Unconstitutional? Wisconsin city election officials sought private money to register voters
GOP official, legal expert says private funding requirements detailed in memos raises ethical, Constitutional issues.
By Daniel Payne, John Solomon and Natalia Mittelstadt Updated: December 17, 2020 - 8:01am
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CCity officials in Green Bay, Wis., solicited private money from a voter advocacy group backed by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, pledging they would use some of the $1 million grant to run registration campaigns and conduct outreach to “underrepresented” minority voters, according to memos obtained by Just the News through an open records request.
“[W]e’d like to reach out to the Hmong, Somali and Spanish-speaking communities with targeted mail, geo-fencing, posters (billboards), radio, television and streaming service PSAs, digital advertising, robo calls and robo texts, as well as voter-navigators,” the city’s grant questionnaire to the Center for Tech and Civic Life stated.
“We could also employ our voter navigators to have town halls, registration drives in trusted locations and conduct virtual events,” the questionnaire added.
Legal experts and Wisconsin GOP officials said Wednesday the grant arrangement appeared to put city election officials in the business of conducting partisan activities like get-out-the-vote efforts and registrations usually reserved for political parties and candidates. They added it possibly violated the equal protection clause of the Constitution by targeting only certain ethnic communities deemed favorable to Democrats.
“Using private funds to have government workers implement voter registration drives — that should be done by political groups — is an ethical concern,” Wisconsin GOP chairman Andrew Hitt told Just the News. “And the fact that they initially offered this money to Democrat cities, to target Democrat constituencies, sheds more light on their actual intentions.”
Phill Kline, head of the Thomas More Society’s AMistad Project that has filed lawsuits in several states challenging irregularities in the 2020 election, said the grant application suggested private money was used to “fund partisan political activity by local election officials. Such conduct violates equal protection and federal law. Such private interests must not be in the voting booth or the counting room.”
WANTED: U.S. Embassy Staffer Drugged & Molested DOZENS of Unconscious Women: Court Docs
December 16, 2020
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The FBI Washington Field Office and the US Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) Office of Special Investigations are on a manhunt for alleged sexual offender, Brian Jeffrey Raymond.
Brian Jeffrey Raymond, 44, was charged in the District of Columbia on October 8, 2020, alleging that he induced an “adult victim to travel for the purpose of engaging in any sexual activity.”
Raymond allegedly met his victims on dating apps and had videos and photographs of the victims showing them unconscious, partially undressed or fully nude.
Raymond was arrested in La Mesa, California, on October 9, 2020 but has since fled.
Brian Jeffrey Raymond was formerly a US government employee, and he traveled extensively overseas, including in Mexico and Peru. He speaks both Spanish and Mandarin Chinese. Raymond had been living in Mexico from August 2018 to May 2020.
If you believe you have been a victim of Brian Jeffrey Raymond, the FBI requests that you fill out a secure, online questionnaire. The questionnaire will assist law enforcement with the investigation, and is available with additional information at fbi.gov/BrianJeffreyRaymond .
If you believe you or someone you know may have information regarding Brian Jeffrey Raymond, the FBI requests that you complete the same questionnaire, or you can email ReportingBJR@fbi.gov or call 1-800-CALL-FBI.