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It’s Official: Buckshot Caucus Members Are Actively Colluding To Dissolve Most of the State Central Committee

Less than one week ago, KeepUtahFree.org posted an article “GOP Chair Pulling A Fast One To Dissolve the SCC at Convention? . . .” expressing concern that Chairman Anderson, or his fellow Buckshot elites, might try to dissolve the State Central Committee (“SCC”) at the State Convention. Despite being accused of being conspiracy theorists, it turns out our concerns were well founded.

The deadline for submitting Constitution & Bylaw (“C&B”) amendment proposals for the upcoming State Convention was May 22, 2018 @ 5pm. Up until 3pm on May 22, the Chair of the C&B Committee had access to the system where proposals were being submitted. Mysteriously her authorization was revoked just hours before the deadline. Repeated requests were made of the Chair to release all the proposals, but he did not fulfill the requests.

The C&B Committee has to act quickly after the deadline to determine which proposals go to the State Central Committee and which proposals go to the State Delegates, and notify the delegates accordingly so delegates have adequate time to vet the proposals. Why wasn’t the Chair releasing the proposals? What was he trying to hide? The public pressure caused by KeepUtahFree’s article resulted in Anderson exposing the nefarious plan.

View Delegate Amendment Voting Guide, as well as more info about the State Convention here.

Buckshot Caucus Members Make Proposals To Neuter the Utah GOP’s Governing Body

Before releasing proposals to the C&B Committee, Anderson disregarded the procedures outlined in the governing documents and usurped the authority form the C&B Committee by emailing all proposals to the State Delegates himself. In the email, Anderson insists that all proposals be voted on at Convention, which is unreasonable because doing so would take hours, and detract from candidate nominations.

After denying the C&B committee the right to distribute amendment proposals properly, Anderson finally released ALL BUT ONE proposal to the Committee. Among those received, the committee quickly discovered two proposals (one from Karece Thompson & one from Carolina Herrin) that were designed to gut, dilute, and obliterate the State Central Committee as we now know it. Chairman Anderson’s circumvention of the bylaws demonstrate his complicity in the ruse.

Anderson Hides Diane Christensen’s Amendment From The C&B Committee

Buried in the 17 amendment proposals sent by Anderson to the delegates was a third SCC-wrecking amendment that Anderson NEVER FORWARDED TO THE C&B COMMITTEE. It’s suspected Chairman Anderson’s strategy here was to put this 3rd amendment on the Convention agenda by claiming the C&B Committee never made a decision on it. The 3rd amendment proposal was the worst of all and was submitted by Buckshot-Caucus-Member Diane Christensen.

Here’s a summary of the contents of the 3 proposals:

Sneaky Coup Attempt #1: Carolina Herrin Proposal

Carolina Herrin–member of Buckshot Caucus–who recently attended the Buckshot Caucus Suite at the Jazz game in January 20, 2018 where Todd Weiler initiated his attempts to extort GOP Donor Dave Bateman. Ms. Herrin’s proposal immediately and retroactively expels all State Central Committee members having spent more than 10 years on the Committee. This would allow a special SCC meeting to quickly be convened before counties could replace the expelled members, and bylaws could be completely changed by the disproportionately liberal SCC members remaining.

Sneaky Coup Attempt #2: Kerece Thompson Proposal

Karece Thompson was recently recruited by Buckshot Caucus Member Daryl Acumen (formerly Daryl Bradshaw) to the Republican Black Caucus. The Republican Black Caucus lost its SCC auxiliary status because Mr. Acumen never held elections, claiming “we don’t need them. Everyone does whatever they want to do.” Acumen also stated “I don’t give a fu** what the SCC thinks.” Essentially, the group was a Trojan Horse to win Buckshot Caucus an unearned seat on the SCC. One of the members of the predominantly white group was none other than Senator Curt Bramble. Here are the details on Mr. Thompson’s amendment proposal:

Allows 2/3 of delegates at Convention to vote to immediately expel 54% of the State Central Committee
Allows the Chair to hold a vote at Convention, even though not on the agenda, to remove all 105 at-large delegates from the State Central Committee, changing the composition of the SCC to lean strongly progressive
The 105 expelled members can be replaced; however, that process could take months. Immediately after removal of the 105 at-large SCC members, a special meeting could be called by the remaining progressive members wherein the Party bylaws could be completely be gutted and altered without approval from State delegates
Neuters the voice, role, and influence of Counties regarding governance over State Party business
Creates inequity by requiring that innocent SCC members are booted for the perceived wrongs of other SCC members. It’s fundamentally unfair and is overreaching. It’s like firing the entire Federal government, because the U.S. President is impeached

Even Sneakier Coup Attempt #3: Diane Christensen Proposal

This is the proposal Chairman Anderson hid from the Constitution & Bylaw Committee, and is likely the proposal Buckshot was really trying to sneak into the State Convention. It’s sponsor Diane Christiansen is a member of Buckshot Caucus and a long-time supporter of Buckshot Godfather Curt Bramble. The problems with Ms. Christiansen’s proposal would give any person who cares about the Utah GOP great pause. Here are the details (using the assumption that there are an average of 7 auxiliaries with voting rights):

Christensen’s amendment proposal immediately kills 37 of the more conservative State Central Committee positions, leaving approximately 140 members (depending on the number of approved auxiliaries). Most of those lost seats come from Utah’s largest counties (e.g. Salt Lake, Utah, Weber, Davis, Iron, & Washington). This provision would give Salt Lake County with a population 1,029,665 the same voice on the State Central Committee as Daggett County with a population of 1,059. Why in the world would Buckshot advocate for this change? Because they can manipulate the results of Daggett County much easier than Salt Lake County.
The proposal allows 20 members to hold a vote outside of a State Central Committee meeting to vote off the 58 remaining at-large State Central Committee members. Yeah, so 14.2% of the SCC can vote unilaterally can oust 41% of the SCC, and the 41% don’t even get to participate in the vote.
Historically 61% of SCC Members attend any given meeting. That means out of 140 remaining numbers, 85 members would attend a typical meeting. Christensen’s proposal would require 50% (70 members) to attend a meeting in order for business to be conducted. This means that a rogue chair who wanted to shut down the Party’s ability to conduct a meeting would only have to talk 15 additional people into staying home to prevent business from being conducted. Click here to see how Rob Anderson has already attempted this repeatedly.
Prevents a member of the State Central Committee from serving more than 2 terms (except for unelected political leaders of course who can remain endlessly).

Do These Proposals Have The Same Author?

There are resounding similarities in the formatting, structure, and even provisions of the three proposals. Click here to view proposals side by side. Entire paragraphs are identical from one proposal to the other. When challenged in a Facebook forum, Karece originally asserted that his work was original stating “All I can say is I submitted the proposal. Whatever happened to my words or formatting in regards to similarity after the fact is not in my control.”

After being confronted with the mathematical probability (less than 1 in 20 trillion) that his amendment proposal would mysteriously be worded the same as the other SCC-wrecking proposals, coupled with his inability to defend or even explain the mechanics of his proposal, Karece buckled and admitted he in fact did not write the proposal.

All three proposals have obvious ties to buckshot Caucus who has been slowly undermining the Utah GOP for years. The only plunder remaining for Count My Vote / Buckshot Caucus is the State Central Committee. The SCC is the only thing standing in the way of Count My Vote obtaining complete control over Utah politics. They will stop at nothing to destroy the SCC.

Could the State Delegates Really Be Duped Into Destroying the SCC?

A major effort has been underway in the Utah GOP to deceive, confuse, and mislead GOP members and delegates into thinking a small minority of State Central Committee members (the gang of 51) are using guerrilla tactics to seize control of the SCC. Nothing could be further from the truth.

A survey of SCC members was commissioned and taken in January of 2018. 101 members out of 140 members who took the survey are in favor of a single-path Caucus Convention System. As evidence, the following video demonstrates the overwhelming resolve the SCC has to carry out the SB54 lawsuit. This video is taken during a regular SCC meeting on January 27, 2018 where 129 members of the State Central Committee were credentialed. Notice only 3 people vote to drop the lawsuit. Kathleen Anderson, Daryl Acumen, & Dana Goff.

