by Ashe in America | Jan 19, 2023 | Feature Story Bottom Left
ASHE IN AMERICA — OPINION
The U.S. House of Representatives of the 118th Congress made history and headlines by taking four days and 15 rounds of voting to elect the Speaker of the House.
The nation was captivated by the affair, which took place from January 2-8. C-SPAN averaged 1.2 million viewers, Fox News 1.4 million, MSNBC 950,000 and CNN 740,000. Washington Post’s livestream on YouTube has 1.2 million views and counting. PBS was close to 800,000.
ESPN finished second in overall ratings with 1.2 million viewers. A congressional proceeding had more viewers than sports.
In contrast, the livestream of the vote for the Speaker of the House of Representatives for the 74th Colorado General Assembly had a little over 2,000 views. The proceeding took place on January 9, 2023.
For years, the Democrat Party in Colorado’s legislature has enjoyed a super majority, and this Assembly is no different. With a majority of 46 to 19, no matter how the Republicans vote, the Democrats will prevail. They have more than double the votes they need. The Republicans have no power and, with that margin, little influence.
They have only principle.
During the uniparty performance, Democrat Julie McCluskie (HD-13) and Republican Scott Bottoms (HD-15) were both nominated for the presiding position.
Republican Ken DeGraff (HD-22) nominated Bottoms, who is the Pastor of Briargate Church in Colorado Springs, a reserved and thoughtful community leader, a PhD, and a candidate behind which any Republican could symbolically align.
In his speech accepting the nomination, which he inexplicably had to “second” himself, Bottoms said:
“I believe that it is important that we stand on our principles, and we stand on our values. If the roles of this were reversed, and the super majority was Republican, I would expect a Democrat to nominate a Democrat and vote for a Democrat… My Republican voters sent me here to vote for Republicans, and that’s what we’re trying to put forward today: That we stand on principle, and we stand on Republican values.”
The Republicans didn’t plan to nominate anyone. The status quo dictated that they just vote for the Democrat and move on. These two freshmen Representatives put the uniparty in the spotlight and, better, they did it with a recorded vote.
When the vote took place, 11 out of 19 Republicans voted for Representative, now Speaker, Julie McCluskie. Republican Minority Leader Mike Lynch (HD-65) even seconded her nomination.
For over a decade, our state’s Republican Party has hemorrhaged support. It used to be that the party establishment and elected officials would pretend to hold Republican values. Or any values.
Instead of voting for the Republican in a strong show of unity to their constituents, and the opposition, Republicans once again split the vote.
During the 2022 election season, the Republican Party pretended to support conservative values. They claimed to be principled leaders. They feigned belief in the party platform.
Worse, they gaslit right-leaning voters to come together and align behind the Republican candidates — no matter what. Uniparty Republicans admonished America First, grassroots conservatives that they must “unite and heal the Republican party,” and that “a bad Republican is better than a good Democrat.” Don’t split the vote!
Grassroots Republicans running for office were eviscerated just for running, for not bending the knee, for not supporting whoever’s turn the party decided it was. They were eviscerated for entering the arena during a time of peak government corruption and mistrust.
This vote was these Republicans’ first official action, after all that gaslighting got them “elected.” In that first action, 11 Republicans voted for the Democrat. No matter how these Republicans vote, the Democrat will win, so this vote is purely symbolic.
Symbolically, 11 Republicans cast votes to reject traditional Republican principles; that is, conservative principles.
In other words, a Christian Conservative Pastor is a non-starter for Colorado Republicans, even in a purely symbolic, unity vote.
Symbolic or material, this vote was revealing for right-leaning voters.
Bottoms concluded with, “We’re not going to have any power this session… But we do have principles, and that’s what we’re going to be standing upon.”
The principle of the matter is Colorado Republican legislators are only “Republican” when they’re campaigning.
Is it any wonder they keep losing?
Ashe Epp is a writer and election integrity activist. Read her work at asheinamerica.com and follow her on Telegram and other socials @asheinamerica.
by Ashe in America | Dec 16, 2022 | Feature Story Bottom Left
OPINION
I published in February 2022 that the Executive Branch of the Colorado Government monitors the social media of journalists and citizen activists. It sounded far-fetched and was quickly dismissed.
However, now the Twitter Files and various legal discoveries are exposing coordinated censorship between technology companies and federal, state, and local governments. The Executive Branch of the Colorado Government, led in this by Secretary of State Jena Griswold, has some explaining to do.
