn’t he have been Dishonorably Discharged???

What you are missing is that there is only unfounded speculation driving this issue. In other words there is no proof there was anything different than what Greg says went on.

Just because Greg is a public official does not mean he has to answer too every mike Santos out there who only exist to give him a hard time.

Be aware that Mike Santos doesn’t care about the truth. He just wants to make life difficult for Greg. If Santos cared about truth he would have retracted his claims that Greg is a Stalker, was dishonorably discharged from the USAF, lied about his voting records, etc. I have heard no such admission from Santos and his crew regarding the blatant lies and mistakes they spread about Greg.

So forgive me if I don’t buy all this “quest for the truth” garbage. Honestly I have been on this forum to know that virtually know one here is at all interested in what is in Greg’s files. If Ball released those files to the media and nothing is found, Santos and everyone here will just keep slandering and spinning it more and more.

They have not been able to make anything stick to Greg yet they keep on throwing the junk.

Wven if there was no controversy surrounding Ball’s military service, it would still be important for him to release these records.

The public has a right to know whether or not someone who has the potential to serve on an intelligence, military affairs or other important oversight committee has questionable information in their past.

There’s just no good excuse for Ball to not release these records.

There is no question over his military record except with Mike Santos and on this blog. Honestly no one else is talking about it. It’s the same posters over and over using different names dragging the conversation out and they HAVE NO PROOF there is anything wrong.

Greg has no need to respond because beyond Santos and a few of his lackeys there is no one asking questions.

if i were ball and i had nothing to hide, i would sign the form and shut this conversation down. not doing so does raise even more suspicion and curiosity over what he (ball) is hiding.

this cannot be chalked up to a privacy matter. keeping his military records private after he’s received so much criticism over them is not a smart move for ball and it will be one of the many things that ultimately sinks his candidacy.

the gop thinks they have a top-notch recruit in ball but what they really have is a snake oil salesman who has just been found out!

No, Hall will probably be smarter than that and attack Greg’s Assembly record and the problems with his staff. Those are Greg’s weaknesses. Not this far fetched military conspiracy.

WHAT PROOF DOES THE ANTI-BALL GROUP HAVE THAT MAKES GREG SIGNING A SF-180 NECESSARY???

So far it is nada, zip, bubkiss, and lies.

And no just because he runs for Federal Office he does not have to sign that form for ANYONE! All that concerns anyone on this issue is that Greg received an Honorable Discharge from the USAF. Thousands received discharges in similar manners and have come forth acknowledging that there is no difference.

All of this “Disciplinary Stuff” is irrelevant and unfounded. The joke is that Mike Santos and his Jeff Greens etc, all seem to claim that Greg had all of this Disciplinary issues in the Air Force but then cry that they need him to sign SF-180 to prove it. What a joke. How do you know these things if you have no proof? Simple, they procured it from their rear end and now are trying to put the pressure on Greg to respond. If he does respond then they just shift the attention and claim that his response shows there is something wrong.

Trust me, the US Military branches are not in the habit of promoting Disciplinary cases to Captains and then Honorably Discharging them as the result of back room deals. And even if this were the case, as ridiculous as it would be, what would be in his military records to prove it?

Do you honestly think the USAF is going to have a well documented back room deal between them and Greg Ball about promoting and Honorably Discharging a guy who apparently was a real pain in the butt?

So just like Willis Stephens and John Degnan Mike Santos and his crew are not only insulting Greg’s service to the US and all Veterans like him, they are also insulting the USAF and the Military in general by insinuating that the Air Force conspired to “cut Greg a deal” and that “unfortunately these deals happen all the time.”

Nevermind that Mike Santos has no proof of such actions nor can anyone bring them. They just lie and slander at will and then claim the onus is on Greg Ball to defend himself. Guilty until proven innocent.