Why The Press Is Pushing The False Narrative of the “Gang of 51”

First, approximately 46 SCC members are required to call a special meeting. Just because 51 members called a meeting, doesn’t mean only 51 support the agenda in the meeting. The media is squarely behind the effort to destroy the caucus-convention system because they have everything to gain from its demise. Consequently, the media has joined up with the small, radical, Buckshot-Caucus contingent to spin the mainstream SCC into appearing radical. The media will make millions of dollars because of all the new primary elections carried out as a result of SB54. Moreover, primary voters are heavily influenced by the media, giving the media a huge say in the outcome of Utah’s elections if SB54 stays in effect. The media is utterly biased and cannot be trusted.

Don’t Believe The Daryl Acumen Nonsense

Daryl Acumen produced a short video where contents were completely taken out of context in an attempt to falsely depict conservatives in a quarrelsome SCC meeting during the January 27, 2018. The video falsely depicted the State Central Committee as being overly aggressive and bullying toward Chairman Anderson. Nothing could be further from the truth. Acumen then email spammed a massive contingent of Utah Republicans to mislead them regarding the “gang of 51”.

Acumen set up two emails kmv@utahgop.org and gangof51@utahgop.org and sent tens of thousands (possibly hundreds of thousands) of emails to Utah Republicans asking them to swarm kmv@utahgop.org and gangof51@utahgop.org inboxes. Here’s the catch: Acumen set these emails up so every time someone emailed these inboxes, it would relay the responses to each conservative member of the SCC that Acumen was targeting, resulting in these individuals being harassed by nearly 1,000 emails each. It massively interfered with their ability to prepare for Caucus night on March 20th. Some even mentioned it interfered with the jobs and livelihoods.

Watch the distorted video from Daryl Acumen painting the “Gang of 51” as extreme.

Now watch what really happened during the January 27, State Central Committee Meeting

The Sargent in Arms Chairman, Jim Phelps, who Anderson asked to remove SCC member Layne Beck from the meeting publicly acknowledged it was Chairman Anderson who was out of order because he failed to acknowledge Layne Beck’s Appeal From The Ruling of The Chair. State Central Committee members are not extreme, but rather are resisting an intransigent Chair who breaks every rule, and deceives at every opportunity. KeepUtahFree.org encourages all delegates to reach out and get to know your county’s State Central Committee members. You probably learned by now that you can’t trust Daryl Acumen or Rob Anderson, so don’t buy into their “gang of 51” nonsense.

UTGOP Chair Caught Lying To State Central Committee

At 2:50pm on January 26th, Tyler Moss, a resident in Davis County, sent an email to UTGOP Chairman, Rob Anderson, resigning his seat on the SCC (State Central Committee) due to “a service position in [his] church that will be taking quite a lot of [his] spare time.” A few minutes later he received a call from the Chairman.

There are two conflicting accounts of what happened next:

Tyler Moss: “That same day, on January 26, 2018, I received a phone call from Rob asking me to postpone my resignation until later on in February because his wife, Kathleen, would then be able to receive a seat on the SCC. I asked Rob if I needed to submit my resignation to anyone else within the Utah Republican Party (i.e. staff or secretary, etc.), and he told me that he would get in touch with me to handle my resignation. Several weeks later, on February 16, 2018, I received an email from Rob telling me to re-submit my resignation. I asked him if he would handle it or if I needed to send it to anyone else (i.e. staff or secretary, etc.), and he agreed that he would take care of it, at which point he forwarded my resignation to the staff members of the Utah Republican Party as well as to Teena Horlacher, the Chair of the Davis County Republican Party, on February 16, 2018.” (as told by Tyler Moss in a statement provided to the Davis County Republican Party [DCRP] Chair, Teena Horlacher, upon her following up after the resignation was finally forwarded to her on February 16th)

Chairman Rob Anderson: “I’ve never intervened or done anything with respect to Davis County other than accepting the information I have received in a contested replacement in Davis County. Tyler Moss, because of our friendship, which is not close, he emailed me and said, ‘I am going to resign.’ I said, ‘great, call your uh…’ I actually called him on the phone and said, ‘great. Call your uh… call Teena, the county party chair,’ and uh, I hung up. That was the 26th. If you remember the 27th of January was a State Central Committee meeting a discussion that, uh, that their replacement list has my wife was the next one on the list and so that is something that has gone on between my wife and, uh, the Davis County Republican Party and I’m not going to comment on that just based on that’s an ongoing…” (a quote from Chairman Anderson transcribed from a video recorded at the February 24th SCC meeting during an Executive Session that was leaked and posted on the YouTube channel of Daryl Acumen)

Later, Moss made an additional clarifying statement to Horlacher:

“The only other thing I’d add to my prior statement is that I felt pressured into following Rob Anderson’s directions, when acting as the Chair of the Utah Republican Party, he called so that I would postpone my resignation and then informed me that he would get back to me when the time was right to do so. This is my very first term being a member on the SCC, and the very first call I received from the UTGOP Chair. The additional pressure and influence stemmed from the fact that, in part, he called me the very same day I submitted my resignation, and within only minutes thereafter. All I wanted to do was to resign from the SCC due to my personal conflicts and other time restraints, and he told me that he, as the Chair of the UTGOP, would let me know when the right time was to do so. He mentioned that his wife was the next one up for my seat, but he did not say anything about Neka Roundy not getting the seat if I were to postpone my resignation. I had no idea of the intentions of Rob’s request, or the ramifications that Rob was attempting to employ. I had no intent of getting into a conflict over my SCC seat. I only want my seat to go to the person who it rightfully belongs. I should also note that I do not have any knowledge of how the selection process goes when a member of the SCC resigns from his or her seat, and thus, I have no opinion as to whether my seat should go to Neka Roundy or Kathleen Anderson.”

Following this revelation, and Moss’s request that his resignation take effect on January 26 (his original resignation date), the seat was offered to Neka Roundy. Roundy was the next eligible person by order of election who was not already a member of the DCRP SCC.

Kathleen Anderson, wife of the UTGOP Chairman, challenged Horlacher’s ruling, making her disdain and frustration public on social media. In one post she writes:

“As some of you know, up until Feb 3rd, I was the President of [Utah Federation of Republican Women], which is (was) an auxiliary of the UTGOP. As President, I was also an SCC member. I was informed, tonight, after several email exchanges this week with DCRP Chairwoman, Teena Horlacher, that even though current DCRP SCC member, Tyler Moss, is resigning, she is skipping over me as the next alternate. Although Tyler notified the UTGOP Chair of his resignation on Jan 26th, the correct person to have received notification would have been the DCRP Chairwoman, who he did not contact until February 21st at 2:55pm. Tonight at 10:30pm, Teena contacted Neka Roundy and offered her Tyler’s spot, instead of me, who was next in line pursuant to the delegate vote. I think Teena is acting with a personal vendetta towards me which seems par for the course, to be honest. I’d love a Big Tent ruling. How can anyone have faith in any election when this sort of shenanigans takes place?” (This post was made in a Facebook group titled Utah Big Tent Republican on February 21st at 11:09pm.)

Anderson also made it public that she was filing an Ethics complaint with the DCRP Ethics committee against Chairwoman Horlacher. (At the time of publishing this article the Ethics complaint has not yet been heard by the Davis County Republican Party Executive Committee. When that does take place the Executive Committee will go into a private, Executive Session, to hear the complaint and finding of the Ethics committee. We will update this story as more information becomes available.)

(Video evidence has been received showing the following.)

On February 24th, at a Special SCC meeting held at Entrata in Lehi, the group went into an Executive Session to discuss issues and concerns privately. Video footage was later leaked and posted to the YouTube Channel of Daryl Acumen. We have included audio from a small portion of that meeting at the end of this article. About two minutes after Chairman Rob Anderson made the statement, “I’ve never intervened or done anything with respect to Davis County,” he was addressed by UTGOP Secretary, Lisa Shepherd, who had received a copy of the statement from Mr. Moss, shown above.

