townsend, kelly sen

beat in primary (redistr) by wacko wendy rogers who had trump endorse

heavily invovled in fake electors (fraudit), why not rewarded by trump?

---

AN 6 24

no lnx

alternet-

‘They could have killed me’: Trump's 2020 'Seattle whistleblower' finally revealed

Michael Flynn (center) leaves a rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., with Geoffrey Flohr aka "Yoda" (front) on Dec. 12, 2020. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

Jordan GreenandRaw Story June 23, 2024

The scene is straight from a discount bin spy novel.

A black SUV arrived at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to collect Sabrina Keliikoa, a QAnon adherent and supervisor at the facility’s FedEx air freight terminal.

Keliikoa was scared out of her wits.

She did not want to go.

But late on this Friday night in early December 2020, Keliikoa felt as if she had no choice: A retired Michigan State Police officer nicknamed “Yoda” had just warned that her life was in danger.

Keliikoa called in another employee to finish her shift. She entered the vehicle driven by a Marine Corps veteran who had provided security for American diplomats in Iraq. They arrived at a hotel where the driver checked her in. There, Keliikoa stayed for the next two days. A rotating set of “guards” occupied the adjacent room in shifts.

What was possibly happening here?

As Keliikoa would later testify in legal deposition, a video of which Raw Story recently reviewed, a man entered her hotel room and asked her to write an affidavit about election ballots she’d seen — and considered suspicious — at the FedEx facility shortly after the 2020 election.

The man was part of a secretive team of Donald Trump supporters, operating without legal authority but under the leadership of former Trump national security adviser and retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, that aimed to obtain information they believed could be used in lawsuits to change the outcome of the election in Trump’s favor.

More generally, they hoped to undermine public confidence that Joe Biden had won the 2020 election.

Keliikoa described the experience as being “detained” and complained she became a “pawn” of people determined to use her.

“So, I got a phone call that said somebody is coming in from another state with illegal ballots, and they were going to be looking for me, and they were going to try to kill me,” Keliikoa testified. “And I started crying because this turned into the biggest s---show when it shouldn’t have been.”

The escapade showcases the absurd lengths Flynn and his team went to concoct evidence that Trump had the 2020 presidential election “stolen” from him.

These and other baseless allegations of election fraud would instill fury in Trump’s supporters, who by the thousands attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, while attempting to prevent Congress from certifying the election.

These new revelations about Keliikoa’s ordeal also come at a time when Trump, who is expected to again be the Republican nominee for president, relentlessly claims that the multiple criminal prosecutions against him constitute an effort “to rig the presidential election of 2024.”

Trump’s script is familiar and predictable: He similarly made repeated claims well in advance of the 2020 election that the vote would be rigged. It’s an all-but-foregone conclusion that if Trump loses the 2024 election, he will exclaim, as he did then, that he actually won, and that Democrats, communists, the “deep state” and other perceived bogeymen stole it from him.

And if history is a guide, high-profile Trump surrogates can again be expected to again chase phantom evidence and spin wild tales in service of Trump’s I-can’t-lose approach to campaigning.

‘A plane full of ballots’

Until now, Keliikoa — the woman who held the information so feverishly sought by Trump’s supporters following the 2020 election — was known only as “the Seattle whistleblower.”

Keliikoa’s deposition, taken in March, fills in details about the “stop the steal” escapade and are being reported for the first time by Raw Story.

The seeds of Keliikoa's ordeal began germinating in November 2020. An array of high-profile Trump supporters had initiated a frenzied effort to collect affidavits that they hoped would bolster claims of election fraud, which pro-Trump attorney Sidney Powell detailed in a series of lawsuits.

The goal: overturn the presidential election results in tightly contested states such as Arizona, Georgia and Michigan, and more generally, to undermine confidence in the election.

With his charisma and the respect he commanded as a retired lieutenant general, Michael Flynn, who had briefly served as Trump's national security advisor, quickly emerged as a de facto leader among the group of “stop the steal” operatives surrounding Powell.

The 2020 election was “the greatest fraud that our country has ever experienced in our history,” Flynn told far-right broadcaster Brannon Howse during an interview aired on Nov. 28, 2020. “I’m right in the middle of it right now, and I will tell you that, first of all, the president has clear paths to victory.”

Flynn had reason to feel emboldened. Three days earlier, then-President Trump granted Flynn a full pardon, wiping away his guilty plea to charges of lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

Flynn began to speak at rallies and make media appearances on Trump’s behalf.

Flynn’s interview with Howse was his first interview of any sort since receiving Trump’s pardon. The key to exposing the election fraud, Flynn told the podcaster, was channeling the perceived power of hundreds of Trump supporters who believed they witnessed voting fraud or election irregularities.

“I mean hundreds and hundreds of Americans around the country, not just the swing states, but many, many other states that are coming forward with their stories and putting them down in affidavits,” he said at the time.

Four days later, Powell addressed a “Stop the Steal” rally in the Atlanta suburb of Alpharetta. There, she angrily told the crowd that there had been “flagrant election fraud,” and said her team had “evidence” of all manner of ballot fraud, including “a plane full of ballots that came in.”

Enter Staci Burk.

Burk was a former school board member and law school student in Arizona who suffers from a medical condition known as pulmonary arterial hypertension.

A man in Burk’s lung condition support group told her about a woman in Seattle who allegedly had information about illegal ballots. That woman was Keliikoa, and Burk’s lung condition buddy arranged to put the two women in touch.

But Burk first attempted to report Keliikoa's information to the FBI and then relayed it to Arizona state Rep. Kelly Townsend, a leading figure in the pro-Trump stop-the-steal effort. The supposed intel eventually filtered up to Sidney Powell’s legal team.

Burk and Keliikoa kept in touch by phone for the next month, but Keliikoa would later say she wouldn’t characterize their relationship as a friendship. Keliikoa didn’t want to give up her anonymity. Burk felt caught in a bind; she didn’t want to associate her own name with information she didn’t know firsthand, but she was feeling pressure from Townsend and others to persuade Keliikoa to come forward.

“I’ve been working on her coming forward for over a month,” Burk told Carissa Keshel, Powell’s assistant, in a Dec. 1, 2020, text message reviewed by Raw Story. “I almost facilitated a call with you, but she just got to work. She will likely let me do a conference call with anyone. But she’s still afraid to come forward.”

“What can we do to make her feel more comfortable?” Keshel asked Burk. “We can facilitate security.”

Attempting to find a way to obtain the information while preserving Keliikoa’s desired anonymity, Keshel suggested that Keliikoa forward her ballot intel to Burk, who, in turn, could include it in her own legal declaration. (Burk never fulfilled the request to provide such a statement.)

“Ok I just spoke with General Flynn,” Keshel told Burk. “He says if nothing else, if she can get us as much evidence as possible: pictures, facts. If she can send that to us (or you) and if she can even just write an email. Then you can do another declaration to cover for that. I hope that makes sense.”

What happened next demonstrates the effort by Flynn, Powell and a gaggle of pro-Trump activists to obtain affidavits supporting claims of election fraud was carefully orchestrated. It stands in stark contrast to the picture painted by Flynn — one of ordinary citizens organically and voluntarily coming forward to tell their stories out of a sense of patriotic duty.

Like Keliikoa, Burk found herself in the middle of conspiratorial talk surrounding supposed illegal ballots transported on planes and various security concerns.

Also — not insignificantly — if Powell's team was going to get access to Keliikoa, they would have to go through Burk, who was the only one who knew Keliikoa’s name or how to get in touch with her.

Flynn’s security team finds the ‘Seattle whistleblower’

On the morning of Dec. 4, 2020, Keshel texted Burk to tell her that she thought they had Burk’s “security issue all ironed out.”

Keshel then texted a photo of a man she identified as “Yoda” and a link to the website for 1st Amendment Praetorian, a volunteer security group linked to Flynn.

“Yoda” was Geoffrey Flohr, the retired Michigan State Police officer.

“Gen Flynn and his brother arranged the security for you, so I trust them,” Keshel told Burk in a text message.

“Yoda” arrived at Burk’s home in Florence, Ariz., later that day.

As previously reported by Raw Story, Burk has said that “Yoda” woke her up in the middle of the night. He told her that he had reliable information that the “Seattle whistleblower” was about to be kidnapped and taken to South Korea. “Yoda” even claimed that Burk’s friend in Seattle could potentially be killed if they didn’t send a security team to protect her, Burk recalled.

Burk called Keliikoa and put her on speaker phone so “Yoda” could speak to her.

Keliikoa would later testify that she was terrified by “Yoda” telling her about threats to her safety because bad actors were supposedly attempting to prevent her from exposing massive election fraud.

Indeed, she was so terrified that she called in another employee to cover for her and complete her work for the shift.

“And then what ended up happening is continuous phone calls back and forth,” Keliikoa testified. “‘Okay, well, somebody’s gonna send somebody to pick you up and take you to a safe place.’ But my name should have never been out there, and that makes me mad.”

At Burk’s insistence, late on that Friday night in early December 2020, “Yoda” provided Burk with a resume and photo of the driver who would pick up Keliikoa at the FedEx facility at the Seattle airport.

At 11:50 p.m., Burk texted the resume to Keliikoa.

