Category: Elections

Conservatives, Conspiracy theories, Crazy Republicans, Cringeworthy, Dangerous Republicans, Democracy under threat, Election deniers, Elections, Embarrassing Republicans, Ethics, Extremism, Lies, Mesa County Republican Party, Republican incompetence, Republican lies, Republicans violating laws, Scams, Sherronna Bishop, The Big Lie, Tina Peters, Trump Insanity

Republicans waking up to the reality of Tina Peters’ and Sherronna Bishop’s lying, attention-seeking and predatory behavior

by Anne Landman • August 6, 2022 • 4 Comments

Matt Crane, Executive Director of the CO County Clerks Association called Tina Peters “a liar and a predator” who is “coming after their money.” (Photo: Election Official Legal Defense Network)

It’s been a rough few days for indicted Republican Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters.

First her $255,000+ recount showed again that she lost her race for secretary of state by the same 14% margin she lost by in the original election tally.

Then Mesa County Republican Party Chair Kevin McCarney — one of her longest, staunchest defenders — finally realized Tina is completely off the rails and publicly called on her to resign from her office.

McCarney told the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel Tina is acting “like a petulant child crying about not getting her way,” and said she’s “dragging down the party.” He said it takes a lot to get on his bad side, but Tina managed to do it.

It has taken a lot, to the detriment of county taxpayers.

Republican Mesa County Commissioner Cody Davis also made his position against Tina clear, saying,

“If it hasn’t been clear for the last year, we strongly oppose Tina and her efforts to undermine Mesa County’s elections process and those dedicated elections staff. … She’s no longer a sore loser, she’s on full tilt and will settle for nothing less than the complete destruction of a pillar institution of our democratic republic.”

Mesa County Commissioner Scott McInnis, shown here eating a cracker at CMU

Republican Mesa County Commissioner Scott McInnis has also had it up to his eyeballs with Tina, telling the Daily Sentinel that “she’s trying to play the starring role in her own movie,” and…

“She loved the attention, the private jets, the high-end hotels, the taste of money and most of all, the attention … She was amazed people would drink the Kool-Aid, that the more deceitful she was, the more she believed herself to be a national hero. She discovered how easy it was to destroy others like Gerald Wood and his family on her path to stardom.”

And if that wasn’t enough, Colorado Newsline published an article about Tina August 5 titled “Tina Peters gains nothing in costly recount as she continues to raise money off election denial.” In that article, Matt Crane, the Republican Executive Director of the Colorado County Clerks Association, said Tina is a “predator and a liar.” Crane called Tina and her handler, Sherronna Bishop, “carnival barkers.”

Quote callout from Colorado Newsline

Republican Mesa County Commissioner candidate Cody Davis, shown engaging in the locally popular pastime of trespassing on the banks of the Grand Valley Canal in one of his campaign TV ads

Tina raised over $500,000 for her campaign fund, the majority of it coming after she lost her election on June 28. She raised the money mostly from out of state donors by promoting lies about the election on internet TV shows like Sherronna’s show on Lindell TV, “Americas Mom,” and Steve Bannon’s show “War Room,” and promising her followers she’d get a hand recount — something she already knew that by law would not happen. In fact, it was one of her own five attorneys, Republican former Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler, who helped put that law in place while he was in office.

Crane said he believes it’s fair to ask if Tina is actually raising money for her criminal defense any more, pointing out that she and Sherronna are lying about the election process, and continuing to ask people to send money even after the election is over.

Crane also questioned why people continue to give Tina money when everything she’s saying about elections is wrong. He wishes “they would just stop” giving her money, he said, adding that “She’s very good at playing the victim here. And I wish people knew that she is not a victim. She is a liar, and she is a predator, coming to them for their money. It’s disgusting. I can’t say that clearly enough … She is a predator and a liar.”

A look back at Tina’s enablers, showing how we got here:

Mesa County GOP Chair Kevin McCarney, defending Tina in front of an applauding crowd at Appleton Christian Church in September of 2021, when most of us already knew she was lying, grifting and trying to squeeze money out of her fans:

Far right wing “Stand for the Constitution” members chanting “We love Tina! We love Tina!” at a rally in front of the County Clerk’s office in August of 2021, after her breach of Mesa County’s election equipment was revealed, an act that cost County taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars:

Conspiracy theories, Corruption, Dangerous Republicans, Democracy under threat, Election deniers, Elections, Embarrassing Republicans, Ethics, Extremism, Lies, Republican lies, Republicans violating laws, Scams, Sherronna Bishop, The Big Lie, Tina Peters, Trump Insanity

Tina Peters’ next big drama to keep the grift going

by Anne Landman • July 30, 2022 • 3 Comments

Tina Peters press release finding fault with the El Paso County recount

Get ready. The next Tina Peters drama is already happening.