She said, “Tyler Moss is an attorney and he said he didn’t want to go that route but he has submitted an email that says that you colluded with him to not fill that seat, to not give the information to Teena, to not forward it to the Secretary, so that your wife could be replaced in that seat at a future time.” Chairman Anderson was then asked a very straight forward question, “Mr Chair, we need to be straight here and to tell the truth. Did you collude with Tyler Moss?”

Utah GOP Chair Rob Anderson say’s: “I did” to colluding

Click Play to Listen:

Click Play to Listen to his Full Response:

New Evidence Released About Senator Todd Weiler Extortion Attempt

Was Todd Weiler’s creepy voicemail an extortion attempt, or just one gigantic mis-understanding?

What is Extortion?

Utah Criminal Code Section 76-6-406 shows that extortion occurs when an official takes action against someone in an attempt to exercise control over his or her property. So in order to know if Todd Weiler extorted Entrata owner Dave Bateman, we need to know what his motive was in leaving the voicemail included above. If Todd Weiler’s voicemail was politically motivated, this is a clear-cut case of extortion.

Todd Weiler’s Motive

Why would Senator Todd Weiler want to extort David Bateman for political reasons? First, watch the video to the right to learn that Weiler is an outspoken proponent of SB54, a law that forced the Republican Party to permit candidates to gather signatures to access the primary ballot, and bypass GOP Convention.

In fact, Weiler was such a huge proponent of SB54 that he was publicly accused of telling donors not to donate to the GOP by former GOP Chairman James Evans. Why would he tell donors not to donate? Because if the Party has no funding, the Party can’t litigate the SB54 lawsuit. Minutes from GOP State Central Committee meeting from November 21, 2015 show that Weiler was aggressively seeking to end the SB54 litigation, and was scaring off donors. The minutes read:

“Senator Todd Weiler has been harming the party’s fundraising efforts. He has stated that general funds that the party raises are going towards the lawsuit, despite the party having been abundantly clear that this is not true: funds that go toward the lawsuit are completely separate from general funds . . . We most certainly do NOT have a budget shortfall due to the lawsuit as Senator Weiler has claimed.”

Ok, so Todd Weiler clearly had a motive to attack a donor who stepped forward to fund the SB54 litigation. If he could scare off Bateman and his contributions by attacking him politically, perhaps he could keep the SB54 suit from being funded.

How Did Dave Bateman end up in Weiler’s Cross Hairs?

On November 1, 2017, Utah GOP Chairman Rob Anderson announced he would unilaterally drop the SB54 lawsuit just 45 days after the State Central Committee voted to continue the lawsuit, and after Anderson campaigned for Chairman promising State Delegates that he was “not A Count My Vote candidate”. Anderson’s unilateral move was made just a month and a half after a motion failed during the September 9, 2017 State Central Committee Meeting to drop the suit.

Keep in mind that Todd Weiler became close personal friends with Chairman Anderson’s wife while they were in college. Many report that Chairman Anderson entered politics at the behest of Todd Weiler, and that Anderson may actually be doing Weiler’s bidding in his role as Chairman.

Dave Bateman learned about Chairman Anderson’s attempts to unilaterally drop the SB54 lawsuit, citing a financial motive. The financial motive stated by Anderson was laughable to Bateman, because the Party wouldn’t incur another dime of legal cost while waiting for the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals to rule on the case.

A win from the 10th circuit meant that all the GOP’s litigation costs would have to be reimbursed by the State. Bateman compares the situation to a lottery ticket. The ticket had been purchased. “Rob Anderson wanted to toss the ticket in the trash without scratching off the sliver cover to find out if we won.” says Bateman. Knowing Anderson’s motives weren’t pure, he stepped up and offered to (a) pay the litigation costs going forward, and (b) attempt to settle the bank debt owed by the Party to its attorneys (which he has since done).

Bailing out the Party from its legal debts, unwittingly placed Bateman in the cross hairs of Utah Senator Todd Weiler, who was attempting to block funding to the Party.

Weiler Attack on Bateman Begins Just A Week or Two After Bateman Announces Intention of Donating

Within just a week or two of Dave Bateman offering to pay for the Party’s legal debt, Weiler’s attack kicks into high gear. Weiler invites a woman who works for Bateman’s company to join him at the Buckshot Caucus Suite at a local Jazz game. The woman invited by Weiler is a manager at Entrata, who Bateman’s ex-girlfriend reported to. Weiler knew her because his son baptized the woman on his mission some years earlier. The woman who Weiler tried to use to carry out his extortion attempt, said the following regarding the encounter with Weiler at the Jazz suit:

This audio clip dispels the false statements Weiler made to the Police and in the media. Weiler’s attempt to harm Bateman were unquestionably motivated by Bateman’s donation to the Utah GOP. This audio provided to the police shows the following:

Weiler’s family friend at the Buckshot Caucus Suite at a Jazz game was questioned aggressively about Bateman. She told Todd Weiler at the game that once Bateman and his girlfriend broke up, Bateman’s girlfriend was moved to a different team. That’s when the lightbulb went off for Weiler that maybe he could use both these women to initiate a legal attack against Bateman.
Weiler tried to initiate communication with Bateman’s ex-girlfriend to convince her to bring allegations against him. Bateman’s ex-girlfriend reported to police that she was not looking for an attorney, nor did she ever even respond to Weiler’s $1,000,000 offer. Instead she warned Bateman that political figures in Utah were trying to do him harm and get her to sue him.
Weiler’s family friend was urging Bateman’s ex-girlfriend to change her behavior and not go on a trip with him, otherwise she wouldn’t get her million dollars.
Weiler’s family friend told Weiler that “They are in a good place”, yet Weiler tried to encourage the fraudulent lawsuit anyway.
Weiler’s family friend refers to Weiler’s questioning at the Jazz game as “Hungry Attorneys”.

Weiler Makes False Statements To The Media About Extortion Attempt, Further Maligning Bateman

Weiler Lie #1: When Bateman released the voicemail recording of Weiler’s extortion attempt to the media, Weiler jumped into high gear to smear and paint Bateman in a false light. His first lie is telling the media that Bateman went to the home of Weiler’s family friend at 2 am in the morning and demanded her phone. Listen to Weiler’s false allegation on the Rod Arquette Show:

However, Bateman has produced a text message to the right shows that Weiler’s family friend actually sent Bateman a text message containing the voice mail at 12:56 am, and has notified this to the police. Bateman never visited her home uninvited as Weiler claimed, and he never demanded she hand over her phone.

Weiler Lies #2 & #3: Weiler claims on the Rod Arquette show “I didn’t just happen to run into someone. A close family friend sought me out in January for legal advice because her co-worker was searching for an attorney to file a sexual harassment case against Dave Bateman.“

After Weiler says the woman reached out to him, he admits that he actually invited her to the Buckshot Caucus Suite at a Utah Jazz Game.

These audio clips demonstrate the following:

First, Bateman’s ex girlfriend confirmed to police that she was NOT looking for an attorney, and she never had any intention of filing a sexual harassment claim against Bateman.
Second, Weiler’s close family friend confirmed that during her first conversation with Weiler on the subject she told Weiler “They are in a good place” and even referred to Weiler and his associates as “Hungry Attorneys”.
Third, Weiler himself admitted inviting this woman to the Buckshot Caucus suite on January 20, 2018, but has the audacity to state that she “sought him out” to help a co-worker.
Fourth, Weiler was baiting the ex girlfriend with a million dollars to alter her behavior and not go on a trip with Bateman, even though the woman refused to talk to Weiler even a single time.

Weiler Lie #4: Weiler went on to make further false attacks on Mr. Bateman’s character. He wrote to Utah Policy, “I have never met Mr. Bateman. A family friend of mine who works for Entrata told several other people and me at a social event on January 20 that Dave Bateman had had an affair with one of her co-workers. When the affair ended, her co-worker’s job hours and duties were changed.”

