As a matter of fact, I have extensively researched the Forma Group and have written numerous articles about their connection to Woody Hunt. As a result, the attack dogs for the Forma Group were dispatched against me in the form of the MaxPowers blogger. I started connecting the dots for you and I came to the conclusion that MaxPowers was the blog for the Forma Group. Although many have opined that I have stated that Ricardo Armendariz was MaxPowers, the fact is that I have written that Armendariz’ company and the MaxPower blog are connected.
I did not conclusively know the name of the author of the MaxPowers blog; I just knew they were somehow connected to Ricardo Armendariz.
Because of the notion that the Forma Group is losing clients, according to the online commentary I am looking forward to reviewing, the 30-day financial reports that should be released later today. Although Karlsruher seems to indicate that the Forma Group does not have many clients this election cycle, I wasn’t ready to believe that until I saw it for myself in the financial disclosure reports.
However, the MaxPowers blogger posted two blog posts on Wednesday that indicated to me that there was desperation at the Forma Group to distance themselves from the MaxPowers blog. When individuals are desperate, they make mistakes. It is no secret that I have been trying to unmask MaxPowers since August of 2013. I was patiently waiting for him to make a mistake.
He did that on his second desperate blog post attempting to distance himself from the Forma Group when he posted the PDF document showing purported emails from Veronica Escobar to him attempting to derail the Oscar Leeser campaign in favor of Steve Ortega. It has been my experience that MaxPowers sanitizes the documents he posts, in other words, he normally removes identifying information from them.
It takes some knowledge of computers to know about the identifying information and how to remove it – the metadata.
All computer files have some type of meta data associated to them. It is easily removed or altered, but it takes a little know how and a willingness to do it.
In this case, the PDF’s author was listed as “Ali Enrique Razavi.” The date the document was created, according to the meta data, coordinated with the time line of the events.
Was Ali Razavi MaxPowers, I asked myself.
To be clear, meta data, although sometimes used in court cases is not conclusive proof unless it has been vetted through a forensic process. I have not done so in this case but I was curious to learn who Razavi was and his possible connection to MaxPowers.
My research proved to be enlightening.
Ali Enrique Razavi is the “Corporate Vice President” of 1SOLTECH, a solar panel manufacturing company in Dallas Texas.
Hold on a minute, what does a solar panel manufacturing company, in Dallas, have to do with El Paso politics? My thoughts exactly.
According to Razavi’s profile on the company website, he worked “for nearly seven years as Chief of Staff for a member of the Texas House of Representatives.”
Interesting, Razavi writes that he worked as Chief of Staff for a state representative yet neglects to mention the representative’s name. Why?
It was Norma Chavez.
Ali was Chavez’ Chief of Staff from April 2004 through December 2009. Guess who was also Chavez’ Chief of Staff? That would be Ricardo Armendariz, principal of the Forma Group. When Razavi was a staffer for Norma Chavez, Armendariz was the chief of staff. When Armendariz left, Razavi stepped up to fill the void.
When I first started looking into the Forma Group, I was told, “Forma” stood for “former staffers of Norma.” I am sure it was a joke but as you can see, the dots were connecting. My research showed that Razavi was the blogger behind MaxPowers but I did not have the proof.
As you know, we live in a litigious society so I set out to try and the find proof.
I sent Ali Razavi an email to his work address asking him for an explanation of why the Escobar document came from his computer. I expected a complete denial, assuming he would bother to answer. Those that have read the MaxPowers blog know what I mean.
As a matter of fact, the first response I got was a request for the documents and an “I am not sure what you are talking about.” Aha! I knew I had him, but I still needed the proof.
Playing dumb, I responded that the document could be found on the blog and I forwarded him the link. I knew he already knew about meta data but I played along, I was on a fishing expedition.
I then received a reply that I did not expect in my wildest dreams! I expected this to be a long drawn out battle to get to the truth but instead he admitted to being MaxPowers!
Of course, Ali aka MaxPowers had to try to discredit me once again so he posted a picture of himself on his blog and Tweeted the post to Veronica Escobar, Jaime Abeytia and myself, as if implying that he outed himself, instead of the truth, that I discovered who he was by researching the data.
The fact is that in his rush to try to distance himself from the Forma Group, because apparently they are hurting for clients after my exposé about them, he made the mistake of not cleaning up his document’s meta data. He then compounded that error by trying to outsmart me. In the end, he proved that in fact, I was right that Ali Enrique Razavi is MaxPowers.