Tina is trying hard to set the scene for a hand recount by claiming there is tremendous fault in the El Paso County recount effort, which has barely just begun.

Tina issued a press release yesterday saying the El Paso County Logic and Accuracy test (a precursor to the recount) was an “absolute disaster.”

Tina Peters on the judge in her criminal case: “This is a dirty, dirty player”

by Anne Landman • July 26, 2022 • 2 Comments

In the video she made in Pitkin County the night she bonded out of jail in Aspen on 7/22, Republican Tina Peters called Mesa County Court Judge Matthew Barrett, the judge overseeing her criminal case, “partisan” and “malicious,” and claimed “his goal is to incarcerate an innocent woman.” She further accused Judge Barrett of “legislating from the bench,” and urged her followers to “file a lot of ethics complaints” against him.

Just two days later, on 7/25, while appearing on Steve Bannon’s internet talk show “War Room,” in a segment titled “Deep Dive of a Few Bad Men,” Peters continued assailing Judge Barrett:

Video shows Republican Mesa County Commissioner candidate Bobbie Daniel endorsing Tina Peters for Clerk in 2018

by Anne Landman • July 21, 2022 • 11 Comments

A 2018 Facebook video shows 2022 Republican Mesa County Commissioner candidate Bobbie Daniel endorsing Tina Peters for Mesa County Clerk, assuring viewers that Tina has a “wealth of knowledge” and “we’re in really good hands if you’re our Clerk and Recorder.”

Daniel appears in the video with far right-wing activist Sherronna Bishop, whose home was searched by the FBI last November in connection with Tina Peters’ election tampering scandal. Bishop has been implicated in the scandal as well. She and her husband recently sold their home in Garfield County, fled to Texas and are keeping their whereabouts a secret.

It turned out electing Tina Peters as County Clerk was the biggest, most expensive and most embarrassing mistake Mesa County voters have ever made.

Tina Peters fails to meet deadline to pay for recount

by Anne Landman • July 19, 2022 • 4 Comments

Tina Peters waves around a letter to the Colorado Secretary of State at the July 12 Las Vegas conference she attended, demanding a recount of her race in the primary. She failed to meet the deadline last Friday to pay over $236,000 for a state-wide recount. She lost by over 88,000 votes or a margin of over 14% between her and the winner.

For all the bluster Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters made over demanding a recount in her June 28 primary loss, she failed to get the necessary funds in to the Secretary of State by the deadline last Friday to commence the recount, so it won’t happen.

For the state pay for a recount, the difference between the leading candidate’s total votes and the next highest candidate’s total votes must be less than or equal to one-half of one percent (0.5%). Peters lost to her opponent, Pam Anderson, by 88,000 votes, a margin of more than 14% between her and the front runner.

At a speech she gave at a conference of election-denier sheriffs in Las Vegas on July 12 (video), Peters waved around a notarized letter (pdf) to the Colorado Secretary of State that she told the crowd she was sending to demand a recount, claiming without any evidence that she lost because of “extensive malfeasance” in the June 28 primary. She failed to mention ore recognize how her being indicted on 7 felonies related to election tampering might have affected the vote.

There was no fraud or malfeasance in the June 28 primary, and Peters’ loss has been accepted as legitimate.

Tina Peters’ unhinged talk in Las Vegas

by Anne Landman • July 14, 2022 • 18 Comments

By now everyone has probably heard that Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters had her bond revoked today for leaving the state without first getting permission from the court, which violated the terms of her release in her criminal case. Peters traveled to Las Vegas for a July 12 conference of the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, a group of anti-government sheriffs who are also election deniers.