First, Bateman claims to have over 100 witnesses that he met his ex girlfriend at Lake Powell over Memorial Day in 2017, months after his divorce was finalized, and years after his initial separation. Second, Bateman and his ex-girlfriend were dating exclusively long before she ever came to work for Entrata.

If Weiler really was providing legal advice to someone looking for it, client-attorney confidentiality requirements would never allow him to go public like he has with these ridiculous and false allegations about the very woman Weiler is purporting to be protecting. These public statements are evidence that no one ever sought him out or engaged him to help with legal representation.

Weiler then includes in his comments to Utah Policy “I am troubled that Mr. Bateman would release a voice message that confirms he was traveling to Europe with a subordinate as it does not reflect well on Entrata, Mr. Bateman or the woman involved. It could also open up claims of other employees who are not treated the same at work as this woman.” In typical Weiler fashion, not only does Weiler continue to lie about Bateman, but he also makes a call to investors at Entrata to go after Bateman, as well petitions other women at Entrata to make contrived allegations. The evidence is overwhelming that Weiler was attempting to use these women to make a political attack on Bateman, not to help them as Weiler suggests.

Here are Bateman’s comments about what took place on the Rod Arquette show:

Other People Weiler Harassed Start To Come Forward

Campaign Manager Reports Weiler’s Attacks On Female Political Opponents

When the news about Todd Weiler broke, people started coming out of the woodwork to report other political attacks Weiler has made against them. The first was a campaign manager right on Rod Arquette’s show, who had witnessed first hand “the deceitful and manipulative ways” Todd Weiler uses to win his campaigns, including attacks based on women’s gender. Weiler’s tactics resulted in this campaign manager calling Weiler a “liar to his face.”

Old Roommate of Weiler’s Calls Weiler a Thief, Creeper, & Scumbag

A former BYU roommate of Todd Weiler stepped forward and shared the following statement:

“I know you don’t know me, but I have been following you. I am a disenchanted Republican disgusted with the Utah Republican Party. Todd Weiler is a nasty human being. We roomed together at BYU with a mutual friend. This was about 1989-1990. No one likes him. He did weird stuff and was [a] thief. I was the poorest guy in the apartment (his family had money from back east), and he constantly stole my food. My female friends thought he was a creeper. One weird dude. Good luck to you man. He is a scum bag.”

Former Female Student Reports Weiler Made Rude Comments About Her Physique

A former associate of Weiler’s reached out and reported that he yelled extremely offensive and demeaning comments about the woman’s physique inside a crowded cafeteria. Compare this report with Weiler’s claim that his motivation for encouraging a woman to sue me was because he has “zero tolerance for that type of behavior [sexual harassment] in the work place.”

Former Political Opponent Reports Weiler Attacked Her As a Mother

A former female who challenged Weiler for his Senate seat some years ago reported the following:

Weiler spread rumors that the woman was neglecting her children because they helped her with her campaign while going door to door to meet neighbors
Weiler started a whisper campaign against her, saying she was crazy, home schooled her kids, was against public school, and even accused her of having an eating disorder
Weiler approached the woman’s high-school age daughter and made her feel uncomfortable while backstage at the State Convention.
Weiler contacted the parents of her kids’ soccer team to make negative comments about her.
Weiler made contact with her estranged sister who lived in another state, presumably to harass her and dig up dirt on her.
Weiler’s friend warned her that Weiler had the money and influence to bring down her life.
Weiler trashed her name so bad that she believes she could never run for any office in Utah again.
Reported that Weiler and Carrie Dickson collaborated to cheat at Convention to keep her from winning (she lost by one vote).
Other Buckshot Caucus members posted nasty things about her online.

Weiler Creates a Surreptitious Online Identity to Troll Mike Lee, Female Republicans, and Others

During the 2010 election cycle, Todd Weiler admitted to creating a fake online profile, called “GOP Hack” to say nasty things about candidates in the 2010 election cycle. His primary target was Senator Mike Lee, but others were attacked by him.

Weiler Commits Illegal Acts By Leaking Classified Government Documents To Attack Jonathan Johnson During Gubernatorial Campaign

During the 2016 election cycle, Todd Weiler posted the following document into multiple Facebook groups to attack Johnathan Johnson in his race against Governor Herbert. The only difference is Weiler didn’t take time to scrub out the last four digits of Jonathan Johnson’s social security number, or his date of birth. Weiler was trying to insinuate that Johnson wasn’t really a Republican because he forgot to check “Republican” on his driver’s license application (or voter registration card).

Apparently releasing this voter registration data is a class B misdemeanor (Utah Code 20A-2-104-4-A-VI-D&E), not to mention a violation of privacy and criminal laws that prevent the disclosure of classified government documents. Police confirmed the only place the document could have been obtained was either from (a) The County Clerk’s office or (b) Spencer Cox’s Office (Herbert’s Running Mate, and fellow Buckshot Caucus Member). What penalty did Weiler receive for releasing this information? Zero, zilch, nada. After confirming the document was indeed a classified government document, the investigation was closed, no questions asked. Apparently if you’re in the Utah Senate, criminal laws don’t apply to you.

Given Weiler’s history of political attacks against people, do you really think his attempt to get Bateman’s ex-girlfriend to make sexual harassment allegations against him were anything but politically motivated? If you believe Weiler’s motive was political, the Lehi Police disagree with you and found “no evidence of extortion whatsoever”, much like in the case with Jonathan Johnson.

Police Refuse Evidence & Mysteriously Close Extortion Investigation Against Senator Todd Weiler

The Lehi Police department today announced they would close the extortion investigation into Todd Weiler. Police said they found “no evidence of extortion whatsoever” and would not pursue further investigation. How do you explain the comment they found “no evidence of extortion whatsoever“ when this audio file was provided to them?

Senator Weiler must really have well-connected friends after all.

The following additional facts were either shared with police, or would have been easily obtained by police:

Todd Weiler had multiple lengthy conversations with a close family friend who works for Bateman’s company, trying to scheme and offer money to Bateman’s ex-girlfriend so she would alter her behavior, and bring sexual-harassment allegations against Bateman. Weiler’s close family friend referred to Weiler and his associates as “hungry attorneys”
A 30-minute recorded conversation was provided to police evidencing that Weiler told numerous lies over the Rod Arquette’s radio program regarding the extortion attempt.
Testimony from the individual Weiler tried to seduce into participating in his scheme that (a) she never asked Weiler for help, (b) was not looking for an attorney, or (c) never even communicated with him, contrary to Senator Weiler’s false public statements.
Evidence that showed Bateman didn’t barge into his employee’s home at 2 am to demand her phone, as Weiler falsely asserted.
Evidence that showed Bateman was not engaged in an “affair” with his employee as Weiler asserted while publicly slandering him.
Evidence that Weiler has been involved in at least one other clear-cut case of extortion, and possibly others (Police refused to receive the evidence).
Evidence Todd Weiler had received ethics violations in Davis County.
Evidence Todd Weiler had somehow shut down another clear-cut extortion investigation against him.
Evidence Todd Weiler has harassed multiple people for political gain.
Evidence Todd Weiler created surreptitious social-media profiles to attack political opponents.

Bateman Decides to Go Live With More Damning Evidence Against Weiler Tomorrow Night at 9pm Mountain

“It’s like they were investigating me for a crime instead of Senator Weiler from the minute I walked into the Police station” says Bateman. “Just today a woman came forward and told me that Weiler sexually harassed her during law school, yelling crude references about her physique in a public setting.”

Because the police refused to receive the evidence, Bateman intends to release other evidence he’s obtained through a public Facebook live video tomorrow night at 9:30 pm Mountain Time at facebook.com/davidjonathanbateman. “The police may turn a blind eye because Weiler’s powerful political status, but I don’t think the good people of Utah will do the same.”

