by Corinne Murdock | Oct 20, 2021 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
Ron Watkins – a prominent proponent of mass election fraud theories and the ex-administrator of 8chan, the site where the QAnon conspiracy theory originated – announced his run for Arizona’s district one congressional seat last week. He reportedly filed his first FEC report on Sunday.
Watkins recorded a video to announce his run outside of Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich’s office, congratulating Brnovich for investigating issues alleged by Cyber Ninjas in their final report of Maricopa County’s election processes. Since relocating to Arizona from Japan this year, Watkins has attempted to meet with Brnovich in person to discuss election fraud.
In his video, Watkins also claimed that the election was stolen from previous President Donald Trump. He promised to fix this by taking down the “dirtiest Democrat” in the “D.C. Swamp”: Congressman Tom O’Halleran (D-AZ-01), who Watkins called “Tom O’Hooligan.”
“I have decided to double down with God as my compass to take this fight to the swamp of Washington, D.C.,” asserted Watkins.
Watkins focused his brief message on rallying support from mainstream Republicans, Trump supporters, and evangelicals.
Watkins’s Twitter account, @CodeMonkeyZ, was suspended on January 8 along with accounts belonging to former federal prosecutor Sidney Powell, and Mike Flynn, the retired Army lieutenant general who briefly served as National Security Advisor for Trump. In a statement, Twitter explained that those accounts and others like them would be permanently suspended for violating their Coordinated Harmful Activity policy.
“We’ve been clear that we will take strong enforcement action on behavior that has the potential to lead to offline harm, and given the renewed potential for violence surrounding this type of behavior that has the potential to lead to offline harm, and given the renewed potential for violence surrounding this type of behavior in the coming days, we will permanently suspend accounts that are solely dedicated to sharing QAnon content,” wrote Twitter.
Watkins has platforms on Telegram and Gab.
The mass Twitter suspensions were part of a sweeping effort to eliminate certain rhetoric and content following the January 6 riot at the Capitol. Less than a week after the incident, Twitter removed over 70,000 accounts.
Certain prominent Republicans also supportive of the mass election fraud theory have run in some of the same circles as Watkins.
Gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake posed for a picture with Watkins last week, which Watkins posted with the claim that they’d shared dinner together. Lake didn’t post the picture. VICE News reporter David Gilbert claimed that Lake had dinner with Watkins, linking to an article he wrote relying on Watkins’s claim. VICE News also included a statement from Lake saying that she didn’t have dinner with Watkins.
In response to Gilbert’s tweet, Lake reiterated that she hadn’t dined with Watkins and that the picture was taken during an outreach event with over 75 voters in attendance. It is unclear if the article was updated after Lake’s tweet – no editor’s note or disclaimer was published.
“Hey Loser, Be a REAL journalist and contact the people you are writing hit-pieces on. I didn’t eat dinner at this event. I spoke with 75+ voters about my plans for AZ. Why are Leftists infatuated [with] this group? I hang out [with] Conservatives all day – no one ever talks about it,” wrote Lake. “I’d recommend an immediate correction to your propaganda piece and an apology to me and the rest of the world for your s****y reporting.”
In August, Watkins attended MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell’s “cyber symposium” discussing mass voter fraud theories, where State Senators Wendy Rogers (R-Flagstaff) and Sonny Borrelli (R-Lake Havasu), as well as State Representative Mark Finchem (R-Oro Valley) took the stage. Watkins has shown great support for Rogers as of late.
Prior to December 2020, Watkins ran a user messaging board site, 8chan, owned by his father, Jim Watkins, and the birthplace of the “QAnon” conspiracy theory. The individual behind it, “Q,” claimed that a secret cabal of Satanic, cannibalistic pedophiles operate a child sex trafficking ring worldwide. Adherents also believe that this cabal and Trump were warring secretly; the cabal worked to undermine the previous president while Trump planned for a massive sting operation of the cabal.
Last week, Watkins announced publicly that QAnon doesn’t exist. Prior to this public denial, some rumored Watkins to be Q – speculations deepened by an HBO documentary released earlier this year.
“The fake news media continues to insist that I am part of some QANON conspiracy. As we all know, there is no QANON,” wrote Watkins. “What does exist are the many hardworking, God-fearing people who are breaking tyranny’s grasp over our Country.”
