Update on the Sexual Harassment Cases Being Covered Up By the Oklahoma State GOP

First it was one pervert harassing one victim, a very lady like petite young married woman, to the point where the lady had to quit volunteering for the GOP.   Then around early August rumors or more cases coming out.  Then a few weeks ago sources claimed that National Committee Woman Pam Pollard had taken five sexual harassment cases to John Bennett and then Executive Director Bob Dani and were told "I will not Brent Kavanaugh ______ ________."  Insert the name of a high ranking GOP staffer who shall remain unnamed until this is investigated.

Was the first lady who told of the sexual harassment one of the five victims known to Pam Pollard?  Were the text messages Pollard had as evidence and had shown to Bennett and Dani proof of this first known case?

Later another name popped out, another GOP staffer, accused of a milder form of sexual harassment but as in the first known case it was severe enough that the young woman quit in disgust.  Now we have two undisciplined and dishonorable horny men taking advantage of volunteers.  

As we are unsure if the first victim was named in the five cases, some with text message proof, there might be six cases for the one pervert.  Two names have surfaced, potential victims that might be members of the five cases known, perhaps they bubbled up because they had said something to someone and the word got around.  Perhaps these are two additional cases?

And at the court hearing last Wednesday, a source claimed that at least one victim was present, supposedly accompanied by her husband and a lawyer, with the source claiming to overhear whispered comments explaining the law on sexual harassment cases.   Now the source wouldn't know who the first five or six victims were and they wouldn't know anyone in the GOP or at least very few.  Could this mysterious court room couple be another victim of sexual harassment at the GOP headquarters?

Lying John's video today pleaded with the watchers of the video to donate and come volunteer at the GOP.  Would you send your daughter down to the GOP?  Would you allow even your son to volunteer as the morals and decency at the headquarters has sunk to abysmal lows?  Would a son follow the example being set or would he himself become a victim as we are not sure how many of the victims are women and if any are men.  Pretty far fetched, yeah, but so is this administration.

At this point we appear to be dealing with between six and eight sexual harassment victims and two perverts but only Pam Pollard, John Bennett, and Bob Dani know the truth.  We know of two names that are pretty darned solid and two names that are alleged.   Will others come forward?  What will the cost be to the Party if some of them decide to sue?  Or will Lying John and the rest of the GOP staff and leaders insist that this is an internal Party matter so no one can hold them accountable?

Lying John Gets Caught Again; Thousands of Donor Dollars Blown on Useless Videos

Lying John, has a nice ring to it and twelve years ago had I known the man was like he is I wouldn't have supported him.  Literally no other person in the state has as much invested in Bennett than I did, so if I am going after him you know he has it coming.

Many of you delegates had asked John Bennett during the GOP Chairman race who he was associated, some asked him directly if he was "my guy" or closely associated.  Well, listen to this tape and make up your own mind. At 2:54 he says he will run.

The first tape is the day that Bennett agreed to run for the Chairman slot, a few minutes into the audio file.  It is an interesting audio file, you get to see how things like this are done, the planning of the campaign team that generates the initial support, how and why people are considered as members of the team, a bit of how the sausage is made.

One interesting part is where Bennett and I talk about Speaker Charles McCall and Floor Leader Jon Echols flying down to Tahlequah to give Bennett thousands of dollars in campaign funds just to get him to speak to me about getting off their butts.  Bennett had ran against McCall for Speaker of the House and I had been hammering McCall pretty hard.  I laid off the guy and aimed at Chris Kannady instead, the #3 guy, as McCall could have stripped Bennett of his committee chairmanship.  I understood the message even if Bennett didn't.  Sometimes it is good tactics to pivot anyway.  But how many people can say that the Speaker of the House wanted you to leave them alone bad enough to fly down and shell out serious cash to see if it could be done?

The second tape is just the back half of the first conversation.  

For those that still think Bennett can be salvaged, well if anyone would think that it would be me after putting myself out on the line protecting him for twelve years.  But some times you just have to realize you made a bad investment and to cut your losses.  And if I put someone in office and they betray our movement, I feel morally obligated to take them out and fix my mistake.

The scandal on Miles Rahimi's Project 46 contract finally blew this week.  We have known about this for months but you know, we just weren't ready to trash Bennett, thought he could be salvaged or others that helped him thought so so we were holding off on him personally.   So around the end of May John Bennett, no doubt aided by his staff, signed a $4,000 a month contract with Miles Rahimi for video services.  If you look up that project 46 website you will find it is some sort of pay to play activist or candidate thing.  You spend between $500 and $1500 per month and get all sorts of campaign help and "unlimited" videos made for your campaign.  I guess he was soaking Bennett and the GOP because the contract was for three times that amount and change and was for only four videos per month.

And you might ask, why do we need videos and why do we need to pay $4000 per month?  Well they were mostly videos promoting Bennett and begging for donations.  So I guess we really didn't need the videos, we being the GOP members.