Of course, there remain many unanswered questions about the Forma Group and the politics of El Paso, starting with whether they are losing clients or not. We will get a better indication of their client situation with the financial reports scheduled to be released later today. There are also the questions of Veronica Escobar’s emails that he published on his blog. I will try to address those issues and connect some more dots for you in future blog posts. For now, know that MaxPowers is a useful idiot that ultimately exposed himself because of his inability to act like an adult.
Although Ali denies working in concert with the Forma Group, as you will see in the email exchange, it is my belief that his blog is an instrument for the Forma Group. Whether he is the sole author or one of several others it yet to be determined. However, his connection to the Forma Group is clear as far as a I am concerned. I will let you draw your own conclusions.
Below is the complete and chronological email exchange I had with Razavi.
Email exchange between Martin Paredes and Ali Enrique Razavi:
At 14:12 I sent the following:
Hello Ali,
As you likely know I write the blog El Paso News. In reviewing some documents that the MaxPowers character posted on a blog it came to my attention that the documents he posted yesterday were generated on your computer. I am going to be posting a blog about your connection to the Forma Group in El Paso at 1:00pm ET, about an hour from now.
However, I wanted to give you the opportunity to clarify for me how your name ended up being on the documents.
Thank you,
Martin
Response from Ali at 14:45
Martin,
I am not sure what you are talking about exactly. If you can forward me the documents I would appreciate it.
Certainly if there is anything I can clarify for you I would appreciate
Thanks!
Ali
I sent him the following at 14:56
Hello Ali,
Thank you for getting back to me. The original document can be found at this link: http://maxpowers.typepad.com/files/gmail—email-blast-1.pdf
The document’s meta data clearly shows that the document came from your computer. Can you clarify for me how that document was created on your computer?
I apologize but I am on a very tight deadline so I need your comments as soon as possible.
Thank you,
Martin
Ali responded at 15:10
Martin,
I am no computer guy. I don’t know what “meta data” is. Can you show me that? Because this is really concerning.
As far as it’s creation, I don’t know. I didn’t create it.
All that being said, I do enjoy reading your blog. I cannot keep up with everything going on El Paso, but your blog is definitely one of the better ones out there.
If I can help, let me know. Again if you have meta data and some time stamp or something this would be extremely helpful.
Ali
I responded to him at 15:37
Ali,
The meta data is found on documents that are created on a computer. In this case it is the PDF document. It is usually found in the “properties” section of the document. In this case, the author is listed as “Ali Enrique Razavi” and the date of creation of the document is April 8, 2015. It was obviously generated from a Google Mail account using the Firefox browser on a Mac computer.
Am I reading correctly that you did not create the document?
Please confirm this for me.
Thanks,
Martin
At this point Ali Razavi posts a picture of himself on his blog.
Ali responds to my email at 15:39 with the following:
Martin,
I am just messing with you, silly goose.
I am Max. Check out my latest post: http://www.epmaxpowers.com
Love,
Ali
Ali then sends another email to me at 15:43 with the following:
…it was from my home computer.
—
Ali
At 16:22, I responded with the following:
I figured, glad you came clean. I’ll be writing about it on my blog tomorrow. I’m sure you’ll have a reply. I will be happy to include any comments you want to make on my post tomorrow. I just need them within the hour as I’m finalizing the write up.
Martin
At 16:46, Ali replied with the following:
Martin,
You can hold me accountable for anything, but to say the Forma Group had anything to do with me would be a lie.
Call Forma Group out for anything else, but me.
Ali
At 16:47 I sent him the following follow up:
Ali,
My research shows that you and Ricardo Armendariz worked together for Norma Chavez. The information you have about El Paso politics comes from insider information. To me there is an obvious connection there. All of the other research shows a concerted effort against certain politicians. To be fair, I am willing to quote you verbatim on your answers to the following questions.
1. Have you stayed in touch with Ricardo Armendariz after December 2009? If so, about how many times generally?
2. Have you ever written a blog post on behalf of someone’s direction. If so, would you identify them?
3. Prior to today, did David Karlsruher know your identity?
4. Have you ever accepted anything of value for your postings on the MaxPowers website?
I look forward to your answers,
Martin
At 18:07, Ali replied as follows:
On all 4 counts, the answer is no.
Regarding Armendariz, he worked for Norma Chavez before I did. Him and I did not work together.
Anything else?
