by Ashe in America | Jan 19, 2024 | Feature Story Bottom Left
ASHE IN AMERICA — OPINION
The tone was set for the 74th Colorado General Assembly, when on its very first day, Palestinian protesters disrupted an official government proceeding with shouts for a ceasefire in Gaza. It’s unclear what the mob expects the Colorado state legislature to do about the war between Israel and Gaza, but you can bet virtue signals will decorate the 2024 session.
As Republicans have been impotent in the legislature for years, many of the GOP’s state reps find value in using the well to practice their messaging for the campaign trail.
House Minority Leader Mike Lynch attempted a commanding posture when he urged his colleagues to remember the people of Colorado, stating, “We are easily tempted to put party over the people and service takes a second seat to our personal ambitions.”
This is funny because Lynch’s personal ambition is to be my congressman in CD4. He faces a crowded field that includes a bunch of other establishment republicans as well as former State Senator Ted Harvey, entrepreneur Deborah Flora, and political newcomer Trent Leisy. Congresswoman Lauren Boebert entered the race as well for some unknown reason.
I had the opportunity to ask Representative Lynch some questions during an AssembleXCO space on X earlier this month, and he told me about his priorities for the 2024 session. The space is recorded, and you can listen at the link below. My discussion begins at the 45 minute mark. I’m one of the hosts of AssembleXCO, and we are interviewing all candidates and state figures who aren’t afraid to step into the arena. Follow the account on X at @AssembleXCO, and join the conversation!
Tell Me How You’re Different
“My biggest fight down there is with fentanyl,” Lynch said when I asked him about his legislative priorities. In terms of solutions, he spoke of increased possession penalties and strong deterrents. Tell me you’ve never met an addict without telling me.
When I asked him about his political calculus for prioritizing fentanyl over homelessness, taxes, the sanctuary crisis, and other important issues to Colorado voters, he said, “That’s an area that I’ve worked on my entire legislative career… but primarily, it’s because it’s killing people. It’s the one issue — you know, property tax is a pain in the butt, and it’s gonna run some people out of the state, but it’s not going to kill them.”
Suicide rates are at all time highs under Bidenomics and the current state government. I dispute the idea that the tax crisis isn’t going to kill people. It’s a contributing factor that already is killing them in the mental health crisis. I’d argue most Colorado voters would prioritize mental health and Colorado quality of life before criminalizing addiction and attempting, yet again, to win the war on drugs. Also, you can’t address the fentanyl problem without addressing the border and pretending you can is silly and wasteful.
For my last question set, I asked him pointedly, “Do you believe January 6 was an insurrection?” He said, “I do not,” but did not elaborate. When I asked him about the weaponization of government, he said he believed the real problem was that law enforcement has been too hamstrung because of, “the government taking away our ability to enforce laws.”
Oh dear.
I asked him about the JTTF and Rebecca Lavrens, the praying grandmother, being shackled in Denver, he told me of those federal and state collaborations, “I don’t really see that as law enforcement.” That’s more the agencies, he said, and we need President Trump to come back and fix it.
He’s the House Minority Leader in our state. What’s that old adage about evil and good men?
Back to the first day of the legislative session, “I implore you to remember it is not you that sits in those seats, it is the thousands of people who put you there. Those voices are important, as well,” Lynch said.
Those voices aren’t important “as well.” Those voices are important. The voices of those in the seats may be important “as well” but only inasmuch as they speak for those who sent them.
The Colorado primary will be conducted on Super Tuesday, March 5, 2024, with the 2024 Colorado Republican Assembly and Convention scheduled for April.
Ashe Epp is a writer and activist. You can find all her work at Linktree.com/asheinamerica
by Ashe in America | Dec 15, 2023 | Feature Story Bottom Left
ASHE IN AMERICA — OPINION
There are 22 states with 14th Amendment, Section 3 challenges to President Trump’s 2024 candidacy. Six states — Florida, Colorado, New Hampshire, Minnesota, Michigan, and Rhode Island — have declined to prevent President Trump from being on the ballot.
Other challenges underway have yet to be decided: Alaska, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Kansas, Massachusetts, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, South Carolina, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
In Colorado, District Judge Sarah Wallace issued a criminal finding in a civil trial, prompting President Trump to appeal the judge’s seemingly favorable ruling. On December 6, 2023, the Colorado Justices heard arguments in the case from Jason Murray and Eric Olsen for the petitioners, and Scott Gessler for the intervenors.
