David vs. Goliath Election Case Update: Colorado Secretary of State Redacts Exculpatory Evidence and “Civil Rights” NGOs’ Attorneys Coached a Witness

from The Gateway Pundit

By Brian Lupo Jul. 17, 2024 7:45 am

Photo:From left to right: Defendants Ashe Epp, Col. Shawn Smith, Holly Kasun – photo courtesy of Matt Struck

Yesterday, The Gateway Pundit reported on the beginning of a little-known election case where well-funded non-governmental organizations (NGOs) were suing grassroots activists over voter canvassing efforts in Colorado to ensure accurate voter information following the 2020 election.

The case was brought by the Colorado NAACP, the League of Women Voters, and Mi Familia Vota as plaintiffs represented by a slew of attorneys led by Amy Erickson, all from Free Speech For People, an organization founded by John Bonifaz, the founder and former executive direct of the National Voting Rights Institute.

Day 2 wrapped up yesterday with the Free Speech For People legal team finally calling their one and only witness to the "voter intimidation" this lawsuit was based upon.

The Legal Director for Free Speech For People, Courtney Hostetler, called Yvette Roberts from Mesa County, CO to the stand.  Roberts is so-far the only witness presented by plaintiffs that claims to have been intimidated from the canvassing organized by the USEIP, as alleged in the lawsuit.

This testimony was such a disaster for Hostetler, Erickson and the rest of the Free Speech for People legal team that the judge had to interrupt questioning to ask the gallery to refrain from laughing at one point.

On June 23, 2021, Roberts filed a complaint with local authorities claiming that she was intimidated by a man and a woman who came to her door earlier that day to ask her questions about the 2020 election.

The older man, apparently around 60 years of age, was intimidating to an old lady, however, much younger solicitors selling solar panels and other goods coming to her door were not, as she would testify to.

Roberts originally stated in her complaint to law enforcement that the man and woman canvassing her neighborhood had "homemade looking badges," however, during testimony today, she stated that the badges were "official looking."

She stated they didn't have any seals or emblems on them to distinguish them as Secretary of State's office or any other governmental entities and looked to come from "an office supply store."

Roberts opened her front door to the canvassers and willfully answered their questions, none of which invaded the privacy of her secret ballot (who she voted for) according to testimony.

In the previous article, The Gateway Pundit discussed the questions asked by USEIP canvassers.  Roberts ultimately testified that the canvassers did, in fact, stick to that script.

However, during testimony today, but never before previously in any statements or declarations, Roberts claimed the man at some point  randomly said, "Republicans!" in an unknown context.  Roberts couldn't remember at what point in the questioning he made the assertion to a political party.

It's worth noting the canvassers that came to her door, as testified to earlier in the case, were not USEIP canvassers as USEIP did not canvass in Mesa County where she lived, according to testimony from defendants Colonel Shawn Smith and Ashe Epp.

After asking questions that seemed to be personal, Roberts assumed that the male canvasser had a voter roll, which is publicly available, and that was "fine and dandy" with her.  She also testified that they wanted to impress her by looking official based off "their stance and how he held his clipboard."  Whatever that means.

After answering several questions, she was asked how she submitted her ballot (by mail, dropbox, or in person). Roberts said she grew uncomfortable at that point and asked the canvassers to leave.  And so they left without question.

She alleged that they walked away talking to one another but had no idea what they were saying.  This apparently concerned her.  She watched them turn the corner at her property before returning to her normal activities.

Roberts felt something was wrong with this confrontation, so she called the local authorities so that others wouldn't be subjected to the same experience.  The sheriff responded, made a report, investigated, and found no criminal activity in what the canvassers were doing.

During earlier testimony from Deputy Secretary of State Michael Beall, pro se defendant Ashe Epp revealed that the Secretary of State's Office had redacted this critical information from emails obtained through discovery and open records request.  Beall had testified just moments earlier that, regarding CORA (Colorado Open Records requests), "the buck stopped with [him]."

Not trusting the redactions from the Colorado Secretary of State's Office, Epp also did a CORA request with the Mesa County District Attorney for the same exact documents.

The Mesa DA's office, fortunately, did not redact most of the parts the Secretary of State's Office did, which revealed that exculpatory evidence had been hidden unnecessarily under those little black boxes.

Why was this critical information that would have exonerated all three defendants redacted by the Secretary of State?  This is a massive violation of the public trust and possibly a criminal conspiracy to withhold exculpatory information from defendants in a civil proceeding.

Later during questioning, counsel for Defendants asked how Roberts concluded it was the USEIP that was canvassing her home, which she stated definitely in her sworn declaration.

This is where the bomb dropped.

Roberts claimed it was plaintiff's counsel who informed her it had to be the USEIP.  Roberts had never heard of the USEIP prior to that consultation. USEIP did not canvass in her county, as was repeatedly stated throughout the case.

Why did counsel from Free Speech For People coach their witness into believing that USEIP was the culprit?

Furthermore, Roberts added in her declaration, the same declaration she was coached into saying it was USEIP that canvassed her, that she was "half Native American."

This was omitted from her initial statements and reports.  Why would organizations like the NAACP, Mi Familia Vota and the League of Women Voters want a minority status attached to a witness?

Before Epp began her cross-examination (the last of the defendants), the judge told her that she had heard enough and that she didn't have to question her, but that she was free to do so if she chose to.

This afternoon, the Colorado League of Women Voters Executive Director was testifying.  Tomorrow's write-up will cover her extraordinary testimony in full.

Follow @CannConActual on X for live-tweeting of this trial and follow The Gateway Pundit for updates on this trial.