adam laxalt

=2022 closeteam red, beat 2018, pension APT<div>=</div><div>=<a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/4138124-trumps-fake-electors-7-states-he-lost/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/4138124-trumps-fake-electors-7-states-he-lost/</a>no lnxWhat’s happening with Trump’s ‘fake electors’ in 7 states he lostBY NICK ROBERTSON - 08/04/23 Former President Trump was arraigned Thursday on four charges alleging that he attempted to orchestrate a scheme of fraudulent electoral college votes to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
In seven states — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — so-called “fake electors” signed paperwork attempting to cast electoral college ballots for Trump instead of their states’ actual winner, President Biden. 
The groups hoped that former Vice President Pence would count the fake electors’ certifications instead of the legitimate ones when the electoral college vote was certified on Jan. 6, 2021, changing the result of the election, the indictment alleged. None were successful.
Here’s what each state is, and isn’t, doing to investigate and prosecute them.
Arizona
A group of 22 Arizona Republicans, including the Republican Party chair and multiple state legislature members, signed papers intending to cast false electoral college votes in December 2020. That paperwork is now the focus of both a federal and state investigation.State Attorney General Kris Mayes (D) ratcheted up her investigation into the group in July, requesting records from involved figures. The investigation is in its early stages. Figures surrounding the case also received federal subpoenas for information and communication, according to local media.
Georgia
On the day that Georgia certified its electoral results in favor of Biden, 16 Republicans — led by the state’s Republican Party chair — allegedly met in a secret meeting in the state capitol to discuss plans to send an alternate slate of votes to Washington. The group also signed paperwork making their plans official.
The scheme is central to prosecutor Fani Willis’ (D) state probe into attempts to overturn the 2020 election, which may result in an additional indictment for Trump.
At least eight of the fake electors have signed immunity deals with Willis’ office, offering to cooperate in exchange for not being prosecuted.
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An independent reporter, who briefly barged in on the meeting, was called to testify to a grand jury debating whether to charge Trump, his attorney Rudi Giuliani and others this month.
The investigation is effectively complete, Willis said, and a grand jury is expected to decide on whether to charge Trump and others by the end of August.
Uniquely, the probe has also investigated Trump and his allies’ actions in other states.
The Georgia probe is the most significant of any state’s investigation into 2020 election meddling and is the only known case where Trump himself is a target of an investigation.
Michigan
FILE – Attorney General Dana Nessel speaks during a news conference in Detroit, Thursday, Oct. 14, 2021. Published reports say Nessel’s office is asking that a special prosecutor investigate whether the Republican candidate for state attorney general, Matt DePerno, and others should be charged in connection with an effort to gain access to voting machines after the 2020 election. DePerno has been endorsed by former President Donald Trump. (Max Ortiz/Detroit News via AP, File)
A group of 16 Michigan Republicans was charged with crimes related to a fake electors scheme last month, concluding an investigation by state Attorney General Dana Nessel (D) which began again in January. 
Nessel initially referred the charges to federal prosecutors in early 2022 but pursued a state case again after federal officials failed to pursue charges after a year.
The group met in the basement of the state Republican Party headquarters and signed documents claiming to be electoral college voters, prosecutors allege. Some of them later showed up at the state capitol and attempted to cast electoral college ballots.Three of the state’s rightful electors filed a civil suit against the group of 16 in January, requesting $25,000 in damages claiming they suffered humiliation and harassment due to the group’s fake elector scheme.The scheme is separate from another investigation into attempts to break into voting machines in Michigan. A former GOP attorney general candidate, a state legislator and a prominent Trump campaign lawyer were charged this week in that case.
NevadaFILE – Nevada State GOP Chairman Michael McDonald announces President Donald Trump before he speaks the Nevada Republican Party Convention at the Suncoast Hotel and Casino Saturday, June 23, 2018, in Las Vegas. New transcripts released on Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022, by the House Jan. 6 committee reveals Donald Trump and his allies played a direct role in the Nevada Republican Party’s phony elector scheme in 2020. The transcripts show McDonald invoked his Fifth Amendment protection 275 times when he was interviewed in February. (AP Photo/L.E. Baskow, File)
In the Silver State, a half dozen Republicans met in Carson City, Nevada, to organize their own fake elector scheme after the 2020 election. Among them was state GOP chair Michael McDonald, the focus of federal investigators in Nevada.McDonald’s phone was seized and searched by the FBI in 2022 and he and another elector testified to both the House Jan. 6 committee and for special counsel Jack Smith’s federal investigation.Both McDonald and the second fake elector, Nevada Republican Party official Jim DeGraffenreid, were given “limited immunity” due to their testimony. 
The Nevada scheme was allegedly headed by former state attorney general and GOP Senate candidate Adam Laxalt.Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford (D) declined to pursue a criminal investigation of McDonald, Laxalt and others.
New MexicoFILE – New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas talks during a news conference on Feb. 26, 2019, in Albuquerque, N.M. Balderas is asking that changes be made to rules proposed by the U.S. government as it processes damage claims from a historic wildfire sparked by forest managers. (AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan, File)New Mexico was a last-minute addition to fake elector plans, Smith’s 45-page indictment alleges. Despite being a state that Biden won comfortably — by about 100,000 votes or nearly 10 percent — the state GOP sent its own electors to vote for Trump, citing pending litigation in other states.The Republican’s five electors were turned away when they attempted to vote in the state capitol of Santa Fe, but they also signed paperwork asserting a false right to make electoral college votes.Two of those five voters testified for the House Jan. 6 committee last year, and the New Mexico Secretary of State met with Smith’s investigation team last month.An eventual suit from the Trump campaign contesting New Mexico’s results was purely a pretext for the elector’s scheme, Smith’s indictment alleges.State Attorney General Hector Balderas (D) started an investigation into the group in January 2022, but like in Michigan, referred the case to federal prosecutors. There has been no public action in either a state or federal investigation since.
PennsylvaniaMANHEIM, PA – OCTOBER 29: Republican candidate for Pennsylvania Governor Doug Mastriano, (L) his wife Rebecca, and (R) Republican candidate for Lt. Governor Carrie DelRosso addresses the media after a rally at Spooky Nook Sports Complex on October 29, 2022 in Manheim, Pennsylvania. Mastriano faces Democratic challenger Josh Shapiro in the November election. (Photo by Mark Makela/Getty Images)
Fake electors in Pennsylvania include 20 Republicans who planned to contest the state’s results in the 2020 election. Among them were former Rep. Lou Barletta (R-Penn.) and the vice chair of the state GOP.
The point person for the group was state Sen. Doug Mastriano (R), who went on to be the Republican nominee for Governor in 2022, losing to Gov. Josh Shapiro (D).But the Pennsylvania electors inserted a line into their signed vote document that makes them unique from other states. Their document reads that the votes would only be valid if they are recognized as “duly elected and qualified electors,” which they were not.In 2022, Shapiro — then the state attorney general — citing that language, said the group’s actions were likely not criminal and that the state would not investigate them.
WisconsinWisconsin Gov. Tony Evers speaks during the annual State of the State address Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023, in Madison, Wis. (AP Photo/Morry Gash, File)Attempts to overturn election results in Wisconsin embroiled Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), whose staff allegedly assisted his state’s slate of fake electors. Johnson has declined any knowledge of the incident.Ten Wisconsin Republicans signed documents claiming to be electors casting votes for Trump after the 2020 election. The group drew the ire of Gov. Tony Evers (D) on Friday, who said he wants them prosecuted. At a press conference Thursday, Attorney General Josh Kaul (D) said his office is tracking the federal investigation into Trump but has not said if the state is investigating the fake elector scheme itself.Kaul said that the group should be held accountable for their actions and that “further developments” will come.The fake electors also face a $2.4 million civil lawsuit set to go to trial in September 2024 over their actions.
