rep Charlene Fernandez
https://www.azmirror.com/2021/08/31/dem-lawmaker-asks-court-to-reject-jan-6-defamation-case-from-gosar-finchem-kern/
Democratic Rep. Charlene Fernandez is asking a court to dismiss a defamation :{case brought against her:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}: by two Republican state legislators and a GOP congressman because statements Fernandez made to the FBI about the two GOP legislators are privileged.
:{
}:
The case stems from a letter sent by Fernandez and other Democratic lawmakers asking the FBI to investigate Rep. Mark Finchem, R-Oro Valley, former state Rep. Anthony Kern, R-Glendale, and GOP Congressman Paul Gosar’s connections to the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection in Washington, D.C.
In February, the trio :{filed a lawsuit:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}: against Fernandez, D-Yuma, accusing her of defaming them by making disparaging remarks, connecting them to the violence of Jan. 6 and conspiring against them. The trio have not brought a suit against any of the 43 other Democratic legislators who also signed the letter.
the lawsuit was stalled for months because Fernandez was immune from being served while the legislature’s annual session was taking place. But when the session ended, Fernandez waived service and both sides agreed to a 60-day response period which started at the end of the session on June 30.
“Contrary to all of the rhetoric… this is not a lawsuit about alleged fraud in the 2020 election, the purported suppression of conservative viewpoints by social media companies or issues of border security,” Fernandez’s attorney, David Bodney, wrote in the motion to dismiss the lawsuit. “Rather, this lawsuit is about whether state legislators – or, indeed, any Arizonan – may petition federal authorities to investigate potential crimes of the utmost seriousness without being dragged into court to face frivolous and retaliatory defamation litigation.”
(Bodney represents the Arizona Mirror on matters relating to public records and other First Amendment issues.)
Bodney argued that the court should grant the motion to dismiss in part because the Democratic lawmakers were communicating with law enforcement entities. :{Arizona case law states:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}: that such communication is privileged and a person cannot be sued for making a report to law enforcement.
“Thus, the relevant question is whether the Criminal Referral constitutes a formal or informal complaint to a prosecutor or law enforcement,” Bodney says. “Unquestionably, it is, as its name makes clear.”
Bodney also argues that the three GOP officials have failed to show that Fernandez has demonstrated “actual malice” — that she knew or had the “high probability” that she knew the statements she was making were false or defamatory.
In their lawsuit against Fernandez, Finchem, Kern and Gosar pointed to public statements they made denouncing the violence of Jan. 6 as evidence that Fernandez acted with “actual malice.”
“The fact that a public official has made self-serving denials of the conduct for which he is being criticized is insufficient to show actual malice as a matter of law,” Bodney argued.
Bodney also suggested that the initial lawsuit by Finchem and Kern — Gosar was added as a plaintiff several months later — did little to distance themselves from the violence of Jan. 6 as well.
“It is not reckless disregard for the truth, by any definition, to assert that a man who returned to the scene of an ongoing riot should be investigated for his potential involvement in encouraging and supporting the rioters,” Bodney said.
Footage reviewed by the Arizona Mirror has shown that Kern was closer to the Capitol than he said he was, and he was recorded on the Capitol grounds while violent clashes with police were still ongoing.
Finchem, too, has been found to have been closer to the Capitol on that day than he claimed.
Finchem has insisted that he :{never got within 500 yards of the Capitol building:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}:, but :{Getty footage:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}: of the failed attempt to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s election that was :{discovered by activists on Twitter:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}: shows Finchem walking directly in front of the east steps at the Capitol after pro-Trump rioters had already broken through a series of barricades and police lines, and then smashed their way into the Capitol building.
Fernandez is seeking attorney fees from Finchem, Kern and Gosar.
This isn’t the first time Finchem has gone after his political rivals.
Earlier this year Finchem sent a cease and desist letter to the group :{who was seeking to recall him from office:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}:. Finchem said if they did not destroy all their campaign related material, which focused on Finchem’s connections to Jan. 6, he would sue them for defamation.
One point of contention for Finchem in :{the cease and desist letter:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}: is his connection to the extremist Oath Keepers organization that the recall organizers pointed out.
Finchem has :{long been tied to the organization:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}:, but in his cease and desist his attorney claimed that the Oath Keepers is a “non-partisan” group and called allegations that it is anti-government to be “spurious claims.” The letter also calls the Southern Poverty Law Center’s website “hate-filled”
The :{FBI describes the Oath Keepers:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}: as a “loosely organized collection of militia who believe that the federal government have been coopted by a shadowy conspiracy that is trying to strip American citizens of their rights.”
