June 08, 2016 12:40 PM UTC

Arrest Made in Jon Keyser Petition Forgery Scandal

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• by: Colorado Pols

Breaking news from just about every Colorado news outlet today regarding the petition fraud scandal dogging Republican Senate candidate Jon Keyser. Credit, of course, to the original reporting from Marshall Zelinger of Denver7:

VIDEO: #Denver7 captures the ARREST of Maureen Moss, signature collector for @Jon_Keyser. 34 forgery counts. #cosenpic.twitter.com/w99xDlneta

— Marshall Zelinger (@7Marshall) June 8, 2016

Here’s more from Zelinger’s story this afternoon:

Denver police have arrested the signature collector accused of turning in forged signatures on petitions for Republican U.S. Senate candidate Jon Keyser.

Denver7 political reporter Marshall Zelinger was outside Moss’ home on Wednesday as she was escorted out in handcuffs.

The arrest warrant issued for Moss details the 34 felony forgery counts she faces…

…Denver7’s reporting is referenced multiple times as part of the supporting information used to obtain the arrest warrant.

In a remarkable display of transparent dumbassery, Keyser is acknowledging the news on his own Twitter account:

I appreciate law enforcement acting swiftly to apprehend this woman so justice can be served. -JK

— Jon Keyser (@Jon_Keyser) June 8, 2016

Keyser is trying hard to play the victim card here — which is too little, too late after his initial strategy of just repeating to the press “I’m on the ballot” turned him into a national laughingstock. What the arrest of Maureen Moss really confirms is that Keyser should have never made it onto the June 28th Primary ballot in the first place. Secretary of State Wayne Williams is doing his best to spin this news favorably, but it was his office that repeatedly failed in its role as ballot gatekeeper. 

As for Keyser, this story appears likely to follow him all the way through his inevitable defeat in the GOP Senate Primary. Moss may have been the first person tossed under the bus in this ongoing scandal — now in its 6th week of press coverage — but this may just be another beginning of a different end for Keyser and the Republican operatives who pushed him forward in January.