Author Archives: Jason Salzman

Can Elway Save Colo Republicans With a Run for Office?

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  by: Jason Salzman May 12, 2021 at 11:41 AM MDT
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Elway and Neville

(Promoted by Colorado Pols)

At this point, the Colorado Republican Party finds itself in a situation like the one John Elway faced in 1987 in Cleveland, with five minutes on the clock and the 98 yards to go to win the game. They need an Elway miracle to win a statewide election here.

Except they have Donald Trump on their team, not Elway.

But what if John Elway came to their rescue? His name pops up when the dregs of a political conversation turns to GOP miracles.

That’s because Elway is a Republican whom Coloradans actually like (sometimes). And over the years, he’s considered a run for office, if you believe the rumors.

Elway seems to like politics. He’s a reliable GOP donor, and he endorses Republicans in key races.

And he’s unafraid to be associated with losers–which would be a requirement if he ran for office in a blue state like Colorado.

In 2018, Elway backed, among others, then-state Sen.Tim Neville (R-Littleton), who lost his seat that year, as well as other state senate candidates whose collective losses resulted in a Democratic takeover of the state Senate.

More recently, during last year’s election, Elway gave over $85,000 to federal GOP candidates, mostly losers, including Donald Trump. He gave over $15,000 to the losing Republican efforts in the Georgia Senate races.

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Elway & former GOP lawmaker Martinez Humenik

Elway’s winning connections last year included far-right conservative U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH).

So would Elway run in Colorado?

Democratic pollster Chris Keating doesn’t think so.

“I don’t think John Elway is going to do it,” Keating told me last week. “I don’t think he wants to put himself and his family and his football career through the wringer. “I’m sure people are going to tell him it’s a great idea. I would tell him it’s really dumb idea. We love you John. Even Democrats like myself, we remember fondly all the stuff he’s done. And we don’t want to think about that other stuff. We love the Broncos and John Elway. “It’s insanely stupid for him to do that. He would just get dragged down into it. That’s not necessary.”

And Elway would have another problem: He’d lose.

Elway would likely clear the Republican primary because he’s a Trump backer and because he’s John Elway.

We don’t know if he’s an election conspiracist, but you’d think so based on the GOP cohort.

Then Elway would face the same unaffiliated voters whom any other Republican would need to win in Colorado. A clear majority of these swing voters are Trump-hating and progressive–and lean heavily toward Democrats.

There aren’t many athletes like Elway who’ve jumped successfully to big-time politics. In Colorado, U.S. Ben Nighthose Campbell was an Olympic star. Republican Jack Kemp of New York was an NFL quarterback. Wresting sensation Jesse Ventura was governor of Minnesota.

And you have to consider the fact that Elway oversaw a losing football team in recent years.

It all adds up to a political nose dive, not a winning drive, for Elway.

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Can a Trump-Loving Republican Win in CO Next Year?

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  by: Jason Salzman May 6, 2021 at 2:13 PM MDT

(Promoted by Colorado Pols)

Before we get too worked up about next year’s elections in Colorado, how about we talk about whether a Trump-loving Republican has any hope of winning statewide here at all in 2022.

GOP pollster David Flaherty answers that question, in part, by saying it depends on Trump’s impact on Unaffiliated voters, who represent about 40% of the electorate, versus Democrats (29% of registered voters) and Republicans (at 28%).

With Republicans and Democrats unlikely to vote for the opposing party, Unaffiliated voters will likely decide the election. Again.

Flaherty, who runs Magellan Strategies, expects the anti-Trump intensity, which made Unaffiliated voters so excited to vote for Democrats last year, to lessen. The question, he says, is by how much.

Scenario One: a subdued Trump may zap the inspiration of unaffiliated voters, who were hell-bent on dumping Trump last year, to turn in their ballots, says Flaherty.

Scenario Two: Trump is “loud and pushing all those buttons like he loves to do,” says Flaherty, which would motivate Unaffiliated voters to 1) cast their ballots and 2) do so for Democrats.

(more…)

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Buck Says Critical Reporting on The Epoch Times Is ‘Similar’ to China’s Cultural Revolution

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  by: Jason Salzman April 9, 2021 at 2:00 PM MDT

(Promoted by Colorado Pols)

“The Left is attempting to cancel an important voice for liberty — The Epoch Times newspaper,” wrote Colorado Congressman Ken Buck in a fundraising email today, spotlighting Buck’s claim that The Epoch Times had its U.S. House Gallery press credentials revoked.

Investigations by NBC, the New York Times and the Atlantic paint a picture of the newspaper as a hotbed of partisanship and pro-Trump misinformation, including promotion of QAnon and election fraud conspiracies.

In an interview posted on his Shootin’ Straight podcast yesterday, Buck asked Dr. Dana Cheng, one of the founders of The Epoch Times, if she thought there are “forces in the United States that are trying to limit” her newspaper’s “access to information or “de-legitimize The Epoch Times” as a press outlet.

Dr. Dana Cheng, Senior Editor of The Epoch Times

“Yes,” Cheng replied, “They are left media, like the New York Times, and the Atlantic, and NBC. They put a lot of effort to write hit piece to discredit us. And it is such a surprise. We thought that this is a free country and people respect each other’s speech. And people respect each other’s right to do media and respect different voices. But obviously, they are trying to suppress our voice. It’s agenda-driven.”

“My friends saying, ‘We thought that China is going to become America. But instead, America is going to becoming China,'” continued Cheng, whose Falon-Gong movement newspaper is on an anti-communist crusade. China has persecuted Falon Gong members.

Last year’s Times’ investigation described how The Epoch Times evolved to become a “partisan powerhouse” that’s “created a global-scale misinformation machine that has repeatedly pushed fringe narratives into the mainstream.”

Cheng complained to Buck about recent “hit pieces” with “a lot of lies” that have been directed at The Epoch Times.

“And they don’t care to check with us or they don’t care to find out whether it’s true or not,” she told Buck “It is clearly agenda-driven. And this is such a surprise. For us, we fled communists. And we thought, ‘This is a free country and we can enjoy the freedom of speech, freedom of press. And we can provide a voice, that people can choose.”

(more…)

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Audio: At the End of an Interview, Gessler Requests That His Recorded Comments Be Kept Secret

1
  by: Jason Salzman March 18, 2021 at 1:24 PM MDT

(Promoted by Colorado Pols)

Scott Gessler.