I am one of those citizens and journalists that was surveilled. In February of 2022, I learned that Secretary of State Jena Griswold submitted a Telegram post as evidence in an official election order against Douglas County Clerk Merlin Klotz. The forwarded post was about Clerk Klotz preserving election records in my county.
At the time, I had around 300 Telegram followers. I was confounded at how an uninvolved party sharing someone else’s post on Telegram rose to meet any official standard of evidence. I didn’t write the post; my only involvement was writing about the substance of the post. Why was the State Department monitoring a 300-follower Telegram channel?
Months prior, Secretary Griswold implemented rules that reshaped electoral oversight — despite historic public opposition. At that time, I rejoined Twitter to voice my opposition to the rules. I tagged her several times. My account lasted approximately two weeks before it was suspended with no reason or explanation.
Now we know, and I want an explanation.
As I write this, the Twitter Files are being released, a steady and explosive flow of internal documents, Slack threads, and emails from inside Twitter’s operation to “combat misinformation.” These recent disclosures implicate not only the embattled social publisher and its key executives, but multiple federal agencies and the offices of state and local elected officials.
In terms of federal involvement, we now know that Twitter’s “safety” chief was meeting weekly with the Director of National Intelligence, Department of Homeland Security, and Federal Bureau of Investigation to address what they claim was “election misinformation” — before the 2020 election.
For state and local, thanks to documents discovered in Missouri v. Biden, we now know that Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs and her team were working with their Twitter contacts, as well as pseudo governmental entities, to manipulate public opinion and silence opposition, elections in which Hobbs was both in charge of the process and on the ballot.
“Congratulations to my friend @katiehobbs and to the State of Arizona!” Griswold tweeted on November 14, almost a week after the midterms. The two globalist Secretaries often appear together and are championed for their roles in battling “election deniers.”
Griswold and Hobbs share and compare notes.
In a document obtained through an open record request dated July 15, 2021, Colorado State Department CIO Trevor Timmons instructs County Clerks that their most important role in combatting misinformation is to be, “The Trusted Source.”
The document directs them to prioritize securing their blue check marks on Twitter, and State offers to help. There is coordination between Griswold/State and Twitter.
Colorado Citizens Want Answers
The recent disclosures are not isolated incidents of corporations and government serendipitously and heroically aligning to fight a common threat — no matter what The Narrative claims.
Based on what we now know, this surveillance appears systemic and nationwide. The Colorado Executive Branch needs to answer some questions:
Who else is Secretary Griswold surveilling? Her political opponents? Critical journalists?
Our digital lives are an extension of ourselves. Is Secretary Griswold directing technology companies to use digital force against the targets of her surveillance?
Does Secretary Griswold engage with federal intelligence and/or law enforcement as part of her citizen surveillance activities? Does she take direction from them?
Are Timmons’ efforts to combat “misinformation” and “disinformation” a (shallow) cover for surveilling and censoring criticism from Griswold’s political opposition? From her constituents?
In the words of one Twitter executive, the coordinated suppression of free Americans’ ideas and information is, “what this was all designed for and a huge positive for the platform.”
It was designed to work this way. It is being exposed. Will the Colorado Executive Branch engage in further cover-up?
The cover-up is always worse than the crime.
Happy New Year!
All references are available at asheinamerica.com.
Ashe Epp is a writer and election integrity activist. Read her work at asheinamerica.com and follow her on Telegram and other socials @asheinamerica.
by Ashe in America | Nov 17, 2022 | Feature Story Bottom Left
The 2022 midterm results defy logic and critical thinking. Despite the absolute state of the union this midterm was, by the numbers, “The Night of the Incumbent.”
In October, the NY Times was publicly stunned by their Siena College poll, revealing that most voters are most worried about government corruption: That the government is not working on behalf of the people.
They were stunned because the concern was paramount for 68% of voters and it was an open-ended question. To accept the 2022 midterm results, you must accept that those most concerned about government corruption voted to keep the government in place.
As I write this, Congresswoman Lauren Boebert is leading her race for Congressional District 3. It is unclear why the alleged “Gold Standard of Elections” cannot efficiently count votes on election night, especially since the holdup in this contest appears to be Pueblo County where Secretary of State Jena Griswold appointed an Election Supervisor. Per last month’s ruling against Elbert County Clerk & Recorder Dallas Schroeder, the Election Supervisor appointment puts Secretary Griswold in charge of the county’s elections. And so we wait for Secretary Griswold to give us the “results.”
In a pre-midterm press conference, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said of counting delays that, “This is how this is supposed to work.”
You would think that such White House confidence combined with Colorado State Department’s oversight would ensure smooth elections. Things aren’t going smoothly, and we’re being gaslit about it (again).