TAGS 2020 ELECTION FRAUD ARIZONA DANA NESSEL DONALD TRUMP FAKE ELECTORS FAKE ELECTORS FANI WILLIS GEORGIA GEORGIA PROBE HECTOR BALDERAS JACK SMITH JOE BIDEN JOSH KAUL JOSH SHAPIRO LOU BARLETTA MICHAEL MCDONALD MICHIGAN MIKE PENCE NEVADA NEW MEXICO PENNSYLVANIA RON JOHNSON TONY EVERS TRUMP INDICTMENT WISCONSIN=</div><div>=</div><div>mma 11 22</div><div>...Dr. Mehmet Oz, the Republican nominee in Pennsylvania, made the most appearances on Fox, with 21. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), had the second-most appearances, with 14, while Ohio’s J.D. Vance had the third-most, with 10. Nevada’s Adam Laxalt (9), Arizona’s Blake Masters (9), and Georgia’s Herschel Walker (8) followed.</div><div>=</div><div>ABC’s late night star <a href="https://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/?s=Jimmy+Kimmel" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Jimmy Kimmel</a> isn’t big on endorsements but he is endorsing a Democratic U.S. Senator for re-election, in something of a non-endorsement video he recorded criticizing the far-right Republican trying to unseat her.Kimmel’s endorsement of Democratic U.S. Senator <a href="https://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/?s=Catherine+Cortez+Masto" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Catherine Cortez Masto</a> of Nevada mocks her opponent, Adam Laxalt, an anti-choice, anti-LGBTQ Republican who joined with <a href="https://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/?s=Donald+Trump" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Donald Trump</a> to lie about the results of the 2020 election.Kimmel put it all another way: “unbalanced people don’t belong in the Senate.”READ MORE: <a href="https://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/2022/11/this-is-a-very-strong-economy-experts-cheer-october-jobs-report-blast-those-claiming-recession/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">‘This Is a Very Strong Economy’: Experts Cheer October Jobs Report – Blast Those Claiming ‘Recession’</a>“Hi, I’m Jimmy Kimmel,” the video begins. “I know everyone has complaints about politics, Republicans complain about Democrats, Democrats complain about everything, let’s be honest.”“But if there’s one thing I think we can all still agree on, it’s that unbalanced people don’t belong in the Senate.”“And that’s why I am not endorsing Adam Laxalt and neither is his family. 14 members of Laxalt’s own family back his opponent, Catherine Cortez Masto,” Kimmel says.“Why? Because they know him.”“You know, that creepy cousin in every family no one wants to sit with at Thanksgiving? That’s Adam Laxalt.”“The guy supports a QAnon wacko for Secretary of State. I mean, seriously, these people think JFK is coming back from the dead. I have some bad news for you, Adam. JFK isn’t coming back. And even if he did, he wouldn’t be voting for you.”“Forget what side you’re on. Nevada needs a sane person in the Senate: Catherine Cortez Masto. I know her, we both went to Clark High School. She’s a good person, a hard worker. And guess what? Her family is voting for her.”While he didn’t get into specifics in the 30-second spot, on nearly every issue Laxalt has taken a right-wing or far-right stance, including abortion, same-sex marriage, climate change, voting rights, and more. Laxalt even <a href="https://www.ontheissues.org/Adam_Laxalt.htm" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">believes businesses have a right to not do business</a> with LGBTQ people.On Sunday <a href="https://jewishinsider.com/2022/10/michael-pecjak-adam-laxalt-nevada-senate-campaign/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Jewish Insider</a> reported the “Laxalt campaign paid thousands to [a] political operative linked to Twitter account that denigrated Jews, women.”“A Twitter account connected to former Laxalt staffer Michael Pecjak has compared abortion to the Holocaust and claimed that ‘Jews are not a religious sect and are a cult,’ among other comments,” Jewish Insider stated.Kimmel’s endorsement of Catherine Cortez Masto comes just after Oprah Winfrey surprised some on Thursday when she endorsed Democrat John Fetterman for a U.S. Senate seat in Pennsylvania, over her protégé, Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz, along with <a href="https://www.today.com/news/elections/oprah-winfrey-endorses-john-fetterman-opponent-dr-oz-pennsylvania-sena-rcna55565" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">a string of other Democrats she said she would vote for</a> if she could.Watch Kimmel’s endorsement below or <a href="https://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/2022/11/the-guy-supports-a-qanon-wacko-jimmy-kimmel-records-hilarious-non-endorsement-exposing-gop-candidate/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">at this link</a>.</div><div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">=</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_for_Public_Trust" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_for_Public_Trust</a></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="">americans for Public Trust is a Virginia-based, right-wing <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=501(c)(3)" title="501(c)(3)" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; background: none;">501(c)(3)</a> nonprofit with close ties to the Republican party, which has been tax exempt since 2020.<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_for_Public_Trust#cite_note-1" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">[1]</a>Americans for Public Trust conducts investigations, pursues legal action, and publishes reporting, with the stated goal of ensuring "those who disregard the rule of law are held responsible. By raising awareness of this work, we help to rebuild public faith in our elected leaders."<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_for_Public_Trust#cite_note-aptabt-2" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">[2]</a><div id="toc" class="toc" style="background-color: rgb(248, 249, 250); border: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); padding: 7px; display: table; zoom: 1;"><ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none; list-style-type: none;"><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_for_Public_Trust#News_and_Controversies" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">1News and Controversies</a><ul style="margin: 0px 0px 0.5em 2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none; list-style-type: none;"><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-2" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_for_Public_Trust#Launched.242_Million_Media_Campaign_Opposing_Biden_Nominees_Alongside_Heritage_Action_for_America_and_Judicial_Crisis_Network" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">1.1Launched $2 Million Media Campaign Opposing Biden Nominees Alongside Heritage Action for America and Judicial Crisis Network</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-3" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_for_Public_Trust#APT.27s_Ties_to_the_Republican_Party_and_Trump.27s.22Stop_the_Steal.22_Efforts" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">1.2APT's Ties to the Republican Party and Trump's "Stop the Steal" Efforts</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-4" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_for_Public_Trust#Accused_Left-Wing.22Dark_Money.22_Network_of.22Politicizing_Coronavirus.22_After_Ads_Attacked_Trump_COVID-19_Response" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">1.3Accused Left-Wing "Dark Money" Network of "Politicizing Coronavirus" After Ads Attacked Trump COVID-19 Response</a></li></ul></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-5" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_for_Public_Trust#Personnel" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">2Personnel</a><ul style="margin: 0px 0px 0.5em 2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none; list-style-type: none;"><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-6" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_for_Public_Trust#Staff" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">2.1Staff</a></li></ul></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-7" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_for_Public_Trust#Contact_Information" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">3Contact Information</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-8" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_for_Public_Trust#Articles_and_Resources" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">4Articles and Resources</a><ul style="margin: 0px 0px 0.5em 2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none; list-style-type: none;"><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-9" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_for_Public_Trust#Related_SourceWatch" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">4.1Related SourceWatch</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-10" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_for_Public_Trust#IRS_Form_990_Filings" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">4.2IRS Form 990 Filings</a></li></ul></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-11" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_for_Public_Trust#References" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">5References</a></li></ul></div><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;">News and Controversies</h2><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">Launched $2 Million Media Campaign Opposing Biden Nominees Alongside Heritage Action for America and Judicial Crisis Network</h3>In February 2021, a conservative coalition led by Americans for Public Trust, <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Heritage_Action_for_America" title="Heritage Action for America" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">Heritage Action for America</a>, and <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Judicial_Crisis_Network" title="Judicial Crisis Network" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">Judicial Crisis Network</a> plan to spend a total of $2 million targeting President <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Joe_Biden" title="Joe Biden" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">Joe Biden</a>'s "dark money" ties and opposing Health Department nominee Xavier Becerra and associate attorney general nominee Vanita Gupta.