Scott Gessler, a candidate to lead the Colorado Republican Party, recently bragged about how media savvy he is, claiming credit for getting Colorado Public Radio to run a story critical of a top Colorado Democrat.

But last week, he made a media-relations mistake widely regarded as amateur: After conducting an interview with ultra-conservative blogger Holly Casan, he asked that she keep the recording of his comments under wraps.

“So I am going to ask you one thing, and I should have demanded this at the beginning,” Gessler told Casan, according to a recording posted on Casan’s website. “So I know you’ve recorded me. I’m going to ask you not to make the recording public.”

Gessler’s comments came at the end of his interview with Casan, directly after she had complimented Gessler on his “candor.”

“Listen, Scott, thank you for your candor, and you really clarified a lot of things for me and my readers,” Casan tells Gessler in the recorded segment posted on her website. “I think it was super helpful to hear it from you in long form, so that, you know, we were able to air out the details in long form. And I just think that’s really valuable. And I really appreciate you taking the time.”

Casan agreed to Gessler’s request but nonetheless published a transcript of her Gessler interview with a little bit of audio on her website, which is called “The Real Scott Gessler.”

Gessler is a former Colorado Secretary of State and former candidate for governor with tons of media experience. He even indicated in his Casan interview that you normally lay out the rules for an interview, if any, before it takes place, not after.

So Gessler’s unusual request to can the audio recording led his critics to speculate that he was so concerned about what he’d said during his recorded conversation with Casan that he wanted it buried.

(more…)

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Boebert’s Red Meat Whoppers and Other Fabrications

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  by: Jason Salzman March 17, 2021 at 1:59 PM MDT

(Promoted by Colorado Pols)

Rep. Lauren “Q*Bert” Boebert (R).

Multiple national media outlets pointed out last week that Colorado Congresswoman Lauren Boebert’s oft-repeated story about why she carries a gun is a falsehood.

Boebert, a Republican, says she started packing heat on her hip after a man was beaten to death near her restaurant. In fact, he died of a drug overdose, as first reported by the Colorado Sun last year.

But this kind of story isn’t new. In fact, Boebert is obviously developing a track record of taking forays away from the truth.

Most of her fabrications appear to be concocted to hide politically damaging information. Others, which could be called Red Meat Whoppers, seem intended to please her right-wing fans across the country.

The Big Lie

For starters, she’s a leading proponent of the Big Lie, which is one of the easiest fibs to spot in U.S. history.

Turns Out She’s a QAnon Follower

Boebert has insisted she’s not a “follower of QAnon.” Yet, she followed multiple QAnon channels on her YouTube account, which she deleted as her beliefs about QAnon came under scrutiny by journalists.

She Was Opposed to Obamacare But Says She Wasn’t

Boebert now talks as if she might even be a supporter of Obamacare. But she secured her spot on the general election ballot by blasting her Republican opponent, U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton (R-CO), for failing to kill Obamacare–and she’s on record opposing it.

She’s Friendly With Militia Members She Claims Not To Know

Boebert claimed not to have connections to militia members photographed with her at a rally, but more photos emerged showing that she’d known some of them for years.

She Hadn’t Paid Off Debts, As Claimed

In July of last year, Boebert’s campaign told The Denver Post it was unaware of past-due liens, but records show that her business actually owed over $19,000 to the state of Colorado at the time. The debt was paid off in October of 2020, according to records obtained by Colorado Newsline.

She Spread Falsehoods About Black Lives Matter

Boebert claimed Black Lives Matter protesters were bussed to Rifle for a rally last year. But there’s no evidence for this.

She Exaggerated Her Work in Prisons

Just last week, Colorado Newsline revealed that Boebert’s claim, delivered multiple times on the campaign trail, to have volunteered for seven years at a jail is contradicted by logs at the jail, which show her visiting there only nine times over two-and-a-half years.

She Says Teenage Servers Don’t Carry Guns at Her Grill, But One Did

Boebert once said underage servers at her restaurant, Shooters Grill, are not allowed to carry guns. But one 17-year-old server featured in a news report posted on Boebert’s website says Boebert “allows me to” carry a gun, even though it’s illegal in Colorado to do so.

Food Poisoning Not Her Fault, She Falsely Claims

Instead of accepting responsibility for sickening 80 people with tainted sliders at the Rifle Rodeo, Boebert blamed the problem with her sliders on fecal matter allegedly found in the bleachers, even after Garfield County had conducted an exhaustive investigation showing that Boebert’s sliders were the “culprit.”

She Was Arrested for Not Showing Up to Court, Not For Ticket

Boebert talks as if she was arrested because she didn’t pay a ticket, but police arrested her for not appearing in court. So her failure to show up to court multiple times was the cause. “I didn’t pay the ticket. But I got it paid. One hundred dollars. And I even got a pretty mugshot out of it,” she said.

$22,000 Worth of Miles Whittled Down After Scrutiny

Boebert told a conservative radio host she “absolutely” had documentation to prove she was owed over $22,000 for driving over 38,000 miles during her election campaign. Two weeks later, her campaign reduced the number of miles driven by 7,000 and added expenses for hotels.

Some of Boebert’s critics laughed when I told them I was summarizing the congresswoman’s challenges with telling the truth, saying the list would be too long for one article.

That’s because Boebert isn’t shy about making extreme statements, but her challenges with telling the truth show that she often goes too far and cooks up a Red Meat Whopper that’s actually rotten.

Or she’s forced to walk back dubious claims that might damage her.

Either way, it’s a pattern that goes beyond this week’s falsehood about why she decided to carry a gun.

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Boebert Appears to Embrace Aide Who Left Her Campaign After Thanking God for Proud Boys

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  by: Jason Salzman February 25, 2021 at 1:34 PM MST

(Promoted by Colorado Pols)

Right-wing activist Sherronna Bishop was U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert’s (R-CO) campaign manager when she ousted then-Congressman Scott Tipton in Colorado’s Republican primary in June.

But sometime after the primary, Bishop disappeared from Boebert’s campaign.

The exact date of her departure isn’t known, but she was gone by the time ABC News aired a story in October of 2020 headlined “GOP Candidate’s Former Campaign Chief: Thank God for the Proud Boys.”

The story revealed that in September of 2019, Bishop posted a video to her “America’s Mom” Facebook page showing Bishop interviewing a man identified as a member of the Proud Boys, a far-right white nationalist organization. She closes the interview with, “Thank God for you guys and the Proud Boys.”