From the local NBC affiliate four days after election day, “‘Why is it taking so long to count the ballots?’ As Gilbert ‘Bo’ Ortiz, the Pueblo County Clerk and Recorder, said, ‘It could be because we’re American and we want instant gratification.’”
“This is how this is supposed to work.” Don’t question it, denier.
Keep in mind that the people telling us the delays, glitches, issues, and ambiguity are expected, are the same people that sold Americans electronic voting equipment in the name of efficiency and transparency. These are the same people that sold us mass mail-in voting with the single security control of signature verification which is, according to all honest experts, a Potemkin Village.
As I write this, there is still no official statement released from Secretary Griswold on the issues with CD3. Is it weird that the Colorado midterm’s only known issues happen to be in the race with the state’s sole MAGA candidate?
The political establishment, on both sides, want you to believe they are securing our elections; in reality, they innovated security out of U.S. elections a long time ago.
As the dust settles, establishment Republicans — both those known as establishment and those who are currently making their allegiance known — are taking a victory lap and claiming that the red wave’s failure to materialize is a “referendum on Trumpism” and “we need to move on from MAGA.”
This is silly, of course. The Colorado GOP manipulated or, at the very least influenced, the candidate selection, both at the assembly and during the primary. Party leadership openly mocks the politically active portion of their base while alienating the unaffiliated middle (46%) through authoritarian policy priorities that are irredeemably out of touch with the Colorado electorate.
With the current geo- and socio-political environment, Republicans should have been competitive in Colorado’s Governor and Senate races, even with electronic voting equipment. Unfortunately, Burton Brown picked up the playbook — unpopular candidates with no fight or fire — of her predecessor Ken Buck (CD4), and the party’s high-profile candidates lost by double digits and conceded immediately.
Intentional or incompetence, the Colorado Republican Party is terrible at winning elections.
I posit that this is because they are corrupt, unlikeable, and without political capital or credibility; but whatever the reason, they need to reflect on their failed 2022 midterm strategy, both the theory and the execution.
There is no “moving on from MAGA.” The people want America to be great again which means shaking up the power dynamics obstructing our desired change.
If the GOP hopes for a comeback in the Centennial State, Republicans must find a way to reconnect with voters and rebuild trust.
I’m not holding my breath. They seem quite content in the minority.
Ashe Epp is a writer and election integrity activist. Read her work at asheinamerica.com and follow her on Telegram and other socials @asheinamerica.
by Ashe in America | Oct 21, 2022 | Feature Story Bottom Left
The 2022 midterm election is in progress in Colorado, with ballots distributed and early in-person voting underway.
Our Colorado midterms have been the subject of national news in recent weeks, with Secretary Jena Griswold “accidentally” sending 31,000 registration invitations to ineligible voters. Many have forgotten: She did the same thing prior to the 2020 election, though she defended the action two years ago. Now they now call it a mistake.
Secretary of State — The Denver Post gave a strong endorsement of Secretary Griswold’s opponent, former Jefferson County Clerk and Recorder Pam Anderson, who is also the former Director of the Colorado County Clerks Association and the Executive Director of Mark Zuckerberg’s Center for Tech and Civil Life. She is currently on leave from CTCL to run for Secretary of State.
The Post endorsement tells you everything you need to know about the Secretary of State race: A vote for either major party candidate in this race is effectively a vote for the fraud-denying establishment. Soros (Griswold) or Zuckerberg (Anderson) — that’s the “choice.”
The uniparty wants you to believe these are your only choices, though the American Constitution Party has put up Amanda Campbell and the Libertarians are running Bennett Rutledge. Either is a vote for change.
U.S. Senate — In the Senate race, it’s incumbent Michael Bennett, or Pro-Choice, Never Trumper Joe O’Dea. President Trump came out against Joe O’Dea in October in response to the candidate’s recent attacks against 45.
Pro-Life Libertarian Brian Peotter is also running for Senate in Colorado, and he is the top polling Libertarian in America. Despite Peotter’s popularity, he is being restricted from debating, an obvious attempt to limit his exposure to the people.
Attorney General — For Attorney General, arguably the most important statewide race this election, incumbent Democrat Phil Weiser is facing off against Republican John Kellner, sitting District Attorney for Colorado’s largest judicial district.
Both Weiser and Kellner view the role of AG as protecting the legal interests of the state — based on their actions. For example, Weiser has defended Griswold in litigation between her and other elected officials in the state. Kellner, despite receiving multitudes of reports, petitions, affidavits, and evidence of election fraud in his jurisdiction, has thus far refused to pursue the leads.