What is the final laugh on the military issue is that over the past couple years how the Conspiracy Theory has grown so elaborately. It started with Stephens refusing to take Greg Ball seriously in his re-election campaign and when he finally did he chose to only point out that Greg did not finish his full Military term, insinuating something was wrong but never elaborating. All this did was see Stephens lose by a landslide. Then, not wanting to look like any less of a putz, Degnan took the same route but this time, along with Santos, claimed Greg not only never finished his term but was Dishonorably Discharged. A mistake that was obviously a result of them misunderstanding what the DD in DD-214 stood for. In both cases the attacks on Greg were insulting. The veterans community supported him and many of Greg’s superiors during his service wrote very positive remarks about him and his service to the USAF. More importantly his DD-214 was authentic and available to anyone who wanted to see it.

but clearly Santos and co. had a problem. The evidence was not good enough because in their eyes Greg needs to be destroyed. So whats the next logical step? Insinuate conspiracy. They foster this hold garbage scenario that some magical military record tells of how awful greg really is and that it would destroy his reputation even though he was Honorably Discharged. The entire case is made through speculation and without proof but regardless the Anti-Greg crowd will join in the cheers, thus giving it some credibility right???

Sorry, not buying it. When Santos first brought Greg Ball to my attention 2 years ago and told me of his bad military record, it got me to investigate. So far no proof has been brought to the table to substantiate anything Santos says and if this were brought into a court of law a judge would through this out so fast it would make your head spin.

I remember about a year ago that Santos, Green, and whoever else were loudly proclaiming that they had some very solid and very serious proof of Greg Balls indiscretion and that they were going to release that proof over time. So far nothing of any substance has come out and all that ever happened was the bogus Perreault charges and the evidence that she agreed to “Embellish” charges. Other than that Santos has brought nothing to the table, no substance, no credible witness or piece of evidence. Yet we are to believe that Greg should just acknowledge this wacko who has never been truthful about anything he has said?

So far Santos has called Greg a Stalker, a sexist, a homo-phobe, a racist, etc, etc, etc. Santos has offered no credible discourse and no respect. On what level of reality does Greg Ball owe him anything?

I mean this is a group that has raised several hundred thousand dollars to destroy Greg’s reputation and to do nothing but run a negative campaign against him and they have yet to file a single financial report and claim they don’t have to, but then turn around and bash Greg for being late on his reports, etc…

Santos and his pals are worse than the demonized version of Greg they peddle to the public. They are hypocrites and liars. They will slander anyone to get their way. I have yet to see a single, credible, real piece of evidence backing up anything they say about Greg Ball and this is why I will point out their hypocrisy and lies wherever I see it. 2 years ago I had no idea who Greg Ball was but thanks to Mike Santos and his insulting propaganda he has generated a strong supporter of the Assemblyman.

“Its a request that cannot be refused in a federal race unlike in a state race because federal races raise the possibility that the elected congress person may serve in some intelligence capacity and therefore any service record is germain…”

”...although it has been explained locally to the satisfaction of the constituents in his assembly district, clearly a further explanation must be forthcoming…”

I agree with Edelman. Ball must sign the form. Unless he is hiding something, there is no good reason or acceptable excuse for him to not sign SF-180.

No amount of spinning on the part of Greg Ball and his cronies is going to make this request disappear. This issue is not going away It’s going to spread from this blog and Ball will be brought down by his lack of transparency and honesty. (See: Kerry, John F.)

You have no evidence that Greg lied about his military service and I doubt you ever will. Numerous superior officers of Greg’s in the USAF have written glowing endorsements and praise for Greg’s service and character.

Mike Santos and his crowd are defeated. They have nothing but wild speculation, lies, and slander. Pathetic.

“So if Greg Ball concedes to one media request to sign Form 180 then he will have to sign all of them and it will just create a circus.”

No, Ball can sign one Form 180 for the Journal News who will publish the unaltered documents to the Data Central section of this website. No need to create a circus

“The problem is that Greg has adequately explained his service and anyone who understands much about the military knows that the Conspiracy Theory forwarded by the Brewster crowd is illogical as Greg was too decorated to have been a disciplinary case. Plus I know of several people who have been discharged in similar manners and it is not uncommon.”