Roland Hurrington — described on his resume as a Seattle-area Marine Corps veteran “responsible for the protection of classified material, equipment and U.S. mission personnel” — arrived at the FedEx facility in the black SUV to transport Keliikoa.

Keliikoa testified that Hurrington passed through a security checkpoint at the facility. How he was able to do that remains unclear, but Keliikoa speculated that the security personnel may have let him through based on the assumption that he was a chauffeur.

The pickup took place late at night — roughly 30 minutes after “Yoda” first spoke to her, according to Burk’s account.

“And then I get detained, taken,” Keliikoa recalled in her deposition. “And I don’t know who this person is. I don’t know where I was going. I can’t believe I actually agreed to go with this person, because they could have killed me and threw me on the side of the road, and nobody would have known.”

As it turned out, there never was a plot to kill Keliikoa.

In fact, while the pro-Trump stop-the-stealers involved didn’t know or admit it at the time, their entire ballot fraud enterprise was little more than a house of cards perched on pillars of sand.

And the ground beneath them was about to start quaking.

‘He fabricated everything’

Jim Penrose, a cyber-security expert who had previously worked at the National Security Agency under President Barack Obama, would later acknowledge to Burk that he was the man who showed up at Keliikoa’s hotel room and urged her to write an affidavit. After “Yoda” tracked Keliikoa down, Penrose went to her hotel room to meet her.

Penrose has been identified by the New York Times as being one of three men who joined Flynn and Powell at the South Carolina estate of defamation attorney Lin Wood to “gather and organize election information.” One of the others was Seth Keshel, a former Army military intelligence captain who was married to Carissa Keshel.

“We had a security team dispatched in Seattle,” Penrose told Burk in a phone call that she recorded on Christmas Day of 2020.

“My worst fear was that the people were moving, you know, like a team of people that might want to, you know, even kidnap your friend in Seattle,” he said. “I didn’t want to let that happen, right, because I thought it was a situation that was dangerous. And we didn’t have enough info at the time to make a better decision.”

The reason why it was necessary for Flohr to wake up Burk involved grave concerns about an Arizona-based security company called Mayhem Solutions Group.

Why would Flohr care so much about this security firm?

Penrose had told Flohr a wild story about two Mayhem Solutions Group employees he believed were planning to fly an airplane to Phoenix to Seattle and potentially “kidnap” Keliikoa and take her to South Korea because of information she might have about election fraud.

The idea that Mayhem Solutions Group would be involved in a plot to harm Sabrina Keliikoa for the purpose of preventing her from exposing anti-Trump election fraud was not only bizarre. It was based on an utter fabrication.

Owner Shawn Wilson and his employee, Kenneth Scott Koch — both far-right operatives — were prone to conspiracy theories. Koch was a member of the far-right group the Oath Keepers and an anti-COVID lockdown crusader. Koch had presented himself to Burk as a shadowy agent for a rogue government operation involved in illegal ballot trafficking.

More than two weeks before the Flynn security team was dispatched to Seattle, Koch had come to Burk’s house in Arizona to advise her on home security. During a discussion about a similar theory concerning illegal ballots being unloaded from a plane at Phoenix Sky Harbor, Koch told Burk that a group of men shown in a photo standing next to the plane were “my guys.”

Koch, who had organized an anti-lockdown group in Arizona in response to COVID-19 measures, went on to suggest to Burk that pro-Trump amateur sleuths attempting to uncover election fraud might learn about more than they bargained.

“A lot of these people want to be the center,” he said. “They wanna have the information. The problem is the information they don’t want.” For reasons that remain unclear, Penrose would hire an investigative team that included two former FBI agents to interview Koch about his claims, but not until after the madcap mission in Seattle to obtain the affidavit from Keliikoa.

“We interviewed Koch at length, and he said he fabricated everything,” Penrose told Burk during the Christmas Day phone call.

A one-time ‘hostile actor’ in Flynn’s camp

Patently ridiculous is the notion that a lie told by an anti-COVID lockdown advocate in Arizona, about illegal ballots on a plane, would trigger a weeks-long wild-goose that reached the highest levels of then-President Donald Trump’s inner sanctum, up to and including his former national security adviser.

In the end, the lead that sent Flynn’s associates to the Seattle airport under the pretext of a manufactured election crisis in December 2020 turned out to be little more than a photo of ballots and unexplained beeping from a package scanner that raised the suspicions of Keliikoa, a woman whose imagination was set alight by QAnon conspiracy theories.

One would not be faulted for thinking that nothing about this fake ballot-hunting story seems real.

Except for the fact that it is real.

It’s unclear whether Koch and his boss, Shawn Wilson, knew Flynn prior to the 2020 election. Regardless, Koch’s admitted deception hasn’t prevented Wilson from associating with the Flynn camp since that time.

The America Project, a nonprofit co-founded by Flynn, published a video in late 2023 that presented Wilson as someone who “knows more about what is going on at the border than probably anybody in America.” (Not mentioned in the interview was the fact that Wilson’s company had subcontracted with the state of Texas to operate buses transporting migrants to Democratic-run cities.)

As Election Day 2024 draws nearer, Wilson has only become more public and overt about his support for Trump.

The messaging in Wilson’s interview for Flynn’s nonprofit was a classic appeal to authoritarianism by invoking fear — part of Trump’s playbook since he launched his first presidential campaign in 2015. Wilson claimed that a military assault similar to the one launched against Israel by Hamas is imminent at the U.S southern border.

The remedy, Wilson suggested, is to ensure that Trump wins the 2024 election, adding, “I’ll be leading the charge with him right behind him.”

‘There was no goldmine’

Keliikoa confirmed her QAnon association, which inspired her ballot skepticism, during her deposition earlier this year.

She allowed that she sent Burk a link to a three-hour documentary video series Fall of the Cabal, which is described by the Anti-Defamation League as “a popular recruitment tool for QAnon followers.”

Keliikoa testified that following the November 2020 presidential election, she became suspicious because “we were moving ballots after places were called.” (That wouldn’t have been unusual, considering that the U.S. Postal Service was under a federal court order to locate and deliver mail-in ballots that hadn’t been received by Election Day.) One package that caused a scanner to triple beep — meaning “that it’s not recognized” — also concerned her.

“I believe that something looked wrong,” Keliikoa testified when asked under oath by Burk whether still believes that she witnessed election fraud at the FedEx facility in November 2020.

But Keliikoa admitted that she had nothing of value to share with the ad-hoc security team that sequestered her in a hotel in December 2020.

“They wanted to know if I knew about a plane coming in with these illegal ballots,” Keliikoa recalled. “I told them, ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’ That didn’t come from me. I don’t know what you’re saying.’ They were asking me if I knew about stuff that was going on outside of my workplace. I don’t. I was working. I don’t go out to other places.”

This didn’t stop Powell, who included a “Jane Doe” witness — Keliikoa presumably — on a witness list filed as part of an Arizona ballot lawsuit in support of Trump’s stop-the-steal effort. “Jane Doe,” Powell said at the time, would “testify about illegal ballots being shipped around the United States including to Arizona on or about before Nov. 3, 2020.”

No one was more disappointed by Keliikoa’s statement than Penrose.

“I thought when we exfil-ed her and we got her to write her affidavit, I thought we were going to have a goldmine of information,” he later told Burk, using the spy-craft term “exfiltrate” that means to furtively remove someone from a hostile area.

“There was no goldmine,” Penrose continued. “She had a picture of two ballot bags, and I asked her: ‘Would you know if ballots came across the tarmac from that Korea Air flight?’ And the answer was, ‘I just know what comes in this bay door from the USPS and what goes out these bay doors to get loaded on FedEx planes.’ So, the answer was there was no smoking gun per se with respect to that.”

The band breaks up

These days, few of the people involved want to discuss the Seattle ballot brouhaha, now revealed as a tangle of conspiracy theories, creative fantasies and outright lies — all in service to Trump’s goal of retaining presidential power that he was about to lose.

Reached by Raw Story earlier this month, Penrose’s lawyer John S. Irving said, “We don’t have anything to add.”

Keliikoa declined to comment to Raw Story for this story.

In an email to Raw Story last week, FedEx Media Relations said, “We do not have any comment at this time.”

Hurrington, the Marine Corps veteran who drove Keliikoa in the SUV, could not be reached for comment. Flohr also could not be reached for comment.

Some of the key players involved have also split up.

Keliikoa said in her deposition that one of the men who met her at the hotel told her it would “be in my best interest not to keep in contact” with Burk because she was a “troublemaker.”

Burk told Raw Story this month that Keliikoa had previously told her that it was Penrose who called her a “troublemaker,” but during her deposition, she claimed that she didn’t remember the names of anyone at the hotel.

“That was clearly projection since he was overseeing and directing a group of heavily armed former law enforcement holding my family and me hostage using fear and deception, who then spent months continuing to use that group to manipulate and malign my character to cover for their bad behavior,” Burk told Raw Story.

Flynn and Powell are both defendants in Burk’s lawsuit, along with former Arizona state Rep. Kelly Townsend. Burk accuses the defendants of civil rights violations, false imprisonment, assault, infliction of emotional distress and civil conspiracy.

In a filing seeking to dismiss the lawsuit, Flynn’s lawyers wrote that Burk’s claims are “baseless” and “frivolous,” while denying that their client sent the security team to her house or that he intended that they hold her “hostage.”

