Author Archives: Jason Salzman

(Promoted by Colorado Pols)

A visiting scholar at the University of Colorado, who was recently praised as “fantastic” by the lone Republican who holds a statewide elected position in Colorado, stood by President Trump in the White House as he desperately tried to stop Congress from declaring Joe Biden the winner of the 2020 presidential election.

John Eastman, a controversial conservative figure who is currently a “visiting scholar” at CU Boulder’s Benson Center, a privately funded entity that promotes conservative views, was part of a last-ditch effort to convince Vice President Mike Pence to try to block certification of the presidential election based on baseless accusations of fraud.

Eastman, who’s been a fierce promoter of Trump’s misinformation and spoke at the Trump rally prior to the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, was in the room as the president pressed Pence to execute an act that had no legal basis.

The New York Times reported yesterday: “In the Oval Office last week, the day before the vote, Mr. Trump pushed Mr. Pence in a string of encounters, including one meeting that lasted at least an hour. John Eastman, a conservative constitutional scholar at Chapman University, was in the office and argued to Mr. Pence that he did have the power to act.”

Eastman’s statements about election fraud were criticized last week by CU Chancellor Phil DiStefano, and faculty at Chapman University, where Eastman holds a faculty position, have asked that he be fired. Chapman’s president announced it would not fire the professor.

One of Eastman’s biggest fans at CU is CU Regent Heidi Ganahl, who holds the at-large seat on the CU Board of Regents. After Republican Sen. Cory Gardner’s loss in November, Ganahl is the only Republican who’s elected by voters statewide.

In December, Ganahl gushed over Eastman, despite his controversial statements.

“There are fantastic folks who come in [to the Benson Center],” said Ganahl in December. “Right now, it’s Dr. John Eastman, who’s riling some folks up.” Ganahl said the center teaches students about “the beauty of western civilization and the history,” and the faculty have “different point of view than most of the faculty at CU.”

Ganahl didn’t return a call seeking to know if she’d changed her view of Eastman.

Meanwhile, an progressive group aimed and empowering young people said Eastman should no longer be a visiting professor at CU.

“It’s undeniable now that Professor Eastman attempted to use the power and access granted to him as a professor to subvert democracy and enable white supremacists,” Nicole Hensel Executive Director of New Era Colorado told the Colorado Times Recorder. “Allowing him to retain his title as a visiting professor on the CU Boulder campus only enables him further—inaction sends the message that the University does not stand up for truth and integrity and that BIPOC students’ safety is not a priority.”

Eastman responded without citing evidence that election fraud has “subverted democracy.”

“State and local election officials who altered or ignored state election laws designed to protect against fraud in mail-in voting is what has subverted democracy,” Eastman emailed the Colorado Times Recorder when asked to comment on New Era’s stance. “Calling attention to that fact in formal legal pleadings before the Supreme Court of the United States, which is what I have done, is what subverts democracy.  But it seems a lot of people are having trouble with that basic concept.  As for ‘enabling white supremacists,’ I have done nothing of the sort, and would not do so.  The claim is defamatory.”

Eastman, who is also an attorney, speculated in a Newsweek op-ed last year that Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris might not be legally qualified to be vice president, eliciting accusations of birtherism. He’s said he was just raising the question.

(Promoted by Colorado Pols)

Rudy Giuliani, Jenna Ellis.

After joining a news conference yesterday with Rudolph Giuliani claiming without evidence that widespread fraud undermined November’s presidential election, Trump’s legal advisor Jenna Ellis jumped on a Denver conservative radio show and alleged, again with no evidence, that Colorado-based voting machine firm may have committed fraud to give victories to losing candidates in Colorado.

“We are seeing how Dominion may have swung some of the state and local races in Colorado as well,” Ellis told KHOW radio host Dan Caplis yesterday afternoon. “I mean, this is stuff that is just incredible and is absolutely unconstitutional and goes against our fundamental constitutionally protected right to free and fair election. So this is massive.”

Ellis is referring to the Dominion voting platform that’s used in 62 of 64 Colorado counties and in other states. It’s come under baseless fire by Trump’s legal team challenging election results.

On the radio yesterday, Ellis didn’t specify which Colorado races may have been affected by fraud.

Ellis said, “We are also getting some people who have independent knowledge,” said Ellis, declining to “share anything further to protect their identity.”

But Colorado voting experts, including former Republican Secretary of State Wayne Williams and Republican county election officials have expressed complete confidence in Colorado’s November election.

“I can’t speak for what’s going on across the nation, but I can tell you, right here in Larimer County and in Colorado, I’m completely comfortable with our system as we have it,” said Larimer County Clerk and Recorder Angela Myers, a Republican, on KCOL this week here at 20 min. “I feel like it’s been completely reliable. We’ve had no issues of any kind, no indication that there have been any issues of any kind of these many, many years.”

In Colorado, said Williams on KNUS over the weekend, “the process is working; we can prove that it’s working; we can show that every step of the way has been conducted properly.”

“With respect to Dominion, we have run over 350 risk-limiting audit tests on Dominion’s software in Colorado,” said Williams. “It has passed every single one of those. So we have verified in election after election, in county after county, that the system functions properly.”

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