Chairman Rob Anderson Lies To GOP & Maligns Dave Bateman, To Distract Attention From Ethics Violations

Only February 14, 2018, in a startling breach of his duties as Chairman of the Utah GOP, Buckshot-Caucus-Member Rob Anderson levied a harsh, public, and brutal attack against Mitt Romney via the Salt Lake Tribune.

Among many scathing remarks Anderson levied against Romney, he compared Romney to Hillary Clinton and stated “I think [Romney’s] keeping out candidates that I think would be a better fit for Utah because, let’s face it, Mitt Romney doesn’t live here, his kids weren’t born here, he doesn’t shop here.” These insults add to the laundry list of violations & infractions of the Party’s Bylaws and Constitution, and showcase Anderson’s apathy toward rule following. Anderson’s statements were broadcast in

While everyone deserves the right to an opinion on a candidate, Party Bylaws apply an ethical obligation to officers to maintain neutrality toward GOP candidates: GOP Bylaw 7.2B states “State Party Officers . . . shall not publicly endorse or oppose any Republican candidate for partisan public office in Utah.”

Equally concerning is Rob Anderson lied to the State Central Committee during the February 24, 2018 special SCC meeting, telling members of the SCC that he never made the reported statements to Tribune reporter Courtney Tanner. Tanner later confirmed she has an audio recording of Anderson’s comments, at which point Anderson stopped making the false claim. Listen to Rob Anderson’s accusations in a State Central Committee meeting accusing Tribune Reporter of fabricating Rob Anderson’s quoted statements.

Rob Anderson Intentionally Misleads Utah Republicans To Distract From Ethics Breach

Throughout the next week, Anderson attracted national
and international headlines, and they weren’t good. Desperate for a win to change the narrative away from the Romney debacle, Anderson turns to the last person you’d ever expect for help: Dave Bateman, the donor who recently bailed at the GOP who publicly stated that “Rob Anderson fought me at every step” while he was trying to pay off the Party’s debt.

Why did Anderson reach out to Dave Bateman? Perhaps Bateman had been able to negotiate the pay off of the Party’s $400K+ in legal debt, for which Anderson could take credit. That might just change the public discourse away from the scourge of negative press. Much to Anderson’s chagrin, Bateman had not been able to work out a deal with Party attorney Marcus Mumford who held the lion’s share of the Party debt. Bateman writes to Rob Anderson on February 20, 2018 telling him the debt wasn’t yet paid off, but “I hope to get something done with Mumford very soon.“

Desperate for a political win, Rob Anderson decides to send a bald-face lie to Utah Republicans just hours after Bateman tells him the debt isn’t paid off. Anderson wrote “When I was elected, the Party’s total debt was well over half a million dollars . . . In just nine short months, I am delighted to report that our current finances are as follows: Legal Debt $0 – no liability to the Party any longer. Notice Anderson takes all the credit for the debt pay off–not a single mention of Bateman.

Anderson attacks Donor Dave Bateman Publicly After He Pays off GOP Debt

On April 3, 2018, after taking full credit the debt pay off, Anderson does a 180 degree turn and publicly attacks donor Dave Bateman, as well as the GOP Constitutional Defense Committee (“CDC”), by insinuating that somehow Bateman had pulled a fast one by “acquiring” vs “retiring” the debt.

First, why would the GOP Chair attack the GOP’s biggest donor after he brokers a pay off of over $400,000 of Party debt? Perhaps a person who wants to bankrupt the Party. Second, the agreement Bateman and Anderson entered into is titled “DEBT PURCHASE AND LITIGATION FUNDING AGREEMENT“.

How could Anderson claim he didn’t know Bateman was acquiring the debt unless he’s completely asleep at the wheel? Bateman agreed to acquire the Party debt and forbear collecting on Party debt as long as Rob Anderson honored his side of the deal. The terms were clear as day. Anderson inked the deal on January 10, 2018.

Now for the real question. Has Rob Anderson honored his agreement with Dave Bateman? Or better, did Rob Anderson ever intend to honor the agreement when he signed it?

Utah Republican Party Chooses Heavy-Hitting D.C. Lawyer Gene Schaerr To Bring SB54 Battle To Supreme Court

The following press release was made today regarding the hiring of Gene Schaerr to represent the Utah Republican Party. Mr. Schaerr will take the reins in the GOP effort to overturn SB54, by filing with the 10th Circuit for an en banc hearing. Pending the outcome of the en banc hearing, if necessary, Mr. Schaerr will also represent the Party in soliciting the U.S. Supreme Court to grant a writ of Certiorari, so the matter will have a chance to be heard by the nation’s highest Court.

Marcus Mumford has done a phenomenal job as Utah GOP counsel, but is not licensed to appear in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. However, his continued strategic involvement in the case is considered crucial to the overall success of the litigation.

* * *

Contact:
Don Guymon
for Constitutional Defense Committee – Utah Republican Party
Phone: 801.574.9461
Email: donguymon@gmail.com

Statement from Utah Republican Party
Constitutional Defense Committee
Attorney Gene Schaerr Agrees to Assist Utah GOP
in Constitutional Challenge to SB 54

Monday April 2, 2018–Salt Lake City, UT.

Don Guymon, spokesperson for the Utah Republican Party Constitutional Defense Committee (“CDC”), released the following.

On Tuesday March 20, 2018 Utah Republicans learned that a split decision by a 3-judge panel of the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled against the Utah Republican Party’s First Amendment challenge to SB 54, the controversial Utah law, “Count My Vote” (CMV), that dictates how Utah political parties must nominate their candidates for public office.

Media attention has emphasized the Court’s 2-1 decision against the Party. Less attention has been paid to the substance of the decision and to Chief Judge Timothy M. Tymkovich’s remarkable dissenting opinion, which explains how SB 54 and CMV are in direct violation of the First Amendment. He further warned that “this scheme” appears designed to allow outsiders to “hijack the Party’s platform.”

Chief Judge Tymkovich also warns that the new law essentially means an end to local, neighborhood-driven politics in Utah. “In effect, the new procedures transform the Party from a tight-knit community that chooses candidates deliberately to a loosely affiliated collection of individuals who cast votes on a Tuesday in June.”

Contrary to several recent public statements from SB 54/CMV supporters, this challenge is not over. A 2-1 decision, in which a respected Chief Judge, like Judge Tymkovich, writes a thorough and deep dissent, gives the Party a real chance to challenge the result and make sure the Court’s decision is consistent with the U.S. Constitution.

Today, we are pleased announce that renowned constitutional attorney Gene Schaerr has formally agreed to assist the Party by taking the lead in seeking further review of this decision. The Party will soon be filing a petition with the Tenth Circuit asking all current members of the Court, not just the 3-judge panel, to weigh in.

Mr. Schaerr is known for litigating before the United States Supreme Court and several U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals (including the 10th Circuit). Schaerr earned his law degree from Yale, and bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University. He previously clerked for United States Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger, and also for prominent Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. See more on Mr. Schaerr online at Gene Schaerr Bio.

The Utah GOP is seeking what is formally called “en banc review” of the recent 2-1 split decision, because at its core, as Judge Tymkovich points out, SB 54/CMV “violates the First Amendment.” He also wrote, “The background of this case should caution us as to the perils of allowing states to impose procedural changes of this magnitude on unwilling political parties.”

The history of this challenge is worth reviewing. SB 54 was passed by the Utah Legislature during the 2014 session. The Utah Republican Party immediately filed suit and won the first portion of our constitutional challenge, overturning an onerous stipulation requiring the Party to allow non-Republicans to participate in nominating our candidates. While we have not yet prevailed on the current challenge, which seeks to further protect First Amendment freedoms, Judge Tymkovich’s recent support should be heartening to all Constitution-minded Utah citizens. As Judge Tymkovich wrote last week, Count My Vote is a government mandate that “will generate different candidates…among whom are many persons who only nominally associate with the Party. Count My Vote understood that.” Such governmental interference in a private, voluntary association’s selection of its representatives is a flat violation of the First Amendment, as understood by those who wrote and ratified it.