But Flynn’s efforts to distance himself from Burk are belied by the fact that Flohr — aka “Yoda,” the ex-law enforcement volunteer dispatched to her home in Arizona — flanked Flynn as part of his security detail when he spoke at a pro-Trump rally in front of the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., less than a week after he was at Burk’s house in December 2020.

Flynn is currently promoting a documentary movie that portrays him as a victim of political persecution, and Trump has hinted that he may bring his former national security adviser back to public service — and the taxpayer-funded payroll — should he win election to a second term.

Flynn did not respond to repeated requests for comment made by Raw Story through his lawyers.

Last year, Powell pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit intentional interference with performance of election duties in Georgia.

Burk is suing Koch for fraudulent misrepresentation, invasion of privacy and infliction of emotional distress in the Arizona state courts, separate from her federal claim against Flynn, Powell and Townsend. Representing herself, Burk deposed Keliikoa for her lawsuit against Koch. Last week, Burk filed a motion to consolidate her case against Koch with her federal lawsuit against Powell and Flynn.

Under cross-examination by Koch’s lawyer in March, Keliikoa downplayed her role in giving life to the “ballots on planes” theory.

“The only relevance I have is a lot of people got involved and it turned into, like I said before, a big s---show where a lot of people were involved that should have never even been there, that should have never been involved,” she said. “And I got thrown into the mix like everybody else. I was used as a pawn. That’s what makes me mad.”

Knowing what she knows now, Keliikoa said, she would have never agreed to write the affidavit.

“I thought people really wanted to help,” she said in her deposition. “And now I know otherwise.”

“Nobody really cares,” she added, “because everybody has their own objective.”

* * * *

Key players

Staci Burk is a former school board member from Arizona who found herself in the middle of a conspiracy theory concerning illegal ballots and airplanes after the 2020 election.

Roland Hurrington is a Marine Corps veteran enlisted to pick up Sabrina Keliikoa at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport FedEx air freight terminal in December 2020.

Geoffrey Flohr, also known as “Yoda,” is a retired Michigan State Police officer who volunteered for the 1st Amendment Praetorian security group in late 2020 and early 2021. He used Staci Burk to track down Sabrina Keliikoa.

Michael Flynn is a retired lieutenant general who served as national security advisor for President Donald Trump before pleading guilty to lying to the FBI. Trump pardoned Flynn in November 2020, and Flynn emerged alongside Sidney Powell as a key player in the effort to overturn the 2020 election.

Sabrina Keliikoa is a former FedEx supervisor and QAnon adherent who claims to have been detained by a security team linked to Michael Flynn that obtained an affidavit about election ballots observed at her facility shortly around the time of the 2020 election.

Carissa Keshel was a volunteer who served as attorney Sidney Powell’s assistant in late 2020, as Flynn worked with Powell to overturn the 2020 election.

Kenneth Scott Koch is a security contractor formerly employed by Mayhem Solutions Group (now MSG Risk Management & Intelligence) who “fabricated” a story about his involvement in illegal ballot trafficking. Koch organized anti-lockdown protests in Arizona and was a member of the far-right group the Oath Keepers.

Jim Penrose is a cyber-security expert who worked for the National Security Agency under President Barack Obama. He traveled to Washington state to obtain an affidavit from Sabrina Keliikoa.

Sidney Powell is a former federal prosecutor who filed lawsuits in Arizona and other states seeking to overturn the 2020 election based on outlandish claims of voting fraud.

Kelly Townsend is a former Arizona state House member who told Staci Burk it was imperative that the “Seattle whistleblower” (now revealed to be Sabrina Keliikoa) come forward and report her suspicions about illegal ballot trafficking after the 2020 election.

Donald Trump is the former president of the United States who is again running for the presidency in 2024. Many of the actions described in this story were done in Trump’s name.

Shawn Wilson is the president of MSG Risk Management & Intelligence (formerly Mayhem Solutions Group). Jim Penrose told Staci Burk that he was initially concerned that Wilson, along with Kenneth Scott Koch, were “hostile actors” intent on harming Sabrina Keliikoa.

MILITIAS, THE BUNDY’S AND A CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION: KELLY TOWNSEND

(R-Arizona State Senate, District 16)

ALEC member as of 2020

Before being elected to the Arizona state Senate, Kelly Townsend was already a seasoned far-right activist, having moved from anti-abortion and Tea Party politics to far-right paramilitary militia groups and efforts to rewrite the U.S. Constitution in the far-right’s image.

In 2009, three years before she won office, Kelly Townsend joined the activist-oriented Walk for Life West Coast—Official Group Page (3,728 members), a San Francisco-based group that organizes an annual anti-choice march on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade. In a recap of its 2022 march, the group makes clear its central aim of overturning this legal cornerstone of abortion rights:

“Energized by the impending U.S. Supreme Court case which may finally overturn the notorious Roe v. Wade decision, you came from as far away as Oregon, Idaho and Nebraska to gather in Civic Center Plaza… Our speakers were fantastic, as always. ‘I believe Roe v. Wade has been outlawed, because God remembers you,’ thundered the Rev. Clenard H. Childress, Jr. said, predicting the justices have already decided against Roe v. Wade in their private consultations.”

That same year, Townsend co-founded and served as President of the Greater Phoenix Tea Party.

In 2014, Townsend’s steps toward radicalization were visible when she traveled to Nevada to join other public officials in a rally supporting racist rancher Cliven Bundy, an effort backed by Richard Mack’s far-right Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association (CSPOA). According to CSPOA, Townsend and other legislators planned to “attend the Press Conference Monday afternoon with the CSPOA and Oath Keepers along with the Bundys and other sheriffs and public officials from across the country.”

After taking office, between 2015 and 2017, Townsend joined the National Tea Party #DraintheSwamp (3,927 members*), the Arizona Citizens Defense League, Group Chat (3,106 members), and TEA Party United – Let’s Organize! (13, 275 members).

While proclaiming dedication to “fiscal and constitutional conservatism in government and to return our nation to its founding principles,” TEA Party United – Let’s Organize! nonetheless supported the broad range of issues associated with the Tea Party movement generally, including COVID Denial, conspiracy theories about “fake news” and the 2020 election, anti-Muslim bigotry, anti-immigrant politics, and the jumble of far-right hysteria viewed as “profound” by administrator Thomas Ash:

“I caught Dr. Stanley’s sermon this past Sunday and no more profound words and relevant words have I heard in recent memory other than John 3:16. He talked about the communists that have taken over the Democrat party and are destroying the nation from within. Specifically he was referring to the ‘Mob,’ ‘BLM,’ ‘ANTIFA,’ the ‘Cancel Culture,’ the ‘Woke,’ and the ‘1619 Project,’ and ‘Critical Race Theory’ crowd who seek to divide us, destroy our history, disrespect our flag, hate our country, and weaponize government institutions against those who don’t fit in [sic] world.”

Charles Stanley, referenced here, is an anti-gay bigot who heads In Touch Ministries. Stanley, the former head of the Southern Baptist Convention, once said of homosexuality, “I believe that AIDS is God indicating his displeasure and his attitude toward that form of lifestyle, which we in this country are about to accept.”

The Arizona Citizens Defense League Inc. is a gun-rights group that actively promotes the far-right Gun Owners of America, long led by now-Executive Director Emeritus and militia advocate Larry Pratt.

In 2020, Townsend joined the Arizona State Militia Community (607 members*). That same year, and into 2021, Townsend joined such COVID Denial groups as Arizonans for Liberty (1,750 members), the Anti-Vaxxer group Homeschoolers for Medical Freedom (1,452 members), and the Maricopa County chapter of the national School-Centered group Moms for Liberty (1,144 members).[89]

Townsend’s own COVID Denial activism included tweeting an image comparing vaccinations to the German Nazis. Showing the nuances in bigotry on the far right, and despite such a display of antisemitism, Townsend also criticized Arizona State Senator Wendy Rogers for her close relationship with white nationalist Nick Fuentes, writing,

:{:{“Hanging out with white supremacists, endorsing them, and declaring them the finest of patriots is all something Wendy Rogers has a constitutional right to do. But good and decent people are also free to find it repulsive and un-American.”}:

As a legislator, Kelly Townsend led an effort for a resolution supporting an Article V Constitutional Convention, working with the far-right Convention of States to do so.Townsend also introduced a bill to give Arizona’s 11 electoral college votes to Donald Trump on the claim that the 2020 election “was marred by irregularities so significant as to render it highly doubtful whether the certified results accurately represent the will of the voters.”

no lnx vid

Townsend concedes victory to Senator Wendy Rogers

Townsend announced on Wednesday that Rogers beat her in the Republican primary, but it came at a steep price.

Author: 12News

Published: August 3, 2022

PHOENIX — After a tight race, State Senator Kelly Townsend has conceded to her opponent, Senator Wendy Rogers. But Townsend said it came with a steep price tag.

"It took $1,732,200.27 to beat me," Townsend said in a post on Twitter.

The two had been running in the Republican primary for District 7 State Senator. According to the Secretary of State website, Rogers had pulled ahead with an 18 percent lead over Townsend.

Out of 28,678 votes, 16,929 have gone to Rogers, and 11,749 to Townsend.