There were two matters before the court:
- Does Section 3 of the 14th Amendment apply to the President?
- Was January 6 an insurrection?
Most of the time was devoted to the 14th Amendment with minimal time being devoted to the nature of January 6. There was extensive discussion about Confederate President Jefferson Davis; a tacit comparison of January 6 to the Civil War, which is appalling when you really think about it.
The biggest concern for Colorado Republican voters in this case is the matter of equal treatment. That is, if President Trump is allowed on the ballot across the nation, but not in Colorado, are Republican voters truly able to participate in the election. On this, Eric Olsen declared that President Trump is disqualified, because Judge Wallace said so, and that President Trump’s inclusion on the ballot would dilute the votes of Republicans.
“We’re worried about our clients, who are Republicans and Independents who filed the suit because they want a fair shot in the Republican primary to vote for a qualified candidate and have their support for a qualified candidate not be diluted through votes for a candidate who would definitely be disqualified,” Olsen said. “The pro-democracy, pro-Colorado voter perspective, which is, I think, what we’re looking at here” is to declare Trump ineligible before election, “so that the ballot reflects those who are qualified, and the will of the voter can be honored.”
Hearing Eric Olsen pretend to care about the rights of Republican voters, while unapologetically engaging in election interference against the most popular Republican candidate — by a wide margin — was particularly nauseating.
For his part, Scott Gessler briefly argued that J6 is more “properly categorized” as “a riot” than an “insurrection.” Unfortunately, one of the justices stated that, because Gessler didn’t brief the court on counter arguments about the insurrection, they don’t have much to go on, to dispute the District Court’s ruling.
My heart sank at this exchange, particularly because the insurrection findings were the entire reason for President Trump’s appeal. The Justice seemed to be implying that Gessler had dropped the ball on making the argument, and that may be enough wiggle room for the high court to uphold Wallace’s flawed decision.
What are the potential outcomes? There are several, and the case is expected to be appealed all the way to the United States Supreme Court.
For the 14th Amendment, if the court upholds Judge Wallace’s determination that Section 3 of the 14th doesn’t apply to the President, then the petitioners will likely appeal.
For the matter of insurrection, if the court upholds Judge Wallace’s finding that Trump engaged in insurrection, President Trump and the GOP will likely appeal.
There is also the possibility that they will uphold one part of the ruling and overturn the other. For example, uphold that J6 was an insurrection and that President Trump incited it — and overturn Judge Wallace’s decision that the 14th Amendment doesn’t apply to the President. Simply, they could decide to keep President Trump off the ballot.
Alternatively, the CO Supreme Court could uphold the 14th Amendment ruling but overturn the findings about insurrection. In my view this is the right call, but I am not holding my breath in the Colorado courts.
The appeals will move quickly. According to Secretary Griswold’s posted election timeline, citing Colorado statutes 1-4-1204(1.5) and 1-1-106(5), December 29 is the “Last day a person whose name has been certified to be placed on the ballot of the March 5th Presidential Primary.”
Stay tuned.
Ashe Epp is a writer and activist. You can find all her work at Linktree.com/asheinamerica
by Ashe in America | Nov 15, 2023 | Feature Story Bottom Left
ASHE IN AMERICA — OPINION
The state of Colorado heard arguments of unprecedented lawfare in late October, in a lawsuit by six Colorado voters in September. The Colorado case was filed with the help of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), and similar cases are being pursued around the nation. The inception of this novel legal theory goes back to 2021 and the 14Point3 campaign of Free Speech for People, a leftist lawfare outfit.
Notably, earlier this month, the Minnesota Supreme Court dismissed a similar case, declining to become the first state in history to prevent someone from running for the presidency. Colorado has no such qualms.
The petitioners argue that President Trump is ineligible to hold office again under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. The respondent in the case is Secretary of State Jena Griswold, who has declined to make arguments or present evidence in the case other than allowing Deputy Elections Director Hillary Rudy to testify on behalf of her office. Intervening on behalf of Colorado voters are President Trump and the Colorado GOP.
On day one of the trial, two former capital police officers were called, out of hundreds, and both have become influencers on the left in the years since J6. They were highly coached, and, like the J6 Committee, the petitioners declined to call former Capitol Police Chief Stephen Sund.
Speaking of the J6 Committee, their highly politicized report comprises most of the evidence in the petitioners’ case, joined by a handful of witnesses — the two officers, Eric Swalwell, and two academics — and, of course, President Trump’s tweets.
