Colorado Republican county clerk indicted for voting security breach https://www.reuters.com/world/us/co...k-indicted-voting-security-breach-2022-03-09/ DENVER, March 9 (Reuters) - A Colorado grand jury has indicted a Republican county clerk and her deputy on multiple felony counts related to an election security breach in her office after voting equipment passwords were posted on a right-wing blog, authorities said on Wednesday. Tina Peters, 66, who is the top election official in Mesa County in her role as clerk and recorder, faces a total of 10 criminal charges, including conspiracy, criminal impersonation and identity theft, court documents show. Her deputy clerk, Belinda Knisley, was charged with attempting to influence a public servant, violation of duty and failing to comply with the secretary of state. Peters, a supporter of former Republican President Donald Trump, was a proponent of his false assertion of widespread election fraud during the 2020 campaign. Many of Trump's supporters have made unsubstantiated claims that voting equipment and software may have been used to carry out at least some of the alleged fraud. Secretary of State Jena Griswold, a Democrat, ordered an investigation after images of Mesa County’s election equipment passwords were posted on the blog last year. The alleged breach was discovered during a computer software update in 2021 and did not involve any election or voting irregularities. Griswold decertified the equipment after the probe and has gone to court seeking to bar Peters from overseeing upcoming elections. The pair "devised and executed a deceptive scheme which was designed to influence public servants, breach security protocols, exceed permissible access to voting equipment, and set in motion the eventual distribution of confidential information to unauthorized people,” the indictment said. Arrest warrants were issued for Peters and Knisley, court records show, but it was unclear if the pair have been taken into custody and booked by early Wednesday afternoon. An email message sent to a representative of Peters seeking comment was not immediately returned. Griswold's response prompted Peters to announce last month that she is running in the Republican primary in a bid to unseat Griswold as the state’s top election official.
Fox News Won’t Be Getting Out of a $2.7 Billion Lawsuit Over Its Rigged Voting Machine Claims An election technology company’s case against Fox News can move forward, with a judge finding “substantial basis” for the claim that Murdoch’s network “evinced a reckless disregard for the truth.” By Charlotte Klein March 9, 2022 Fox anchor Maria Bartiromo on January 9, 2020 in New York City.by John Lamparski/Getty Images An election technology company suing Fox News for airing false claims about its role in the 2020 election notched a win yesterday, as a New York judge said much of Smartmatic’s $2.7 billion defamation case against the network can proceed. There is “substantial basis” for the claim “that, at a minimum, Fox News turned a blind eye to a litany of outrageous claims about [Smartmatic], unprecedented in the history of American elections, so inherently improbable that it evinced a reckless disregard for the truth,” Judge David Cohen wrote in a 61-page ruling. Smartmatic last year filed a suit against Fox News and Fox Business Network, naming current and former network stars Maria Bartiromo, Jeanine Pirro, and Lou Dobbs as defendants. The election technology company accused them of damaging its reputation and business with false claims broadcast in the aftermath of the 2020 election. The claims aired on Fox served to bolster Donald Trump’s democracy-defying attempt to explain away his loss to Joe Biden by blaming it on faulty or rigged voting machines. The suit—one of two massive defamation suits Rupert Murdoch’s empire is battling as a result of its conspiracy-addled election coverage—also targeted former Trump lawyers Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani, both of whom peddled pro-Trump conspiracy theories about Smartmatic's voting machines on Fox programs. Cohen on Tuesday rejected efforts by Fox Corp, Bartiromo, and Dobbs to dismiss Smartmatic’s claims against them. Pirro, however, prevailed. The judge dismissed all claims against her because the anchor, despite asserting on her program that Democrats “stole votes,” did not specifically blame Smartmatic’s software. The judge also dismissed defamation claims against Powell due to a lack of jurisdiction, and most of the claims against Giuliani. But some parts of Smartmatic’s case against the former New York City mayor were allowed to proceed, The New York Times noted. In their motions to dismiss Smartmatic’s case, Fox and its current and former anchors have cited First Amendment protections and the newsworthiness of covering Smartmatic as part of Trump’s post-election efforts. Fox News again cited free speech in response to Tuesday’s ruling. “While we are gratified that Judge Cohen dismissed Smartmatic’s claims against Jeanine Pirro at this early stage, we still plan to appeal the ruling immediately,” the network said in a statement. “We will also continue to litigate these baseless claims by filing a counterclaim for fees and costs under New York’s anti-SLAPP statute to prevent the full-blown assault on the First Amendment which stands in stark contrast to the highest tradition of American journalism.”