That’s your opinion. There are many who do not believe that Ball has adequately explained his service record and who suspect that he has been less than honest about some other parts. This is why signing SF-180 will either dispel or confirm these so-called rumors

“To this day the Brewster crowd has continuously lied and spun the “Girlfriend” story away from the truth and they will never reasonably explain what actually happened even though it has been reported in print with proof. They just keep saying he is a stalker and hope the slander sticks…”

The New York Post and Daily News both called Ball a stalker. Who is this ‘Brewster Crowd’ you keep speaking of? Sound pretty paranoid to me

“Ball will gain little from releasing his military records…”

Perhaps that’s why he’s hesitant to release them. Was this a Freudian slip? Remember, this isn’t about Ball gaining or losing something, this is about the truth

”...and lets not forget we are all entitled to some levels of privacy.”

Not once you enter public life and want to run for federal office and requests are made of your records from prior public service, including military service

“So I say to those who cry foul over his record. You provide the proof that something illicit went on then I will join you in the cry for him to sign a SF-180 for a media institution. So far all we have are unsubstantiated conspiracy theories and misrepresentations.”

That’s not how it works. This reeks of a guilty conscience. Besides, since when does Greg Ball care about proving conspiracy theories and misrepresentations? How about that nonsense he made up about Sen. Leibell? No proof there. How about his attacks on Degnan for ‘supporting’ an illegal alien workstation when in fact Degnan killed the plan? No worry about misrepresentation then. Talk about a double-standard

“I have spoken to several of my friends in the USAF and none have found anything wrong with the conditions of greg’s discharge or found anything odd about what he said of it.”

Happy to hear that your pals in the Air Force THINK Ball’s discharge was normal. I want to KNOW that his discharge and military career was normal. Ball must sign the SF-180 or he risks confirming all of the rumors out there about his military record. What is he afraid of? What is he hiding? Sign the form, Greg

That is why it’s so important that Ball sign the SF-180 and fully release his military records. I’m sure if he signs an SF-180 for the Journal News they’ll post Ball’s full records to the Data Central section of this website where anyone (including other media sources) can have full access the unaltered records. Failure to do so on the part of Ball simply lends credibility to the claims that he is hiding something in his past.

He must sign the SF-180 for a CREDIBLE paper, such as the Journal News, who will guarantee to publish the records in full.

This week, you included a “message from Greg Ball” which was really just a desperate plea for money surrounded by quotes. Ball cherry picked quotes like he was creating an ad for an upcoming bad movie. Many of the quotes were from an article that appeared in Roll Call newspaper. Roll Call is a political insider newspaper. I think in fairness people should be able to read the entire article (which I have attached below). This article reflects how many people in Washington see Greg Ball. Thank you. – Darren Rigger

Politics & Poker: Ball Invites Scrutiny With ‘Google Me!’
May 12, 2009
By Josh Kurtz
Roll Call Staff ————————————————————————————————————————“Google me!”
New York Assemblyman Greg Ball says this more than a few times in a recent conversation with writers and editors from Roll Call and the Rothenberg Political Report.

Ball, the likely Republican nominee against Rep. John Hall (D-N.Y.) — and a top recruit in the eyes of the National Republican Congressional Committee — is defiant as he invokes the G-word. Yeah, there’s a lot of crazy stuff out there, he concedes. But it’s also, he argues, a sign of how thoroughly battle-tested he is.

“Google me!”

The taunt has echoes of Gary Hart in 1987: “Follow me around.” Hart, in an interview with the New York Times Magazine that sure seems creepy in retrospect, was trying to debunk persistent rumors about his womanizing.

Little did he know that the very day those words were printed, a reporter from the Miami Herald, acting on a tip, was doing just that, turning up in the bargain a tasty morsel named Donna Rice. So much for Hart’s frontrunning presidential campaign.

“Google me!”