The second day of the trial was surreal as the petitioners called sociologist Pete Simi who “specializes” in “far right extremism.” Simi testified that:
- Far Right Extremists are those who believe that corruption is a significant problem. Notably, according to the NY Times and Siena College, that includes 68% of the nation.
- Signs of escalating extremist behavior include posting in all caps on social media and speaking about 1776. Yes, really.
- President Trump knowingly incites violence using doublespeak; in other words, when President Trump says, “peacefully and patriotically,” he really means to incite violence — and far right extremists know this.
Simi presented no evidence of President Trump inciting anything. Rather, his testimony was that, in his expert opinion, the seemingly non-violent speech from the former president was secret coded messaging to far right extremists — which, again, he defined as people who are concerned about government corruption.
The second “expert” witness to testify was a self-described “Homeland Security expert,” though he admitted that he has never advised a government executive branch, state or federal, and he has never actually been in responsive position during a real crisis — but he has simulated a bunch of them in an academic setting. That is, the petitioners were unable to find a Homeland Security expert with actual experience to testify.
According to the petitioner attorneys, at least four witnesses decided not to testify since the start of the case, ostensibly to protect their credibility. The witnesses who did testify embarrassed themselves, revealed their politicization, and exposed their disdain for the Bill of Rights.
In a wild turn of events, a J6er named Treniss Evans has sued the petitioners, claiming that Olson and team doctored the timeline of events and defamed him — Evans — in the process. According to the filing, the attorneys altered timestamps of when Mr. Evans spoke to link him to violence at the Capitol. He has requested to intervene in President Trump’s case as well.
On the third day of the trial, the petitioners finished up and the intervenors — President Trump and the CO GOP — called Kash Patel as their first witness. Some excitement followed that made me part of the story, but that’s unimportant theater and will be dealt with accordingly.
The intervenors presented an ironclad case, meticulously refuting every claim by the petitioners. The judge is expected to hear closing arguments on November 15. The matter must be resolved by December 29, according to the Colorado election timeline, and whoever loses is expected to appeal.
The First Amendment and the Will of the People are on trial in this case. Every Colorado voter should pay attention.
Ashe Epp is a writer and activist. You can find all her work at Linktree.com/asheinamerica
by Ashe in America | Oct 20, 2023 | Feature Story Bottom Left
ASHE IN AMERICA — OPINION
Last month, I published “Winter is Coming for Vulnerable Navajo Communities Near Cortez, Colorado,” about the Democrat City Council of Cortez wedging itself in between a life-and-death agreement between two indigenous parties. As politicians signaled virtuous support for indigenous peoples on October 9, their incompetence is creating a double energy crisis for some of the most vulnerable indigenous people in the region.
And they’re calling it an environmental win.
Tony Moore and Mary Lancaster, owners of Industrial Log Company (ILC), attempted for over two years to relaunch their log home manufacturing business in Tony’s hometown of Cortez, Colorado. Local ignorance of city officials and old baggage with local activists created headaches for Tony and Mary, including lost revenue and false allegations. Read the full story here: https://asheinamerica.substack.com/p/winter-is-coming-for-vulnerable-navajo.
When the city rejected the ILC zoning, the Cortez Journal and The Four Corners Free Press claimed the decision was a victory in environmentalism.
What Is A Double Energy Crisis?
The Navajo community on the reservation, the Dine’, live traditionally, with the land. They use seasoned firewood for heat in the winter. They used to use coal until the environmentalists succeeded in getting the local coal mine closed some years back. Firewood must be seasoned, or aged, and then gathered, split, and delivered to the many communities on the reservation.
But for many on the reservation, transportation is also an issue. The lack of access to fuel (wood) combined with transportation limitations, is what researchers refer to as a “double energy crisis.” Many elderly Dine’ don’t have family to manage the wood deliveries, making them some of the most vulnerable residents of the region. According to locals, it’s not uncommon to see elderly woman by the side of the road in mid-winter, gathering twigs for their primitive stoves.
When some indigenous U.S. veterans joined Tony for a tour of his operation, these two stories collided.
Byproduct Or Commodity?
ILC’s log home manufacturing yields an important byproduct: Firewood. The product is already seasoned, and ILC has the operational capabilities to split and deliver enough wood for all 20 Chapter Houses, meeting the critical needs of the vulnerable Dine’ elders.