<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_for_Public_Trust#cite_note-aptpr-3" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">[3]</a><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_for_Public_Trust#cite_note-aptdc-4" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">[4]</a><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_for_Public_Trust#cite_note-aptp-5" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">[5]</a> Americans for Public Trust will spend $600,000 attacking Biden's ties to "dark money" groups, <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Heritage_Action_for_America" title="Heritage Action for America" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">Heritage Action for America</a> will spend $600,000 targeting Becerra, and <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Judicial_Crisis_Network" title="Judicial Crisis Network" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">Judicial Crisis Network</a> will spend $800,000 targeting Gupta.<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_for_Public_Trust#cite_note-aptpr-3" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">[3]</a><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_for_Public_Trust#cite_note-aptdc-4" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">[4]</a><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_for_Public_Trust#cite_note-aptp-5" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">[5]</a>In response to these ad buy announcements, Politico said, "a 'dark money' organization is a political nonprofit that is not required to disclose their donors. <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Judicial_Crisis_Network" title="Judicial Crisis Network" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">Judicial Crisis Network</a> and <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Heritage_Action_for_America" title="Heritage Action for America" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">Heritage Action for America</a> are, in fact, dark money groups themselves. As <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=501(c)(4)" title="501(c)(4)" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">501(c)(4)</a> groups they do not have to reveal their funders."<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_for_Public_Trust#cite_note-aptp-5" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">[5</a>[vid]"Liberal Dark Money Cashes In", Americans for Public Trust YouTube channel<div style="clear: both;"><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">APT's Ties to the Republican Party and Trump's "Stop the Steal" Efforts</h3>A <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Center_for_Media_and_Democracy" title="Center for Media and Democracy" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">Center for Media and Democracy</a> report said Americans for Public Trust "is clearly allied with the Republican Party. Caitlin Sutherland, who previously worked for GOP super PAC the <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Congressional_Leadership_Fund" title="Congressional Leadership Fund" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">Congressional Leadership Fund</a> and the National Republican Congressional Committee, is executive director, and Nevada's former GOP attorney general, Adam Laxalt, is counsel. Last year, while working for APT, Laxalt was the Trump campaign's Nevada co-chair. Days after the election, Laxalt and the campaign asked judges to stop the vote counting there, and weeks later, Laxalt was still trying to invalidate Bidens' win in the state."<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_for_Public_Trust#cite_note-aptpr-3" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">[3]</a><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">Accused Left-Wing "Dark Money" Network of "Politicizing Coronavirus" After Ads Attacked Trump COVID-19 Response</h3>Drawing from research from the <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Washington_Post" title="Washington Post" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">Washington Post</a> and <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Fox_News" title="Fox News" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">Fox News</a>, Americans for Public Trust presented a "dark money" network of left-wing groups, including Arabella Advisors, Sixteen Thirty Fund, <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=New_Venture_Fund" title="New Venture Fund" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">New Venture Fund</a>, Protect our Care, American Bridge, ACRONYM and PACRONYM. The network also shows how Democratic operatives <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=David_Brock" title="David Brock" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">David Brock</a>, <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=David_Plouffe" title="David Plouffe" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">David Plouffe</a>, and <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Brad_Woodhouse" title="Brad Woodhouse" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">Brad Woodhouse</a> are connected to some of these groups.<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_for_Public_Trust#cite_note-6" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">[6]</a><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;">Personnel</h2><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">Staff</h3>As of March 2021:<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_for_Public_Trust#cite_note-aptabt-2" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">[2]</a><ul data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="%225%22" height="%2213%22%3E" ccircle="Ccircle" cx="%222.5%22" cy="%229%22" r="%222.5%22" fill="%22%23222%22/%3E" c="C" e="E" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Caitlin Sutherland, founding Executive Director</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Adam Paul Laxalt, Outside Council</li></ul><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;">Contact Information</h2>Americans for Public Trust
107 South West Street, Suite 442
Alexandria, VA 22314
EIN: 84-4413894
Website: <a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="https://americansforpublictrust.org/about/" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E" cpath="Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22" stroke="%22%2336c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" c="C" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" overflow-wrap="overflow-wrap" break-word="break-word" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">https://americansforpublictrust.org/about/</a>
Email:info@americansforpublictrust.org
Phone: (202) 656-5175
<h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;">Articles and Resources</h2><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">Related SourceWatch</h3><ul data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="%225%22" height="%2213%22%3E" ccircle="Ccircle" cx="%222.5%22" cy="%229%22" r="%222.5%22" fill="%22%23222%22/%3E" c="C" e="E" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=501(c)(3)" title="501(c)(3)" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">501(c)(3)</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=501(c)(4)" title="501(c)(4)" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">501(c)(4)</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Brad_Woodhouse" title="Brad Woodhouse" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">Brad Woodhouse</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Center_for_Media_and_Democracy" title="Center for Media and Democracy" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">Center for Media and Democracy</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Congressional_Leadership_Fund" title="Congressional Leadership Fund" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">Congressional Leadership Fund</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=David_Brock" title="David Brock" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">David Brock</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=David_Plouffe" title="David Plouffe" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">David Plouffe</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Fox_News" title="Fox News" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">Fox News</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Heritage_Action_for_America" title="Heritage Action for America" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">Heritage Action for America</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Joe_Biden" title="Joe Biden" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">Joe Biden</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Judicial_Crisis_Network" title="Judicial Crisis Network" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">Judicial Crisis Network</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=New_Venture_Fund" title="New Venture Fund" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">New Venture Fund</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Washington_Post" title="Washington Post" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">Washington Post</a></li></ul><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">IRS Form 990 Filings</h3>Since APT was established in 2020, none of its IRS filings are publicly available as of March 2021.