ABC News reported,

“Boebert’s Communications Director Laura Carno responded by saying Bishop’s views ‘were not part of Lauren Boebert’s campaign.’ In a text message to ABC News, Bishop said she was no longer with the campaign. Neither she nor Carno would say when that occurred or if it changed in reaction to this story.”

Boebert’s campaign also told ABC that Boebert has “no connection whatsoever with the Proud Boys.”

Yet Boebert still appears to embrace Bishop (literally), as you can see in this Facebook photo posted by Bishop last month:

(more…)

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Boebert Deserved Even More Than $22,260 for Mileage, Says Former Campaign Manager

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  by: Jason Salzman February 24, 2021 at 1:50 PM MST

(Moar miles! All the miles! No receipts necessary! – Promoted by Colorado Pols)

U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) actually deserves much more than the $22,260 she had initially paid herself for miles-driven during her successful election campaign, says her former campaign manager.

“The truth is, Congresswoman Boebert could have claimed even MORE miles!!!!” wrote Sherronna Bishop, who goes by “America’s Mom,” on Facebook Feb. 3.

Bishop’s Facebook post has surfaced just as Boebert’s office decreased the number of miles used to justify the congresswoman’s $22,260 reimbursement. The campaign added hotel expenses, which had not been previously included. The $22,260 Boebert paid herself, now including $17,280 for miles, remains the same.

“We drove 25,000 miles during the primary alone,” wrote Bishop on Facebook.

“The third district is massive,” wrote Bishop, who managed Boebert’s primary campaign. “5 hours one way to Pueblo, another 5 back up to Jackson County… then another 4 over to Cortez, CO. And these ‘circle back’ (sorry) trips happened weekly. For nine months. Then came the general election.”

Bishop didn’t say specifically how many more miles Boebert could have claimed, but at the Internal Revenue Services’ mileage reimbursement rate of 57.5 cents per mile, the Congresswoman could have asked for as much as $14,375 for the alleged 25,000 miles driven during the primary.

The primary took place June 30, and Boebert announced her campaign in early December, so she would have driven the 25,000 miles over an approximately seven-month primary period, not nine months as cited by Bishop.

I was unable to reach Bishop or Boebert, so it’s impossible to know how many of the alleged 25,000 miles Boebert paid herself for. Boebert claimed a mileage reimbursement check of $1,060 at the end of March, which would cover approximately 1,843 miles driven during the primary, leaving 23,157 miles that could have been driven between April 1 and the June 30 primary. Some of these remaining 23,157 miles, possibly driven from April through the June primary election, could have been included in her November reimbursement check of $21,200.

Reporters were unable to figure out how Boebert could have driven enough miles (approximately 38,870) to justify the $22,260 total reimbursements (in March and November), even without taking into account Bishop’s statement that the congresswoman actually under-reported her miles driven.

The congresswoman’s mileage payment is the subject of a complaint to the Office of Congressional Ethics.

Still, Boebert and Bishop have both argued that criticism from reporters and ethics experts of the large reimbursement figure isn’t justified.

Bishop

“The bias, the slander, the false allegations. It’s disgusting, but not unexpected,” wrote Bishop on Facebook in reference to the criticism of Boebert’s $22,260 payment to herself.

For her part, Beobert had made no mention of hotel expenses in defending her $22,260 reimbursement, before her campaign reduced the miles and added the hotel costs.

“If someone official comes to you and says, ‘Can you show us where you kept records of your mileage,’ you got something you can hand them?” KHOW radio host Ross Kaminsky asked Boebert Feb. 11, before Boebert reduced the number of miles claimed.

“I absolutely have,” replied Boebert.

RELATED: ‘We Had To Take the Long Way,’ says Boebert in Justifying in Explaining 22,259 Mileage Reimbursement.

According to the Federal Elections Committee (FEC), candidates do not need to provide receipts or other proof of travel when submitting reimbursements but must save receipts for their own records for three years following. Large travel expenses over $500 require a report including the name of the vendor.

Colo Times Recorder freelance writer Gabrielle Bye contributed to this posst.

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‘Stop Sending Me Your Crap Lies’

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  by: Jason Salzman February 22, 2021 at 11:17 AM MST
Cheryl: Go to hell.
CTR Editor Jason Salzman: Thanks for reaching out, Cheryl. Why are you so upset with our news site?
Cheryl: News? That is using the term loosely. Take me off your list of propaganda.
Jason: Can you point to a factual error? If so, we’ll correct, ASAP.
Cheryl: You wouldn’t know a fact if it slapped you in the face. Go ahead and pedal your propaganda to your liberal friends and take me off your list. If you were a newspaper I’d use your paper in the birdcage
—-
David: Eat shit you conspiracy spreading communist fuck! 
—-
Donna: Don’t send me any more of your trash.
Jason: Thank you, Donna. Why do you think this is trash. Do you see any errors? Thank you.
Donna: Yes, and I will put you in my SPAM folder

—-

Last year, thousands of people opted in to our CTR email list by clicking on online polls we promoted on Facebook.

Many get mad at us when they receive our weekly newsletter, not realizing they signed up for it. (You can sign up here.) It’s easy to unsubscribe from our email list, by clicking a link.

I try to respond to readers, and it’s worth doing, but….