The Associated Press called the race in Rogers' favor Wednesday morning.

The two candidates are both major supporters of former President Donald Trump and have embraced his unfounded claims that he lost in Arizona due to voter fraud. But Rogers has the president's endorsement for reelection and Townsend had been seeking the same.

Wendy Rogers recently faced an inquiry for comments made about the Buffalo shooter that appeared to blame the federal government for the massacre.

Likewise, Rogers had previously been censured for "unbecoming conduct" by the Arizona State Senate.

Townsend has had her own share of controversies, previously making comments signaling her stance against COVID-19 mitigation efforts and vaccinations of any kind, previously comparing mandatory vaccines to "communism" during a 2017 Sunday Square Off segment.

The two squared off after redistricting following the 2020 census put them in the same district. But now, it seems the district could go to Rogers.

am oversight docs

https://www.americanoversight.org/document/nara-records-regarding-invalid-elector-slates

https://www.americanoversight.org/investigation/the-alternate-electors-plot-to-overturn-the-2020-election

In March 2021, American Oversight obtained :{copies of phony electoral vote certificates:(style="box-sizing:inherit;transition-duration:0.2s;transition-property:background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform;transition-timing-function:linear"):}: signed and submitted to the National Archives and Congress by supporters of former President Trump in seven swing states that had gone for Joe Biden: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, New Mexico, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. The false certificates were part of a scheme to prevent the congressional certification of Biden’s victory on Jan. 6, 2021, in which Trump allies, pointing to lies about widespread voter fraud, sought to present the signatories as “alternate” slates of electors.

The documents :{drew renewed attention:(style="box-sizing:inherit;transition-duration:0.2s;transition-property:background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform;transition-timing-function:linear"):}: in January 2022 after they were covered by :{MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow:(style="box-sizing:inherit;transition-duration:0.2s;transition-property:background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform;transition-timing-function:linear"):}: and *Politico*. The :{Justice Department:(style="box-sizing:inherit;transition-duration:0.2s;transition-property:background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform;transition-timing-function:linear"):}: said it was investigating the fake certificates, and the :{House select committee:(style="box-sizing:inherit;transition-duration:0.2s;transition-property:background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform;transition-timing-function:linear"):}: investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, which had also been looking into the matter, :{issued subpoenas:(style="box-sizing:inherit;transition-duration:0.2s;transition-property:background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform;transition-timing-function:linear"):}: to the individuals listed as “chairperson” and “secretary” of each group of alternate electors. The next month, the committee :{issued six additional subpoenas:(style="box-sizing:inherit;transition-duration:0.2s;transition-property:background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform;transition-timing-function:linear"):}: to connected individuals.

A now-infamous :{memo:(style="box-sizing:inherit;transition-duration:0.2s;transition-property:background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform;transition-timing-function:linear"):}: prepared by Trump-allied lawyer John Eastman and titled “January 6 scenario” indicated that the fake certificates were part of a :{six-step scheme:(style="box-sizing:inherit;transition-duration:0.2s;transition-property:background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform;transition-timing-function:linear"):}:that relied on Pence throwing out the valid electors from “7 states [that] have transmitted dual slates of electors.” In February 2022, the *New York Times* reported that two weeks after the election, Jim Troupis, a lawyer for the Trump campaign in Wisconsin, had received a memo setting out the strategy to overturn Trump’s loss by installing “alternate” electors in states Trump lost. According to the Times, that memo was used by Eastman and other Trump-allied lawyers as they devised the scheme.

In March, a federal judge ruled that it was :{“more likely than not”:(style="box-sizing:inherit;transition-duration:0.2s;transition-property:background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform;transition-timing-function:linear"):}:that Trump and Eastman had “corruptly attempted” to obstruct the Jan. 6 congressional certification, and ordered Eastman to produce more than 100 emails he had fought to keep from House investigators. More than a year and a half after the election, Eastman is :{still attempting to shield:(style="box-sizing:inherit;transition-duration:0.2s;transition-property:background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform;transition-timing-function:linear"):}: his communication records from the House select committee.

The fake certificates were also referenced in a :{draft letter:(style="box-sizing:inherit;transition-duration:0.2s;transition-property:background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform;transition-timing-function:linear"):}:prepared by Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark in December 2020 that falsely stated the department was investigating “various irregularities” in the election and would have instructed Georgia lawmakers to convene a special session to consider “issues pertaining to the appointment of presidential electors.” That same month, Trump had :{plotted to oust:(style="box-sizing:inherit;transition-duration:0.2s;transition-property:background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform;transition-timing-function:linear"):}: acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen and replace him with Clark, a loyalist who was willing to use the department to elevate Trump’s voter-fraud myth.

In a :{lawsuit:(style="box-sizing:inherit;transition-duration:0.2s;transition-property:background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform;transition-timing-function:linear"):}: we filed against the ArizonaSenate seeking records related to the partisan “audit” of Maricopa County’s 2020 election, we :{obtained documents:(style="box-sizing:inherit;transition-duration:0.2s;transition-property:background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform;transition-timing-function:linear;background-color:#ff9900;"):}: that show Kelly Townsend, then state senator-elect, asked former Vice President Mike Pence not to accept Arizona’s valid electoral slate during the congressional certification on Jan. 6. We also obtained and published :{memos concerning the appointment of electors:(style="box-sizing:inherit;transition-duration:0.2s;transition-property:background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform;transition-timing-function:linear"):}: that were sent to legislative leaders in Wisconsin and Arizona in the weeks following Trump’s loss.

The fake electoral certificates are a critical piece of the coordinated, multi-state effort to subvert the will of American voters. Since obtaining copies of the bogus certificates, American Oversight has sent follow-up requests for the communications of the false electors with Trump allies and false electors in other states. In :{several:(style="box-sizing:inherit;transition-duration:0.2s;transition-property:background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform;transition-timing-function:linear"):}: :{states:(style="box-sizing:inherit;transition-duration:0.2s;transition-property:background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform;transition-timing-function:linear"):}:, we are still seeking communications between signers of the phony elector slates and proponents of Trump’s Big Lie.

updates n:{ews Roundup: The ‘Wild/Creative’ Fake Electors Scheme:(style="box-sizing:inherit;transition-duration:0.2s;transition-property:background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform;transition-timing-function:linear;font-weight:bolder"):}:

July 29, 2022

“Kind of wild/creative” — that’s how a Trump-allied lawyer, in an early December 2020 email, characterized the scheme to submit fake electoral certificates in an attempt to overturn the election results.

:{In the Documents: New Details About the Origins of the Arizona Senate’s Discredited Election ‘Audit’:(style="box-sizing:inherit;transition-duration:0.2s;transition-property:background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform;transition-timing-function:linear;font-weight:bolder;background-color:#ffff66;"):}:

March 7, 2022

Further review of records obtained by American Oversight in our investigation of the “audit” of Maricopa County’s 2020 election reveal a letter from a state senator to then-Vice President Pence asking that he not certify Biden’s victory.

:{Legislative Leaders in Arizona, Wisconsin Were Sent Memos Regarding the Ability of State Lawmakers to Alter Selection of Electors Following 2020 Election:(style="box-sizing:inherit;transition-duration:0.2s;transition-property:background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform;transition-timing-function:linear;font-weight:bolder"):}:

February 1, 2022

The memos, obtained by American Oversight, suggest that in November 2020, Arizona Senate President Karen Fann and Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos sought legal advice about whether legislators had the power to alter the selection or actions of electors after the election had taken place.

:{:{December 2020 Emails to:(style="background-color:#ffff66;"):}::{ Arizona :(style="background-color:#ff9900;"):}::{Lawmakers Reveal Election Deniers’ Plans for Scanning and Throwing Out ‘Invalid’ Ballots:(style="background-color:#ffff66;"):}::(style="box-sizing:inherit;transition-duration:0.2s;transition-property:background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform;transition-timing-function:linear;font-weight:bolder"):}:

January 24, 2022

The emails obtained by American Oversight, which outlined a plan to overturn Trump’s election loss in Arizona, also included members of Trump’s legal team.

:{Fake Electoral Certificates Obtained by American Oversight Draw Renewed Scrutiny:(style="box-sizing:inherit;transition-duration:0.2s;transition-property:background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform;transition-timing-function:linear;font-weight:bolder"):}:

January 12, 2022

The phony documents were submitted to Congress by Republicans in several states who sought to overturn Biden’s 2020 election victory by casting the state’s electoral votes for Trump instead.

:{The Latest Attempt by Wisconsin Legislative Leaders to Undermine Election Has Been in the Works for Months:(style="box-sizing:inherit;transition-duration:0.2s;transition-property:background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform;transition-timing-function:linear;font-weight:bolder"):}:

June 17, 2021

Emails uncovered by American Oversight reveal an early April meeting between legislative leaders and one of the former police officers hired to investigate the 2020 election in Wisconsin.

:{American Oversight Obtains Seven Phony Certificates of Pro-Trump Electors:(style="box-sizing:inherit;transition-duration:0.2s;transition-property:background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform;transition-timing-function:linear;font-weight:bolder"):}:

March 2, 2021

The phony electoral vote certificates from seven states were submitted to Congress as part of the failed attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

:{Investigations Update: Florida Vaccine Distribution, Anti-Protest Measures, and Trump’s Efforts to Overturn Georgia’s Election Results:(style="box-sizing:inherit;transition-duration:0.2s;transition-property:background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform;transition-timing-function:linear;font-weight:bolder"):}:

February 9, 2021

See the latest in our investigations into the coronavirus pandemic response and into officials’ attempts to interfere with democracy.

