Several well-known Colorado conservatives including the chair of the Jefferson County Republicans signed a U.S. Supreme Court amicus brief submitted by a QAnon-promoting conspiracy theorist. Among the nearly fifty amicus briefs submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court by those hoping to influence the justices’ ruling on whether Colorado must remove former President Trump from the 2024 ballot, one name stands out: QAnon promoter Terpsehore Maras, who also goes by “Tore.”
Maras is a pro-Trump blogger and online scammer who ran for secretary of state in Ohio on an openly pro-QAnon platform and also claims she can time-travel. She has reportedly earned hundreds of thousands of dollars promoting various conspiracies on online platforms including Twitch, Telegram, and Rumble.
She gained wider notoriety after the 2020 election when the Washington Post reported that disgraced Trump attorney Sidney Powell used a Mares blog post as the basis for a secret affidavit that claimed foreign entities could switch votes in American voting machines.
As Vice reported in 2018, Maras was ordered by a North Dakota judge “to pay $25,000 after she was found to have used money collected—which she claimed was to fund homeless shelters and wreaths for veterans’ graves—on purchases for herself at McDonald’s, QVC, and elsewhere.”
None of these red flags appear to bother Jefferson County Republican Party Chair Nancy Pallozzi, who joined Mares’ amicus brief.
Pallozzi initially did not reply to multiple email inquiries as to whether she was aware of Maras’ support for QAnon, whether she donated to Maras to support the preparation of the legal brief, and if so whether she used Jeffco GOP funds or her own money to do so. Following publication, Pallozzi replied via email, characterizing her decision to join the amicus brief as “simply observing.”
“As Chair of the Jefferson County Republican Party, I feel it is my responsibility to keep myself informed of all sides of a discussion,” says Pallozzi. “I have NOT donated, nor been part of any of this movement, or the Jefferson County Republican Party. I am simply observing. It is my responsibility to be well informed of city, county, state and national issues. I represent 100,000 Republicans and it is my responsibility to know what is going on in all aspects of politics within our County. What I do care about is unifying Republicans. I am changing Jefferson County.”
Numerous other election deniers are among the over 100 Colorado signatories, including former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, conspiracist podcaster Joe Oltmann, Recall Polis founder Lori Ann Cutunilli, and Kathi Stehlik, who runs Spunky Patriots, a far-right El Paso County conspiracist group. Former Lakewood City Councilwoman Ramey Johnson, who hasn’t made any public statements about the 2020 election, but is a climate change denier, also joined the brief.
The brief makes three short arguments in support of Trump remaining on the ballot, arguing that not only does the Colorado Supreme Court’s ruling violate the Ninth and Tenth Amendments, but also that since Trump did not engage in an insurrection, the court lacks jurisdiction over him. Besides the 120 or so Coloradans, the signatory list totals over 3,000 names, though some are duplicates. Mares also solicited donations from signatories for the project, noting on a now-deleted GiveSendGo fundraising page that she could only accept donations from those willing to become signatories to the brief.
“Only individuals who are parties by their legal name in the amicus curiae filing can contribute financially to this fund,” wrote Maras. “This exclusive arrangement ensures that our legal funding remains compliant with relevant legal standards of the Supreme Court of the United States and maintains the integrity of our collective effort. I, Terpsehore Maras, will oversee the attorney’s payment to ensure transparency and accountability. I will use MY INCOME and the funds collected through here by parties to pay for the AMICUS filing costs, which include printing all files as per SCOTUS rules through the same third-party company that published all my documents and filings required in my last case heard by the Supreme Court of the United States.”
Many other groups and individuals have submitted “amicus briefs” to the U.S. Supreme Court in advance of its hearing on the groundbreaking 14th Amendment case that could result in former President Trump’s removal from Colorado’s 2024 ballot. Petitioners argue for or against various aspects of the legal questions. Most are Republican politicians or political parties, such as Sens. Steve Daines, Ted Cruz, the NRSC and the Kansas GOP, or conservative groups like the Christian Family Coalition or John Eastman’s Claremont Institute, although other groups such as Common Cause have also filed briefs.