Charles: Great news.  You woke cancel culture FASCISTS have now got someone [Boebert] to challenge your garbage liberal B.S.
Jason: Thank you for your input, Charles. I see we both hate fascists. Can you please point to any factual errors in our work? Thank you.
Charles: …In true woke cancel culture fashion, you have characterized a few people that crossed paths with Boebert as “radical right-wing extremists.” Of course, if you were even a little bit interested in the truth, a decent journalist wouldn’t be throwing out labels without backing it up with facts. This term is definitely subjective. For the sake of calling you people out on your bullshit, I’ll stand by my description of you as a woke cancel culture fascist.  Maybe balanced reporting may change my mind, but we won’t be holding our breath.
Jason: The term “radical right-wing extremists” was used because the people Boebert posed with were members of the three percenters militia, judging from the hand signs they made and the patches on their jackets. The group are not Nazis, but I think it’s fair to characterize it as we did. See here. Journalists struggle over labels, but they are a necessary part of reporting, because readers need to know what a group stands for, where it sits on the political spectrum. It’s always better to describe a group in detail, rather than label it, but that’s not always feasible, and in this case I think it’s justified. Readers can look it up if they want. I don’t think you’ve provided enough evidence to call me a cancel culture fascist.
Charles: Jason, you are in desperate need to have a rendezvous with the truth.  Living a lie, such as you people are, will not stand.  You know damn well that the only reason you posted this crap is to further your attempt to delegitimize this fairly elected Boebert.  Of course, you would never consider posting a real factual article along the same vein, such as the background of how Polis got to be governor, or the money and people behind Neguse and Crow, as well as the washed-up Hickenlooper.
—-
Michael: Back off with your BS stories about Boebert! She has more courage and cares more about the American people than any of the Liberal Politicians in the USA. Fair and unbias news coverage would be a breath of fresh air. Get off your “I’m holier than thou” platform!Thanks for reaching out, Michael.
Jason: Can you please provide an example of our BS? If you can cite a factual error, we will correct it. Thank you.
Michael: Don’t play games, Jason. The article clearly tries to discredit Bobert because they don’t agree with her conservative values. Get over yourself.
Jason: Thank you for your response. Please help me by pointing to a factual error.
Michael: Again, your game playing doesn’t make your publication correct. Back at you, point out to me factual information that it is correct and that her behavior is wrong. Otherwise, liberal publications like yours are designed to be divisive and definitely are offensive.
—
Gary: Stop sending me your crap lies!
Jason: Thanks for reaching out, Gary. Please point out any lie that you see in our work, along with a citation for accurate information. We will immediately correct it. Thanks.
—-
V.B.: bull shit.
Jason: Thanks for reaching out. Can you point to a factual error in our reporting? Thanks.
V.B.: Just another liberal rag.

—-

Is this worth my time?

Some of my conversations with our critics lead to reasonable exchanges and mutual education. I point out that we are openly progressive. They appreciate that, sometimes. It’s rare, and admittedly I have no examples here, but still.

I also think that a civil response to these kinds of comments has inherent value.

And somehow facts and sources have to gain more respect in political discourse. These are grains of sand in building a road in that direction.

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Douglas County Dems Oppose Effort to Recall School Board Members

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  by: Jason Salzman February 22, 2021 at 11:13 AM MST

(Promoted by Colorado Pols)

This post was written by Gabrielle Bye, a reporter for the Colorado Times Recorder.

A controversial school board recall effort in Douglas County, Colorado, could set the stage for a covert political battle.

Parents in Douglas County announced last month an effort to recall more than half of the county’s school board members after the school board voted to postpone a transition to hybrid or in-person learning for middle schoolers and high schoolers.

The school district was supposed to start in-person or hybrid learning for students no later than Jan. 25, but the school board postponed that return to Feb. 8 after some students and teachers expressed concern.

As a result, Nate Ormond, from Castle Rock, started the Road2Recall campaign by donating $100,000 of his own money to the cause, hoping to collect enough signatures to recall four members of the board: Christina Ciancio-Schor, Elizabeth Hanson, Susan Meek, and David Ray.

Dana Torpey-Newman, Chair of the DougCo Democrats, told the Colorado Times Recorder that she is strongly opposed to the recall, calling it “really shady.”

“The school board elections are divided into two different times,” explained Torpey-Newman. “Four of the seats are up in November, and the other three seats were up two years ago.”

“Those four seats will flip the board, if [conservatives] win them back,” Torpey-Newman said. “And what they’ve decided to do, interestingly, in their recall, is they’ve decided to try to recall the three people who were just elected in 2019, and now they are targeting one of the school board members who is actually in the same district as… Nate Ormond. He lives in the district of Christina Ciancio-Schor, who is the fourth person who they are recalling.”

Ciancio-Schor’s seat, however, is up this November.

So what’s the point of recalling someone whose election is practically around the corner? Torpey-Newman hypothesizes that Ormond is planning on a coup.

“He wants to run for the seat. That’s what I think,” Torpey-Newman said. “I don’t think that is a good idea, given that he doesn’t know anything about the school board.”

(more…)

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‘We had to take the long way,’ Says Boebert in Explaining Mileage Reimbursement

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  by: Jason Salzman February 10, 2021 at 4:50 PM MST

(Promoted by Colorado Pols)

Taking the scenic route.

Journalists have been asking U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) for documentation to support a reimbursement of $22,259 for mileage driven during her successful election campaign last year.

Boebert said she might provide her proof with journalists “if I liked them.”

“Maybe if I liked them, I would throw them a little something,” Boebert told KHOW’s Ross Kaminsky this morning.

Apparently, she does not, as she declined recent requests from The Denver Post’s Justin Wingerter and Colorado Public Radio’s (CPR) Andrew Kenney and Caitlyn Kim to provide it.

Following up on information first uncovered by ColoradoPols, The Post calculated that Boebert needed to have driven 38,712 miles during the 2020 campaign to justify the reimbursement, and The Post and CPR were unable to figure out how she could have reached that number of miles. They analyzed Boebert’s travel schedule and other public information.

Boebert said on the radio that the Glenwood fires caused her to put extra miles on her vehicle, beyond what would be expected based on her schedule.

“We had to take the long way,” said Boebert, due to the fires. “To get from Rifle to Edwards, which should be a 40-minute drive, it took us nearly seven hours to get around it. I mean, absurd. It was like, ‘Can we cancel this event? No, we can’t. We are going to be with these people. They set this up an event for us. We will make a way when there is no way.'”

Boebert’s mileage total is an outlier among elected officials.

“This highly unusual amount of mileage expenses raises red flags and the campaign should feel obligated to provide answers,” said Kedric Payne, a former investigator for the Office of Congressional Ethics, an independent body in Congress that examines misconduct allegations, told The Denver Post.

Pressed gently by Kaminsky, Boebert said, “I drove tens of thousands of miles all throughout the district. I was somewhere new every single day.”

“I am doing the work of the people. I had to make those connections. And really, I under-reported a lot of stuff,” she added.

She said she and her campaign driver, now a co-worker, put “more than 30,000 miles” on her vehicle.

“I was able to do a lot of work, while she did the driving,” said Boebert.

“I drove the tires off my car,” said Boebert, explaining that she had to buy a “whole new set of tires” for her car.

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Denver Republicans Ask Vice-Chair to Resign After His Anti-Semitic Comments Surface

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  by: Jason Salzman February 8, 2021 at 9:19 PM MST

(Facebook is forever – Promoted by Colorado Pols)

About five years ago, Kenneth Wilkison got in a Facebook dispute with Denver-area lawyer Elliot Fladen that ended with Wilkison writing, “And JEWs wonder why they are so disliked.”

