At a press conference earlier this week the entire Colorado Republican slate, from statewide candidates Heidi Ganahl and Joe O’Dea to Statehouse and school board hopefuls, joined together to talk only about “kitchen table” policy issues. The subtext was clear: With the primaries over, the party doesn’t want to talk about stolen elections or other far-right conspiracies.
In late May, Republican Secretary of State candidate Tina Peters’ campaign made a $50,000 payment to PIN Business Network, a marketing company with ties to election conspiracist and podcast host Joe Oltmann. The payment was marked in the state’s campaign finance database as being for “internet advertising,” and amounts to nearly one-third of Peters’ total campaign expenditures to date.
The United American Defense Force (UADF), a controversial Colorado group may be an illegal militia, prohibited by provisions in both Colorado statute and the U.S. Constitution, according to a national legal expert.
Another campaign finance complaint has been leveled against the El Paso County, CO, Republican Party, this one accusing Chair Vickie Tonkins of performing a “knowingly fraudulent filing” of a $1,000 donation to conservative activist group FEC United, which promotes election conspiracies.
The leader of a Colorado-based militia says some businesses impacted by the Marshall Fire are paying his members to provide security at their locations. John Tiegen leads the United American Defense Force (UADF), the militia division of far-right conspiracist group FEC United.
On Tuesday afternoon, a leading far-right advocacy group with a militia arm in Colorado issued an “urgent” call to action to its members to flood a school board meeting in Douglas County to oppose mask mandates.
Appearing Sept. 25 on a Denver podcast, George Brauchler, who’s seen as a potential GOP candidate for statewide office in Colorado and who once said the U.S. is “in pretty damn good hands” with Trump, sharply criticized Trump Nation’s misdeeds and mistakes, including the former president’s baseless accusation that the election was stolen.