For his history-altering scoop, the Herald’s hardworking Tom Fiedler flew to Washington, D.C., hid in bushes, conducted round-the-clock surveillance and then confronted the principals. But in the 21st century, our “investigation” demands just a few strokes of the computer keys.

So we Googled Greg Ball. He’s right, there’s an awful lot out there. For a guy who is just 31 years old and in his third year in the Legislature, there are already 267 footnotes on his Wikipedia entry — that says something about the kind of passions he inflames.

“There’s controversy surrounding him in the past and there’s going to be controversy around him going forward,” says Michael Edelman, a Republican consultant and commentator in Westchester County, one of the five counties in the Hudson Valley district Ball is hoping to represent.

What kind of stories does Google reveal?

Well, for starters, Ball was accused of stalking a former girlfriend, who got a temporary order of protection against him. He’s been accused of posting on the Web misleading photographs of an encampment of illegal immigrants in his legislative district. A dead goat was found recently in his front yard — the work, Ball believes, of Salvadoran gangs who oppose his tough anti-immigration stance — and he’s been sleeping with a 12-gauge shotgun under his bed ever since. And until recently he has been in a vicious blood feud with his political enemies — who by the way, happen to be fellow Republicans.

Oh yes, Ball was also accused of sexually harassing a former Assembly aide. Details of this are scant on the Web, but in his conversation with Roll Call, which borders on the surreal at times, Ball dutifully provides some. The woman, he says, was put up to it by the establishment Republicans who were waging jihad against him. And the bottom line, from his point of view, is that the Assembly Standing Committee on Ethics and Guidance “cleared” him.

Which is technically true. On Oct. 20, 2008, the committee issued a letter — which is available online — saying an investigation into the accusation found that a violation of the Assembly’s Sexual Harassment/Retaliation Policy “was not established.” The committee also makes it a point to say that the statute of limitations on the woman’s accusations had run out, so the Assembly couldn’t have taken any action anyway.

A clean exoneration? Ball likes to think so. Google him — and judge for yourself.

It’s worth noting that additional dirt about Ball exists in the political ether that surpasses some of things that are out there in cyberworld. The point here is not to titillate, or to sling mud. The point is to ask, is this guy really viable?

Ball has many admirable qualities and an interesting story to tell. The son of blue-collar workers, he got a Congressional appointment to the U.S. Air Force Academy and worked a bunch of policy jobs in Washington, D.C., after his discharge. Since launching his political career, he’s been a ferocious reformer, unafraid to take on the entrenched interests of his party and the Democrats who run Albany.

Ball is handsome, driven and indefatigable, and he has advanced a populist political agenda that’s appealing and hard to pinpoint on the ideological spectrum.

“Democracy is not a spectator sport, and I am in this fight not to tear down the incumbent, but to restore America’s promise to the Hudson Valley,” Ball said during the formal announcement of his Congressional bid Saturday. “Blue-collar folks like my family and friends feel shafted by elitist politicians on both sides of the aisle. The unsustainable spending, the bailouts, the corporate welfare, the runaway defense contracts; all of this must stop and we must refocus our priorities in this time of crisis.”

Ball is reminiscent of a young Rahm Emanuel. He’s got a sharp political mind and an intense focus. And you get the sense that he’s got the 19th Congressional district, with its wealthy suburbs and rural areas, blue-collar precincts and liberal enclaves, wired. He’s studied the place since he was a kid, and he knows where his voters are and how to reach them.

With all due respect to the incumbent, it’s a sure bet that Ball will outwork John Hall in the 18 months between now and Election Day 2010.

What’s more, in the post-Clinton era, politicians can weather all manner of sex scandals. Sen. David Vitter (R-La.), after all, appears on his way to re-election, despite being linked to a D.C. prostitution ring.

But it’s a little trickier to survive this kind of stuff when you’re a fresh face, trying to introduce yourself to voters. Just ask Mike Erickson, the businessman who was the Republican nominee the past two cycles in Oregon’s 5th district. His candidacy was undone last year by reports that despite his opposition to abortion rights, he had driven a pregnant ex-girlfriend to a medical clinic to get an abortion. Erickson had an explanation, and maybe it seemed plausible to him — but it didn’t wash with the voters.