Fladen is reflecting now on why he mostly ignored Wilkison’s comment.

Part of the reason, says Fladen, is that Wilkison was a “nobody,” just another extremist on Facebook, where Fladen is used to taking hits.

That changed recently as Wilkison began mounting a campaign to be vice-chair of the Denver Republican Party.

Wilkison became a itsy bitsy somebody.

A screenshot of Wilkison’s exchange with Fladen (right) verified by sources, as well as another post in 2018 in which Wilkison accuses Fladen of “circling the wagons to protect your rich, fellow Jew,” (referring to Polis) began circulating (below).

In response, just after Wilkison was elected vice-chair this week, Denver Republican Party leader Garrett Flicker said he and other newly elected Denver Republican leaders asked Wilkison to resign.

“We asked him to resign, and he did,” Flicker told the Colorado Times Recorder.

Wilkison didn’t immediately return a request for comment.

Fladen is wondering if he should have done more five years ago to expose the posts by Wilkison, who also once served as treasurer of the Colorado Log Cabin Republicans.

“What should we do when confronted by racist or anti-semitic statements from people who are nobodies in the world?” asks Fladen, who has only a vague memory of the Facebook exchanges with Wilkison, which Fladen did not unearth himself.

It’s a question we deal with every day at the Colorado Times Recorder as we expose misinformation, bigotry, and hate, much of it on social media and talk radio.

I pretty much agree with Fladen, who doesn’t have a clear answer.

“The lesson here is, the person who you think of as a nobody could become somebody,” says Fladen.

(more…)

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Lockwood Wants to Debate Gessler and Burton Brown About QAnon, Greene, Sedition

6
  by: Jason Salzman February 4, 2021 at 3:10 PM MST

(What’s old and weird is new and slightly less weird – Promoted by Colorado Pols)

Jonathan Lockwood, once considered a right-wing GOP activist, wants Colorado Republicans to have a “robust conversation about whether we will be the party of Lincoln or loonies.”

And he’s challenging his opponents in the race to lead the Colorado Republican Party to a “formal debate” addressing that question and others.

“Do they condemn QAnon, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and sedition?” Lockwood asks of his GO opponents, Kristi Burton Brown, the current vice-chair of the Republican Party and Scott Gessler, a former GOP secretary of state in Colorado.

Let’s take Lockwood’s questions one at a time.

On condemning QAnon, the question is more tricky than it appears. Many Republicans, including U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), say they “don’t follow” QAnon.

But they don’t condemn the conspiracy theory, which focuses on Trump-hating satanic pedophiles embedded in the government.

How great if Lockwood could press Burton Brown and Gessler on whether they fully condemn QAnon.

On Lockwood’s question about Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), do Colorado’s GOP candidates agree with Republican Sen. Mitch McConnel of Kentucky that Greene’s “loony lies” are a “cancer” to the GOP?

With respect to sedition, Lockwood’s last question, his two opponents for Colorado GOP chair have already stood up in support of election conspiracy theories, which fed the mob that overran the U.S. Capitol last month.

On Facebook, Lockwood hits Burton Brown and Gessler, both lawyers, hard on the topic.

“Trump’s own attorneys won’t defend him but two attorneys I’m running against won’t stop defending him,” Lockwood writes. “We need the head of the Colorado GOP to be a leader, not a follower.”

So maybe Lockwood should table sedition for the time being and ask a few other questions that illuminate whether Colorado Republicans want to be Lincoln or loonies, such as:

Do the Republican candidates think Weld County should leave Colorado and join Wyoming? Do they think Boebert has the right stuff to be president one day? Do they think humans are causing global warming at all? Was current chair Congressman Ken Buck right to say definitively, “our votes are not being manipulated,” speaking about Colorado’s own election? Are they in favor of scrapping Colorado laws requiring universal background checks for gun purchases and limiting the number of bullets allowed in guns. What about Colorado’s red-flag law allowing law enforcement to take a gun from a person deemed dangerous by a judge? Is gay marriage good for Colorado?

Jonathan Lockwood won’t win his race to lead Colorado’s Republican Party, but he can talk sanity at dozens of small GOP gatherings across the state, like a Feb. 25 meeting of Republican Women of Weld County.

He might catch some shit for talking sense about QAnon, Greene, succession, and the like, but you’d think he’s gotta be able to convince some Republicans that the party of loonies isn’t going anywhere in Colorado anytime soon–unless Republicans do something about it.

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Boebert: I Don’t Follow QAnon But Absolutely Believe the Deep State Is on the Prowl

9
  by: Jason Salzman February 2, 2021 at 11:26 AM MST

(Crypto-Q! – Promoted by Colorado Pols)

Congresswoman Lauren Boebert (R-CO) is still trying to stop people from thinking she’s a crazy conspiracist.

She’s “not a follower of QAnon,” she insisted Friday, but “there’s absolutely a deep state.”

Does that make you feel better about her?

Probably not, but her assertion is useful because it shows how far around the bend Boebert has spun herself.

She literally followed multiple QAnon channels on YouTube until she won the GOP primary in her campaign for Congress. Then she deleted her YouTube account.

So the QAnon part isn’t true.

As for the deep state part, who’s gonna feel more comfortable with Boebert because she “absolutely” believes in the deep state?

And she says it all the time, which is disturbing when it’s a conspiracy theory she’s repeating.

In multiple interviews, Boebert refers to “more than a thousand pages” relating to government workers who are “actively seeking to undermine” the president. (I could never figure out what she’s talking about, but presumably, these government workers are now resting peacefully with Biden in charge.)

The final blow to Boebert’s campaign to convince us she’s not a crazy conspiracist comes when you hear more of what she has to say on the conspiracy-theory topic.

Here’s the latest, from Friday’s Steffan Tubbs show on KNUS radio in Denver.