:{Sixteen Oath Keepers have been indicted:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}: thus far in a case that claims they coordinated to conspire to breach the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, with prosecutors saying that more could be prosecuted in the future.
Finchem’s attorney, Alexander Kolodin, previously represented Cyber Ninjas, the Florida-based company conducting the Arizona Senate’s “audit.”
https://www.azmirror.com/2021/06/02/mark-finchem-was-much-closer-to-the-jan-6-insurrection-than-he-claimed/
Newly discovered footage taken during the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot shows Arizona GOP legislator Mark Finchem was much closer to the day’s violence than he has previously claimed.
Finchem has insisted that he :{never got within 500 yards of the Capitol building:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}:, but :{Getty footage:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}: of the failed attempt to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s election that was recently :{discovered by activists on Twitter:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}: shows Finchem walking directly in front of the east steps at the Capitol after pro-Trump rioters had already broken through a series of barricades and police lines, and then smashed their way into the Capitol building.
...
Finchem, who is from Oro Valley and is running to be secretary of state, did not respond to a request for comment confirming if the man in the video was him, but the :{high-resolution video:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}: clearly shows Finchem wearing the same hat, jacket and VIP lanyard he had been :{seen wearing throughout the day:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}:.
In the past, Finchem has refused to speak in detail about the events of the day, and text messages he released to bolster his claims have instead conflicted with :{previous statements he has made:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}:.
[twt]
:{ Screenshot via Twitter
}:
Finchem also posted a photograph of rioters on the east steps on social media, praising the insurrectionists for standing up to Congress. The area in which the photo was likely taken appears to be roughly 100 yards away from the east steps of the Capitol.
There is no way Finchem could have been 500 yards away — more than a quarter of a mile— and taken the photo of the steps that he published on Twitter. The furthest point from the east Capitol steps before one hits the Capitol Reflecting Pool, the Ulysses S. Grant Memorial, is approximately 320 yards away.
The Arizona Mirror has analyzed video footage, social media posts and more to create a timeline of where Finchem was that day.
The day before Trump supporters failed to overthrow Congress, Finchem addressed a crowd of Trump loyalists, joking that the day’s rain storm was God washing away the stench of Washington, D.C. The “pre-rally” held on Jan. 5 at Freedom Plaza contained a who’s who of the political fringe and members of the #StopTheSteal movement.Finchem was introduced by Ali Alexander, a #StopTheSteal leader and the organizer of that day’s rally and the larger one on Jan. 6, at which Trump:{implored his followers to march to the Capitol:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}: and “show strength” to stop a “rigged” election.
“If you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore,” the ex-president said shortly before the coup attempt.
Alexander praised Finchem, one of his strongest allies in Arizona and a leader in the state’s effort to undermine Joe Biden’s narrow win.
“The storm is here,” Alexander said, referencing the :{QAnon conspiracy theory:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}:, before :{introducing Finchem:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}: as his “friend.”
:{In }
:{, Finchem baselessly told the crowd that Trump’s electoral loss was fraudulent and that Democrats knew the election was stolen. There is no credible evidence supporting those claims. }:
“I want you to hear a message from Americans,” Finchem said, speaking directly to lawmakers who questioned #StopTheSteal activists. “This ain’t going away.”
The next day, Finchem attended President Donald Trump’s speech at The Ellipse in President’s Park, just south of the White House. He can be seen in one video posted on Facebook :{walking by the front of the stage:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}: wearing a wide-brimmed hat and a dark jacket with rectangular patches on the shoulders. At 10:48 a.m., his back can be seen :{in a photo posted on Twitter:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}: by fellow Arizona Republican lawmaker Anthony Kern on Twitter.
The first skirmishes with police at the Capitol :{would begin at around 1 p.m.:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}: andFinchem has previously said he arrived at the east side of the Capitol [jnz said prez rendezvous pt?] at around 1:45 p.m. Finchem has continued to :{struggle with his story:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}: on where he was when that day, and has gone as far as claiming that Democrats — not his fellow Trump supporters who marched alongside him from Trump’s speech — were responsible for the day’s violence.
At 1:50 p.m., the on-scene Metro Police Department commander :{had declared a riot:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}:.
In :{text messages released:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}: by Finchem, he texted fellow #StopTheSteal advocates :{Michael Coudrey:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}: and Alexander that he was on his way in a golf cart.
appears to show Finchem riding in the back of a golf cart, wearing the same hat and jacket from hours earlier.
At 3:16 p.m., Finchem tweeted a photo of Capitol rioters saying, “What happens when People feel they have been ignored, and Congress refuses to acknowledge rampant fraud. #stopthesteal.”