<h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;">References</h2><div class="mw-references-wrap" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><ol class="references" style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em 3.2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none;"><li id="cite_note-1" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_for_Public_Trust#cite_ref-1" aria-label="Jump up" title="Jump up" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">↑</a> Economic Research Institute, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.erieri.com/Form990Finder/Details/Index?EIN=844413894" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E" cpath="Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22" stroke="%22%2336c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" c="C" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">Americans for Public Trust</a>, organizational website, accessed February 26, 2021.</li><li id="cite_note-aptabt-2" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">↑ <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_for_Public_Trust#cite_ref-aptabt_2-0" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="user-select: none; top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important;">Jump up to:2.0</a> <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_for_Public_Trust#cite_ref-aptabt_2-1" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">2.1</a> Americans for Public Trust, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://americansforpublictrust.org/about/" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E" cpath="Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22" stroke="%22%2336c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" c="C" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">About</a>, organizational website, accessed February 26, 2021.</li><li id="cite_note-aptpr-3" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">↑ <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_for_Public_Trust#cite_ref-aptpr_3-0" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="user-select: none; top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important;">Jump up to:3.0</a> <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_for_Public_Trust#cite_ref-aptpr_3-1" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">3.1</a> <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_for_Public_Trust#cite_ref-aptpr_3-2" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">3.2</a> Alex Kotch, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.prwatch.org/news/2021/02/13693/right-wing-groups-coordinate-attacks-biden-nominees" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E" cpath="Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22" stroke="%22%2336c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" c="C" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">"Right-Wing Groups Coordinate Attacks on Biden Nominees"</a>, PRWatch, February 23, 2021.</li><li id="cite_note-aptdc-4" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">↑ <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_for_Public_Trust#cite_ref-aptdc_4-0" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="user-select: none; top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important;">Jump up to:4.0</a> <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_for_Public_Trust#cite_ref-aptdc_4-1" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">4.1</a> Thomas Catenacci, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://dailycaller.com/2021/02/18/conservative-coalition-dark-money-campaign-joe-biden-xavier-becerra-vanita-gupta-arabella-advisors/" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E" cpath="Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22" stroke="%22%2336c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" c="C" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">"Conservative Groups Launch $2 Million Campaign Against Biden’s ‘Dark Money’ Ties, Health And DOJ Nominees"</a>, Daily Caller, February 18, 2021, accessed February 26, 2021.</li><li id="cite_note-aptp-5" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">↑ <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_for_Public_Trust#cite_ref-aptp_5-0" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="user-select: none; top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important;">Jump up to:5.0</a> <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_for_Public_Trust#cite_ref-aptp_5-1" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">5.1</a> <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_for_Public_Trust#cite_ref-aptp_5-2" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">5.2</a> Medidith McGraw, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.politico.com/news/2021/02/18/conservative-groups-ad-blitz-biden-469714" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E" cpath="Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22" stroke="%22%2336c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" c="C" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">"A trio of conservative groups tries to torpedo two top Biden nominees"</a>, Politico, February 18, 2021.</li><li id="cite_note-6" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_for_Public_Trust#cite_ref-6" aria-label="Jump up" title="Jump up" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">↑</a> Americans for Public Trust, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://americansforpublictrust.org/news/new-reports-reveal-the-dark-money-network-working-to-politicize-coronavirus/" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E" cpath="Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22" stroke="%22%2336c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" c="C" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">"New reports reveal the dark money network working to politicize coronavirus"</a>, organizational website, March 18, 2020, accessed February 26, 2021.</li></ol></div></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">=</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">evil but not wrong</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style=""><div class="profile-main-content the-content" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 60px;">americans for Public Trust is a right-of-center watchdog group that was formed in early 2020 and is operated by Caitlin Sutherland, former research director for the National Republican Congressional Committee. The majority of the organization’s public-facing work since its founding has focused on filing ethics complaints with the <a href="https://www.influencewatch.org/government-agency/federal-election-commission/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; transition: all 0.15s ease 0s;">Federal Election Commission (FEC)</a> regarding alleged misuse of campaign funds or potential violations of campaign finance law against Democratic members of Congress, Democratic candidates, and left-leaning donors. <a class="profile-referencelink" href="https://www.influencewatch.org/non-profit/americans-for-public-trust/#note-1" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: 700; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; transition: all 0.15s ease 0s; margin-left: 2px; display: inline-block; opacity: 0.7;">[1]</a>In addition to being led by Sutherland, the organization employs former Nevada Attorney General <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Adam_Paul_Laxalt" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.15s ease 0s;">Adam Laxalt (R)</a> as outside legal counsel. <a class="profile-referencelink" href="https://www.influencewatch.org/non-profit/americans-for-public-trust/#note-2" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: 700; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; transition: all 0.15s ease 0s; margin-left: 2px; display: inline-block; opacity: 0.7;">[2]</a></div></div></div></div><div>=</div><div>
</div><div>2018 </div><div>
</div><div>Nevada could become a leader on renewable energy with the election of Democrat Steve Sisolak, who made support for solar power part of his campaign. Sisolak, chair of the county commission in the county that includes Las Vegas, <a href="http://www.silverstateelection.com/" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent;">defeated</a> Adam Laxalt, the state attorney general, who had sued the Obama administration over environmental issues and had criticized Sisolak's positions on renewable energy. Sisolak will replace term-limited Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval, whose tenure included a drastic reduction in support for rooftop solar that was so unpopular the policy was reversed</div><div></div>==https://www.hcn.org/issues/47.20/why-are-western-attorneys-general-going-rogue
hen Interior Secretary Sally Jewell announced in