Boebert: I have been on the record multiple times saying I’m not a follower of [QAnon]. Gosh, I haven’t even wanted to engage with it since, you know, all of this started. I had a conversation with my mom, and she was kind of telling me about this deep state that was taking place. And I said, Mom, this is real. We have the I.G. and the A.G. who have more than a thousand pages of investigative work with people working in the government who are actively seeking to undermine our chief executive. And these are the things that she was bringing up. And she put it in the light of Q and I was like, no, there’s absolutely a deep state and this is what’s going on. Look at the investigative work the IG and the AG have put forth. So that conversation got out, and I was labeled a Qanon follower. But you know what? This is a page straight out of DCCC playbook. They have done this with every single member. I’m here with the chairman of the Freedom Caucus, Andy Biggs, the most solid guy in Congress, and he’s being labeled a Qanon follower. It’s boring, it’s old. It’s all they got. And so they’re trying to run with it to try to make us seem radical or whatever they want to say. But I don’t know; I’m over it. It doesn’t matter how many times you set the record straight. They’re still going to run with it. They’ll twist it however they want. So let them have at it.

Often, I’ll read something twice to try to understand it better, but in this case, more reading leads to more confusion.

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Two Ostriches Talking Through the Sand

15
  by: Jason Salzman January 28, 2021 at 11:40 AM MST

(Promoted by Colorado Pols)

Sen. Paul Lundeen (R).

Right-wing Republicans in Colorado have seen the blue clouds coming for years, slowly engulfing them in a fog of powerlessness.

Now fully engulfed, you’d think they’d see that something has to change.

And they do, but it’s not anything substantive. It’s just their words and stories that must be altered. That’s all.

Get ready to fall on the floor, because that’s where you’ll go when you hear this conversation between KHOW’s Ross Kaminsky and state Sen. Paul Lundeen (R-Monument).

It’s like Lundeen and Kaminsky are two ostriches talking through the sand underground.

“What is it about the voters of Colorado that is causing them to put the Democrats so much in charge?” Kaminsky asked Lundeen on Tuesday. “…Why is it, Paul, that we are suffering through…electing a swarm of locusts to come through and destroy all our crops and seed corn?”

“It’s a question of delayed gratification,” replied Lundeen. “Do I want to strip the seed corn bare? Or do I want to do what the reality of history tells us… the forces of the free market, enlightened self-interest. Those are the proven processes to help. Democrats, communists, socialists, all say, ‘Give it to us now. I’ll eat my seed corn,’ instead of giving everyone an opportunity.”

Free market principles, said Lundeen, is what has lifted humanity.

But much of the state, Kaminsky lamented, isn’t like Lundeen’s district.

Republicans need to “come up with a better way to tell a story” about how “Democrats are ruining your life even though they say they are helping,” said Kaminsky.

Until they can tell that story, Republicans will continue losing, the two agreed.

“We need to figure that out,” said Lundeen, who’s a state senate leader.

“I don’t think the people believe Republicans care,” said Lundeen, “because we get wonky.”

“I do care!” exclaimed Lundeen.

He claimed to have “solutions that are sustainable and help more people.”

“We just need to do a better job connecting with people, one-on-one,” said Lundeen to an approving Kaminsky.

But the radio airwaves were void of specific plans to show people that Republicans care.

Lundeen and Kaminsky forgot to talk about how Republicans will help people. Instead, they laughed about how wonky and principled they are, and how they oppose a bill to mandate safe storage of firearms. And how they need to translate their thoughts into language that the common person will love to hear.

But as GOP pollster David Flaherty has said many times, voters want responsible plans addressing bread-and-butter issues.

Lundeen doesn’t bring up those types of plans on the radio but earnestly says, “It’s about connecting with people. We need to do a better job of that.”

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9News’ Kyle Clark Is a “Conspiracy Theorist” and “Really Disgusting,” Says Boebert

14
  by: Jason Salzman January 19, 2021 at 8:24 AM MST

(How to win friends and influence people – Promoted by Colorado Pols)

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R).

I’ve been loosely documenting the complaints against journalists from top elected officials in Colorado for years, and guess who just made the nastiest comment yet (in public, that is)? U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO).

How’d you know?

Here’s what Boebert said about respected 9News anchor Kyle Clark Saturday.

“I don’t even want his name to come out of my mouth. He’s really disgusting,” Boebert told KNUS’ Randy Corporon Saturday. “But he is a conspiracy theorist through and through. He is obsessed with them. He is continuously working on creating them. I can’t even imagine what his basement looks like.”

In response to a Colorado Times Recorder tweet with Boebert’s insult, Clark deadpanned over Twitter:

“Rep. @laurenboebert’s communications director left this weekend after a few weeks on the job,” tweeted Clark, “Her new team has Boebert laser-focused on issues of importance to Western Colorado like water, public lands, and economic recovery,”

Colorado lawmakers who attack journalism publicly are mostly conservatives.

But unlike Boebert, they hold back on the personal insults, focussing more on what they see as liberal bias, an accusation that’s usually unsupported by evidence, in the form of a study or data of any kind, especially at the local level.

Former Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO), for example, baselessly accused 9News’ Anusha Roy of bias last year after she asked him an uncomfortable question. Gardner’s comment came after he aired multiple broad swipes at journalism over the years.

As a Congressman, Mike Coffman, also a Republican, accused the New York Times without any proof of rigging a poll against him.

(more…)

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CU Prof, Who Was Called “Fantastic” by Regent Ganahl, Pressed Pence to Block Election Confirmation

11
  by: Jason Salzman January 13, 2021 at 4:09 PM MST

(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.

Eastman

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.

Heidi Ganahl
Ganahl

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.

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Gazette Editorial Page Editor: Trump Mob Was ‘Probably Antifa’

10
  by: Jason Salzman January 6, 2021 at 8:38 PM MST

(Promoted by Colorado Pols)

Wayne Laugesen.

In a Facebook exchange today, the editorial page editor of the Colorado Springs Gazette wrote of the mob that attacked the U.S. Capitol: “They looked nothing like members of the typical Trump rally crowd. Probably Antifa.”

The Editor, Wayne Laugesen, did not respond to inquiries via email and Facebook Messenger asking for evidence for his view that the mobsters were likely Antifa, a left-wing protest group. There is no evidence of Antifa involvement.

The Colorado Springs Gazette, owned by conservative billionaire Phil Anschutz, has criticized right-wing activists, like those at the Capitol today.

In one editorial, possibly penned by Laguesen, the newspaper criticized Republicans for being “sore losers” for trying to recall Democratic lawmakers.

“Our country chooses representation with fair, civilized, regulated elections,” wrote the Gazette in October of 2019. “Losers in that process should focus on winning the next time, not on changing the last election’s results. Sore losers, from both parties, look ridiculous.”

Laugesen’s comment today appeared in a Facebook post of his wife, Dede Laugesen, a former Trump campaign staffer who recently promoted election fraud conspiracies at pro-Trump rally in December.

