Secretary of State lawsuit against Mesa County Clerk also names Deputy Clerk Belinda Knisley

Belinda Knisley is described in the SOS lawsuit as “absent and/or unable to perform her duties,” like Tina Peters

The text of the Secretary of State’s lawsuit against Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters (pdf) essentially says Deputy Clerk and Recorder Belinda Knisley lied to State employees with Tina Peters’ knowledge when she told them a non-employee County Elections staff allowed to access voting equipment last May was a County employee, when in fact he was not, and had never been a County employee. Knisley, described in the suit as a “possible successor” to Tina Peters in the Elections Department, is specifically named as a Respondent in the suit in addition to Peters.

The unauthorized person has been identified by the Daily Sentinel as Jerry or Gerald Wood, the husband of Wendi Wood, who is described as a “pastor” at Beit Lechem Ministries, a Fruita church that was damaged in a fire in January of 2020. Wendi Wood appears to also be a member of Stand for the Constitution, the group that has been organizing protests against the Covid-19 vaccine mandates for health care employees adopted recently by local medical and elder care facilities to protect their patients. Stand for the Constitution is also the group that has been repeatedly pressuring the County Commissioners and Grand Junction City Council members to declare the City and County “constitutional sanctuaries,” where federal laws can be willfully ignored or disobeyed.

The Secretary of State’s lawsuit states,

Gerald “Jerry” Wood (Photo: Beit Lechem Ministries)

“Respondent Knisley informed the Department of State that Gerald Wood was an employee of her office. In fact, Wood was not and never has been a Mesa County employee. Upon information and belief, Respondent’s misrepresentation of Wood’s status to the Department of State was done with the knowledge of Respondent Peters. Upon information and belief, Respondent Knisley and Sandra Brown [another employee of the Mesa County Clerk and Recorder’s Office] facilitated the improper presence of the individual identified as Gerald Wood at the May 25 trusted build.”

A “trusted build” is a software update performed by the voting equipment manufacturer that has been approved by the State of Colorado.

Knisley was suspended with pay (yes, that’s with pay) on August 23, 2021 by Mesa County Human Resources Director Brenda Moore.

Sandra Brown, Mesa County Elections Coordinator

If the Court rules in favor of the Secretary of State in the lawsuit, Wayne Williams will be considered a paid contractor of the Board of Mesa County Commissioners and Sheila Reiner will be “classified and compensated as a temporary Mesa County employee,” although the suit doesn’t say if this pay will be in addition to Reiner’s pay as Mesa County Treasurer, which is her current position.

Like Knisley, Mesa County Elections Department employee Sandra Brown is also now prohibited from “supervising, accessing, or participating in any aspect of all elections occurring under the [Election Code] until otherwise instructed by the Secretary,” although Brown is not named as a Respondent in the lawsuit.

 

  9 comments for “Secretary of State lawsuit against Mesa County Clerk also names Deputy Clerk Belinda Knisley

  1. Thank you Anne, for your well researched coverage of local issues. I used to read you frequently in the mornings after I read the Sentinel. Now I check your blog first.

  2. Fact: Tina Peters is an elected official- like or not legally she cannot be removed from office except by a recall or voted out, therefore Griswold order is against the law- look the Colorado constitution and election laws if you don’t believe me-
    Belinda was appointed, therefore again by the letter of the law she can only be removed by Tina Peters or another elected clerk.
    Fact: Belinda was removed from the office because of a trumped up harassment charge- she returned to the office under the order of Tina Peters who has that legal authority. She was doing her job so this concept that she burglarized election information is not only a lie but laughable!
    Fact- swat team showed up at Belindas house in the evening surrounding the house- mind you WITHOUT a warrant- demanding to know if she was home- she wasn’t but were able to scare the crap out of her daughters and grandchild.
    Fact- Innocent until proven guilty is the law of the land of which Ann and many that comment seem to forget!
    Stay tuned more evidence is about to come forth- you all might just end up with egg on your faces…..

    Awe but unlikely that Ann with post so all of you will continue to believe the MSM and make ridiculous comments regarding information you have absolutely no knowledge about-

    • Crime is crime…….
      She needs to share a cell with Tina.
      Perhaps I’ll end up with egg on my face but ya know what? I doubt it and I like eggs anyway so it’s Saul Goodman! What you should realize is the nation is watching your little corner of the world, and we’re laughing at your ignorance. Weakness in citizens through BS conspiracy theories only helps to destroy our democracy. Now be a good boy, put your mask on, get vaccinated and move on. Trumps no longer your king. He was dethroned and the My Pillow guys pillows suck anyway.

  3. The “end of times” that people speak of in Doomsday Speak had nothing to do with a literal end of times. That is ignorant. It has everything to do with opening up that very literalism. The “end of times” of seeing like that, of thinking literally like that, of seeing our nature of interdependence.

    But, sigh, war and aggression equals big business. And we place higher value on that than our own nature. Enter samsara.

  4. Whether it is anti-vaxxers, shouting mobs at county commission, city council, and school board meetings, or simply insecure limp white men blowing smoke from their monster trucks, there is a common thread. Tina Peters, Gerald Wood, and their white christian End-of-Days enthusiasts have been emboldened by the four-years-too-long reign of the former president. Let us give thanks that we have a Democrat non-sociopath in the White House.

  5. No life is so small and insignificant that it can’t take on some importance through the embrace of conspiracy theories and and a healthy sense of persecution.

  6. Wendi Wood is a minister, not a rabbi, at a “Jews for Jesus” church, not a synagogue, in Fruita. It is a blend of Judaism and Christianity that appears to lean toward the latter. The church has 33 members it appears and their website is run by a Christian group. It is Wendi Wood who mentioned the possibility of civil war at a government meeting. A long article on attempts to release confidential information about Dominion voting machines appears in today’s New York Times with Mesa County and Tina Peters featured. It isn’t always good to be famous.

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