But the Mirror’s analysis indicates that Finchem took the photo some time before he posted it online. Videos posted on the social media platform Parler that were aggregated by ProPublica and organized by the times they were posted and where they were takenmakes it likely that Finchem took his photo at least 40 minutes earlier.
In the :{video posted on Parler:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}:, protesters can be heard singing “The Star-Spangled Banner.” The video features awoman in a yellow jacketwho is prominently seen in Finchem’s photo, and many of the same flags being carried by rioters can be seen in both.
The video was posted at approximately 2:35 p.m. near the east Capitol steps, where conspiracy-peddling media figure Alex Jones and Alexander had led many of the protesters just a few minutes earlier :{leading a chant of “1776.”:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}:
In the newly found Getty footage, Finchem can be seen walking through the crowd he had earlier photographed. He is easily identified by his cowboy hat and jacket with shoulder patches. It is unclear exactly what time Finchem is walking through the crowd, but it appears to be after Finchem took his photo, as many of the people and flags are now gone.
At around the same time in nearby parts of the Capitol, police were :{violently clashing with protesters:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}:, using :{tear gas and pepper spray:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}: to disperse the crowds and rioters :{had already breached the Capitol:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}:. Finchem would say that he was unaware of the violence until 5 p.m. that day when he was getting ready for a podcast interview.
Later that night, Finchem would tweet complaining that the D.C. Police were preventing a GrubHub driver from delivering food to his hotel, blaming the “commie” Mayor of D.C..
Finchem has :{blamed antifa for the violence:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}: and :{vowed to sue those who try to connect him to the events of Jan. 6:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}:, going as far as filing a :{cease and desist against a recall campaign:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}: that has been using his attendance at the day’s events as a reason to remove him from office.
One point of contention for Finchem in :{the cease-and-desist letter:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}: is the connection to the extremist Oath Keepers organization that the recall organizers have pointed out.
Finchem has :{long been tied to the organization:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}:, but in his cease-and-desist letter, his lawyer states that the Oath Keepers is a “non-partisan” group and called allegations that it is anti-government to be “spurious claims.” The letter also calls the Southern Poverty Law Center’s website “hate-filled.”
The :{FBI describes the Oath Keepers:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}: as a “loosely organized collection of militia who believe that the federal government have been co-opted by a shadowy conspiracy that is trying to strip American citizens of their rights.”
:{Nineteen Oath Keepers have been indicted:(style="box-sizing:border-box;background-color:#ffff66;"):}: thus far in a case that claims they coordinated to conspire to breach the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, with prosecutors saying that more could be prosecuted in the future.
as the traitors stormed the Capitol steps on Jan. 6, crashing through windows and doors,Rep. Paul Gosar stood at the mic on the House floor.An Arizona Republican infamous for the political ads his siblings make for his opponents, and too many other shitty things to list (like boycotting the Pope but standing with militias), Gosar was objecting to the Arizona vote. A gelatinous presence, one Ted Cruz, the required Senate vote, hovered lizardlike next to Gosar. Then shit got real.
Gosar’s wet dream had come true: he’s on stage blocking certification while Oath Keepers, Proud Boys, and other white supremacists he had found common ground with for years occupied the US Capitol, pledging to stop an election and remove some heads.
...outside on the Capitol steps Arizona State Senator Mark Finchem tweeted a photo of the insurrection with the caption, “What happens when the People feel they have been ignored, and Congress refuses to acknowledge rampant fraud.” Former Arizona State Senator Anthony Kern, who lost his race in November, was also there. The three Arizona lawmakers,Gosar, Finchem, and Kern, are the beneficiaries of a new dark money defense fund, and goobers nationwide are ponying up.
A dark money nonprofit established by an Arizona Republican donor to “fight back” against alleged “malicious, defamatory and fallacious” assertions involving three Republican lawmakers and their ties to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot has received significant, but undisclosed, support from small-dollar donors, its director said.
It’s no surprise the three Arizona Republicans are concerned about potential legal costs, sinceGosar, in particular, was identified as one of the architects of the Jan. 6 riot by Ali Alexander, the guy who did the planning. Both Finchem and Kern have been featured in news stories about their QAnon activities, their role in the Stop the Steal movement, and their presence at the Jan. 6 riot. Silly me, but it sounds like establishing a defense fund suggests they know they are in legal peril.
After Jan. 6
Paul Gosar left the insurrection to headline a Feb. 26 white nationalist conference in Florida. The meeting’s organizer, Nick Fuentes, called Jan. 6 “awesome” and urged Gosar to protect the nation’s “white demographic core.” You can believe Gosar’s siblings: that’s about the only thing he’s interested in.