Thanks to the generosity of Party donors, no new Party resources are being spent on this legal challenge, and all prior legal debts related to this legal fight have been resolved. This enables us to keep the principled fight for every Utah citizen’s First Amendment freedoms alive, so that every Utah neighborhood has a real and meaningful voice in Utah politics.

Finally, it has been noted that the Utah Republican Party is deeply divided by this issue. This should come as no surprise. That was the aim of SB 54 and the small group of well-funded Count My Vote supporters. As Chief Judge Tympkovich noted, “this law is likely to cause divisiveness within the Party’s ranks,” and “[f]ueling intra-party strife endangers an association’s very existence[.]”

We call on all well-meaning citizens, including those who may have supported SB 54 and Count My Vote without understanding their First Amendment infirmities, to join with us. The best way we can move beyond the “divisiveness” and “strife” is to repeal or overturn SB 54 and return Utah politics to our neighborhoods and our founding principles.

* * *

Rob Anderson Chooses Buckshot Caucus & Parliamentarian with Ethics Violations To Run State Convention

Carrie Dickson has served as the official parliamentarian for Chairman Rob Anderson. She’s been quoted as telling a prominent Republican leader “Tell me what you want to get done, and I’ll use Robert’s Rules to do it.” She uses her knowledge the rules to create chaos instead of order.

The Ethics Committee of the National Association of Parliamentarians has reprimanded Carrie Dickson 5 times in just the past year for rules violations. She was accused of 39 other violations but some how wiggled out of them by claiming she properly advised Rob Anderson, and he failed to follow her counsel. Either way, Chairman Anderson and Carrie Dickson together have a complete disregard for the rules established to run meetings. This is frightening, given she has been selected as the Parliamentarian to oversee the 2018 State Convention on April 21st.

Ethics Violations of Parliamentarian Carrie Dickson

The following are the findings of the Ethics Committee of the National Association of Parliamentarians regarding Carrie Dickson:

Did not act properly, and was reprimanded for allowing violations of the Utah Republican Party Bylaws.
Actions were found to violate party Bylaws.
Reprimanded by the NAP for misleading State Central Committee members.
Reprimanded for violating of the basic tenants of parliamentary procedure on multiple occasions.
Violated rights of SCC members by unexpectedly reconvening an SCC during the middle of a recess contrary to the timing determined by the ruling of the SCC. It just so happens that a motion from Daryl Acumen to drop the SB54 lawsuit was made immediately after reconvening early, excluding several SCC members from exercising their right to vote.

Rules Violations of Chairman Rob Anderson, Where He Refused The Direction Provided by the Parliamentarian

In many of the following cases, Carrie Dickson claims to have properly advised Chairman Anderson, and he went rogue and ignored her counsel, by doing the following:

Ignored motions on the floor, which he cannot do, as he’s required to be impartial.
Made his own motions, which he cannot do.
Insisted on an agenda containing a sequence of events that violated Party Bylaws
Allowed candidates who missed filing deadlines to participate in elections
Promoted the use of voting methodologies not allowed by governing documents
Demanded the State Central Committee take certain actions during meetings without any motion being made
Attempted to circumvent GOP bylaws to approve auxiliaries so Daryl Acumen and his wife Kathleen Anderson could receive seats on the SCC.
Rejected a women’s auxiliary from being recognized by the Party because it was competing with his wife’s auxiliary.
Misinterpreted the Constitution & Bylaws to deny the rights of SCC members to hold roll-call votes to ensure the Chair wasn’t improperly declaring voting results of the body.
Ignores “Appeals to the Rulings of the Chair”, and even attempted to have an SCC member forcibly and wrongfully removed from a meeting and sent to jail for making a valid motion.
Violated a motion from the floor to take an official recess until votes for SCC officers were tallied. During the recess an attempt was made to quickly recommence the meeting, wherein Daryl Acumen (formerly Daryl Bradshaw) brought a motion with members of the body still out of the meeting to drop the SB54 lawsuit, and then quickly adjourn the meeting.

Chairman Anderson uses Carrie Dickson & Robert’s Rules To Defend Gross Misconduct When He Unilaterally Edits Party Bylaws

Following the February 24, 2018 State Central Committee Meeting where the membership forfeiture bylaw was passed by a super majority of the members present, the Chair of the C&B Committee and Secretary Lisa Shepherd signed, certified, and published the new bylaws to the party website. The certified Bylaws were sent to the Lieutenant Governor’s office. Subsequently, Chairman Anderson downloaded the Bylaws, removed the certified signatures from the document, and proceeded to manually alter and modify the document. He removed the membership-forfeiture bylaw from the document, as well making other small formatting changes. Click here and scroll to page 11 to see the changes Rob Anderson unilaterally made to the certified bylaws published to the Party website, with zero authorization from delegates or the State Central Committee.

Anderson then sent the fraudulent and counterfeit version of the Bylaws to the Lieutenant Governor Cox’s Office (also a Buckshot Caucus member), who incredulously accepted them, and ignored the certified Party bylaws he had received earlier. Anderson did all this after his witch hunt into Secretary Shepherd wherein he publicly chastised her for making simple formatting changes to governing documents.”

It’s probably no surprise to you at this point that Carrie Dickson rushed to Rob Anderson’s aid to help him justify this gross overreach. Chairman Anderson sent an email to Utah Republicans on March 13, 2018, claiming the following:

Due to the seriousness of this matter, a thorough legal and parliamentarian review was conducted, as well as multiple consultations with the Utah State Legislature and the Utah Elections Office.

Robert’s Rules of Order (newly revised) clearly states:

RONR Article VIII Vote. 47. Votes that are Null and Void even if Unanimous: “No motion is in order that conflicts with the laws of the nation, or state, or with the assembly’s constitution or by-laws, and if such a motion is adopted, even by a unanimous vote, it is null and void. No rule that conflicts with a rule of a higher order is of any authority.”

Rob Anderson and Carrie Dickson conveniently forgot to mention in their email to Utah Republicans that Roberts Rules of Order only apply when not in conflict with the Constitution and Bylaws, and the governing documents clearly a spell out a process for making bylaw changes. This is not a gray area. Dickson again was being told what to get done, and she attempted to use corrupt Parliamentary procedure to do it.

Besides foolishly asserting a legal conclusion, this statement of illegality appears clearly false, because the referenced law specifies that a party MAY choose their general election candidates as they wish. Moreover, even if it was contrary to the law, it would not be legally binding if it is unconstitutional, which has been the Party’s assertion all along. Even a District Court Judge Nuffer asserted the Party still had a right to remove members after SB54 became law.

Carrie Dickson should no longer serve as the Party’s Parliamentarian, especially during the State Convention.

Chairman Anderson Tries To Put Buckshot Caucus In Charge of the 2018 Convention

Members of the GOP Executive Committee reported that Rob Anderson proposed Buckshot Caucus Member Todd Weiler to run the Rules Committee, and Buckshot Caucus Member Curt Bramble to run the credentialing process for the 2018 Convention. Anderson threatened to cancel convention if the committee didn’t approve both Weiler and Bramble. The Executive Committee compromised and allowed Bramble onto the Credentialing Committee, but they gave Weiler the boot but replaced him with another Buckshot Caucus Member, Clair Ellis, to lead the Rules Committee.

Clearly Anderson has no respect for the Rules and Processes designed to maintain order. A State Convention resolution was submitted by Jacob Hibbard all State Delegates should consider supporting so we can maintain Party order going forward. View Resolution

Click Here To View 18-Page Report On Carrie Dickson Rules Violations

GOP Chair Pulling A Fast One To Dissolve the SCC at Convention? Show Him Who’s Daddy!

We were all in disbelief when Utah GOP Chairman & Buckshot Caucus Member Rob Anderson revealed his intention to bankrupt the Party. Many suspect it was to create a new Party under the name “Republican Party of Utah” registered by CEO Taylor Morgan of Count My Vote. Despite Rob Anderson “fighting [him] at every step”, Dave Bateman stepped forward and eliminated over $400,000 of Party debt to keep the Party solvent and out of bankruptcy. This angered the Buckshot Caucus members who were squarely advocating for the death of the Caucus-Convention System.