:{Investigations Update: The Efforts by Trump — and Top Officials — to Overturn the Election:(style="box-sizing:inherit;transition-duration:0.2s;transition-property:background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform;transition-timing-function:linear;font-weight:bolder"):}:

February 2, 2021

See the latest in our investigations into Trump’s efforts to overturn the presidential election and multiple state lawmakers’ ties to the Capitol attack.

RELATED DOCUMENTS...

ref

https://www.americanoversight.org/in-the-documents-new-details-about-the-origins-of-the-arizona-senates-discredited-election-audit

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PUBLISH DATE: MARCH 7, 2022

IN THE DOCUMENTS: NEW DETAILS ABOUT THE ORIGINS OF THE ARIZONA SENATE’S DISCREDITED ELECTION ‘AUDIT’

Efforts to undermine the 2020 election results in Arizona led to the state Senate’s sham “audit” of votes cast in Maricopa County, which furthered lies about voter fraud and galvanized Big Lie proponents to undertake similar election-undermining exploits in other states. While officials claimed the review was designed to restore confidence in election integrity and expose purported fraud, documents uncovered through American Oversight’s public records litigation pointed to its origins in baseless conspiracy theories and post-election efforts to subvert the results of a free and fair election.

Below are additional details from American Oversight’s review of more than 80,000 pages of “audit”-related records released by the Arizona Senate in August 2021 in response to our ongoing lawsuit. The records include communications of state Sen. Kelly Townsend about the scheme to prevent the certification of Joe Biden’s victory by appointing false, pro-Trump Arizona presidential electors, as well as emails from Senate President Karen Fann regarding her selection of the firm Cyber Ninjas to conduct the “audit.”

TOWNSEND’S RESOLUTION AND EFFORTS TO APPOINT ALTERNATE ELECTORS

The documents contain a December 2020 letter signed by Townsend, who had just been elected to the state Senate, addressed to then-Vice President Mike Pence asking that he “not accept” Arizona’s valid electors during the Jan. 6 congressional certification of the election results. It’s unclear whether Pence received the letter, but Townsend’s letter appears to be similar to one sent by state Rep. Jake Hoffman the day before the certification that, as reported recently by the Arizona Republic, also asked the vice president not to accept the state’s electoral votes.

Townsend’s letter is dated Dec. 31, 2020. That same day, she shared it in an email to Ron Hooper of the nonprofit U.S. Term Limits and investor Bradley Rotter and asked for feedback. Rotter replied, copying conspiracy theorist Jerome Corsi as well as someone named Phil Cannon: “Please meet Corsi Undergrounder Phil Cannon who can get your letter to Keith Kellogg who is the Natl Security Advisor to the VP.”

The letter to Pence also referenced the “alternate slate of electors” sent by Arizona on Dec. 14, 2020, the day Arizona and multiple other states submitted forged electoral certificates to Congress, seeking to overturn Biden’s victory by falsely claiming their states’ electoral votes went to Trump.

On Jan. 5, 2021, Townsend introduced a resolution in the Arizona Senate to revoke Biden votes and appoint the alternate electors, among whom were Hoffman and Arizona Republican Party Chair Kelli Ward. That same day, Townsend followed up on her email with a link to the resolution, writing, “This resolution to appoint the alternate slate of electors is prepared and ready for the election audit findings, should they result in what I expect to happen.” In December, state Senate leaders had issued subpoenas to Maricopa County demanding the release of ballots cast, voting machines, voter rolls, and other election information.

The records obtained by American Oversight also reveal that the office of U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks — a congressman from Alabama who on Jan. 6 gave an inflammatory speech to Trump supporters outside the White House — was actively seeking information that could be used to challenge election results. On Dec. 22, 2020, a Brooks staffer emailed Arizona Rep. Mark Finchem indicating that the office was “putting together a master memo on the valid grounds” for objecting to the Electoral College certification.

The staffer also asked Finchem for a memo detailing “allegations of fraud and other election irregularities” from a meeting involving Rudy Giuliani that had been held on Nov. 30 in Phoenix. Later that day, a Townsend staffer sent a copy of Townsend’s resolution toBrooks’ office, asking to be notified once it was “submitted to Congress.”KayRee Kubat to sean griffin]

On Jan. 5, Finchem circulated another letter addressed to Pence regarding the “reclamation of Electoral College Electors from Arizona,” signed by Finchem, Townsend, and other Arizona House and Senate members. State Sen. Sonny Borrelli forwarded the letter to Phillip Jauregui, the head of the conservative advocacy organization Judicial Action Group, writing: “Mark has the most updated list” — likely referring to the list of lawmakers signing the letter and resolution. Jauregui, who is based in Birmingham, Alabama, was later invited to the July 2021 election integrity call that included numerous election deniers across the country, including Finchem, Townsend, Brooks, and Brooks aide Madison Engelking.

FANN’S CORRESPONDENCE WITH CONSTITUENTS ON CHALLENGING THE ELECTION

On Dec. 13, 2020, in response to a constituent who demanded that the state Legislature “decertify” the election results, Arizona Senate President Fann said that she had met with a “nationally accredited constitutional attorney” and that lawmakers needed evidence of “clear fraud.”

“With respect to the US Constitution Article 2 and 3 provisions,” Fann wrote, “we spent an hour and a half with a nationally accredited constitutional attorney which was extremely interesting and I learned a lot. He stated that the ‘plenary clause’ allowing us to convene ourselves with a simple majority applies ‘when there is no clear winner of an election.’”

The records do not indicate the name of the attorney who spoke with Fann, but the idea that state legislatures, rather than the popular vote, could determine the winner of the election was frequently espoused by Trump allies. In a now-famous memo prepared around that time, Trump-allied lawyer John Eastman outlined a plan for Pence to reject the results from states with “dual slates of electors,” writing that Article II granted state legislatures “the plenary power to determine the manner for choosing presidential electors.”

In her email, Fann added that there had “been no proof provided to the courts” of significant voter fraud, but that the Senate was “committed to pursuing these claims” through an “audit” of Maricopa County, and referred to Jan. 6 as a deadline for altering the election’s results. “We are hoping any substantiated information from any state regarding voter fraud can be brought and verified by January 6th, 2021 when congress convenes to give the final ‘blessing’ on the election. That would be one of our last options to make a difference in the outcome of the 2020 election.”

FANN ON SELECTING CYBER NINJAS

In response to a July 2021 press inquiry from a far-right media outlet, Fann provided details about the process of hiring the firm Cyber Ninjas to conduct the election “audit,” which had begun in April.

Fann told the reporter that early in the process, she had asked the Federal Election Commission for a list of “certified forensic election auditors,” a designation that does not appear to exist.Cyber Ninjas had no election experience prior to the “audit,” and is not one of the two firms accredited by the Election Assistance Commission to certify voting machines; earlier in 2021, those two firms had been hired by Maricopa County to perform an audit of voting equipment and confirmed that the votes had been counted accurately.

Fann described reaching out to “people in other states who were already talking about audits” and asking contacts for recommendations. “It was part of this process that [Cyber Ninjas CEO] Doug Logan’s name came up along with many other referrals,” Fann wrote. “I was told Mr Logan was the gentleman working with the issues in Atrium [sic] County and Fulton County.”

Fann was likely referring to Michigan’s Antrim County,the home of a debunked report on fraud. But it is unclear from the email whether she is referring to Pennsylvania’s Fulton County — where the firm Wake TSI, which later joined Cyber Ninjas’ audit team in Arizona, conducted partisan audits of election equipment — or to Georgia’s Fulton County, home to Atlanta and a target of voter-fraud conspiracy theories. But the mention of efforts in other states to dig up evidence of purported fraud is yet another illustration of how activists and conservative allies across the country were often working together, with the same contractors and election conspiracy theorists. American Oversight is investigating similar efforts to undermine faith in our democracy in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Texas.

FANN EMAILS REGARDING TRUMP LEGAL TEAM

In other emails to constituents who complained that the election had been compromised, Fann often referred to the Trump legal team’s efforts and the hunt for evidence of significant fraud.

In an email sent Nov. 29, 2020, Fann wrote, “We have to show some credible evidence for ‘fraud’ before the courts or anyone else can do anything. I have asked the Trump legal team MANY times to please bring us their proof of fraud so we may act on it. To date they have not provided any proof.”

On Nov. 30, she wrote, “We have asked the Trump team to please supply the information to us and to please file a lawsuit so we can address this properly according to state laws. To date this information or lawsuit has not been provided in writing.”

To date, American Oversight has uncovered more than 100,000 pages of records from Arizona’s election “audit.” Previous findings — including Fann’s claim that she had received a personal call from Trump thanking her for her efforts — are available here. Our investigation is ongoing, and we are continuing to pursue the release of records held by both the Senate and Cyber Ninjas. Read more about that litigation here.