Loser Anthony Kern returned to Arizona and was hired as a ballot counter at the audit—until, that is, the media pointed him out and the obviously compromised trumper was dismissed because of “optics.”
Finchem remains in the State Senate, where he has declared his candidacy for Secretary of State. That’s right, the man who says the Arizona vote was stolen from trump would be in charge of elections.
Apparently the current clusterf*ck of an audit in Phoenix is not enough for Finchem. Based on an online movie produced by the pillow asshole, Finchem is now demanding that the audit expand beyond Maricopa County to include Apache, Pima, Pinal, and Yuma counties.
In an email to supporters of his campaign for secretary of state, Rep. Mark Finchem claimed that Lindell’s recent internet video provided enough “probable cause” to “begin an inquiry” into ballot images from multiple counties across the state.
Because Lindell’s been right about everything so far, eh? Here’s a two-minute scene from the movie that Finchem called a “revelation,” in that it proved the Chinese switched trump votes to Biden. See, the anonymous hacker lists numbers! Lindell’s Deep Throat copied some publicly available information, added a lot of 1’s and 0’s to make it look computery, built an Excel spreadsheet with “China” listed a lot, and claims it to be what it is not. ...[ital sat]
schmidt always says, "follow the money", but this morning's paper published a case where you _{can't}_follow the money:
A dark money nonprofit established by an Arizona Republican donor to “fight back” against alleged “malicious, defamatory and fallacious” assertions involving three Republican lawmakers and their ties to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot has received significant, but undisclosed, support from small-dollar donors, its director said.
The Guardian Defense Fund was created in the aftermath of the pro-Trump rampage to help U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., state Rep. Mark Finchem, R-Oro Valley, and former state Rep. Anthony Kern, R-Glendale, address assertions about their activities on that day.
Unlike political parties and other political groups, the nonprofit social welfare organization formed on Feb. 3 does not have to disclose its financial backers and is only required to reveal limited information.
If congress could somehow pass H.R. 1, it would eliminate groups like the Guardian Defense Fund..
https://www.azmirror.com/blog/a-gop-lawmakers-nonprofit-was-billed-400k-for-audit-security/
sept 2021
Newly released documents show that the Arizona “audit” has spent more than $400,000 to hire off-duty police officers to provide security for the ballot review that concluded last month at the state fairgrounds.
:{Not much has been previously known:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}: about how much money is flowing in and the agreements between the Senate and Peoria-based Law Enforcement Specialists except that the Senate entered into an agreement with the group on April 26.
The documents show that a nonprofit created by state legislator and election conspiracy peddler Rep. Mark Finchem, R-Oro Valley, and the leader of a law enforcement support group called the Arizona Rangersare the customers.
Finchem’s Guardian Defense Fund is a 501(c)(4) that he first used to :{fundraise for his lawsuit against Rep. Charlene Fernandez:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}:, a Yuma Democrat who he claims defamed him.Its treasurer is audit spokesman and former Arizona Republican Party chairman Randy Pullen.(Pullen also serves as the :{treasurer of another one of Finchem’s PACs:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}:.)
Finchem has been at the forefront of spreading discredited theories about the 2020 election and has made the baseless claims that Donald Trump and other Republicans lost their elections because of fraud the centerpiece of his nascent campaign for secretary of state.
The newly released documents are part of thousands of records released this week in response to a court order after liberal watchdog group American Oversight sued the Senate under the state’s public records law. The Senate is still withholding some 3,000 records, as well as documents and communications created by lead vendor Cyber Ninjas and its subcontractors.
Within the documents are invoices from Law Enforcement Specialists detailing the hours and officers who conducted security for the “audit.” As of July 8, the Senate :{owed the company $401,160.45:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}:.
Law Enforcement Specialists charged $60 an hour for officers to work 12 hour shifts, though the invoices show that some officers worked up to 14 hours at a time. The average hourly pay for police officers in Arizona is :{around $21 an hour:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}:.
In documents released to American Oversight earlier this year, the Arizona Senate :{signed a contract with the Arizona Rangers:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}:, requiring a $20,000 “contribution”.
The Arizona Rangers have been fundraising as well, leader Mike Droll previously told the Arizona Mirror, as many of the Rangers involved are driving from areas far away from the audit. The group has raised more than $180,000 on a GoFundMe page.
Shortly before the election review began, Finchem :{appeared on former Trump aide Steve Bannon’s show:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}: from the floor of the “audit” to say that his fund was paying for “additional security”.