Within 10 days of Bateman’s agreement to pay off the Party’s debt, Rob Anderson’s close friend, Senator Todd Weiler attempted to contact Bateman’s Ex-Girlfriend promising her $1,000,000 if she would bring sexual harassment claims against him. She was appalled and refused to even talk to him. Listen to the voice mail he left in an attempt to seduce this woman into participating in the scheme. The police briefly opened an investigation, and quickly closed it, stating their was no extortion even though there is a mountain of evidence to the contrary. Senator Weiler must have a lot of “very well connected friends”.

Plan B… Dissolve the State Central Committee With New Governing Documents At Convention

Now that Anderson’s intentions of bankrupting the Party “looks unacceptable” because Bateman paid off the debt, Anderson might be moving to Plan B—to sneak a new Constitution and Bylaws in front of the State Delegates at the nominating Convention on April 21st. If he tries it, delegates need to be informed and ready to vote “No”.

Anderson Says He Might “Introduce an Entirely New Constitution and Bylaws” at Convention

In his message to the left, Anderson first expresses his plan to shut down discussion and productivity in State Central Committee Meetings, which he has done. On December 16, 2017, Anderson made robocalls, emails, messages, and Facebook posts to tell members of the State Central Committee and told a special State-Central Committee meeting was cancelled when it was not, and was properly held, recognized, and ratified.

On February 24, 2018, when the road conditions were more than acceptable, Anderson encouraged members of the State Central Committee to stay home and not attend. He promised to excuse absences of those who did not attend, and in so doing, violated Party bylaws which grant him no such authority. Anderson also scheduled facilities for State Central Committee meetings at venues with hard-stop time constraints preventing important party business from being conducted. A bylaw proposal has even been submitted making it nearly impossible to ever again call a special meeting without the Chairman’s support.

Second, Chairman Anderson wrote “We might try to introduce a entirely new [Constitution & Bylaws] for vote at the nominating convention.” Wow, scary, but there’s more.

Chairman Anderson Is Denying Access of Bylaw and Constitution Amendment Proposals To Delegates & the Constitution & Bylaws Committee

The deadline to submit new Constitution and Bylaw amendment proposals was last Thursday, March 22, 2018 at 5pm. It was reported publicly that access to amendment proposals was revoked from the Chair of the C&B Committee, Janice Legler, just hours before the deadline preventing her from seeing any final submissions. As of this morning, despite repeated requests, all members of the C&B Committee are still being denied access to the Amendment submissions with the Convention just weeks away. Even if there is no nefarious plan to swap the C&B, the C&B Committee and delegates need time to adequately vet amendment submissions. Whichever way you cut it, withholding the proposals is harming the Party.

A State Central Committee member reported that Rob Anderson wanted to sneak through a wholesale change of the Constitution and Bylaws while serving as Chair of the Davis County Party a couple of years ago, increasing the likelihood that he might be planning this tactic.

Anderson Conducts a Witch Hunt Over “Immaterial” Formatting Changes of Bylaws

Ready for things to get wacky? On January 4, 2018 Rob Anderson sent an email to State Central Committee Members announcing a witch hunt into Party Secretary Lisa Shepherd, claiming she’d made unauthorized changes to Party bylaws. Here’s the investigation summary. Of course the C&B Committee was never asked to participate in this secret investigation carried out by Anderson. Anderson even engaged an outside legal firm (Snell and Wilmer) without approval from the SCC or the C&B Committee to conduct the expensive secret investigation.

The investigation resulted in the finding that although Lisa Shepherd “asked [Chairman] Mr. Evans if she could make changes in the formatting and capitalization”, and was given permission, “Ms. Shepherd’s changes to the Bylaws, albeit immaterial were not within her purview as Secretary.”

Why would Chairman Anderson conduct an expensive third party legal review of Ms. Shepherd’s “immaterial” changes and smear her to the entire State Central Committee for trying to do her job well? Why not just revert the changes, and push the formatting changes through in a proposal at the Convention? Perhaps his goal was to smear Secretary Shepherd at Convention like he did to the State Central Committee. Or Maybe the Chairman’s goal was to create some case to use these “immaterial” modifications to seed doubt among the State Delegates that the Bylaws weren’t legitimate. That might just lay the foundation for a quick, unexpected, vote to completely replace the governing documents at Convention with a version delegates don’t have time to vet. Maybe, just maybe, that new version would eliminate a State Central Committee?

Also included in Snell & Wilmer’s report on the matter, Rob Anderson’s own attorney Stewart Peay drew the conclusion: “The State Party Constitution nor the Bylaws grant to the State Party Secretary nor the State Party Chairman the unilateral authority to change the Bylaws, including changes limited to formatting and capitalization.” This finding of Anderson’s own attorney makes the following all the more paradoxical:

Anderson Fraudulently Modifies Bylaws & Sumbits Counterfeit Version to Lieutenant Governor Cox’s Office

Anderson Has No Problem Deceiving Delegates

Hopefully we’re all interpreting this wrong, and Anderson abandoned has plan to dupe delegates into ratifying fraudulent versions of the Constitution and Bylaws during the Convention; however, this is no time for complacency. We were all deceived last Convention when Anderson called people “fear mongers” who accused him of being the Count My Vote candidate. Fool me once, shame on you…. You know the rest.

Anderson Demands Buckshot Caucus Elites Run The Convention

Perhaps its coincidence that Rob Anderson threatened the GOP Executive Committee (according to members present) that he would cancel the Convention if Buckshot Godfather Kurt Bramble wasn’t in charge of credentialing, and Buckshot Member Accused of Extortion — Senator Todd Weiler wasn’t in charge of the Rules Committee. The Committee negotiated with Anderson to drop Weiler, but keep Bramble on the credentialing committee.

Former Legislator Warns That Two Buckshot Members Will Attempt to Swap Out Constitution & Bylaws

It’s probably also worth mentioning that State Central Committee member Don Guymon posted in a public forum that Matt Throckmorton, former C&B Chair and State Legislator, had heard that two prominent members of Buckshot Caucus were attempting to covertly substitute new Constitution and Bylaws during the Convention this year.

On March 26, 2018, Rob Anderson was interviewed by Kurt Manwaring who later published the interview, quoting Anderson who referred to the delegates, the SCC, and Republicans who oppose him as children who “lobby, plead, cry, beg, [& throw] temper-tantrums”. Anderson thinks he’s the parent and makes the Rules. I hope all of us are bold enough to kick and scream, until Anderson starts respecting delegates, State-Central committee members, our governing documents, and all Utah Republicans. He thinks he’s big Poppa and gets to make the rules. If he tries to pull off the Constitution & Bylaw Changeroo on April 21st, let’s be ready to show him “who’s daddy”.

Powerful Utah Senator Attempts to Extort Dave Bateman

Dave Bateman has an update with respect to the extortion attempts he’s been subjected to by a member of Buckshot Caucus. Watch the video to the right if you haven’t yet seen what’s going on. Dave is being extorted because he took a stand against “Count My Vote”. Over the past couple of months he has stepped forward to help save the Caucus-Convention System and rescue the Utah Republican Party from bankruptcy.

Dave Bateman has finally found the individual responsible for the extortion, and he has gone to the police with the information. Dave has have an audio recording that fully exposes this. Dave Bateman said “I’m shocked to learn it is a powerful Utah State Senator who is one of the key legislators responsible for deceiving our other good and honest legislators into passing SB54.” Dave released the audio file on a Facebook live at https://www.facebook.com/davidjonathanbateman

Please listen. You won’t believe your ears when you hear this recording. If you want to help fight back against corruption in Utah government please share the video my Facebook live video, and use the hashtag #stoptheBS (buck shot) when you do. In fact, whenever you post anything political please start using this hash tag. Our elected representatives need to know we are done tolerating their corruption and we’re draining the swamp. Buck Shot Caucus is the epi-center of corruption in Utah politics.