September that the greater sage grouse would not be listed as

endangered, Nevada’s Brian Sandoval, a Republican, was one of four

Western governors on the stage, applauding.

States retained management of the

bird in what Sandoval described as a “big win” resulting from intense

negotiations. “It’s a lot easier to fight than it is to work together,”

he said. Just a month later, though, Nevada’s attorney general,

Republican Adam Laxalt, defied Sandoval, joining a lawsuit challenging

federal plans to protect grouse habitat. A public row ensued, with the

governor’s office declaring that Laxalt was acting on his own behalf,

not the state’s. Laxalt fired back with a press release calling the

governor “wrong.”

Currently, two Western attorneys

general are suing the federal government over high-profile environmental

issues against their governors’ wishes. Colorado’s Republican attorney

general, Cynthia Coffman, is suing to block President Barack Obama’s

signature climate change initiative, the Clean Power Plan, despite

Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper’s explicit objections. (Update Dec. 7:

The Colorado Supreme Court last week <a href="https://www.courts.state.co.us/Media/Opinion_Docs/2015SA296.pdf" title="" target="_blank" class="external-link">announced</a> it would not weigh in to the dispute because there is an "adequate alternative remedy.")

Both attorneys general were elected a

year ago with the support of a lot of outside money, signaling big

donors’ appreciation for the importance of these offices, as states push

back against the federal government. “There is a perception that the

(Obama) administration is  running roughshod over states’ interests,”

says Idaho Attorney General Lawrence G. Wasden, especially in Western

states, where large portions of the land and resources are owned and

managed by the federal government.

The Democrats view things

differently: “There are several attorneys general who seem to see

themselves as partisan warriors,” says Matt Lee-Ashley, director of

public lands at the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank.

“They are so determined to boost their political profile and grab

headlines that they’re willing to undercut their own state’s

leadership.”