Brilliant stuff. It takes real commitment to see this through. Unlike me who relied on simple intuition to figure out why they were doing what they were. Norma Chavez did not support the slate of progressive politicians that pushed for the quintessential political issue of the last few years…the ballpark. Yet she was pivotal in the formation of Forma. It really seems like just a matter of the dogs turning on their master. It is quite sad reading what this man Ali had to write about, considering that he worked so closely with Norma. In the end, this organization, Forma, bought into the government/corporate welfare mantra, hook, line, and sinker. The same mantra that is driving exorbitant spending at the expense of sound fiscal policy. The same mantra that lap dogs like Karls-RUSE-r, and Lyingstar happily accept. Karls-RUSE-r does so for the possibility that his family will get “trickled on” by the monetary windfall of the power brokers in the community. Lyingstar does so because he’s hoping another politician will come along dumb enough to put him on the payroll. Ali does it for a reason too, and I hope you continue digging to find out what he earns in support of the leaches. In the end, it goes to show what a corrosive force government becomes when it serves the interests of a few, at the expense of decent citizens looking for a fair shot. I applaud your efforts. Well done sir.
Bravo!
And where’s Marissa Marquez in Al of this (pun intended)? There certainly a connection to that huge dot! (Pun intended)
And Manny, felonstar is content with whatever loose change is tossed at him. Just check out the latest campaign finance reports. It’s interesting that a “fine” Westside lady like Cortney, devoted to her children and Dr. Nor would associate with a man who shares pornographic images of his children mother with his own children and then slut shames her in the media.
And then you have his other friend, our county leader Escobar crying about bullying while feeding the monster by spreading chisme and intrigue for political gain. Disgusting.
max self identified yesterday martin. you are late, once again, to dinner. now the coolness is gone. thanks jj arms for the detective work.
Martin,
how exactly is a guy living in Dallas selling solar panels connected to a two person lobby/campaign shop? Is it time to admit that you, like Jaime, are wrong about the Forma connection?
You wrote all of that and all you had was that Rick and Ali were both Norma staffers. What you failed to write was that Rick and Forma beat Norma and cost Ali his job. Explain that.
Anonymous, I’ll tell where the Marissa Marquez dot is in all this. It is well known in Austin that she is friends with this Ali character and was close with him when he worked for Chavez. With the unmasking of Ali, Martin has now proved that she is also behind this. Wonder how her constituents would feel if they knew what she was up to.
I’d be more embarrassed for being outed as a crappy writer and for having worked for Norma Chavez than being an operative for Forma…maybe.
And leave it to Grand Duke Favud KKK to twist and contort. The poor little can come up with more portions than a cheap silicone boobs porn artist.
Sounds like some [removed by Martin], not an El Paso political operative.
Martin,
I love you!
You forgot some other connections. I was one time in the same room as the El Paso Association of Builders. I also shook hands with your friend then-County Judge Anthony Cobos. Wait, more than just shaking hands, I once was in the same office as him!!! I can go on.
Love,
Ali
Rotten Peppers,
[removed by Martin]? I prefer “[removed by Martin]”.
Love,
Ali
Martin,
Don’t be a baby because they are laughing at you. Don’t censor such non controversial posts.
Ali;
I watched Lawrence of Arabia last night and the great performance of Omar Sharif as Ali. He was a [removed by Martin] too and a great actor, as well. They rode a lot of [removed by Martin] in that film.
Love you both,
Peppers
Really Martin? Your posts about trash pick-up in Orlando are far more engaging.
By the way, I am the REAL max Powers!
Love, Max
you worked so hard on max. now go find out who jumped Lyda-Ness.
Martin’s jihad to out Max Power has removed a lot of the fun from the local blog scene. Now it’s just like every other blog scene: the angry crazies; the privileged failed politician white boy; and some [removed by Martin] from Dallas, the only one with any panache.
Oh, and Martin. The paid mouthpiece of a sprawlmeister.
So like is “MAX POWERS” your Alter ego?
Ying or Yang?
Good Cop vs Bad Cop?
SPY vs SPY?
Lib vs Conservative??
Light vs Dark?
Good vs Dark Side Force?
I believe there is room on the internet cloud for all opinions!
Only the NSA knows for sure..and they are not Talking…
…But Martin Paredes will follow your electronic bits and track you down.
Regards
H
I still think there’s some connection between Max and Karls-RUSE-r. Maybe Razavi sold Karls-RUSE-r’s clan some fake made-in-America solar panels for their building projects. Apparently Razavi is pretty good at concealing the origin of things, at least for a short period.