Tony is a registered tribal Cherokee, and he and Mary know the struggles for the Navajo created by the double energy crisis. They had been working on contracting with the Chapter Houses to deliver their byproduct as firewood, and both sides were excited about the deal.
There was only one problem. The white City Council members demanded that, since the byproduct was now going to be considered firewood, that Tony and Mary’s property needed to be rezoned as industrial. So, why they can’t just re-zone the property and get on with it?
City zoning often results in unintended consequences, but this zoning dispute is creating a humanitarian crisis. Tony and Mary planned to fulfill the contract with the Navajo as a tax-deductible nonprofit activity delivered through Tony and Mary’s for-profit company. They cannot run the firewood distribution charitably since the zoning fiasco; public notice timelines for permits now prevent it.
Deprivation Of Rights Under Color Of Law
Section 242 of Title 18 makes it a crime for a person, acting under color of any law, to willfully deprive a person of a right or privilege. One such protection is “use by right,” and it applies to the normal course of business activities between ILC and the Navajo. Title 18, Section 242, is a federal law, but it explicitly applies to local governments. It’s a matter of civil rights.
Rachel Marchbanks, a City of Cortez staff member, filed a police complaint against ILC on April 29. This was a Saturday, outside of working hours, and she used her official title. It also appears that there are two co-conspirators, also acting under color of law to obstruct the native’s use by right.
Marchbanks used her official authority, outside of business hours, to interfere with “use by right” protections of two indigenous parties engaging in the normal course of business. She acted under the color of law — her official authority — with catastrophic winter consequences for those on the reservation.
But I’m sure they had lovely virtue signals on indigenous people’s day.
Ashe Epp is a writer and activist. You can find all her work at Linktree.com/asheinamerica
by Ashe in America | Sep 26, 2023 | Feature Story Bottom Left
ASHE IN AMERICA
OPINION
Our republican form of government requires representation. When the US Congress first convened in 1789, each congressman represented about 33,000 constituents. Now that number has grown to over 700,000, so it’s no wonder many of us feel we are not being adequately represented.
Take my Congressman, Republican Representative Ken Buck (CO-04). During the 2020 campaign season, as I was knocking doors and making calls for President Trump, I was also encouraging voters to re-elect Mr. Buck. I am embarrassed about this now. Over the past three years, Buck has consistently sided with the regime over his constituents.
On a GOP-wide virtual call on December 2, 2020, Buck attempted to pacify Colorado voters by stating:
“It is so important that people have confidence in their elections, and that people understand that in Colorado — I can’t speak for other states, but in Colorado — we’re doing it the right way and we have confidence in our election results.”
Buck continues to double down on Colorado’s elections, despite the evidence revealed in the Mesa County Forensic Reports One, Two, and Three, the USEIP Colorado Canvassing Report, and the April 24, 2021 system vulnerabilities report.
This evidence is public, and Buck has access to all of it. He ignores it, and he continues to peddle the regime’s messaging about 2020 being the safest and most secure election in history.
Strike One: Ken Buck believes Joe Biden is legitimate and that he received 81 million real, lawful, American votes.
Earlier this month, Buck spoke to CNN’s Jake Tapper and declared that he would not be supporting the upcoming impeachment inquiry. His reasoning for this was shocking:
“They are looking to see if there is a connection with Joe Biden. If they reach that point where they could find evidence of a connection, fine. I think that the Republicans will move forward with an impeachment inquiry. Right now, I’m not convinced that that evidence exists. And I’m not supporting an impeachment inquiry.”
Since the Marco Polo Biden Laptop Report was published, every member of Congress received the report multiple times. The report details 459 violations of US law by Hunter, James, and, yes, Joe Biden, going back several years.
The laptop has been authenticated, as affirmed by the NY Times, but Buck is not convinced that there is evidence of Biden’s corruption.
Strike Two: Ken Buck denies Biden’s corruption, despite repeatedly being sent evidence of Biden’s corruption.
Buck’s latest viral moment denying reality is the most egregious.
Todd Watkins is a veteran, a retired US Border Patrol Chief, and the current Vice Chairman of the El Paso County GOP. On August 21, Watkins sent a letter to the Colorado Republican Party, regarding the treatment of the January 6 political prisoners. More than 200 Coloradans, many of them Republican officials, signed on in support of the letter.
On September 1, 2023, Ken Buck responded, claiming that Watkins, “makes a number of factually incorrect claims, and then proceeds to overstate the threat to our Republic based on these false claims.”