Alex Coronado®, a local school board member, was waging what seemed like an earnest, appealing long-shot challenge to Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Calif.) in 2004. But in a conversation with Roll Call that was every bit as surreal as the one we had with Ball, Coronado started talking, unprovoked, about the man who was stalking her and her teenage daughter. She lost by 20 points.

That same year, Pueblo County Sheriff Dan Corsentino® seemed like a leading candidate for an open House seat in Colorado’s 3rd district, until he became undone by multiple sex scandals involving his office.

Greg Ball is a talented guy. But he seems to be the opposite of teflon. Just the other day, the local media were raising questions about the paperwork for his declaration of candidacy. A small matter, perhaps, but emblematic of something bigger.

Greg Ball may take comfort in knowing what’s out there when people Google him. But he’s never faced attacks like the kind the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and liberal interest groups are going to throw his way. It’s all too easy to see the 30-second ads with the words “stalker” and “sexual harassment” in them.

“John Hall is not going to mess around with him,” Edelman predicts.

And that alone may be enough for Hudson Valley voters to conclude that Hall is “still the one” in 2010.

1. SF-180 is a request for military records. Anyone can fill it out and send it in for records of any US serviceman. This is allowed under the Freedom of Information Act.

2. For complete access to most military records the individual submitting form 180 MUST HAVE THE AUTHORIZED SIGNATURE OF THE VETERAN. If you do not have authorized signature then you can receive only limited information.

Therefore there is no magic form Greg Ball could sign for all media and voters to access his info. Instead he would have to sign EVERY SF-180 for all who were requesting it.

So if Greg Ball concedes to one media request to sign Form 180 then he will have to sign all of them and it will just create a circus.

For whoever brought up Tim Russert and John Kerry understand that the Swift boat vets were asking Kerry to sign THEIR SF-180 not some blanket SF-180 for everyone.

The problem is that Greg has adequately explained his service and anyone who understands much about the military knows that the Conspiracy Theory forwarded by the Brewster crowd is illogical as Greg was too decorated to have been a disciplinary case. Plus I know of several people who have been discharged in similar manners and it is not uncommon.

A release of his military records will not stop the madness and everyone knows this. The groups against Ball are so convinced that he did something illegal in the military that no amount of proof against them will persuade them otherwise. They will keep digging and spinning until they can find something else to cling onto etc. Even if his military records are perfectly clean it will not stop the conspiracy stories.

To this day the Brewster crowd has continuously lied and spun the “Girlfriend” story away from the truth and they will never reasonably explain what actually happened even though it has been reported in print with proof. They just keep saying he is a stalker and hope the slander sticks…

If anyone thinks a release of Gregs records will solve anything think again. Obama had to release his Birth Certificate TWICE and yet there are still no end to the number of wackos who fabricating forgery lies. Obama did release his documents and all it did was make the conspiracy theories even worse.

Ball will gain little from releasing his military records and lets not forget we are all entitled to some levels of privacy. Degnan and Stephens were the ones who assualted Ball’s service record. They should be carrying the burden of proof. Not Greg Ball.

So I say to those who cry foul over his record. You provide the proof that something illicit went on then I will join you in the cry for him to sign a SF-180 for a media institution. So far all we have are unsubstantiated conspiracy theories and misrepresentations.

I have spoken to several of my friends in the USAF and none have found anything wrong with the conditions of greg’s discharge or found anything odd about what he said of it.

Full Bird’s entire position is speculative with absolutely no fact.

Another question, if Ball runs for congress, he will be out campaigning during his Assembly term…getting nothing done. His assembly term would be up the end of 2010. If Ball loses to congress wouldn’t he be out of Assembly term as well? In other words, unemployed?