Part of Investigation:

Attacks on Voting Rights in Arizona

The Arizona Senate’s Partisan Audit of Maricopa County Election Results

The ‘Alternate Electors’ Plot to Overturn the 2020 Election

https://www.americanoversight.org/december-2020-emails-to-arizona-lawmakers-reveal-election-deniers-plans-for-scanning-and-throwing-out-invalid-ballots

1/24

d:{ocuments:(style="box-sizing:inherit;transition-duration:0.2s;transition-property:background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform;transition-timing-function:linear"):}: obtained by American Oversight and :{reported on by :(style="box-sizing:inherit;transition-duration:0.2s;transition-property:background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform;transition-timing-function:linear"):}:*:{Rolling Stone:(style="box-sizing:inherit;transition-duration:0.2s;transition-property:background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform;transition-timing-function:linear"):}:* reveal that inearly December 2020, election-denying activists pushed Arizona state legislators to use untested technology to scan and toss out “invalid” ballots, thus handing the state’s electoral votes to then-President Donald Trump.

The emails, sent days before members of the Electoral College were set to cast their votes for president, also included members of Trump’s legal and campaign team and appear to be a precursor to the discredited “audit” of Maricopa County ballots that the Arizona Senate would later launch. Many of the emails were sent by :{**Phil Waldron**:(style="box-sizing:inherit;transition-duration:0.2s;transition-property:background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform;transition-timing-function:linear;background-color:#ff9900;"):}:, the retired Army colonel who shared a :{PowerPoint:(style="box-sizing:inherit;transition-duration:0.2s;transition-property:background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform;transition-timing-function:linear"):}:outlining measures for overturning the 2020 election results with Trump allies and congressional offices in the days before the Jan. 6 Capitol attack. :{Text messages:(style="box-sizing:inherit;transition-duration:0.2s;transition-property:background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform;transition-timing-function:linear"):}: previously uncovered by American Oversight indicated that Senate President Karen Fann had consulted with Waldron prior to hiring the inexperienced firm Cyber Ninjas to conduct the “audit.”

Included on Waldron’s emails to Arizona lawmakers were :{Bernard Kerik:(style="box-sizing:inherit;transition-duration:0.2s;transition-property:background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform;transition-timing-function:linear"):}:, an adviser to Trump’s legal team and an ally of Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, as well as former Trump administration official :{Emily Newman:(style="box-sizing:inherit;transition-duration:0.2s;transition-property:background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform;transition-timing-function:linear"):}: and Trump campaign lawyer :{Jenna Ellis:(style="box-sizing:inherit;transition-duration:0.2s;transition-property:background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform;transition-timing-function:linear"):}:, both of whom :{were involved:(style="box-sizing:inherit;transition-duration:0.2s;transition-property:background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform;transition-timing-function:linear"):}: :{in advancing baseless voter-fraud claims:(style="box-sizing:inherit;transition-duration:0.2s;transition-property:background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform;transition-timing-function:linear"):}: and lawsuits seeking to overturn results.

On Dec. 8, 2020, Waldron sent an :{email:(style="box-sizing:inherit;transition-duration:0.2s;transition-property:background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform;transition-timing-function:linear"):}: to state Rep. :{**Mark Finchem**:(style="box-sizing:inherit;transition-duration:0.2s;transition-property:background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform;transition-timing-function:linear;background-color:#ff6600;"):}::{ :{—:(style="background-color:#ff9900;"):}::(style="box-sizing:inherit;transition-duration:0.2s;transition-property:background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform;transition-timing-function:linear"):}: a :{vocal Trump supporter:(style="box-sizing:inherit;transition-duration:0.2s;transition-property:background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform;transition-timing-function:linear"):}: and major proponent of false voter-fraud claims — that included a “base research doc” on Arizona voting data. Kerik and Ellis were copied on the email, along with :{Russell Ramsland:(style="box-sizing:inherit;transition-duration:0.2s;transition-property:background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform;transition-timing-function:linear"):}:, the co-founder of Allied Security Operations Group (ASOG), which was behind that month’s debunked :{report:(style="box-sizing:inherit;transition-duration:0.2s;transition-property:background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform;transition-timing-function:linear"):}: on election fraud in Antrim County, Mich. Lawyer and lobbyist Katherine Friess, who was :{involved in the Antrim “audit,”:(style="box-sizing:inherit;transition-duration:0.2s;transition-property:background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform;transition-timing-function:linear"):}: also appears to have been added to the email.

Waldron then sent an :{email:(style="box-sizing:inherit;transition-duration:0.2s;transition-property:background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform;transition-timing-function:linear"):}: with the “Arizona data reporting” to Finchem, state Sen. Sonny Borrelli, Kerik, and Newman, outlining technology he claimed could detect fraudulent ballots. Waldron advocated obtaining images of the ballots, which his team would run through “optical scanning technology” that would “allow us to pull invalid votes out of the totals ‘By Candidate’ so that your state can certify normal elections and potentially not have to take extra legislative action.” :{Records previously:(style="box-sizing:inherit;transition-duration:0.2s;transition-property:background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform;transition-timing-function:linear"):}: obtained by American Oversight show that Borrelli then forwarded the email to all Arizona Senate Republicans.[8 15 22 trms reports on 6? states where voter//server info grabbed, some illegal]

Three days later, Waldron sent another :{email:(style="box-sizing:inherit;transition-duration:0.2s;transition-property:background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform;transition-timing-function:linear"):}: to :{Finchem:(style="box-sizing:inherit;transition-duration:0.2s;transition-property:background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform;transition-timing-function:linear"):}:, Borrelli, and state Sen. Eddie Farnsworth regarding the purported scanning technology. Waldron attached hundreds of pages of affidavits from election conspiracy theorist and treasure hunter Jovan Pulitzer, including about the ballot inspection technology he said he designed. Pulitzer, who :{claimed:(style="box-sizing:inherit;transition-duration:0.2s;transition-property:background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform;transition-timing-function:linear"):}: that fraudulent ballots could be detected by the absence of certain folds in the paper and was the :{likely source of:(style="box-sizing:inherit;transition-duration:0.2s;transition-property:background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform;transition-timing-function:linear"):}: the theory that fraudulent ballots containing bamboo fibers had been shipped from Asia, was copied on the email along with :{Ramsland:(style="box-sizing:inherit;transition-duration:0.2s;transition-property:background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform;transition-timing-function:linear"):}: and others.

In the email, Waldron :{falsely said:(style="box-sizing:inherit;transition-duration:0.2s;transition-property:background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform;transition-timing-function:linear"):}:that “scanned images are public records” in Arizona and that his team should “need no authoritative release requests” to access them. Waldron also suggested that his “local consultant and advisor” Lyle Rapacki, a :{conservative activist:(style="box-sizing:inherit;transition-duration:0.2s;transition-property:background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform;transition-timing-function:linear"):}: who has claimed that :{“demonic”:(style="box-sizing:inherit;transition-duration:0.2s;transition-property:background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform;transition-timing-function:linear"):}: forces led to Joe Biden’s win and who was also copied on the email, could travel to Maricopa County to load images of the scanned ballots onto a hard drive for inspection.

Less than a week after receiving this email, Farnsworth joined Fann in issuing a subpoena demanding that Maricopa County turn over all of its ballots, voting machines, and other records so that the Senate could conduct an “audit.”

Among the records obtained by American Oversight were communications between Arizona Sen.:{**Kelly Townsend**:(style="box-sizing:inherit;transition-duration:0.2s;transition-property:background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform;transition-timing-function:linear;background-color:#ff6600;"):}:and Michael Bowman, president of ALEC Action, the advocacy arm of the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council. In a November 2021 :{email:(style="box-sizing:inherit;transition-duration:0.2s;transition-property:background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform;transition-timing-function:linear"):}:, Townsend asked Bowman for advice on which ALEC committee would be best to discuss “election integrity” with. Bowman responded that Townsend should talk with ALEC’s “Process Working Group,” which was meeting in San Diego the following month.

Last week, the Arizona Court of Appeals rejected the state Senate’s broad use of legislative privilege to withhold records from the “audit” from public release in American Oversight’s lawsuit. And on Thursday, Cyber Ninjas and its CEO Doug Logan are scheduled to sit for a deposition regarding the firm’s failure to turn over public records to the Senate. Read more :{here:(style="box-sizing:inherit;transition-duration:0.2s;transition-property:background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform;transition-timing-function:linear"):}: about our ongoing investigation into efforts to sow doubt about the 2020 election in Arizona.

Part of Investigation:

this is someone praising fake electors? rudy phx mtg?]

twt pix

learn their names:

The fight for our republic has only just begun! #ArizonaHearing

https://www.salon.com/2020/12/07/entire-arizona-legislature-shuts-down-after-rudy-giuliani-potentially-exposed-lawmakers-to-covid-19/

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entire Arizona legislature shuts down after Rudy Giuliani potentially exposed lawmakers to COVID-19

The closure comes amid Trump's attempts to pressure state lawmakers to appoint electors to overturn the election

By IGOR DERYSH

Deputy Politics Editor

PUBLISHEDDECEMBER 7, 2020

The Arizona state legislature will shut down for the next week after Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani potentially exposed lawmakers to the coronavirus.