The threat to our Republic in 2023 cannot be overstated, but Buck claims that J6ers:
Had charging and detention decisions by the book.
Received the exact same treatment as all other inmates.
Were not denied medical treatment.
Were not denied contact with counsel.
Did not have their rights violated.
For these false claims, Buck cites AP News, The Guardian, NY Times, CBS News, Just Security, and CBS WUSA9. All of Buck’s claims are provably false; subscribe to my substack for a much longer piece breaking down all Buck’s claims in detail.
That a so-called conservative would place so much trust in the mainstream media as to condone civil liberty and human rights violations of Americans is stunning.
Strike Three: Ken Buck believes J6 was an insurrection and condones the civil and human rights atrocities against J6ers.
Effective Representation demands truth. By denying the truth about the election, Biden’s corruption, and the J6 operation, Buck disqualifies himself and disserves those he represents.
Should Ken Buck decide to run again, he must be defeated after failing his constituents for so many years.
Last time I checked, we are still in America. In America, three strikes mean you’re out.
Ashe Epp is a writer and activist. You can find all her work at Linktree.com/asheinamerica
by Ashe in America | Aug 28, 2023 | Feature Story Bottom Left
ASHE IN AMERICA — OPINION
At the GOP State Central Committee meeting on August 5, the new Finance Committee read out their first Financial Report. While last month I speculated about the obstruction, the report’s findings paint a more corrupt and scandalous picture.
The election took place on March 11, and the (peaceful) transfer of power was expected to begin immediately. The Finance Committee got started on April 1, but they didn’t gain access to the financial accounts of the party until April 14 when four accounts were turned over by the prior administration, which withheld access for more than a month. But that’s not all.
In early May, as the new team was preparing to file their April FEC report, the new finance team discovered additional accounts that were not previously disclosed. I will refer to these three additional accounts as the “hidden accounts.” The new administration was added to these accounts on May 4, nearly two months after they assumed the leadership of the party.
If that doesn’t convince you the prior administration was obstructing the new leadership, consider that access to the party’s QuickBooks account was never turned over. It still hasn’t been. The new administration received an older version of QuickBooks from the accountant on May 12, but it is not the most up to date, and there is critical information missing.
What information? Well, as I reported last month, the prior administration paid themselves bonuses after suffering a horrifying defeat in the 2022 midterms. The December 2022 statement indicated a “payroll bonus” of $45,000.00, but the specifics of how this sum —comprising nearly half of the previously reported funds — was distributed.
Those specifics would need to be pulled from the payroll system. You can guess what happened next. The payroll administrator is refusing to turn over the access information, and the payroll company, iSolvedHCM, is refusing to grant access to the new administration.
My sources in the GOP will not name the administrator. They would only describe her —– they used female pronouns — as a “long time employee” of the party who represented “the institutional memory that served multiple administrations.”
As for the payroll company, it took the new party leadership significant digging to even determine who the vendor was, and they had to threaten them legally to get the W-2 and 941 tax forms required to file the party’s taxes. To date, they still refuse to send the ledger, so the specifics of outgoing funds remain a mystery. The administrator still refuses to share the username and password.
It’s clearly obstruction — but not just obstruction. There is evidence of corruption —waste, fraud, and abuse.
Waste: The party was paying nearly $800/mo for three storage units that were mostly empty. One of the storage units appears to be full of garbage from the images. That’s $9,600 per year in wasted funds!
Fraud: The day before the election, emails show that the statements for the health insurance were changed to go to the administrator’s home address, and the financial account was changed to one of the hidden accounts. The administrator prepaid a year of insurance premiums, at a time when there were no employees, and then hid the transactions and the statements. The premiums were also significantly larger.
Abuse: In the month of April, an undisclosed person charged hundreds of dollars to the party’s FedEx account. There was no activity from the new administration, no official party business that explains these charges. This person appeared to be using the account for personal reasons more than a month after the election. Was this a common practice during the prior administration?
My sources declined to comment on whether they will bring legal action against the prior administration. They are focused on restoring the party to the people and cleaning up the financial mess left by Kristi Burton Brown and her team.
But make no mistake that it’s a scandalous mess. The new administration had to explicitly make a new rule that, “No employee writes a check to her/himself again.” Hard to imagine a serious professional environment with such a practice. No wonder the Colorado GOP has failed Republican voters for years.
It remains to be seen if the new leadership can restore the public’s trust.
Ashe Epp is a writer and activist. You can find all her work at Linktree.com/asheinamerica