During the Republican Assembly and Convention in the spring, former Republican Stanley Thorne won a spot on the primary ballot for AG, but the Republican establishment — led by Kristi Burton Brown, George Brauchler, and Kellner himself — kept Thorne off the ballot. Thorne has qualified for “write-in” status, and voters can simply write “THORNE” into the space indicated on their ballot.
Stanley Thorne is distinct in this race as he has openly committed to prosecute government corruption and credible claims of election fraud. In a state were nearly 45% of voters are disillusioned with the two parties and unaffiliated, this vote seems like a no-brainer.
Governor
Then of course, there is the Governor race, where incumbent Democrat Jared Polis is facing off against Republican CU Regent Heidi Ganahl. There is zero excitement for either candidate across the state.
The American Constitution Party is running Danielle Neuschwanger in this race. Remember, the Governor’s results determine major or minor party status in Colorado, and voters need another party choice in our state. Bonus points for banishing the Republicans to minor status with less than 10%.
This is usually the point where I get screamed at: “You’ll split the vote!”
When either party runs terrible candidates, that’s the argument. “You MUST vote D or R or you’re handing the election to the other party!”
As the 2010 gubernatorial race proved, independent and third party candidates are more popular in our state than Republicans. By more than 200% in 2010 — and Republican popularity has nose-dived since.
You Have Options — Election day turnout breaks their algorithm so be sure to cast your vote in person on election day — not via mail or drop box.
The parties want you to think you have no choice. All D and R statewide candidates are unpopular, so they rely on fear of “splitting the vote” to convince you that you have no choice.
But you do. You have options when it comes to your representation. Choose wisely.
Ashe Epp is a writer and election integrity activist. Read her work at asheinamerica.com and follow her on Telegram and other socials @asheinamerica.
by Ashe in America | Sep 28, 2022 | Feature Story Bottom Left
OPINION
There is an ongoing legal battle for Colorado elections. Despite being wholly ignored by the uniparty establishment, the saga is highlighting the inequities in Colorado’s legal system and reemphasizing criticisms of our state’s elections.
Here’s the premise: Not a single “Top Line Candidate” made the 2022 general election ballot following the June 28th Colorado Primary.
Top line candidate refers to a candidate with the majority votes during the party’s caucus and assembly prior to the primary. The Colorado Republican Assembly was more highly attended than any in recent history, with many of the establishment favorites, such as Olympian Eli Bremer, failing to achieve the 30% vote threshold for the contest. Party energy was high.
In the months since, establishment Republicans have called for an end to caucus, that is, an end to the local party members selecting their candidates through live community forums, beginning at the precinct. Candidates can alternately qualify for the ballot via petition, though candidates with the highest vote totals in caucus earn top billing on the primary ballot — indicating their favor with the party’s most engaged voters.
In El Paso County, only those establishment candidates that petitioned were able to make the primary ballot — they failed at assembly. Then most of them won the primary. Head scratching was followed by outrage which led to calls for a recount.
Six local candidates for various legislative and county offices were joined in their recount demands by statewide candidates Tina Peters and Ron Hanks. To secure their recounts, the candidates engaged in a confusing process where Secretary Griswold and Clerk Broerman appeared to be improvising as they went.
To secure the recount, candidates were given impossible time frames — reportedly 24-hours for some — to deliver massive sums, ranging from $20K to $200K+ per candidate. In the end, only four candidates met the demands: Tina Peters (Secretary of State), Peter Lupia (County Clerk & Recorder), Lynda Zamora Wilson (State Senate), and Dr. Rae Ann Weber (County Coroner).
The recount was tumultuous, beginning with an over 50% error rate during the Logic and Accuracy Test. This was explained away, despite the fact that there were overt statute violations during the test. For example, C.R.S. § 1-10.5-102(3)(a) reads:
“Prior to any recount, the canvass board shall choose at random and test voting devices used in the candidate race, ballot issue, or ballot question that is the subject of the recount. The board shall use the voting devices it has selected to conduct a comparison of the machine count of the ballots counted on each such voting device for the candidate race, ballot issue, or ballot question to the corresponding manual count of the VOTER VERIFIED paper records.”
The test was not conducted using Voter Verified paper records. It was conducted using test ballots that were created for that explicit purpose. During the recount, batches were run through the same tabulators as the original count. This decision reinforces the concern that tabulator programming can impact election counts. Why didn’t the county run the ballots through a different tabulator to assuage this concern?