(more…)

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Boebert Says Polis Sends Nazi “Brown Shirts” to Enforce Health Orders in Her District

13
  by: Jason Salzman January 5, 2021 at 1:56 PM MST

(Promoted by Colorado Pols)

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R).

Angry about Colorado’s public health orders requiring restaurants to restrict services during the pandemic, U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) accused Colorado Gov. Jared Polis of sending “Brown Shirts in to make sure everyone shuts down.”

“Brown Shirt” is a term used to describe a member of the Sturmabteilung, Hitler’s Nazi militia that attacked and often killed opponents of Hitler’s rise to power.

“Here in Garfield County where my restaurant is, restaurants are closing once again because Governor Polis has sent his Brown Shirts in to make sure everyone shuts down,” Boebert told KVOR’s Jeff Crank Dec. 26. “It is sad. It is depressing. Business owners cannot pay their employees. They will not be able to pay rent. We’re worried about all of these folks who won’t be able to pay their rent. But what about the actual mortgages? Who’s going to hold the owners of these buildings and help them out? You know, all of this is just a mess and we need to reopen our country for business.”

State Rep. Patrick Neville (R-Castle Rock), who was the Republican House Leader at the time, said last year that Polis’ stay-at-home orders could lead to a “Gestapo-like mentality.” The Gestapo were the Nazi secret police.

Polis tearfully responded to the accusation in April.

“As a Jewish American who lost family in the Holocaust, I’m offended by any comparison to Nazism,” said Polis, as quoted in The Denver Post. “We act to save lives — the exact opposite of the slaughter of 6 million Jews and many gypsies and Catholics and gays and lesbians and Russians and so many others.”

Polis is Colorado’s first Jewish and openly gay governor.

Neville later apologized, telling the Denver Post that he should have said “authoritarian” instead of “Gestapo.”

Under state rules, Garfield County restaurants have faced a range of restrictions at various times during the pandemic, including limitations on indoor seating and mask-wearing requirements.

Other Republicans and GOP groups, in Colorado and elsewhere, have compared COVID health orders to Nazism, without singling out Polis.

(more…)

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Film Spotlights Stories of Abuse at Aurora ICE Facility

0
  by: Jason Salzman December 16, 2020 at 2:02 PM MST

(Promoted by Colorado Pols)

A local filmmaker has teamed up with community groups to produce a documentary featuring tragic stories, told from multiple perspectives, about an immigrant detention facility in Aurora.

The film, titled “The Facility” and premiering online Friday, spotlights current and former detainees, living on the inside, and family members and advocates, fighting for their release on the outside.

A trailer for the documentary presents detainees and family members describing abuse at the facility.

(more…)

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Durango Mayor Dean Brookie to Boebert: ‘We Don’t Need This Type of Rhetoric in our Community’

10
  by: Jason Salzman December 11, 2020 at 12:13 PM MST

(Promoted by Colorado Pols)

Rep.-elect Lauren Boebert.

U.S. Rep.-elect Lauren Boebert (R-CO) wants you to think she’s a fighter. She’s pushing back on COVID health orders. She’s saying, “Hell no,” to Beto O’Rourke. She’s poised to confront U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY). And she has her gun on her waist.

So it’s no surprise to hear her on the radio yesterday slamming the Democratic mayor of Durango, Dean Brookie, during a discussion of a yogurt shop that, like Boebert’s own business, flouted mask-wearing and other health orders to combat the virus.

“The mayor went on record and said, ‘You know, we will just let businesses like this starve over the winter. How many people really eat frozen yogurt in the winter anyway?'” Boebert told KHOW’s Ross Kaminsky Thursday (here at 1:24:05). “‘Just let them do what they are doing. We’ll just starve them out.’ That’s a paraphrase. But I mean, that’s what he is saying to the citizens of Durango.”

It doesn’t sound like something that would slip off the tongue of any mayor, so I emailed Boebert’s spokeswoman to find out where Brookie said it. And I did a news search.

Nothing showed up about the mayor saying anything like this, so I called Brookie.

“That’s a totally inaccurate characterization of anything I ever would have said,” Brookie told me.

“I think she’s representing a certain vocal minority,” said Brookie, when asked why Boebert would make the allegation.

“It’s in keeping with the rhetoric that politicizes this issue.

“Meanwhile, people in our community are dying.” “Right now, today, we have a serious outbreak. We don’t need this type of rhetoric in our community,” Brookie said.
Brookie

The Durango yogurt shop, Top That Frozen Yogurt, generated national attention, like Boebert’s restaurant did, when it attacked measures to combat COVID-19, generating heat from public health officials.

“Your mask is as worthless as Dean Brookie,” appeared on a chalkboard in the yogurt establishment.

Then the shop offered a 10% discount to customers who didn’t wear a mask when buying yogurt.

The shop has now apparently shut down and the owners are leaving Durango.

Brookie said he and the City Council, as well as city staff, are implementing programs to try to help businesses. They closed streets during the summer, allocated most federal relief funds directly to restaurants, and paid for a portion of third-party delivery services, he said.

Brookie expects an ordinance to pass soon that will defer restaurant sales tax through March.

Brookie is holding a forum on Dec. 17 with restaurant owners “to discuss anythig else that we can possibly do to help restaurants survive over the next three to four months.”

“In total 180-degree opposite of what Ms. Boebert is suggesting, our community is very proactive in assisting restaurants in surviving, and at the same time, assuring a safe experience for patrons and workers.”

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Apology Forgotten: Radio Host Brags About Wishing for a “Nice” School Shooting

3
  by: Jason Salzman December 7, 2020 at 2:37 PM MST

(Let your inner vile shine – Promoted by Colorado Pols)

The Colorado Times Recorder calls out bigotry, racism, hate, and insensitivity that cling to fringe elements of humanity.

But at what point is it counter-productive to shine our spotlight, such as it is, on conservatives who fully admit they’re delivering ugly online outrages simply to get attention.

Case in point: Chuck Bonniwell was fired last year from KNUS radio after the Colorado Times Recorder reported on his wishing for a “nice school shooting” to break up the monotony of the impeachment hearings.

He apologized to varying degrees multiple times by in December, saying it was a joke.

But last week, he bragged about making the nice-school-shooting comments.