In Nevada and Colorado, the governors

are challenging the legitimacy of the lawsuits and the authority of

their attorneys general, who act as chief lawyers for governors and

state agencies as well as top law enforcement officials. While such

public disputes are infrequent, they’re not unheard of, because in most

states, governors and attorneys general are elected separately. In

purple states like Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada, it’s not uncommon

for the two to be from different parties.-

Colorado Gov. Hickenlooper says

Coffman is exceeding her authority. “The law makes it clear that except

in limited circumstances — which don’t exist here — the attorney general

is not permitted to file such lawsuits unless directed to do so by the

governor,” Hickenlooper declared. He has said he will petition the state

Supreme Court to weigh in. Former Colorado Attorney General Ken

Salazar, who served as Obama’s first Interior secretary, says that

Colorado law requires the attorney general to support the governor

unless the governor’s position is “clearly unlawful.”

Coffman, meanwhile, says she is doing

her duty by joining 23 other states in suing the Environmental

Protection Agency over the first-ever federal greenhouse gas rules for

existing power plants. She claims that the rules will cost jobs and

usurp state authority, and that she has the power to decide what is in

her state’s interest, regardless of the governor’s stance. “The Colorado

attorney general has independent authority to initiate a legal action

on behalf of the state and its citizens,” she declared.

In Nevada, Laxalt says he is looking

out for the state’s legal interests by backing a suit filed by two

counties over a federal plan to set aside habitat for sage grouse and

also prohibit new hardrock mining across nearly 3 million acres. “It’s

my job as the elected attorney general to decide when it’s right for the

state to be in litigation,” Laxalt told KNPR radio.

Sandoval says that his fellow

Republican’s action does not represent Nevada, its governor, or state

agencies. He also -argues that only by working with the federal

government were Western states able to avoid Endangered Species Act

listings of the greater and the bi-state sage grouse. He shares his

attorney general’s concern about development restrictions on BLM lands,

but believes that collaboration, not litigation, is the best way to get

more flexible terms for the bird’s conservation.

The back-and-forth between Laxalt and

Sandoval has been especially sharp. Lawrence Wasden, Idaho’s attorney

general and chair of the Conference of Western Attorneys General, says

disputes between attorneys general and governors are often most intense

when the two belong to the same party. “There’s an expectation that the

attorneys general should get in line. When they don’t do that, that

becomes a bitter battle.”

The current divisions in the Republican Party make such internecine

battles increasingly likely. For instance, some Western Republicans want

to file lawsuits claiming federal lands for their states, while others

argue that the states agreed to the current arrangement when they joined

the union. As the struggle over the vision for federal lands and the

nation’s energy future intensifies, more disputes are sure to come.
<h3 class="r"><a href="http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/25/nevada-opposes-clean-power-plan-because-it-might-harm-gambling-industry/">Nevada Opposes Clean Power Plan Because It Might Harm ...</a></h3><div class="s"><div><div class="f kv SWb" style="white-space:nowrap"><cite class="Rm">dailycaller.com/.../nevada-opposes-clean-power-plan-be...</cite></div></div></div><div class="g"><div class="rc" data-hveid="27"><div class="s"><div><div class="f kv SWb" style="white-space:nowrap"><div class="crc"><div class="crl" data-async-context="res:0;ri:;site:dailycaller.com" data-async-trigger="cra-0-filled" data-ved="0ahUKEwiGpq_Tyu7LAhUU0GMKHWIaAJUQ5CsIIDAA">The Daily Caller</div></div></div>Feb 25, 2016 - The union members rallied against proposed EPA Clean Power Plan ... Republican Attorney General Adam Paul Laxalt wrote Tuesday in a brief ... or state agency to oppose President Barack Obama's signature climate plan.<div class="Tib">Missing: <s>raga</s></div></div></div></div></div><div class="g"><div class="rc" data-hveid="35"><h3 class="r"><a href="http://ag.nv.gov/News/PR/2016/Attorney_General_Laxalt_Files_Brief_in_Clean_Power_Plan_Case_Highlighting_Federal_Overreach_Concerns_and_Impact_on_Consumers/">Attorney General Laxalt Files Brief in Clean Power Plan ...</a></h3><div class="s"><div><div class="f kv _SWb" style="white-space:nowrap"><cite class="Rm">ag.nv.gov/.../Attorney_GeneralLaxaltFiles_B...</cite></div></div></div></div></div><div class="g"><div class="rc" data-hveid="35"><div class="s"><div><div class="f kv SWb" style="white-space:nowrap"><div class="crc"><div class="crl" data-async-context="res:1;ri:;site:ag.nv.gov" data-async-trigger="cra-1-filled" data-ved="0ahUKEwiGpq_Tyu7LAhUU0GMKHWIaAJUQ5CsIKDAB">Nevada Attorney General</div></div></div>Feb 24, 2016 - Carson City, NV – Nevada Attorney General Adam Paul Laxalt ... challenge to the EPA's Clean Power Plan currently pending in the D.C. federal ...<div class="Tib">Missing: <s>raga</s> ‎<s>obama</s></div></div></div></div></div><div class="g"><div class="rc" data-hveid="43"><h3 class="r"><a href="http://lasvegassun.com/news/2016/mar/20/epa-lacks-authority-on-clean-power-plan/">EPA lacks authority on Clean Power Plan - Las Vegas Sun ...</a></h3><div class="s"><div><div class="f kv _SWb" style="white-space:nowrap"><cite class="Rm">lasvegassun.com/.../epa-lacks-authority-on-clean-power-pl...</cite></div></div></div></div></div><div class="g"><div class="rc" data-hveid="43"><div class="s"><div><div class="f kv SWb" style="white-space:nowrap"><div class="crc"><div class="crl" data-async-context="res:2;ri:;site:lasvegassun.com" data-async-trigger="cra-2-filled" data-ved="0ahUKEwiGpq_Tyu7LAhUU0GMKHWIaAJUQ5CsIMDAC">Las Vegas Sun</div></div></div>Mar 20, 2016 - EPA lacks authority on Clean Power Plan. By Adam Paul Laxalt ... future by filing a friend-of-the-court brief in the Clean Power Plan lawsuit.<div class="Tib">Missing: <s>raga</s> ‎<s>obama</s></div></div></div></div></div><div class="g"><div class="rc" data-hveid="51"><h3 class="r"><a href="https://morningconsult.com/alert/nevada-ag-aligns-himself-with-states-opposing-clean-power-plan/">Nevada AG Aligns Himself With States Opposing Clean ...</a></h3><div class="s"><div><div class="f kv _SWb" style="white-space:nowrap"><cite class="Rm">https://morningconsult.com/.../nevada-ag-aligns-himself-with-states-oppo...</cite></div></div></div></div></div><div class="g"><div class="rc" data-hveid="51"><div class="s"><div>Feb 24, 2016 - Nevada Attorney General Adam Paul Laxalt has aligned himself with ... states and state agencies that oppose the EPA's Clean Power Plan.<div class="Tib">Missing: <s>raga</s></div></div></div></div></div><div class="g"><div class="rc" data-hveid="58"><h3 class="r"><a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/feb/28/nevada-ag-voices-opposition-to-federal-epa-clean-p/?page=all">Nevada AG voices opposition to federal EPA Clean Power ...</a></h3><div class="s"><div><div class="f kv _SWb" style="white-space:nowrap"><cite class="Rm">www.washingtontimes.com/.../nevada-ag-voices-...</cite></div></div></div></div></div><div class="f kv SWb" style="white-space:nowrap"><div class="crc"><div class="crl" data-async-context="res:4;ri:;site:washingtontimes.com" data-async-trigger="cra-4-filled" data-ved="0ahUKEwiGpq_Tyu7LAhUU0GMKHWIaAJUQ5CsIPzAE">The Washington Times</div></div></div>Feb 28, 2016 - Nevada AG voices opposition to federal EPA Clean Power Plan ... Paul Ryan faces primary challenge from wealthy businessman 'betrayed' by House speaker ... legal fight against President Barack Obama's plan to curtail greenhouse ... Attorney General Adam Laxalt's friend-of-the-court filing in the case ...
politico puff?
 Cheney calls him “courageous” and says electing him “is of the highest priority.”