Controversial content isn’t new for Watkins or his father. The father-son duo were subpoenaed by the House of Homeland Security in 2019 to testify about “violent extremist content” that existed on their platform. Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-MS-02) claimed that there were least three acts of “deadly white supremacist extremist violence” that could be linked to 8chan that year, alluding to three mass shootings that had occurred.
The elder Watkins defended platform content the committee classified as “hate speech” as protected speech under the First Amendment. As for illegal content, Watkins assured the committee that moderators deleted the content as promptly as possible.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by Terri Jo Neff | Oct 19, 2021 | News
By Terri Jo Neff |
When Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich met Monday with stakeholders including Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels for an updated tour of the Arizona / Mexico border, he learned nothing has improved in the last 10 months.
Brnovich took part in an in-person briefing near Bisbee to discuss options for forcing or cajoling the federal government into acknowledging and then dealing with the border crisis which has seen hundreds of thousands of people from more the 160 countries cross into the southwest U.S. with little success by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials, including the U.S. Border Patrol, in stopping them.
In an interview with AZ Free News after his border visit, Brnovich said the Biden Administration could make a significant and immediate impact simply by following existing federal laws. That includes deporting the more than 1 million non-citizen convicted felons and others who are the subject an Order of Removal.
Brnovich said deportations could start up very quickly, and would “send a signal that we will enforce our laws.” But instead, the White House continues to incentivize illegal border crossings while signaling “there are no consequences for breaking America’s laws,” he said.
Pushing for deportations is not something new for Brnovich or other state attorneys general. In January, President Joe Biden was asked to reverse an Inauguration Day order imposing a 100-day moratorium on most deportations. Under a 1996 law, such deportations should occur within 90 days of an immigrant receiving an Order of Removal.
According to Brnovich, the Biden deportation moratorium violated a law which went in effect in the waning days of Donald Trump’s presidency to require the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to provide a six-month notice to the State of Arizona before any immigration policies could be changed.
Brnovich also says he is concerned about the long-term effects of such lax immigration laws, which he called “the most important issue” facing the United States. And he worries that Arizonans and Americans “are becoming numb” to the statistics about the historic levels of unlawful immigration activities.
“The border crisis has the potential to negatively impact our country for generations,” he said. “It could alter the trajectory of our Nation. And it’s a tragedy in the clearest sense that it is preventable.”
Which is why the attorney general said it is important for lawmakers, politicians, and law enforcement officials from across the state to “get out of Maricopa County and see what is going on at the border.”
The border crisis is also why Brnovich finds it frustrating that the Biden Administration repeatedly demonstrates the rule of law no longer means anything. That leaves taxpayers to foot the bills.
“It is a fundamental unfairness,” he said, one which Sen. Mark Kelly “could stop tomorrow.”
According to the attorney general, all Kelly has to do to announce to Biden that border security and immigration must be addressed now.
“If Senator Kelly cared at all regarding Arizona, he would not do anything else until the border crisis is addressed,” Brnovich said. “There is nothing more consequential for Arizona. There is nothing more urgent and pressing than stopping this crisis.”
by Terri Jo Neff | Oct 19, 2021 | News
By Terri Jo Neff |
Last week’s announcement that Arizona Corporation Commissioner Justin Olson is joining the already crowded list of Republicans seeking the party’s nomination to take on U.S. Senator Mark Kelly in November 2022 is drawing attention to the basic economic reality of supply and demand.
Olson’s jump into the race occurred as several of his opponents filed their Third Quarter 2021 campaign committee report of receipts and expenditures.
One of those is Jim Lamon, a utility company executive and political newcomer who reported nearly $133,000 in contributions in Q3. That brought his total campaign receipts to $356,363 as of Sept. 30, nearly 90 percent of Lamon’s contributions have come from WinRed, a Virginia-based political action committee which distributes earmarked contributions to candidates and committees.
His Q3 report also lists $5 million in loans to the campaign which Lamon has guaranteed. As of Sept. 30, the campaign has spent more than $1.7 million. The ability to self-finance his campaign means Lamon, has more time to spent at in-person events in an effort increase his name recognition.
Mick McGuire, Arizona’s recently retired Arizona National Guard adjutant general, submitted his Q3 report showing $200,404 in new contributions, for a campaign total of about $427,000. Of that, more than $155,000 came from WinRed.