President Donald Trump announced on Twitter that Giuliani had tested positive for the virus on Sunday. The former New York mayor traveled to multiple states to pressure Republican lawmakers to help his bid to overturn the results of the election based on unfounded allegations of voter fraud. The 76-year-old was hospitalized at Georgetown University Medical Center after receiving his diagnosis, ABC News reported.

It is unclear when Giuliani first tested positive or when he was exposed. His son Andrew, a White House adviser, said he tested positive on Nov. 20. Christianné Allen, the communications director for the former mayor, also said she began quarantine on the same day. (Giuliani's ill-fated press conference in which a dark goo dripped down his face took place one day earlier.)

A maskless Giuliani held a show hearing with 15 Arizona lawmakers at a Hyatt Regency hotel in Phoenix last Monday before privately meeting with several Republican legislators and leaders the following day, according to The Arizona Republic. Giuliani also traveled to Michigan and Georgia, potentially exposing other lawmakers.

A Michigan official said the legislature did not have plans to shut down but would conduct "normal contact tracing procedures in accordance with CDC guidelines to keep people safe." Senate staffers in Georgia were instructed to work remotely until they were tested for the virus, according to WXIA.

The Arizona meeting was attended by U.S. Reps. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., and Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., as well as about a half-dozen state senators and representatives. The following day,, Giuliani met with the Republican leaders of the state Senate and House. The Arizona Republican Party tweeted a photo of Giuliani and other attendees maskless and not social distancing at the meeting.

Trump's campaign said in a statement that Giuliani had tested negative before traveling to the state and "did not experience any symptoms or test positive for COVID-19 until more than 48 hours after his return." It is not uncommon for people infected with the virus to test negative early in the incubation period.

Trump's team said no lawmakers nor members of the media were "on the contact tracing list."

But Republican leaders said the entire state legislature would be closed this week "out of an abundance of caution," according to the Republic.

State Sen. Martín Quezada, a Democrat, said the episode was "the epitome of COVID-19 irresponsibility."

"You owe it to the very people who work in the Capitol buildings to be better than this," he told his Republican colleagues.

"This is not negligence," state Sen. Victoria Steele, a fellow Democrat, said on Twitter. "It is willful, deliberate, endangerment of others."

Trump's campaign has continued to push back on criticism. Legal adviser Jenna Ellis called closing the legislature "absolutely unnecessary" as she attempted to claim that Republican House Speaker Rusty Bowers was using "COVID as an EXCUSE" to not call a special legislative session to override his state's voters.

After failing to show any evidence of widespread fraud or irregularities and being rejected by courts in every contested state, Trump's legal team has turned to pressuring state Republican lawmakers to appoint pro-Trump electors who would subvert their state's voters.

Several Republican state lawmakers said they still planned to hold a rally on Monday to "protect the vote."

"It's a rally to support the legislature calling for decertification of the election results," state Rep. Bret Roberts tweeted.

But Republican leaders have said such a move would not only be improper but illegal.

"As a conservative Republican, I don't like the results of the presidential election," Bowers said in a statement. "I voted for President Trump and worked hard to re-elect him. But I cannot and will not entertain a suggestion that we violate current law to change the outcome of a certified election."

Bowers said it would violate "the basic principles of republican government and the rule of law if we attempted to nullify the people's vote based on unsupported theories of fraud.

Trump's attempt to pressure Republicans to hold a special session to override their states' votes was likewise rejected by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a longtime Trump ally. Kemp and Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan said in a statement that holding a special session "in order to select a separate slate of presidential electors is not an option that is allowed under state or federal law."

"Any attempt by the legislature to retroactively change that process for the Nov. 3 election would be unconstitutional and immediately enjoined by the courts," they said.

Former Trump attorney Sidney Powell even led a lawsuit seeking to decertify President-elect Joe Biden's victory but the case was promptly rejected.

"With nothing but speculation and conjecture that votes for President Trump were destroyed, discarded or switched to votes for Vice President Biden, plaintiffs' equal protection claim fails," U.S. District Judge Linda Parker said in a ruling on Monday, adding that even if their allegations had merit, the "alleged injury does not entitle them to seek their requested remedy because the harm of having one's vote invalidated or diluted is not remedied by denying millions of others their right to vote."

Igor Derysh is Salon's Deputy News and Politics Editor. His work has also appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Boston Herald and Baltimore Sun.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/07/25/fann-townsend-subpoenas-arizona-trump/

no lnx Democracy Dies in Darkness

Arizona fake-electors subpoenas show breadth of DOJ Jan. 6 probe

Requests for information from two state lawmakers were released under a state public records law

By Devlin Barrett and Yvonne Wingett Sanchez

July 25, 2022

Arizona state Sen. Kelly Townsend, pictured in 2019, and state Senate President Karen Fann received subpoenas seeking communications “relating to any effort, plan, or attempt to serve as an Elector” for Donald Trump after the 2020 election. (Bob Christie/AP)[

Grand jury subpoenas issued last month to two Arizona state lawmakersshow the breadth of the criminal investigation by the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington into efforts by supporters of Donald Trump to use “false electors” to try to undo Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory.

Copies of two subpoenas issued to Republican state senators from Arizona were released Monday via a public-records request, confirming what has been previously reported about the June demands for records related “to the signing or mailing of any document purporting to be a Certificate certifying Elector votes in favor of Donald J. Trump and/or Michael R. Pence.”

The subpoenas issued to Karen Fann, president of the Arizona Senate, andSen. Kelly Townsendalso seek communications “relating to any effort, plan, or attempt to serve as an Elector” in favor of the then-president and then-vice president.

A subpoena is not an accusation but rather a demand for information that investigators believe may help them solve a crime. The documents released Monday cast a wide net for any communications that Fann and Townsend may have had with any member of the executive or legislative branch of the federal government; any representative or agent of Trump or his campaign; or Trump boosters Jenna Ellis, Bernard Kerik, Rudy Giuliani, Boris Epshteyn, James Troupis, Joe DiGenova, John Eastman, Joshua Findlay,Justin Clark, Kenneth Chesebro, Mike Roman or Victoria Toensing.

[Trump didn't want to call for Jan. 6 prosecutions, newly released video shows

The subpoenas are just one part of a significant escalation and expansion of the Justice Department’s criminal probe of the events of and leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters seeking to overturn the election results. Around the same time in mid-June, federal agents fanned out in multiple states to serve subpoenas, execute search warrants and interview potential witnesses as part of the investigation into the electors scheme.

Separately, a grand jury in Washington examining Jan. 6 heard testimony Friday from Marc Short, the former chief of staff to Pence, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing investigation. Short’s grand jury appearance was first reported by ABC News. He testified on the same day that a jury in the federal courthouse convicted longtime Trump confidant Stephen K. Bannon of contempt of Congress for refusing to provide information to the U.S. House committee investigating Jan. 6.

In the weeks after the 2020 election, Fann huddled with Arizona state lawmakers and Maricopa County officials to try to broker a deal to conduct a joint audit by an accredited firm of the county’s election results.

On Dec. 1, 2020, she attended a meeting with Giuliani and Ellis, both of whom worked as attorneys for Trump, as well as Kerik, state Republican lawmakers and retired Col. Phil Waldron. Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers (R) also attended the meeting and later said Giuliani made various claims about election fraud that the former New York mayor could not back up.

“My recollection, he said, ‘We’ve got lots of theories, we just don’t have the evidence,’ ” Bowers told the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack.

In the end, the GOP Senate that Fann presided over launched its own review of 2.1 million ballots cast in Maricopa County for the presidential and U.S. Senate race, using a Florida-based firm with no experience in auditing elections. The review affirmed Biden’s win.

More than 840 suspects have been charged in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot

In late 2020, Townsend, as a state representative, sought to prevent the certification of Arizona’s electoral votes.On Dec. 31, she wrote a letter to Pence asking the vice president “to refrain from accepting the Biden electors” until state lawmakers could adequately investigate claims of voter fraud. It is unclear if Pence received the letter.

“We believe it is impossible to conclusively declare a winner in Arizona and pray that you would refrain from counting the electoral votes from our state, and consider the alternate slate should we be able to establish validity to the various claims of election fraud on such a scale that would change the outcome,” said the letter, obtained by the watchdog group American Oversight.

The subpoenas to Fann and Townsend seek all communications or documents exchanged with those who served as Arizona’s alternate electors, as well as communications with state Rep. Mark Finchem, a vocal “Stop the Steal” proponent now vying for the Republican nomination for secretary of state.

Finchem helped organize a Nov. 30, 2020, meeting in downtown Phoenix attended by Giuliani, Ellis, GOP congressmen, state lawmakers and others, where speakers claimed widespread fraud in the election. Finchem was in Washington on Jan. 6. The House committee probing the events of that day issued a subpoena to him in February seeking information about his activities after the election, including comments he made about delivering “an evidence book and letter to Vice President Pence showing key evidence of fraud” in the election “and asking him to consider postponing the award of electors.”

The subpoenas to Fann and Townsend also seek any communications they had with a host of Arizona GOP figures who either helped assemble a list of Trump-backing electors or were on a list of such electors.

[In Georgia Trump probe, DA is blocked from investigating GOP lawmaker

Townsend has previously said that as chair of the elections committee, she tried to conduct an investigation because legislators “have plenary authority and responsibility to send the correct slate, and because it was in question, we wanted to have an alternate slate in case fraud was discovered and found.”