Utah Political Corruption, Buckshot Caucus, and Count My Vote

My name is Dave Bateman. I’m the CEO of Entrata—a local software company I started while at BYU 15 years ago. I’ve never been very political, but advocates of the Caucus System reached out to me a few months ago and asked me for my financial support to protect the GOP from bankruptcy, and to help preserve Utah’s Caucus System. I’m happy to report that I negotiated down, and just paid off the last portion of the GOP’s $400,000 in legal debts last night, leaving the Party on firm footing financially. That’s not why I’m emailing.

I believe Count My Vote’s signature-gathering path will cause generational harm and corruption to Utah’s political environment. I’m emailing you to share a small glimpse of the corruption already occurring, which is what we can expect for generations in Utah if Count My Vote succeeds.

Distributing and Distorting My Private Divorce Court Documents

Because I bailed out the Party, those advocating for Count My Vote have come after me and my family aggressively. I went through a difficult divorce a couple of years ago, which my family is still fighting to recover from. Mysteriously, my “private” court divorce documents were somehow flagged as “public”, which only a Judge or Court clerk can do. Subsequently, a man named Daryl Acumen (who is a strong advocate of Count My Vote and appears to be a close confidant of GOP Chairman Rob Anderson) somehow obtained my private divorce court documents. The documents contain confidential information about my children and my finances, and sent them to a reporter named Ed Wallace. Despite sending a cease and desist letter reminding Daryl Acumen that distribution of these private documents is illegal in Utah, he continues to publish distorted information from the documents online.

Soliciting My Employees to Falsely Accuse Me of Sexual Harassment

Count My Vote advocates have formed a group called “Buckshot Caucus”, of which GOP Chairman Rob Anderson, Rep. Mike Mckell, Senator Kurt Bramble, Lieutenant Governor Spencer Cox, and Senator Todd Weiler are members, among other prominent political figures in Utah. The group recently reserved a suite at a Jazz game and a member invited one of my employees to attend. My employee was approached in the suite by someone who was later described to me as a “political attorney”. The attorney asked her to participate in a scheme to solicit an employee of my company into making false sexual harassment claims against me. In return, the attorney allegedly promised the person who made the fraudulent claim a million dollars. I’m so thankful both employees who were solicited refused to go along with the dastardly plot and came forward to warn me.

Members of the SCC are Being Attacked

The media is in bed with Count My Vote because they will make millions from primary-election advertising if Count My Vote succeeds. The media is mischaracterizing those pushing to restore the Caucus-Convention System as a small group of fringe extremists. The legislature passed SB54 to protect their own incumbencies and ensure their re-election. Does it not seem sketchy to anyone that the State legislature decided to change the rules on how they themselves get elected? Yet the legislature who created this disaster joins in on mocking the State Central Committee for protecting their first amendment rights. Now, I can admit this video is kind of funny. What’s not funny is they ended the legislative session early, and didn’t have time to vote on a bill to protect QPP status for Republican candidates before adjourning; however, they had time to make this video and have a party to celebrate the conclusion of the session.

The legislature, just like the media has been pushing an absolutely false narrative. I’ve contacted 140 of the approximately 170 members of the SCC. 101 of those 140 SCC members reported they are in favor of a single-path Caucus-Convention System. Every vote taken to attempt to restore the Caucus-Convention System passes with a super majority of support, whether it’s an emergency meeting or a special meeting. 120 out of 128 SCC members voted overwhelmingly in November to continue the SB54 litigation. 73.9% of 850 delegates who answered a survey I conducted want a single-path Caucus-Convention System. 80.9% of 1,000 2016 Caucus Attendees surveyed are also in favor of a single-path Caucus-Convention System.

A member of the State Central Committee reported after the February 24 SCC meeting that his job was threatened if he continued to fight to save the Caucus-Convention System. Members of the SCC who voted on February 24 for the new bylaw have also been subject to electronic communications harassment. Count-My-Vote-affiliate Daryl Acumen has set up a process to bombard State Central Committee members’ email accounts with so many emails that they haven’t been able to communicate effectively during the weeks leading up to Caucus night. Acumen has spread lies all throughout the Utah GOP membership about actions recently taken in the meeting. During this same meeting, Chairman Anderson called for a closed-door Executive Session, wherein no recordings are permitted, nor are members allowed to even share the contents of the discussion outside the meeting. However, Chairman Anderson’s Assistant Executive Director Peter Simonsen secretly recorded the meeting from the Chairman’s lectern while he was standing there. The video was subsequently leaked to Daryl Acumen for use in his harassment of SCC members.

Why the SCC Made the Bylaw Change

The recent bylaw change was necessary to effectively litigate SB54. The Party bylaws have never allowed candidates to gather signatures. However, the existing bylaw needed an enforcement mechanism or it was meaningless. A bylaw change was made so candidates who violated the bylaws, after signing an agreement not to, would forfeit their membership until one day after the general election. Party attorneys cannot litigate against the encroachment of SB54 effectively without this. Moreover, any organization has the right to 1) define their rules and processes, and 2) to define them—especially a political organization.

Count My Vote is terrified of this new bylaw, because it is SB54’s death knell. News articles were run to suggest the change would somehow interfere with Mitt Romney’s campaign, which is patently untrue. While the new bylaw was bold, it was only implemented in the 1st and 2nd congressional districts in 2018. These districts were chosen because no one had yet declared intent to gather signatures during this election cycle. Unlike the false rhetoric from Chairman Anderson, the bylaw was implemented carefully to not bring harm to candidates, or change the rules on anyone mid cycle.

Rob Anderson Unilaterally Edits Party Bylaws Himself, and Submits to the LG Office as the Official Party Bylaws

After a super majority of State Central Committee members on February 24th voted to implement this new bylaw change, the Party’s Constitution and Bylaw’s Committee Janice Legler certified and signed the new bylaws. Officer Lisa Shepherd did also, and emailed the bylaws to the Lieutenant Governor’s office, as the Party is required to do by law. The new certified bylaws were published to the Party website utah.gop. This is where things start to get weird–and I mean weird.

The LG’s office refuses to accept the bylaws from anyone besides Rob Anderson, stating “We will need to receive these bylaws from him.” No one in the Party ever remembers the LG’s office refusing to accept bylaw changes from the Party secretary.

Outrageously, Chairman Anderson edits the certified party bylaws himself and submits a fraudulent and uncertified copy of the bylaws to the LG’s office omitting the new bylaw passed by a super majority of the SCC. See Anderson’s edits here Brazenly, Anderson apparently also made edits to elements of the bylaws changed as far back as 2015. The Chair clearly does this in an attempt to thwart the Party’s attempts to litigate SB54.

While the LG is in Buckshot Caucus, to be fair, the referenced correspondence was with Justin Lee, the Director of Elections, not Spencer Cox.

Chairman Anderson Breeches Contract with Me

Chairman Anderson committed to me that if I paid hundreds of thousands to support the Party, he would not interfere with the SCC’s efforts to litigate SB54. He deceived me just like he deceived the delegates at Convention last May when he promised them “I am not the Count My Vote candidate.” Chairman Anderson fought me at every step from paying off the debt, but finally signed the agreement. Then he brazenly breaches his contract with me in every way conceivable—even breaking State Law by creating and transmitting counterfeit bylaws to the LG’s office. Here is the language from the contract Rob Anderson personally signed with me:
“No UTGOP officer, committee, or employee shall, without express direction from the SCC, move to dismiss any part of the Litigation or act in any way to delay, impede, circumvent or limit the Litigation or other efforts to repeal and/or overturn SB54.”

We Cannot Tolerate These Actions, We Must Come Together & Fight This
Please consider running to become a County delegate this year if you’re a proponent of the Caucus-Convention System. County delegates selected this year will vote to elect a new State Central Committee next year. We have to get organized or we will lose this fight. Please visit KeepMyVoice.org to volunteer to be part of the coalition to preserve and protect the Utah GOP’s First Amendment Rights.