The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for June 5, 2025

We’ve been revisiting election denial hotspots this week, five years after the 2020 election. Monday, June 9th, a civil trial begins against My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell, accused of defaming former Dominion Voting Systems election security expert, Dr. Eric Coomer. 

Coomer, former director of product strategy and security for Dominion, found himself accused in a conspiracy theory claiming Coomer admitted rigging the election, and his life was threatened.  Broadcasters, podcasters, Lindell and others allegedly repeated the claim, resulting in Coomer bringing five suits, two in Denver district court, and three in federal district court.  Dominion itself settled with Fox News for $787.5 million dollars. 

Two defendants, far right broadcasters OAN and NewsMax, settled their cases with Coomer.  Others tried to use Colorado’s statute giving courts the power to dismiss meritless defamation cases where defendants prove they were exercising free speech.  So far, the courts have found for Coomer, and his cases were allowed to go forward.  

Lindell told The Bulwark that he would be taking the stand in his defense.  The witness list also reportedly includes former Mesa County, Colorado Clerk, Tina Peters, convicted of giving unauthorized access to the county’s Dominion Voting Systems electronic ballot tabulators to investigators tied to Lindell.   

Lindell told a DC federal court in April he could not afford judgement in the case he lost to voting systems company Smartmatic.  

We have more at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources: 

Colorado Public Radio – (2020)  Election Conspiracy Theorists Focused On One Man In Colorado. His Life Will Never Be The Same
American Democracy Minute – (2023) Judge Rules Fox News Lied About Dominion Voting Systems Being Linked to Fraud; Sends Case to Jury Trial
Colorado Public Radio – (2023) Former Dominion Voting employee waits for his day(s) in court on multiple suits
Colorado Public Radio – (2024) Former Dominion employee defamation suit against Trump campaign can continue, court says
Courthouse News Service – (2025) Colorado appeals court greenlights Dominion Voting defamation claims against conservative radio host
The Bulwark – Mike Lindell Is Texting Me From His Defamation Trial
Colorado Politics – My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell defamation trial starts in Denver

Register or Check Your Voter Registration:

U.S. Election Assistance Commission – Register And Vote in Your State

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#News #Democracy  #DemocracyNews #MyPillow #MikeLindell #ElectionDeniers #DominionVotingSystems

The post Civil Trial Against My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell Starts June 9 for Allegedly Defaming Former Dominion Voting Systems Exec appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for June 3, 2025

We recently reported on county supervisors in Shasta County, CA still clinging to debunked 2020 election fraud claims by President Trump and his allies.  May 29th, a Colorado man was sentenced to three years in prison for threats he made to top Colorado and Arizona election officials, fueled by those same claims.  

Teak Ty Brockbank of Cortez, Colorado pleaded guilty in Federal District Court last fall for threatening to QUOTE “hang by the neck” Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold and former Arizona Secretary of State and now Governor, Katie Hobbs.  He also threatened a judge presiding in a separate DUI case, and threatened to shoot federal agents if they stepped on his property.

Brockbank asked for leniency during the sentencing, blaming consumption of alcohol and online conspiracy theories for his actions, according to the Associated Press.

The Brennan Center for Justice found in a 2024 survey that 38% of election officials have been subjected to threats.  A Princeton University Bridging Divides tracker found 90 threats to election workers last year alone.  

Meanwhile, the Department of Justice division which prosecuted Brockbank, the Public Integrity Division, has been largely dismantled under Trump’s “Ending the Weaponization of the Federal Government” executive order.   The division has been reduced from 30 lawyers to only 5, under Attorney General Pam Bondi.  

We have DOJ’s details of the case at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. I’m Brian Beihl. 

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

U.S. Department of Justice – (2024) Cortez Man Pleads Guilty To Making Threats Against Election Official
Colorado Public Radio – Colorado man who threatened election officials asked for leniency in sentencing, got 3 years 
Brennan Center for Justice – Poll of Election Officials Finds Concerns About Safety, Political Interference
Princeton University Bridging Divides Initiative – Threat and Harassment Incidents Targeting Local Officials Surge During 2024 Election
Federal Register – Executive Order:  Ending the Weaponization of the Federal Government
NBC News – Justice Department office that prosecutes public corruption slashed in size, sources say  

Groups Taking Action:

Protect Democracy, Issue One, Center for American Progress

Register or Check Your Voter Registration:

U.S. Election Assistance Commission – Register And Vote in Your State

Please follow us on Facebook and Bluesky Social, and SHARE! 

Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

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Are you a radio station?  Find our broadcast files at Pacifica Radio Network’s Audioport and PRX

#News #Democracy  #DemocracyNews #ProtectElections #ProtectPollWorkers 

The post CO Man Sentenced to 3 Years for Threats Against Top CO and AZ Election Officials, Judge and Law Enforcement appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for June 2, 2025

Almost five years after the election, impacts of debunked 2020 election fraud claims by President Donald Trump and his allies still reverberate.  We’re back in Shasta County, California, where once again, supervisors have stoked an election-denier dumpster fire. 

We last covered Shasta County when its county supervisors chose to drop electronic ballot tabulators and instead hand count ballots for the 2024 presidential election, against the recommendations of county election officials.  With over 111,000 registered voters, it would have taken days, not hours, to count the ballots.  The State of California forced the county to follow state standards and use tabulators, which are faster, cheaper and more accurate than hand counting. 

Recently, some of those same supervisors appointed an interim Registrar of Voters with no experience, Clint Curtis.  Curtis, after two weeks on the job, fired assistant registrar Joanna Francescut, with 17 years of experience in running elections.  

The Shasta Scout reports that Curtis recently said he needed to train the staff to run an election “the right way,” despite statements that he is suspicious of optical ballot readers, wants to reduce the number of state mandated ballot drop boxes, and wants ballots printed locally, not by a specialized ballot printer.   

Curtis has announced plans to run for the permanent registrar position in June 2026. Francescut has already announced her plans to run against him. 

We have more on Shasta County at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. I’m Brian Beihl.  

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

American Democracy Minute – (2023) Shasta County Almost Hand-Counted Its Ballots in November. Instead, it Lost an Expensive Game of Election Denial Chicken with the State of California
American Democracy Minute – (2024) Five States Are Considering Conspiracy-Fueled Legislation Which Bans Ballot Tabulators.  But Fed-Up Voters are Pushing Back.
Shasta County Scout – After Four Days in his Appointed Role As Registrar of Voters, Clint Curtis Announces Campaign During Private “Town Hall”
Shasta County Scout – New Shasta County Election Official Terminates Top Staffer
SF Gate – ‘Calm anger’: After 17 years, Shasta elections official suddenly fired 

Groups Taking Action:

Common Cause California,  League of Women Voters Redding

Register or Check Your Voter Registration:

U.S. Election Assistance Commission – Register And Vote in Your State

Please follow us on Facebook and Bluesky Social, and SHARE! 

Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

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Are you a radio station?  Find our broadcast files at Pacifica Radio Network’s Audioport and PRX

#News #Democracy  #DemocracyNews #ShastaCounty #ElectionDeniers #ProtectElections #ElectionWorkers

The post Five Years After the 2020 Election, More Election Denier Turmoil in Shasta County, CA appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for May 28, 2025

Georgia law allows unlimited challenges by voters to the eligibility of other citizens registering or voting. Before a hotly-contested U.S. Senate runoff elections in 2021, an activist group challenged over 364,000 voters.  The case is now before an appeals court. 

Remember the Georgia legislature’s notorious SB 202, prohibiting “line warming”, the giving out of food and water for voters forced to wait in long lines to vote?  That is only one of many barriers in the law targeting voters of color.   Another allows citizen activists unlimited challenges to the eligibility of other citizens to register and vote, often using inaccurate, unreliable or hearsay information.  

At issue are mass challenges to over 364,000 mostly Black and Hispanic voters by True the Vote, the Texas group which brought you the discredited “2000 Mules” conspiracy theory documentary.  Georgia’s Fair Fight Action sued, but a federal district court said voters testifying didn’t provide enough evidence to rise to a Voting Rights Act violation.  