While there, Peters gave an unhinged 9 minute talk that appeared to even confuse her audience. In her talk, she made a slew of bizarre statements, like:

“Our crooked DA arrested [my election manager] knowing today is her birthday.”
“They arrested three grandmothers for defending your elections.”
“They’re stealing our elections.”
DA Dan Rubinstein “is the guy who let 26 pounds of fentanyl go.”
“Our candidates were offered to step aside and they would be propelled over the finish line if they did not talk about election security.”
“They took away my husband, too. 36 years we would’ve been married. The DA went in there and had him sign divorce papers in a nursing home. He has advanced dementia. These people are criminals.”
“They’re coming after you.”

Highlights of Wyoming Republican primary debate. Note, this is not a Saturday Night Live episode.

by Anne Landman • July 2, 2022 • 13 Comments

The above is a 2 minute video synopsis of a Republican primary debate among candidates running for Wyoming’s at-large seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, currently held by Liz Cheney. These are actual answers from actual Republicans to questions the moderator posed during a “lightning round.” The debate was broadcast on Wyoming PBS and can be viewed on CSPAN.

This is only one state away.

If you can stomach it, you can watch the full debate here.

Election deniers, Elections, Embarrassing Republicans, Extremism, Lies, Republicans violating laws, Sherronna Bishop, Tina Peters, Trump Insanity

Wendi and Gerald Wood: “Tina Peters and Sherronna Bishop have sullied election integrity efforts in Mesa County,” and Tina’s “Gerald Wood” impersonator was election denier Conan Hayes

by Anne Landman • June 29, 2022 • 1 Comment

Gerald and Wendi Wood are speaking out after Tina Peters slandered Gerald Wood on a Denver radio talk show on June 18. Tina told Jimmy Sengenberger of KNUS in Denver that Gerald Wood, whose identity Tina is accused of stealing, “perjured himself” before a Mesa County grand jury. Tina called Wood’s grand jury testimony “political theater.”

Woods called Tina’s statement that he perjured himself “a blatant lie.”

On June 28, the Woods gave an interview to KREX TV in which they break their silence on the matter. The full, edited interview is about 20 minutes long.

Among other things, the Woods say Tina used them, that her lack of integrity should disqualify her from office, that Tina “seems like she’s being pushed over the edge,” and that the way Tina used Gerald Wood “could happen to anybody if you elect a disreputable business person” to office.

Trump aides, appointees & family all testify that Trump kept pushing the lie of widespread election fraud to the public even after they told him no proof of fraud exists

by Anne Landman • June 25, 2022 • 15 Comments

In this video clip from a House Jan 6 Select Committee public hearing posted to the public on June 14, William Barr, Trump’s Attorney General, Trump’s daughter and White House Advisor Ivanka Trump, multiple Trump campaign aides and attorneys all testify that they informed Trump in no uncertain terms that no evidence of widespread election fraud existed and his claims about it were false, and in spite of this, Trump continued to push the lie out to the public that widespread election fraud had cost him the election.

Conspiracy theories, Crazy Republicans, Cringeworthy, Dangerous Republicans, Democracy, Democracy under threat, Elections, Embarrassing Republicans, Ethics, Extremism, Fake patriotism, Julie Fisher, politics, Republican lies, Republicans violating laws, Scams, Tina Peters

Trump & his associates have repeatedly fleeced those who trusted him most. Tina Peters is following his lead.

by Anne Landman • June 17, 2022 • 4 Comments

Tina Peters appears on Steve Bannon’s Internet TV show, “War Room,” Dec. 31, 2021

First, former Trump advisor Steve Bannon raised hundreds of millions of dollars from Trump supporters using his private fundraising campaign, “We Build the Wall,” that promised to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico. Bannon promised gullible MAGA-heads that “100% of the funds raised …[would] be used in the execution of our mission and purpose.” But Bannon and his associates diverted hundreds of thousands of dollars from the campaign to pay their own personal expenses and credit card debt, buy expensive luxury items like jewelry, home renovations, high-end SUVs, plastic surgery and golf carts. Law enforcement agents arrested Bannon in August of 2020 on charges of money laundering and conspiracy to commit wire fraud while he was off the coast of Connecticut, lounging on a 150-foot long super-yacht owned by a Chinese billionaire.

Trump pardoned Bannon of these crimes before leaving office in 2021, which is why Bannon was never prosecuted for them.

Tina Peters losing support locally

by Anne Landman • June 14, 2022 • 21 Comments

Support for Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters appears to be waning among her “base” in Mesa County as people discover Peters is willing to lie and sacrifice other people to further her own ends.

