From what reports suggest was a hastily planned decision, Trump’s DOJ sent what they called “election monitors” to Wyoming—and ended up rattling state Republicans there. According to a report by Maggie Mullen in WyoFile, governor Mark Gordon waited a full week to disclose the event to the public.
As the state canvassing board met Wednesday in Cheyenne to certify the results of Wyoming’s primary elections, Gov. Mark Gordon raised concerns about what he described as ‘aggressive’ and ‘irregular’ conduct by federal officials observing last week’s primary elections. The way the federal observers conducted themselves also prompted concern from Laramie County Clerk Debra Lee.
Two Department of Justice attorneys were dispatched to Laramie County as part of a ‘monitoring initiative,’ according to a department press release published on Aug. 18, Wyoming’s primary election day.
‘This monitoring initiative is aimed at promoting transparency and an open flow of communication between poll observers and election monitors,’ the release stated.
Maggie Mullen for WyoFile
The election “observation” follows DOJ’s early demand for Wyoming voter data, with which secretary of state Chuck Gray apparently complied last year. Governor Gordon’s criticisms of the surprise visit did not sit well with Gray, apparently.
Last week, however, local and state officials were not made aware of federal observers, Gordon said at Wednesday’s meeting, pointing to the Wyoming Office of Homeland Security, the Wyoming Attorney General and the Laramie County Clerk’s Office as being out of the loop.
‘To my knowledge, the U.S. Attorney was unaware of it, and it sounded like the behavior of the observers was a bit aggressive,’ Gordon said at Wednesday’s meeting.
‘It just was irregular, and I have asked the attorney general to start looking into, you know, kind of the nature of the visits and all that sort of stuff,’ Gordon said.
Gray disputed the governor’s assertions: ‘Voters deserve absolute confidence that their ballots are secure and their voices are heard without interference,’ Smith wrote. ‘We are working alongside local officials to ensure every lawful vote is protected.’
Maggie Mullen for WyoFile
Donald Trump’s gambit in Wyoming mirrors past election malfeasance under the guise of “election” “integrity,” dating back to when Mike Pence and Kris Kobach (of “Crosscheck” fame in Kansas) served as chair and vice chair, respectively, of the so-called “presidential advisory committee on election integrity.” Kobach sought sensitive voter data from all 50 states and was reportedly denied.
AUTHOR FOOTNOTE
There you have it folks: the “Dry Run” in question was the aforementioned “election integrity” nonsense during Regime 1 led by notorious-Kansas ratf**ker Kris Kobach. Remember him!?
Cut to today and what DOJ*’s Civil Rights Division is doing (more on that presently) is precisely the scenario many liberals warned about: Donald’s destruction operation won’t stop just at blue states. This past April, that same division sued Idaho (yes, that Idaho) for “failing to produce voter data as requested.” The press release (linked below) is short on justification (because there is none) and rationale (because folks running propaganda there are almost entirely MAGA dolts).
The press release outlining the “rationale” for invading Wyoming doesn’t even make logical sense. In it, they claim the “monitoring” is aimed at promoting “open flow of communication between poll observers and election monitors.” But those 2 groups run around, not through, Wyoming’s election administrators.
In any event, the story media is largely whiffing on is how—under a monarch crowned by SCOTUS as beyond reproach—a division usually working to defend the rights of marginalized Americans is now being wielded as a fascist weapon ahead of Midterms. To my eye, that should be deemed a criminal misuse of agency-division charter and grounds for another impeachment.
Under Donny, the “Civil” “Rights” “Division” is acting FAR more like a terror cell than anything resembling a minority- or disabled-person-defending arm of U.S. justice. And that should terrify everyone. No matter which state you live in, check your registration frequently and make a plan to vote this November.
SOURCES
- WyoFile
- DOJ Wyoming press release (Archived)
- DOJ Idaho press release (Archived)
- Brennan Center
- American Oversight
- US News & World Report
- Vote.org registration check