McGuire has also made or guaranteed almost $2.5 million in loans to his campaign since it started, of which $49,500 was dated in Q3. The campaign spent about $335,000 during Q3, nearly 93 percent of all disbursements to date.
Another candidate, Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, listed just under $559,000 in new contributions in his Q3 report, upping his campaign total to almost $1 million as of Sept. 30. Of that, more than $620,000 has come from WinRed. Brnovich also reported disbursements through Sept. 30 of $486,760.
Another 13 Republicans have announced plans to vie for the nomination to challenge Kelly but none are seen as viable candidates. Although there have been few public endorsements yet for the Republican candidates for U.S. Senate, the Q3 reports offered a few clues as to current support.
According to Brnovich’s Q3 filing, he has received contributions from Mike Bailey, the former U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona, as well as the Otoe Missoura Tribe of Oklahoma, while Lamon reported contributions from Senate Audit Liaison Ken Bennett and Look Ahead America’s Executive Director Matt Braynard.
McGuire’s report shows financial support from Kathleen Winn of the Maricopa County Community College District and venture capitalist Todd Belfer. However, Masters has the most impressive supporter thanks to his boss, billionaire and PayPayl founder Peter Thiel.
It is Thiel who contributed $10 million to a political action committee called Saving Arizona to support candidates like Masters.
by Corinne Murdock | Oct 19, 2021 | Education, News
By Corinne Murdock |
Matt Salmon, a Republican gubernatorial candidate and former U.S. Representative for Arizona’s fifth district, asked the Arizona School Board Association (ASBA) to disaffiliate from the National School Board Association (NSBA). His request was prompted by the NSBA’s move against parents protesting and challenging their school boards; the organization asked the Biden Administration in a letter to investigate those parents for “hate group” activity and potential “domestic terrorism.”
Attorney General Merrick Garland complied; he promised that the FBI was on the case.
In his letter to ASBA, Salmon reasoned that ASBA shouldn’t support the NSBA’s attempt to have the Biden Administration intimidate parents by investigating them for domestic terrorism.
“[I]t has become crystal clear to the American people that NSBA’s real problem is with everyday parents who are not okay with what is happening in our classrooms,” wrote Salmon. “The bottom line is that I find NSBA’s antagonistic posturing toward concerned parents to be deeply inappropriate and frankly un-American.”
Salmon also asked the ASBA if they consulted about the NSBA’s letter to President Joe Biden ahead of its submission. If they did, he requested to know if they helped edit it.
“I am proud to stand with each and every parent who cares enough to get into this fight for a brighter future, and I hope that efforts will be made by ASBA to reaffirm support for civic engagement in local school board meetings, which cannot be properly achieved until you sever your partnership with NSBA and the poor judgment of its leaders,” concluded Salmon.
Salmon told ASBA that they wouldn’t be leading the pack when it came to withdrawing from the NSBA, noting that Pennsylvania did so last week. He also cited how both Louisiana and Florida’s state chapters condemned the NSBA’s letter.
“TODAY I wrote a letter urging @AzSBA to take immediate steps to withdraw its affiliation with @NSBAPublicEd,” wrote Salmon. “By attempting to intimidate concerned parents, NSBA has disqualified itself from enjoying the benefits of a formal relationship with Arizona.”
ASBA is no longer the only option for school board members. Last week, a coalition of Arizonans launched an alternative to ASBA: the Arizona Coalition of School Board Members (ACSBM). Unlike ASBA, ACSBM offers membership to parents and community members in addition to school board members, and they claim to offer the same caliber of resources and legislative advocacy that ASBA offers currently.
As of press time, ASBA hasn’t issued a public response to Salmon’s letter.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by Terri Jo Neff | Oct 18, 2021 | News
By Terri Jo Neff |
On Sept. 14, Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich sued President Joe Biden in federal court, firing one of the first salvos against a plan to create a national rule forcing private companies with 100 or more employees to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations for their employees or face substantial fines for non-compliance.
Several other state attorneys general are also pushing back, not only threatening legal action but also clarifying to private business owners and their employees that there is no national vaccination mandate at this time.