The Daily Sentinel reported today that enthusiasm for Peters among members of the far-right group Stand for the Constitution (SFTC) appears to be waning. The group, previously a strong supporter of Peters, invited Peters’ opponent for Secretary of State, Mike O’Donnell, to speak at their most recent meeting. The meeting was sponsored in part by Andrea Barber, the sister-in-law of Gerald Wood, whose identity Tina Peters stole in order to smuggle a third person into the Elections Department to copy voting machine hard drives.

Former G.J. City Council candidate Mark McAllister speaks in support of Tina Peters at an August, 2021 rally organized by Stand for the Constitution in support of Tina Peters, while a supporter holds a sign that says “I Trust Tina Peters.” (Photo: YouTube)

Peters’ actions swept up Fruita resident Gerald Wood into the criminal investigation of Peters’ election tampering, forcing Wood to have to prove to authorities he was not present at the time Peters had the hard drives copied.

Reports: Boebert bailed on passengers & covered up off-road drunk driving accident 2 weeks before 2020 primary

by Anne Landman • June 10, 2022 • 14 Comments

Lauren Boebert in December, 2019

News outlets including the Daily Mail and the Daily Beast are confirming a story first broken by FireBoebert.com that CD-3 House Rep. Lauren Boebert covered up a serious off-road drunken driving accident she caused just weeks before the 2020 primary election, that could have tanked her run for House Representative.

According to reports and phone recordings, several sources including Boebert’s family members have confirmed that on Mother’s Day, 2020, Boebert was driving an off-road vehicle near Moab with her former sister in law, Tori Hooper, and Boebert’s son and dog, when Boebert lost control of the vehicle. Hooper reports Boebert “bailed” out of the vehicle as it was careening towards a cliff, leaving the passengers alone in the vehicle. Hooper struggled to re-take control of the vehicle, but it crashed into a rock causing serious injuries to her face and chest. Hooper had to be evacuated by helicopter. The accident was not called in to 911.

It’s happening! Tina Peters: The Movie

by Anne Landman • June 2, 2022 • 25 Comments

Screen shot of the 2 minute, 15 second movie trailer for “Selection Code,” made by Lara Logan and financed by My Pillow Guy Mike Lindell

Get out the popcorn, Mesa County.

A new “documentary” movie is coming out July 16 that tells the story of embattled Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters’ efforts to convince people that massive election fraud occurred in Mesa County’s voting machines.

In reality, a recent months-long, thorough investigation into allegations of voting machine problems by Mesa County District Attorney Dan Rubinstein and his team, the results of which were presented to the Mesa County Commissioners and the public last week, reveal that was not the case. The evidence revealed beyond a doubt that human action by a member of Peters’ own Elections Department staff, who was trying to remedy a frozen computer screen, was at the heart of Peters’ accusations, and the investigation found the County’s vote tabulating machines worked appropriately and counted ballots accurately.

Detailed investigation finds no election fraud occurred in Mesa County — Clerk not exonerated of crimes

by Anne Landman • May 30, 2022 • 4 Comments

D.A. Dan Rubinstein and Investigator Michael Struwe tell the Mesa County Commissioners on May 19, 2022 how they arrived at their findings that there was no prosecutable election tampering in the local 2020 and 2021 elections

It came to attention while talking with a friend this morning that some people have misconstrued news reports about Mesa County District Attorney Dan Rubinstein’s recent investigation into election tampering (video, 1 hr, 12 min) and his subsequent statement that he will not be taking any legal action on Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters’ claim that criminal election fraud occurred in Mesa County.

Some people believe this statement, that no criminal activity was found, meant that Tina Peters has been exonerated of any wrongdoing.

That’s totally incorrect.

How to register as an Unaffiliated voter so you can vote against awful Republican candidates in the June primary

by Anne Landman • May 28, 2022 • 16 Comments

Lauren Boebert is the extremist candidate running for re-election as House Rep. from CD-3. If you’ve had enough of her, follow the instructions below to vote against her in the primary election on June 28th. Her opponent is former CO State Senator Don Coram, who, while still a Republican, is a far better choice.

While many had hoped redistricting would make Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District more competitive, it ended up doing the opposite. It increased Republicans’ advantage by an additional nine points.