Judge in Smartmatic Suit Cites Tucker’s Rejection of Election Claims to Argue ‘Substantial Basis’ Fox News ‘Acted With Actual Malice’ https://www.mediaite.com/news/judge...tial-basis-fox-news-acted-with-actual-malice/
So unsurprisingly... Secretary of State candidate who refuses to believe Trump lost loses primary, refuses to believe she lost. Indicted Election Denier Tina Peters Loses Her Own Election—and Denies She Lost HOW PREDICTABLE “It’s not over,” Tina Peters said, as she was down by 15 points. https://www.thedailybeast.com/mesa-...er-loses-race-for-colorado-secretary-of-state Tina Peters, the Colorado county clerk who flogged election conspiracy theories and was then indicted for allegedly breaching her own voting machines, lost her primary bid to become the secretary of state. And then she did exactly what you would expect: She denied she lost, cried fraud, and vowed to keep fighting. (More about this unhinged idiot at above url)
Third arrest made in election fraud scandal. Why yes, they are all Trumpers. 3rd arrest made in alleged Colorado election security breach https://www.yahoo.com/news/3rd-arrest-made-alleged-colorado-181633283.html The former elections manager for a Colorado clerk indicted on charges of tampering with voting equipment has been arrested on allegations that she was part of the scheme, an official said Wednesday. Sandra Brown, who worked for Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, turned herself in Monday in response to a warrant issued for her arrest on suspicion of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation and attempting to influence a public servant, said Lt. Henry Stoffel of the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office. The arrest was first reported by The Daily Sentinel newspaper. Peters and her chief deputy, Belinda Knisley, are being prosecuted for allegedly allowing a copy of a hard drive to be made during an update of election equipment in May 2021. State election officials first became aware of a security breach last summer when a photo and video of confidential voting system passwords were posted on social media and a conservative website. Peters, who has echoed former President Donald Trump’s false theories about the 2020 election and become a hero to election conspiracy theorists, lost her bid to become the GOP candidate for Colorado secretary of state last month. She first came to national attention when she spoke last year at a conference hosted by MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, one of the most prominent election deniers in the country. Peters is charged with three counts of attempting to influence a public servant, criminal impersonation, two counts of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation, one count of identity theft, first-degree official misconduct, violation of duty and failing to comply with the secretary of state. Knisley is charged with three counts of attempting to influence a public servant, one count of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation, violation of duty and failing to comply with the secretary of state. Neither have entered a plea yet and both have dismissed the allegations, with Peters calling them politically motivated. Mesa County, in western Colorado, is largely rural and heavily Republican. Trump won it in the 2020 presidential election with nearly 63% of the vote. President Joe Biden won Colorado overall with 55.4% of the state’s vote. Brown was released the day after her arrest. Efforts to reach for comment were unsuccessful via phone numbers that may be associated with her. Court records did not say whether Brown has an attorney who could speak on her behalf. According to a court document, Knisley worked to get a security badge for a man Peters said she was hiring in the clerk's office. Peters then used it to allow another, unauthorized person inside the room to make a copy of the election equipment hard drive, it said. Brown was present when the copy was made and conspired to misrepresent who the person using the badge was, it said.
Tina Peters’ deputy pleads guilty, agrees to testify against the indicted Mesa County clerk Belinda Knisley, who was the Mesa County deputy clerk, pleaded guilty to trespassing, first-degree official misconduct and violation of duty, all misdemeanors https://coloradosun.com/2022/08/25/belinda-knisley-pleads-guilty-tina-peters/
Must we create a thread every time the GQP cheats? Can't you post in old threads where you defended this cheating before GWB? https://www.elitetrader.com/et/threads/gop-election-fraud-in-nc.327596/
Democrat Election Fraud. Republican Election Fraud. What's the difference. You Prefer one to the other flavor? Duly noted. If it exists, then it is illegal and needs to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. BeutifulStanger is not convinced it exists, so How Dare Alla Yooze! Here, take a look at the Stranger Blog... https://www.elitetrader.com/et/thre...raud-in-progress.352166/page-241#post-5664080 He and lotsa people there say it does not exist or maybe it does but I don't want to look, lol. Brave defenders of freedom. Watch out you might get a paper cut there.