In Fair Fight’s 11th Circuit appeal on May 13th, two judges in the three judge panel voiced concern over the legal foundation of the lower court’s decision.  One judge suggested that the intent of voter suppression was enough to be a violation of the VRA, even if citizens voted successfully, according to reporting by the Georgia Recorder.  Expect a decision in the coming weeks.
We have more on the case at  AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. I’m Brian Beihl. 

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

Legal Defense Fund – LDF’s Lawsuit Challenging Georgia’s Voter Suppression Law
Brennan Center for Justice – (2024) New Georgia Law Spurs Bogus Challenges to Voter Eligibility
U.S. District Court via Democracy Docket – 2020 Complaint by Fair Fight Action

Texas Tribune – (2022) She helped create the Big Lie. Records suggest she turned it into a big grift.
NBC News – Conservative activists find errors in software they hoped would root out voter fraud
Georgia Recorder – Federal court might revive Georgia lawsuit claiming mass challenges violate Voting Rights Act
Court House News – 11th Circuit looks for voter intimidation in 2020 election challenges by conservatives

Groups Taking Action:

Fair Fight Action, Legal Defense Fund, ACLU GA

Register or Check Your Voter Registration:

U.S. Election Assistance Commission – Register And Vote in Your State

Please follow us on Facebook and Bluesky Social, and SHARE! 

Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

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Are you a radio station?  Find our broadcast files at Pacifica Radio Network’s Audioport and PRX

#News #Democracy  #DemocracyNews #Georgia #VoterSuppression #SB202 #VoterChallenges

The post 2020 Mass Challenges of 364,000 Georgia Voters Under Scrutiny by Federal Appeals Court appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for May 9, 2025

In August 2024, a jury convicted Mesa County, Colorado election official Tina Peters for tampering with her county’s voting machines in 2020, and allowing election deniers access to them.  Disregarding the breach of “election integrity”, President Donald Trump is now trying to set her free. 

Peters was found guilty on four felony charges and additional misdemeanors by 12 Mesa County jurors for giving unauthorized access to the county’s Dominion Voting Systems tabulators to two conspiracy theory activists.  Those activists were associated with MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell and election data was copied and later turned up online.  

While President Trump has long talked about preserving election integrity, in March, he ordered the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the Peters prosecution, which it said in a court filing it was investigating, “abuses of the criminal justice process.”  Then May 5th, Trump posted on Truth Social, “Colorado must end this unjust incarceration of an innocent American.  I am hereby directing the Department of Justice to help secure the release of this “hostage” being held in a Colorado prison by Democrats, for political reasons.”  

Because Peters was convicted in a state court, Trump has no power to pardon her, but could appeal in federal court or withhold federal funding to the state.   Election integrity, indeed. 

We’ve linked to more at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl.  

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

Colorado Newsline – (2021) ‘Serious breach’ of voting security at center of investigation of Mesa County clerk’s office
American Democracy Minute – Colorado Election Official Who Allowed 2020 Conspiracy Theory Activists Access to County Voting Machine Data Found Guilty
Colorado Newsline – Tina Peters, former Mesa County clerk, guilty on 7 counts 
Colorado Newsline – Trump Justice Department conducting ‘review’ of Colorado’s Tina Peters prosecution

President Donald Trump – Truth Social post to ‘FREE TINA PETERS’
Denver ABC 7 – Jena Griswold says Trump is ‘weaponizing the Department of Justice’ in Tina Peters case

Groups Taking Action:

Common Cause CO, States United Democracy Center, Issue One

Register or Check Your Voter Registration:

U.S. Election Assistance Commission – Register And Vote in Your State

Please follow us on Facebook and Bluesky Social, and SHARE! 

Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

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Are you a radio station?  Find our broadcast files at Pacifica Radio Network’s Audioport and PRX

#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #ProtectElections #BigLie #FreeTinaPeters #TinaPeters #DonaldTrump

The post CO Election Official Tina Peters Got 9 Years for Tampering with Election Machines to Prove the Big Lie.  Trump is Trying to Set Her Free. appeared first on American Democracy Minute.