This result is not lost on beleaguered CD-3 voters who, over the last two years, have been deeply embarrassed by extremist Republican elected officials like rabidly-right wing House Rep. Lauren Boebert and election-denier-to-the-point-of-insanity Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, both of whom, in addition to behaving terribly and in some cases denying voters their honest services, have also been exploiting their offices to rake in millions of dollars from like-minded, loony far-right wingers across the country who think they’re terrific.

To combat western Colorado trend of electing obviously unqualified, crass, shallow-thinking, extremist, far right Q-Anon conspiracists who exploit their positions to cash in personally, many CD-3 electors have re-registered as unaffiliated voters so they can vote the Republican ballot in the June primary and have at least some say who will run for office in the November general election. In effect, they are becoming Republicans for the primary election so they can vote for the least obnoxious, offensive Republicans, to try and push the worst of them off the ballot completely before the fall general election.

Like Enstrom Candies? You might want to re-think that. They’re one of Boebert’s biggest donors.

by Anne Landman • May 15, 2022 • 10 Comments

Enstrom Candies is Lauren Boebert’s 4th biggest donor. Source: OpenSecrets.org

How OpenSecrets.org computes donations from an entity.

GovTrack officially lists Colorado House Representative Lauren Boebert as a participant in the January 6th, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters. She has had zero accomplishments while in office. Instead, to cover that up, she lied to her constituents and took credit for

Enstrom Candies, a favorite coffee shop, ice cream shop and candy factory in downtown Grand Junction, is Boebert’s 4th biggest donor

accomplishments achieved by Democrats. She supports Putin and Russia with her votes. She embarrassed all of Colorado with her shocking outbursts at the 2021 State of the Union address by President Biden, shouting out loud at him while he was talking about his deceased son. She openly insulted a group of Jews who were visiting the U.S. Capitol. She made homophobic comments about Transportation Secretary Pete Butigieg about his taking parental leave to care for his two newborn twins. Boebert made bigoted jokes to intentionally disparage a Democratic colleague. She challenged a wheelchair-bound House colleague to a sprint. She mocked the death of a 42 year old cinematographer who was accidentally killed on the set of a movie by a firearm. Boebert wants government to take orders from the church. She has openly promoted the white supremacist myth of “replacement theory” that is leading to more mass shootings in the U.S. She voted against a bill to help Americans get easier access to baby formula.

Court rules Republican County Clerk candidate Julie Fisher is not competent to run elections, either, and was complicit in Peters debacle

by Anne Landman • May 11, 2022 • 20 Comments

Julie Fisher, who is a candidate for Mesa County Clerk and Recorder in the Republican primary June 28th. The judge found she has insufficient experience to run elections and was complicit in the Tina Peters/Belinda Knisley capers.

On Tuesday, May 10, 2022, District Court Judge Valerie Robison granted an injunction that prohibits Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters and Deputy Clerk Belinda Knisley from running elections through 2022, making it the second year that the two top officials in the Mesa County Clerk’s Office have been barred from having anything to do with elections.

No less important, though, were Judge Robison’s findings about current employee in the Clerk’s office and Republican candidate for County Clerk Julie Fisher, whom Tina Peters had dubbed her “Second Chief Deputy Clerk.”

Robison found Fisher did not have adequate experience in handling elections, hadn’t taken the election training provided by the Secretary of State and that the position Tina had appointed Fisher to, “Second Chief Deputy Clerk,” was a fake position.

The Court ruled “there is no statutory provision for the position of “Second Chief Deputy Clerk” in the Clerk and Recorder’s Office.

Essentially, Tina invented the “Second Chief Deputy Clerk” position to do an end run around the County Commissioners and the Court, and appoint her own hand-picked person to perform her job in her and Knisley’s absence.

But Judge Robison wasn’t having any of that.

FEC: Boebert campaign accepted “apparently excessive prohibited and impermissible contributions”

by Anne Landman • May 6, 2022 • 2 Comments

Lauren Boebert heckling the President during the State of the Union address

Rep. Lauren Boebert’s first quarterly campaign finance report of 2022 shows her campaign for the primary election accepted thousands of dollars in “apparent excessive, prohibited, and impermissible contributions,” according to a warning letter (pdf) the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) sent to her “Lauren Boebert for Congress” campaign office in Rifle.

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