One of the most shocking events during the recount was an election worker, caught on video, modifying original, signed batch labels so that the original label matched the recounted label. The video was raised and the election worker was later dismissed, but the issue was never mentioned as the County and State officials congratulated themselves for a “successful recount.”
These are just some of the reasons these El Paso candidates have been seeking remedy. They have filed four legal actions which have all been outright denied, without an examination of the evidence. On September 14, Colorado’s highest court denied their petition, for the second time.
The candidate’s next stop is the U.S. Supreme Court. More information is at colora dorecount.com.
No court has ruled yet on the evidence of election fraud, in Colorado, or around the nation. The administrative reasons for dismissing petitioners are many, from standing, to impossible procedural deadlines, and many others. Never the evidence.
I asked the candidates’ legal team why they continue this fight.
“We have a duty, as futile as it may seem, to exhaust our remedies,” was the response received.
And ourselves, it would seem.
Ashe Epp is a writer and election integrity activist. Read her work at asheinamerica.com and follow her on Telegram and other socials @asheinamerica.
by Ashe in America | Aug 26, 2022 | Feature Story Bottom Left
ASHE IN AMERICA
OPINION
Around the country, Republican Party establishments are publicly taking a victory lap. There’s going to be a “RED WAVE!” they exclaim. They’re going to reclaim the seats of power and set all things right in the world.
Privately, they are begging for unity and hemorrhaging support.
While the Republican establishment pats itself on the back, voter support for the Republican party is the lowest it’s been all year. According to Rasmussen polling, the Generic Congressional Ballot is now within three points, down two from the prior report.
“…Republicans have a three-point lead in their bid to recapture control of Congress. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that, if the elections for Congress were held today, 46% of Likely U.S. Voters would vote for the Republican candidate, while 43% would vote for the Democrat. Just four percent (4%) would vote for some other candidate, but another eight percent (8%) are not sure.”
How Did That Happen?
I say it’s the primaries. Allegations of electronic manipulation and detection of algorithms have occurred in every primary that has been completed to date. In El Paso County, as I’ve reported on asheinamerica.com, the recount saw multiple statute violations, broken chain of custody, significant tabulator issues, election workers changing chain of custody documentation to match the recount (on video), and election workers being dismissed by the county for what, allegedly, amounts to obstruction.
Secretary of State Jena Griswold says everything I just said is disinformation. It’s on video, and you can see it with your own eyes, but you’re forgetting about the golden magical fairy dust of modern elections. It walks like fraud and talks like fraud but totally isn’t fraud.
How, you ask? Don’t be an election denier.
The algorithms that show obvious margin control — statistically impossible margin control for randomized behavior like elections. The broken chain of custody captured on video. The cover up of the broken chain of custody (without investigation as required) also captured on video.
All of that is a normal part of our elections. It just looks like fraud. But — pinky promise — it totally isn’t.
But Kari Lake Won — Obviously There Is No Election Fraud!
Kari Lake is involved in litigation against her opponent in the contest, the current Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, for a temporary injunction barring the use of electronic voting systems in the November election.
During the hearing on a motion to dismiss, the judge specifically asked the plaintiffs why their case did not explicitly include the primary election. Their response was that it did include the primaries, but that they recognized the practical reality of their proximity to the primary.
Lake won every Arizona county. Her victory was uncertain on election night, and Maricopa County stopped counting again.
Stopping counting on election night is a new phenomenon that first happened (practically in unison across multiple states) in the 2020 election. That was the first time we ever saw “edison zero” occur, where all state results were reset to zero and brought back online with the leads inverted.
Stopping counting is normal, see; it happens all the time (now). It’s not fraud, it’s just that golden magical fairy dust. DEBUNKED!
My hypothesis is that Lake’s win will be used to throw out the injunction against the machines. Bonus points for continuing to normalize machine issues as “just part of the system.”
About That Red Wave
Back to the polling, here in Colorado, GOP Chair Kristi Burton Brown is really excited about her slate of candidates, while unsuccessfully, transparently begging for unity.
The red wave is poisoned with establishment candidates who want to maintain the status quo of state power. Believing the primary results requires that you believe Republican voters want to maintain this status quo.
That’s a no for me and, according to this poll, voters agree. What changed?
The Generic Congressional Ballot isn’t that generic anymore.
As voters see the candidates, support for Republicans is shrinking.
There may be a “Red Wave” in November. The Republicans may retake the Congress, hold investigations, and make strongly worded statements.
Our level of representation, however, will not change.
Ashe Epp is a writer and election integrity activist. Read her work at asheinamerica.com and follow her on Telegram and other socials @asheinamerica.