John

Bolton traveled across the country to headline a fundraiser for him.

Newt Gingrich, Frank Fahrenkopf, Tom Ridge and Ed Meese (remember him?)

all appeared at the same D.C. event to celebrate his candidacy. Donald

Rumsfeld gave him a personal check for $5,000, part of a

half-million-dollar haul.

Who is this remarkable contender

attracting such a list of national GOP luminaries? What remarkably

accomplished figure could warrant such attention? Who can command

encomia from a former vice president, attorney general, defense

secretary, House speaker, chairman of the Republican National Committee

and Homeland Security secretary?

Adam Laxalt, that’s who.

Who?

Laxalt

is only 34, has never run for office before and is campaigning for

attorney general—attorney general!—in Nevada, where he has been a cipher

until just recently and whose last name explains … everything. That’s

because Laxalt has one of the most unusual pedigrees in American

politics: He’s the grandson of Paul Laxalt, the former senator and Ronald Reagan confidant once known as “the first friend”—still,

at 91, casting a long if not always visible shadow in Nevada politics.

Awkwardly, young Laxalt is also the illegitimate son of Sen. Pete

Domenici, his grandfather’s longtime Senate colleague. In fact, it was

only last year that Adam Laxalt’s mother Michelle, a 24-year-old Reagan

operative at the time of the affair and now a well-known Washington

lobbyist, revealed her son’s parentage for the first time, a sensational

revelation that almost certainly had the effect of clearing the way for

his political career.

It gets better. Laxalt’s Democratic foe is

another political royal, Nevada Secretary of State Ross Miller, the son

of a former governor and the overwhelming favorite to win. But that’s

also what’s made the race such a spectacle: Miller, the Nevada

Democratic Party’s rising star and presumed 2018 gubernatorial

candidate, has become a top target of Republican potentates like casino

magnate Sheldon Adelson, who has launched a Stop Miller Now campaign and

is bankrolling Laxalt along with his grandfather’s Reagan-era friends.

As

one prominent Nevada Republican puts it, “If his name were Adam Smith,

this race would be a total joke.” But his name is Adam Laxalt, and

that’s why Democrats aren’t laughing.

*

The Laxalt name

was once gold in Nevada, where Tall Paul was governor before he became

senator. He rose from humble beginnings as the son of a Basque immigrant

shepherd to become an iconic figure, mostly by virtue of his handsome

presence, burning ambition and preternatural equanimity. In 1974, in one

of the more dramatic races in state annals, Laxalt defeated a young

lieutenant governor by the name of Harry Reid to win an open Senate

seat. By the time he retired in 1986, with the circle closing and Reid

winning his seat, Laxalt was a revered figure, so charismatic and

compelling that he briefly considered a presidential run. But he has

barely been visible in Nevada for about a quarter-century, and his name

recognition in the state is probably 30 percent now.

As for Adam, until recently he was a virtual unknown in the state his grandfather once ruled.

He was born in Reno but raised by Michelle, who never married, in

Washington, D.C., where she has been a successful lobbyist and TV

pundit. A graduate of Georgetown University, Adam stayed in Washington

for his law degree, too, then landed low-level jobs with Bolton, an undersecretary of state at the time, and then-Sen. John Warner from Virginia before a five-year stint in the Navy, including a deployment to Iraq as a judge advocate general.

U.S.