Biden’s plan announced Sept. 9 would create an emergency rule issued by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). As of today, the closet the mandate has come to reality is an Oct. 12 draft of the emergency rule currently under review by the Office of Management and Budget.
Brnovich’s lawsuit contends a mandate against private businesses is one of the greatest infringements upon individual liberties and separation of powers ever attempted by a President. It also contends that at the same time millions of Arizonans would be forced to get vaccinated to keep their jobs, the White House is allowing throngs of undocumented immigrants into the state without any vaccination requirement.
Also named as defendants are U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas; U.S. Customs and Border Protection Acting Commissioner Troy Miller; and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Acting Commissioner Tae Johnson. There has been no response filed yet in the lawsuit which will be heard in the U.S. District Court in Phoenix.
Another of the attorneys general speaking out about Biden’s plan is Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who said the private employer mandate is “not the way the Constitution works” and that the White House doesn’t have the authority to impose such a rule.
Oklahoma Attorney General John O’Connor is another who is willing to follow Brnovich’s lead with litigation.
“In the event federal emergency rules are issued that place such an unlawful demand upon employers, our office will be joined by other state Attorneys General across the country to quickly sue and seek an injunction against any implementation or enforcement,” O’Connor stated, adding that any Oklahoma employer who mandates a COVID-19 vaccination does so at their own risk.
There is also Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, who wrote a letter to “All Montanans” on Oct. 14 with clarification on Biden’s plan.
“There has been a great deal of confusion following President Biden’s speech regarding vaccines and whether his speech trumps Montana law,” Knudsen wrote, adding that “no such rule or regulation is currently in effect.”
Knudson pointed out it is illegal under Montana state law to discriminate based on vaccination status. He also provided information on who citizens can report violations.
But before the Biden Administration can move closer to imposing a mandate the language of the OSHA rule must be published in the Federal Register for public comment. In the meantime, various legal challenges have been brought against the President over his order that federal workers and military members be vaccinated or risk losing their job.
by AZ Free News | Oct 18, 2021 | News
Governor Doug Ducey is committing an additional $5 million to help Arizona small businesses recover from the economic consequences of the pandemic and extreme weather conditions.
Governor Ducey launched the Back to Work Small Business Rehiring and Retention Program in August and has invested a total of $10 million in the program to support small, locally-owned businesses. Recipients of the first round of funding have been identified and distribution of funds has begun. Today’s additional funding from the Governor will fulfill outstanding requests from applicants.
“Small businesses are the backbone of Arizona’s economy, and we’re dedicated to helping them fully recover,” said Governor Ducey. “I’m optimistic today’s additional investment will help small businesses around the state bounce back from the countless challenges of this past year and build for the future. I thank the small business community for their resilience and their continued efforts to help Arizona emerge out of the pandemic stronger than ever.”
This year, wildfires, storms and flooding impacted small businesses’ operations and employment opportunities. The Small Business Rehiring and Retention Program is designed to assist small, locally owned or operated businesses hire and retain employees and continue to recover from the effects of the pandemic and extreme weather conditions, like wildfires and flooding.
The Arizona Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired is a recipient of the first round of funding. The Center works with clients to help them achieve independence and develop the skills needed to go to work, go to school and actively participate in society.
“Our team is thrilled to receive funding that will help us continue to support and empower Arizonans experiencing vision loss,” said Steve Tepper, executive director of the Arizona Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired and member of the Governor’s Council on Blindness and Visual Impairment. “Visually impaired individuals and their loved ones deserve to have access to effective resources and programs — and our incredible staff makes sure they get the help they need. My thanks goes to Governor Ducey for supporting the Arizona Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired and our efforts to help those with vision loss achieve their full potential.”
The program will fund up to $10,000 in expenditures for employee hiring/signing bonuses, relocation bonuses for employees that are moving to take an open position, and employee retention bonuses.
An Arizona business must meet certain eligibility requirements to receive funding. A business must be: owned and operated in the state of Arizona; incorporated before January 1, 2020; rent or lease a physical location in Arizona; and have between five and 25 total employees that work at the physical location. Eligible businesses in areas impacted by wildfires or floods may have up to 50 employees.
The Small Business Rehiring and Retention Program is a component of Governor Ducey’s “Arizona Back to Work” plan, which supports Arizonans getting back to work and filling the thousands of jobs available across the state.