On Monday, she said she had one or two phone calls with Giuliani in December 2020 but no longer has the phone on which those calls were made. She said she has described the nature of the calls to the FBI.

“They asked me not to talk about it because of the investigation,” Townsend told The Washington Post in an interview. She said it was her impression that FBI agents were seeking information about one of Trump’s attorneys.

The subpoenas also seek a list of all email accounts, social media accounts and telephone numbers used by Fann and Townsend between October 2020 and now.

The subpoenas are signed by Thomas Windom, a federal prosecutor who has been tasked with investigating the false-electors scheme.

A spokesperson for Fann, who is not seeking reelection when her term expires in January, has said she is cooperating with the investigation. The spokesperson said they do not expect Fann to have to testify in person to the grand jury, which is located in Washington.

Some within Trump’s orbit, particularly Eastman, a law professor, had advocated offering new slates of “Trump electors” to challenge the electors in key states, such as Arizona, that Trump won in 2016 but lost in 2020. The scheme failed in part because even GOP-controlled state legislatures did not endorse the effort.

Rosalind S. Helderman contributed to this report.

The Jan. 6 insurrection

The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection has held a series of high-profile hearings throughout the summer: Find Day 8′s highlights and analysis.

Congressional hearings: The House committee investigating the attack on the U.S. Capitol has conducted a series of hearings to share its findings with the U.S. public. The eighth hearing focused on Trump’s inaction on Jan. 6. Here’s a guide to the biggest moments so far.

Will there be charges? The committee could make criminal referrals of former president Donald Trump over his role in the attack, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) said in an interview.

What we know about what Trump did on Jan. 6: New details emerged when Hutchinson testified before the committee and shared what she saw and heard on Jan. 6.

The riot: On Jan. 6, 2021, a pro-Trump mob stormed the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to stop the certification of the 2020 election results. Five people died on that day or in the immediate aftermath, and 140 police officers were assaulted.

Inside the siege: During the rampage, rioters came perilously close to penetrating the inner sanctums of the building while lawmakers were still there, including former vice president Mike Pence. The Washington Post examined text messages, photos and videos to create a video timeline of what happened on Jan. 6.

https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/arizona/2022/06/30/karen-fann-kelly-townsend-subpoenaed-fbi-arizona-lawmakers/7785249001/

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fBI subpoenas records of Arizona Senate President Karen Fann, state Sen. Kelly Townsend

Ray Stern

Mary Jo Pitzl

Arizona Republic

Arizona state Sen. Kelly Townsend (top) and Arizona Senate President Karen Fann.

The FBI has issued subpoenas to Arizona Senate President Karen Fann and state Sen. Kelly Townsend, compelling them to release records believed related to former President Donald Trump's effort to stay in power after losing the 2020 election.

Fann, the longtime Republican lawmaker from Prescott who ordered the partisan review of the 2020 election in Maricopa County, told The Arizona Republic the FBI issued a Freedom of Information Act request "in the form of a subpoena for my emails and communications. I'm instructed not to discuss."

She wouldn't confirm another report stating that the probe sought records about contacts from Trump and his team following the November 2020 election. But she added, "pretty sure everything they've asked for has already been foiaed numerous times over the past 18 months," using an acronym for the information act.

Democracy in doubt: The origins of the Arizona election review

The Yellow Sheet, a political newsletter, first reported the subpoenas.

In mid-November 2020, Fann told House Speaker Rusty Bowers that Trump's advocates had called her repeatedly, encouraging her to help him find a way to get ahead of Joe Biden in Arizona, where Trump lost by about 10,500 votes.

Public records also show that on Dec. 28, Fann told a constituent she was in “numerous conversations with Rudy Giuliani over the past weeks trying to get this done. I have the full support of him and a personal call from President Trump thanking us for pushing to prove any fraud."

Townsend, who lives in Apache Junction and has served in the Legislature since 2013, told The Republic that she had received a subpoena but did not comment further. She told 12 News that the FBI sought communications records with Trump's lawyers and that she and her staff were complying.

Last week, Kelli Ward, chairwoman of the state Republican Party and her husband Michael, were subpoenaed by the Department of Justice regarding their roles in creating and attempting to submit a slate of fake electors for the November 2020 election.

The Washington Post last week reported that two of the other 11 fake electors — Loraine Pellegrino and Nancy Cottle — also received subpoenas from a federal grand jury. The two women were subpoenaed earlier this year by the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The congressional panel also subpoenaed the Wards for their phone records, which the couple is fighting in federal court. The case is pendi}:ng.

no lnx july 2022

Militia groups expected to be focus at Jan. 6 hearing: What to know about Arizona's connection

Richard Ruelas

Arizona Republic

As a group of Oath Keepers joined the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, one that eventually would use a standard military formation to break through the crowd and breach the building, a 63-year-old man from Phoenix was in a Virginia hotel packed with weapons awaiting his orders.

“Vallejo back at hotel and outfitted," the man, Edward Vallejo, messaged to other Oath Keepers at 2:24 p.m. that day, according to court records.

"Have 2 trucks available. Let me know how I can assist."

Prosecutors contended that Vallejo and the other Oath Keepers were amassing an arsenal and supplies that could last 30 days. If President Donald Trump would declare martial law, the prosecutors’ theory went, they would be ready.

The scheduled 10 a.m. Tuesday hearing of the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol was expected to look at the role of militia-style groups such as the Oath Keepers, Proud Boys and Three Percenters in the riot.

[When is the next Jan. 6 hearing? What to know and how to watch

In an interview on CNN, Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., the chairman of the committee, suggested evidence exists of people in Trump’s inner circle speaking with members of the militia groups.

“We have a number of witnesses who have come forward that people have not talked to before, that will document a lot of what was going on in the Trump orbit while all of this was occurring,” Thompson said.

Ariz. man charged with seditious conspiracy

Ed Vallejo

Vallejo was charged with seditious conspiracy in January, in an indictment that included 10 other Oath Keepers members, including the group’s leader, Stewart Rhodes.

Vallejo split with the group in 2014 but somehow decided to join Oath Keepers in D.C., traveling in a vehicle loaded with food and kitchen equipment.

Vallejo said he thought he would be cooking for forces who might camp out and picket up until the inauguration day a few weeks later.

Prosecutors contend that Vallejo was part of a so-called “quick reactionary force” and was poised to deliver weapons to Oath Keepers if need be.

Rhodes sent a group message on the morning of Jan. 6 that described several “QRFs outside DC.” Who would be “watching and waiting on the outside in case of worst case scenarios.”

Vallejo used the term QRF himself in a text message sent on Jan. 6. “QRF standing by at hotel,” he wrote. “Just say the word.”

More: How an Arizona man was charged with seditious conspiracy

A documentary filmmaker captured footage of the leaders of the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys meeting in a parking garage on Jan. 5, 2021, the night before the riot. The head of the Proud Boys, Enrique Tarrio, was ordered out of the city after an arrest. Video of the apparent first meeting between the two men was played during the initial prime time Jan. 6 committee hearing.

A group of Proud Boys from Arizona, clad in orange caps and armbands, were among the first wave of rioters to breach the barricades outside the U.S. Capitol. A Capitol police officer testified during the first public hearing on June 9 that the situation grew more dire when the Arizona contingent of Proud Boys joined the crowd at the barricades, with verbal attacks starting to be aimed at officers.

One man, Micajah Joel Jackson, was sentenced to 36 months probation after he was seen marching with the orange-clad Proud Boys. Jackson said he was not a memberbut simply marched with fellow Arizonans who were kind enough to gift him an orange armband.

The other orange-clad Proud Boys from Arizona have not yet been identified, nor arrested.

Democracy in doubt: The origins of the Arizona election review

Arizona lawmakers who support Oath Keepers

At least three Arizona lawmakers have shown support for Oath Keepers, including at least one who has also drawn attention from the Jan. 6 committee.

Arizona state Rep. Mark Finchem has called himself an Oath Keeper on social media, has spoken to Oath Keeper chapters and called himself a member when he first ran for the House in 2014.

“I’m an Oath Keeper committed to the exercise of limited, constitutional governance,” he wrote in response to a candidate questionnaire sent out by the community news website inmaricopa.com.

Finchem planned an unofficial legislative meeting at a downtown Phoenix hotel that featured Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani and presented hours of purported evidence of election fraud.

[Cyber Ninjas CEO faces criminal probe in Michigan voting plot

Maricopa County seeks sanctions against Lake, Finchem

Donald Trump's scandals are unique in history. Here's how.

Alex Jones' texts could shed light on 'Stop the Steal' protests]

Finchem was in D.C. on Jan. 6, 2021, for a rally he planned alongside Ali Alexander, an activist who spearheaded the Stop the Steal movement.

State Sen. Wendy Rogers also has claimed membership to the Oath Keepers.

State Sen. Kelly Townsend posted on Twitter that she was an Oath Keeper but later seemed to hedge that it didn’t mean she belonged to a group, but that she just kept her oath of office. [go big-ot or go home?]

Rogers and Townsend are running against each other for a state Senate seat.

The Proud Boys do not have any advertised meetings where politicians are invited. But members were often seen at the Arizona State Capitol during various protests. They also have attended rallies and speeches where speakers claimed election fraud.