“I don’t say things I don’t believe,” said Bonniwell, who’s the publisher of the Cherry Creek/Glendale Chronicle, last week on his Chuck and Julie podcast, which has conservative sponsors. “We got thrown off the air, because I say things I believe.” “Well, you didn’t believe your comment there,” said his wife and co-host Julie Hayden, a former Fox 31 Denver reporter, trying to remind Bonniwell that he’d apologized for the remark previously. But Bonniwell would have nothing of it. “We ought to have a nice school shooting in which nobody gets hurt,” said Bonniwell. “Just something to take it off the stupid impeachment.”

Bonniwell’s unapologetic bravado is a far cry from what Bonniwell told the New York Times about his school-shooting comment in December of last year.

(more…)

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Boebert To “Rally the Troops” in Georgia

21
  by: Jason Salzman December 1, 2020 at 2:36 PM MST

(Promoted by Colorado Pols)

Rep.-elect Lauren Boebert (R-ifle).

You knew the only thing stopping Congresswoman-elect Lauren Boebert (R-CO) from exploding across the conservative underworld nationally was actually getting elected.

Now that she’s cleared that obstacle, Boebert is lighting up social media, Fox News, and other right-wing platforms as she launches her national campaign for…anything that will draw more attention to herself.

That’s the theme that runs through Boebert’s life. To the extent she’s been successful in business and politics, it’s because she knows how to get attention.

The latest sign of her national rise is her travel schedule.

She was on the radio over the weekend bragging not about returning to Colorado in December to talk to constituents but, instead, about “fun trips,” first to Georgia to inflame right-wingers there in hopes of getting them to vote.

“A couple of fun trips in December that we are taking,” Boebert told KNUS’ Randy Corporon Friday. “I’m gong to Georgia to help with the Senate races. And I’ll be down there with Senator Cruz. And we’ll be rallying the troops down there” (here at 43:30).

Republicans are worried that Trump’s lies about rigged elections will keep loyal and logical conservatives from voting in Georgia’s upcoming Senate election, because, why vote if the election is rigged anyway?

Boebert continues to not only question the election results, but also attacks any elected official who isn’t doing the same.

(more…)

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Boebert Is Mad at Capitol Police for Not Providing Her With a Gun-Storage Locker

18
  by: Jason Salzman November 30, 2020 at 9:56 AM MST

(Promoted by Colorado Pols)

U.S. Rep.-elect Lauren Boebert (R-CO) is relieved that members of Congress are allowed to carry firearms in Washington, despite the city’s gun ban, but she’s angry at the Capitol Police for not providing her with a way to store her gun while she’s on the floor of the House of Representatives, where guns are prohibited.

During her orientation for new House members, Boebert asked the Capitol Police if they’d provide a locker for her to store her gun while she’s voting in the House chamber.

Boebert

After not getting a clear response, she asked if she could store her gun in the existing lockers used by the Capitol Police.

The police denied her request.

“Okay, so what am I supposed to do?” asked Boebert as she told this story Friday on Denver’s KNUS radio. “Am I supposed to put my firearm on the ground with a sticky note that says, ‘Please don’t touch. I’m going in here to vote, be right back?’ You know, if I’m going to be disarmed at this point, I need a way to store my firearm.”

Capitol regulations state that the “responsibility resides with the member” to store their weapons safely, according to a report by the Associated Press, quoting 2018 statements from the Capitol Police. The NRA broadly takes the same stance that gun owners are responsible for storage.

So, it’s expected that most Congresspeople who carry weapons at the Capitol store them in their offices while they’re casting votes or visiting the gun-free House floor.

But Capitol Police do not check to make sure lawmakers aren’t walking onto the House chamber with their guns, according to a former member of Congress quoted by the AP.

Boebert’s spokeswoman didn’t return an email asking if Boebert would secretly carry a gun onto the House chamber.

Boebert, who’s built a restaurant, Shooters Grill, and a persona around carrying a gun constantly, called the Capitol’s gun protocol “unclear and potentially dangerous.”

She even let a teenage server carry a gun in her diner, flouting Colorado gun law.

On the radio, she ridiculed a Democrat who tried in 2018 to ban Congresspeople from carrying guns at the Capitol.

Boebert is “grateful” for the “service and dedication” of the Capitol Police, but she doesn’t want to “assume that it’s their responsibility to protect” her, she said on KNUS.

“You know, why put their life in danger if I have the ability to protect my own life,” she explained.

She also said that she’s concerned about her own safety when she walks from her apartment to the Capitol in Washington DC, which has a violent-crime “pandemic.”

Boebert, who declined to talk to the Associated Press which first reported that she asked about carrying her gun at the Capitol, said on the radio that she “will be getting my concealed-carry permit, so I can get my firearms to D.C. and walk around with my firearm concealed.”

(more…)

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Jenna Ellis Claims Dominion Voting Machines May Have “Swung” Colorado Races

26
  by: Jason Salzman November 20, 2020 at 11:54 AM MST

(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.”

(more…)

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Death from COVID of Nunez a ‘Wake-Up Call,’ Says Holbert

7
  by: Jason Salzman November 18, 2020 at 1:56 PM MST

(Promoted by Colorado Pols)

“If anybody out there thinks that this can’t happen to them and their friends, the Joe-and-Lilly story really woke people up to, ‘Yeah, it can,'” said Chris Holbert, Colorado’s Senate Republican leader, expressing his sadness today over the death from COVID-19 of former state Rep. Joe Nunez of Douglas County and his wife, Lilly.

“It’s been a wake-up call for people who knew Joe and Lilly,” Holbert told the Colorado Times Recorder.

On KNUS 710-AM’s Steffan Tubbs Show yesterday, Holbert signaled his support for a special session of the Colorado legislature to pass COVID-19 relief measures.

“We’re coming back for a special session because there is extra money from last fiscal year that we can allocate,” he said on air. “And I think that those four proposed concepts for bills–Senate Republicans will generally be in support. But we haven’t seen any bill language. So, you know, what are the details? Show us the language of how they actually propose to do these things. And we might be supportive. We might not, but we don’t know yet.”

Holbert said he didn’t want to “suggest that your legislature can solve this problem.”

“This is something we have to solve together,” he said.

Holbert says he believes masks are useful in combating the viurs and wears one.

Still, Republicans in Colorado continue to push back mask-wearing orders.

Most of the Republicans in Colorado’s House met without masks for their caucus leadership elections at the Capitol Nov. 9, prompting Democratic State Rep. Joni Arndt of Fort Collins to tweet a photo of the group along with, “Please do better.”

(more…)

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