On another note, it’s been reported around town that Ball has been making phone calls to local party leaders and activists. Those who have received the calls describe Ball as acting out of “sheer desperation.” He’s practically begging for money, I’ve been told, and Ball is informing folks that he is trying to file with over $100k but isn’t close “because of the economy.” Apparently he’s really trying to pressure people into attending his upcoming golf outing. I’d agree with Ball that filing with anything under $100,000 would be pathetic. Especially because, according to his e-mails, he’s been trying to raise that amount since mid-February. Perhaps he’s waiting until after the golf shindig and to collect whatever money that may bring in to file with the FEC.

Unfortunately for Ball, that’s not how the law works. He doesn’t get to make the rules. This isn’t Putnam County. I’m most certain that there will be consequences for Ball’s continued illegal and unethical behavior.

DIRTY DIALING POL HAD VOTERS HOUND ME: RIVAL

NEW YORK POST By MAGGIE HABERMAN

First, he was accused of stalking an old girlfriend. Now, it’s a political rival.

Embattled Putnam County Assemblyman Greg Ball – who was slapped with a temporary restraining order years ago for allegedly harassing his CNN-producer gal pal – orchestrated a “telephone stalking” campaign against state Sen. Vincent Leibell, the senator claimed yesterday.

Leibell said sheriff’s deputies have been guarding his home because he has received hundreds of phone calls to his private number – spurred by a massive robo-dialer recorded-message campaign from Ball that urged residents to annoy the senator at home, he said.

“Do me a favor, call state Sen. Leibell today at his home, at (845) 878-3270, and tell Sen. Leibell that we’re better than this,” said Ball’s message, alluding to claims that the senator has been pulling dirty political tricks on him. The number has since been changed.

“It’s a form of telephone stalking,” Leibell said. “It’s meant to intimidate.”

Leibell said he was also furious that some voters reported that their caller-ID readout displayed his wife’s phone number.

“He’s taking somebody else’s identity, in this case my wife, and using her name and home phone number,” Leibell said. “I would not wish to see this happen to anyone, and I would like to apologize to all the people who received calls.”

Leibell said he’s eyeing legal action.

Ball insisted he made the move after what he dubbed a “smear” campaign against him that he thinks was paid for by Leibell – a claim the senator has denied.

Ball was referring to ads that compare him to Adolf Hitler and claim to be paid for by John Degnan, a Republican running against Ball in a primary contest next week.

Leibell has supported Degnan in the past. Ball said he never meant for the calls to appear as if they came from the Leibells, and insisted his message included his own phone number.

Ball told The Post he was calling a press conference to announce that the FBI is probing his claims that Leibell was part of a large smear campaign that involved a former staffer in the assemblyman’s office.

FBI officials would not confirm an investigation.

Ball’s re-election bid exploded into the headlines a few weeks ago after it emerged that his ex-girlfriend, CNN producer Linda Fern Roth, sought a restraining order against him in 2003.

Roth complained to a Washington, DC, court that Ball kept showing up at her house and her office, and that he “threatened to destroy her career and reputation.”

At the time, she was working for CNN’s Wolf Blitzer and Ball was in the Air Force.

Roth also claimed Ball told her he had a sexually transmitted disease that he’d been keeping private.

After the revelations, Ball held a press conference to acknowledge the restraining order, but called it part of a heartfelt and painful breakup. He denied the part about the STD.

Upstate assemblyman Greg Ball accused of stalking former girlfriend

By GLENN BLAIN
Daily News Albany Bureau

The ex-girlfriend of Westchester and Putnam county Assemblyman Greg Ball put out a restraining order on him and has accused him of stalking and threatening her.

The ex-girlfriend of Westchester and Putnam county Assemblyman Greg Ball put out a restraining order on him and has accused him of stalking and threatening her.

ALBANY – Old skeletons are about to burst out of the closet of an incumbent Assemblyman in the heat of a bitter re-election fight, the Daily News has learned.

A CNN producer and former girlfriend of Republican Assemblyman Greg Ball of Westchester and Putnam counties got a temporary protective order against him on grounds he stalked her and threatened to destroy her career.