Colorado’s MAGA clerk is on trial – and it’s not going well for her https://www.rawstory.com/tina-peters-obstruction-trial/ The ally of a former Colorado official facing obstruction charges testified against her on Thursday, The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel’s Charles Ashby reports. Former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters is facing two misdemeanor counts in connection with allegations she recorded video of a previous court proceeding in violation of a judge’s order, The Sentinel reports. Prosecutors allege Peters recorded the video during a hearing in which former Deputy Clerk Belinda Knisley (Peters’ former underling) was facing felony burglary and misdemeanor cybercrime charges. Knisley was accused of flouting a court order barring her from entering the clerk’s office while she and Peters were under investigation on allegations of election equipment tampering, the report said. When investigators obtained a warrant and attempted to recover the iPad on which Peters was accused of recording the video, Peters claimed the device wasn’t hers, stating that it belonged to a person named “Tammy Bailey.” During Peters’ trial on Thursday, Peters ally Cory Anderson testified that he helped her establish a mobile phone account under the name Tammy Bailey, The Daily Sentinel journalist tweeted. Peters is facing a maximum jail sentence of 18 months and up to $1,750 in fines on two misdemeanor counts of obstructing government operations and a peace officer, the report said. Peters, in a separate case, is facing seven felony charges including identity theft, and tampering with election equipment, the report said.
Let's check-in with the GOP circus in Colorado. Colorado GOP selects combative, election-denying new leader https://apnews.com/article/republic...-trump-biden-d57a4683080ee4de5afd2e76fa8dd619 LOVELAND, Colo. (AP) — The Colorado Republican Party on Saturday selected a combative former state representative who promised to be a “wartime” leader as its new chairman, joining several other state GOPs this year that have elected far-right figures and election conspiracy theorists to their top posts. The move in Colorado comes as the party totters on the brink of political irrelevance in a state moving swiftly to the left. Former State Rep. Dave Williams, who unsuccessfully tried to insert the phrase “Let’s Go Brandon” into his name on the party’s primary ballot last year and insists — incorrectly — that former President Donald Trump won the 2020 election, was selected by the party’s executive committee out of a seven-person field. Williams crossed the required 50% threshold on the third ballot after being endorsed by one of his competitors, indicted former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, who had failed to surpass 10%. Peters faces seven felony charges for her alleged role in illegally accessing voting machines in her county. She has denied the allegations while becoming a prominent national figure in the election conspiracy movement. A three-term state representative from a conservative district in the city of Colorado Springs, Williams unsuccessfully challenged Rep. Doug Lamborn in the Republican primary last year. The Colorado Secretary of State’s office rejected his effort to include a popular conservative phrase denigrating President Joe Biden in his name on the ballot. A judge agreed Williams could not be known as Dave “Let’s Go Brandon” Williams. In his speech to nearly 400 hardcore Republican activists and party leaders, Williams reprised the themes he hit during his campaign — that the party’s recent poor performance in Colorado is simply due to it not fighting hard enough, not any disconnect between its activists and the majority of the state’s voters. “Our party doesn’t have a brand problem,” Williams told the group. “Our party has a problem with feckless leaders. ... We need a wartime leader.” Election deniers have won three other state party chair positions recently — in Idaho, Kansas and Michigan — and as his party is reeling from a brutal 2022 election year. Republicans lost every statewide election last year by double digits and are down to their lowest share of the state Legislature in Colorado history. They have not won a major statewide race since 2014 and lag well behind Democrats and unaffiliated voters in registration. Like six of the seven candidates who ran, Williams advocated trying to overturn a ballot measure that requires the party to allow unaffiliated voters to cast ballots in its primary. All of the candidates except Kevin McCarney, a former Mesa County party chairman, expressed skepticism that Biden legitimately won the 2020 election. Williams’ main rival ended up being Erik Aadland, a combat veteran and political novice who ran an unsuccessful race for a congressional swing seat in the Denver suburbs last year. Although he’s also questioned the 2020 election results, he advocated for discussing elections in less aggressive language and based his speech Saturday around the theme of how “love trumps hate.” Still, he also spoke in combative terms about how the party should move forward after Williams’ selection. “We are besought by a radical left that wants to destroy this country, and we need to come together and win elections,” Aadland told the crowd.