President Ronald Reagan faces reporters in the White House Rose Garden

in March 1984 in Washington to announce a package of deficit-reduction

measures. Sen. Paul Laxalt and Sen. Pete Domenici stand to Reagan's

left. | AP Photo

Then came his mother’s blockbuster

announcement a year and a half ago that Domenici was Adam’s father (a

long-held secret broached, she said at the time, to get ahead of a

forthcoming news story).

“One night’s mistake led to

pregnancy more than 30 years ago,” she said in her statement. Domenici,

who was 50 at the time of the affair and has eight children with his

wife Nancy, had little involvement with Adam’s upbringing, his mother

said in announcing the senator’s paternity: “My interaction with my

child’s father consisted of telling him my decision, asking that he

avail himself for health-related purposes and asking that he agree that

this remain private between the two of us.” (Domenici had apparently

kept his word for three decades: “My family has been aware of these

events for several months,” he said last year when the news came out.)

No

sooner had the initial shock over Michelle’s revelation dissipated than

the rumbles began: She was clearing the way for her son’s political

ambitions. Adam had only recently moved to Las Vegas and begun

practicing law at Lewis Rocha Rothberger, a firm that specializes in

administrative and corporate clients. Few in the political world knew of

him.

Adam hiking with his grandfather former Sen. Paul Laxalt.

Laxalt

did not raise his head politically in Nevada until he had been in Las

Vegas for about a year, although he clearly had strong views: He had a

small sideline as a writer for conservative websites, including a couple

of screeds against gays. (In one 2010 jeremiad against President

Obama’s decision to allow gays to serve openly in the U.S. military, he 

warned: “senior officers and non-commissioned officers will have to,

under the color of Military Law, proactively endorse and eventually

foster homosexuality.”)

Even before going into politics, Laxalt

had talked openly about the difficulties of his teen years, including a 

drinking problem and a DUI arrest. Speaking of his time at Tulane

University before he transferred to Georgetown, he  told  Washingtonian

magazine in a 1999 article on recovering alcoholics: “I got down there

and it was just too much fun, too many women, and too much booze. Campus

bars were open until 6 AM, and Bourbon Street was open until 6 or 7

AM.”
==

raga bsAdam Paul Laxalt, elected as Nevada’s 33rd Attorney General, took

office on January 5, 2015, making him the youngest in the country.

Laxalt is a father, a husband, and a fourth-generation native

Nevadan.  A former Lieutenant in the United States Navy, the US Navy

trained him as a prosecutor and legal advisor.  Laxalt served his

country as a Judge Advocate General.  While in the Navy, he volunteered

to serve in a combat zone in Iraq at Forward Operating Base Camp

Victory.  Laxalt’s team was in charge of more than 20,000 detainees

during the Surge, keeping our troops and the world safer by assisting

with the detention and prosecution of thousands of war criminals and

terrorists.  For his exemplary service, Laxalt was awarded the Joint

Service Commendation Medal and the Iraq Campaign Medal, and his Unit was

awarded the Joint Meritorious Unit Award.

Laxalt served as a Special Assistant US Attorney, as an Assistant

Professor of Law in the Leadership, Ethics, and the Law Department at

the US Naval Academy, and as a Special Advisor to the Undersecretary of

the State for Arms Control and International Security, John R. Bolton. 

Throughout his time in military and government service, he worked to put

Americans’ security first.

Prior to becoming the Attorney General, Laxalt was in private

practice in Las Vegas, solving problems for a wide array of Nevadans and

their businesses.  As a community leader, Laxalt serves on the Board of

Trustees for Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada, the largest private

social services in the state.  Laxalt also co-founded the Saint Thomas

More Society in Nevada, a legal ethics and leadership society that has

sponsored numerous legal education and leadership events.  Laxalt is a

member of the Advisory Board of the Center for Basque Studies at the

University of Nevada, Reno.

Laxalt graduated Magna Cum Laude from Georgetown University and also graduated from the Georgetown University Law Center.

Laxalt is a devoted family man.  He and his wife Jaime live in Reno with their daughter Sophia and their dogs Hoya and Buckley.==

<blockquote style="margin: 0px 40px 0px 0px; border-left: 2px solid rgb(102, 0, 51); padding-left: 18px; line-height: 2; padding-top: 8px; padding-bottom: 8px;">Adam

Laxalt is a lawyer working in Las Vegas, who served five years in the

Navy. He provided legal counsel on detainee operations in Iraq. He also

served as a law clerk for the U.S. Air Force General Counsel; an aide to

John Bolton in the State Department; and a staffer for former Sen. John

Warner (R-Va.).

</blockquote>

</div>

And here's a snippet from Michelle Laxalt's bio on <a href="http://www.politico.com/arena/bio/michelle_d_laxalt.html" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;">Politico's Arena</a>:

</div>

<blockquote style="margin: 0px 40px 0px 0px; border-left: 2px solid rgb(102, 0, 51); padding-left: 18px; line-height: 2; padding-top: 8px; padding-bottom: 8px;">Michelle

D. Laxalt is recognized as one of the most prominent and effective

government relations practitioners in the nation's capital. In fact,

"Washingtonian" magazine named her one of the top 50 lobbyists in a town

where lobbying has become a major industry. She was the first

Republican woman to form her own consulting firm in Washington, D.C.</blockquote>

</div>

Laxalt formed The Laxalt Corporation in 1984 and has represented

prominent clients whose business interests include international trade,

labor law, intellectual property law, oil and gas, federal taxes, tort

reform, regulation of tobacco and other important issues that come

before the legislative and executive branches of government.</blockquote>

</div>

It's

worth noting that Laxalt's professional interests likely overlapped

with those of the father of her child: During his time in the Senate,

Domenici served as chairman of both the Energy and Natural Resources and

Budget committees.

</div>

===