The order sought by Linda Fern Roth – a copy of which was obtained Monday by the Daily News – also contended Ball even told her he had a transmittable sexual disease that he had never told her about.

Contacted by The News on Monday, Ball, a first-term Assemblyman locked in a heated GOP primary with former Brewster Mayor John Degnan, denied that a restraining order was ever issued. He also blamed his opponent for orchestrating a smear campaign.

“This was not a criminal matter and there were never any allegations of violence,” Ball said an email sent to the Daily News early Tuesday.

“It was just a heartfelt breakup where both parties jointly requested a ‘cooling off’ period, and the entire matter was mutually dismissed. My life is an open book, and always has been.”

Ball’s lawyer, William Francis Xavier Becker, also told the Daily News Monday evening there were no “no findings of fact” in the case and that both sides decided to drop the matter.

Leah Gurowitz, a spokeswoman, for the Washington, D.C., court system confirmed to The News that a temporary restraining order was issued in July of 2003.

No permanent restraining was ever issued and the matter was ultimately dismissed in November of that year, she said.

Roth got the order after complaining to the Superior Court of the District of Columbia’s Domestic Violence Unit that Ball repeatedly showed up at her home and called her friends and workplace in a bid to locate her. He even showed up at CNN’s Jerusalem bureau looking for Roth.

At the time, Roth was the senior producer for CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer and had recently returned from an assignment in Iraq. A little more than a year later, she married a U.S. Marine she met while on that assignment.

At the time, Ball, was in the U.S. Air Force and assigned to Bolling Air Force Base in Washington.

In her complaint, Roth also claimed that Ball “threatened to destroy her career and reputation” and Ball told her he had a “sexually transmitted disease but has been keeping it to himself.”

Roth did not return telephone calls seeking comment.

Ball held a press conference on the issue early Tuesday afternoon, in which he acknowledged the order, but denied telling Roth he ever had a sexually transmitted disease.

LAWMAKER IN ‘STALK,’ VD SHOCK

NEW YORK POST By DAVID K. LI

A suburban assemblyman yesterday defended himself against an “embarrassing” relic of his romantic past that threatens his re-election bid.

Republican Greg Ball spoke out after the Putnam County Times published a 2003 temporary restraining order obtained by his then-girlfriend, who accused him of stalking her and carrying a sexually transmitted disease.

During a press conference called, Ball showed reporters documents that he filed seeking a restraining order against CNN producer Linda Fern Roth four days after she got an order of protection against him.

“These things that have come out, I’m embarrassed, but I’m not ashamed of anything,” Ball, who represents parts of Westchester and Putnam counties, told The Post.

“It was a tough breakup. I was head over heels in love.”

Ball conceded that he had followed Roth to Israel, where she was on assignment, in a last-ditch bid to save their relationship, but denied that he was stalking her.

The embattled lawmaker also denied having a sexually transmitted disease. “It’s absolutely untrue, it’s absolutely untrue,” he said.

The assemblyman is locked in a bitter GOP primary against former Brewster Mayor John Degnan.

Ball said he’s a victim of Degnan’s dirt-digging.

“This is absolutely disgusting. They have sent PIs into every facet of my personal life,” he said.

He said he and his ex will make a joint statement later this week about their former romance.

STILL WAITING FOR THAT JOINT STATEMENT, MR. BALL

“This was the only private [embarrassing secret of my] life. In a way, it’s a huge weight off my shoulders,” he said.

Degnan denied any role in making the story public.

LAWMAKER IN ‘STALK,’ VD SHOCK
(NY POST)

Upstate assemblyman Greg Ball accused of stalking former girlfriend
(DAILY NEWS)

***‘DIRTY DIALING’ POL HAD VOTERS HOUND ME: RIVAL***
(NY POST)

Full articles to follow…

It would appear that his unwillingness to sign the SF-180 is indicative of something much larger. Something we have yet to learn about.

Perhaps its his braggadocio that convinces him that his past will never catch up. We all know it will; it always does. And when it does Ball will be finished.