Some people had asked about  this deal for months and we are told that both Bennett and Executive Director Bob Dani denied that there was a "contract", it was said to be a "gentleman's agreement".  In order to do the budget they needed to know how much was being spent, in fact that contract ought to have gone before the State Committee before a dime was paid.  But in fact, these folks were lied to by John Bennett, the contract was signed in late May but people were told that there was no contract.

And those of you that have seen the Bennett videos, remember how he was telling us all that "no one was getting paid down here..."?  Well Lying John strikes again.

Ya'll remember the chant "Lets go Brandon"?

How soon till it is "Lets go Bennett"?

Staff Sexual Harassment? The Republican Party Demands No Interference In Party Governance

On Wednesday October 13th in the Oklahoma County Courthouse four lawyers hired by Central Committee members are going to try to eliminate anyone from attempting to hold them accountable on Party matters or from demanding an investigation into at least five cases of sexual harassment by  GOP staff members. If you are to believe their court filings, their autonomy trumps the right of anyone to interfere in the internal governance of the Party, claiming it is the Party's First and Fourteenth Amendment right to govern itself. 

 You can read the initial compliant and some of the filings at this link.   GOP lawsuit    The last filing by Chairman Bennett is yet to be uploaded, I can send you a copy if you ask.

The problem with their reasoning is that the Republican Party of Oklahoma isn't a legal entity, it exists under a charter from the RNC and does business as an unincorporated association which has no legal barriers in place to prevent any judgments or debts from falling upon the ruling body which is the State Committee or the registered voters of the state for that matter. AJ Ferate, R. Tom Hillis, Kyle Alderson, and "acting" General Counsel Rex Duncan filed entry of appearances with the court and filed two replies claiming a Constitutional right to boot out anyone the Party wishes, to be allowed to run the Party in contradiction with the Bylaws, allow zero financial oversight, and to deal with internal Party issues as they fit and that appears to include allegations of sexual harassment. 

 

 Who decides who is a member of the GOP? The state does, allowing anyone to register as a Republican. How does that make for a “private” group or an independent organization? There are a myriad of other ways the State of Oklahoma and the Federal government regulate or monitor political parties. The Party files Ethics Commission reports quarterly, it pays taxes on payroll, has to follow zoning laws, health and safety regulations, city ordinances. It reports to the Federal Election Commission on a quarterly basis and follows the laws of the U.S. and Oklahoma. Who pays for our method of picking our candidate in the general election? The state does, not a privately funded party caucus. At one point between 1979 and 1981 there was a law on the books allowing a one dollar check off on the State tax return. Party is an unincorporated association, it has no legal entity, yet lawyers claim it has 1st and 14th amendment rights. 

 The First Amendment: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” 

 

 In this case that is the right to assemble and petition for the redress of grievances which has been adjudicated to mean the right to join and participate in a political party. And use our free speech.  

14th Amendment: All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. 

 The 14th Amendment protects those 1st Amendment rights but in the current lawsuit it isn't the State of Oklahoma's power or that of the Congress that is at issue; what is at issue is how the Party has written its bylaws to regulate itself and is refusing to follow their own bylaws. What the Republican Party under the Central Committee is doing is refusing the Plaintiff and other Republicans from assembling with like minded registered Republicans. 

 Does the general membership of the GOP have these rights to association and assembly, then why are they forced to take just anyone into the Party? Do the other Party members have the right to choose who they associate with by voting to kick people out of the Party? No? Then the only one with true First and Fourteenth Amendment rights are the individuals in the Party including the Plaintiff asking the Judge to use the powers of the judiciary to enforce the Bylaws. 

 

So what was the motive for Chairman John Bennett to turn on a 12 year long political relationship and conspire to boot the Plaintiff out of the Party? Well, he was being surrounded by an ever increasing paranoid and power hungry staff but that alone ought not to be unexpected. We believe that what tipped the porta potty was allegations of a number of young, married, Republican volunteers reporting sexual harassment charges against two or more members of the Party leadership/staff. On the day that the Plaintiff was wrongfully removed by a uniformed off duty sheriff deputy from the State Committee meeting, he spoke to dozens of people in the parking lot of Paul Blair's church in Edmond. One was a young lady there supporting Lahmyer, who like the rest of us was denied entrance to observe the meeting. Most had been lied to and told that Bennett was to be removed, something I explained was impossible without following the requirements of a ten day notice before the meeting and majority vote and it had to be for cause, which sad to say existed.

 

 But this young lady asked a lot of questions and we came around to discussing one particular staffer/leadership team member and the Plaintiff was told of “wildly inappropriate” behavior by the team member against the young woman. She was reluctant to share the entire story but when asked if it was creepy kind of behavior she said yes. 

Well, nothing to be done as the Plaintiff had zero access to the Party according to then Public Relations Director Leslie Nessmith, now Chief of Staff, who bragged on Facebook that she, Executive Director Bob Dani, and Chairman Bennett had conspired and agreed to remove “all access” from the Party by the Plaintiff to “protect” the Party. The report wasn't a crime, sexual assault, so it couldn't be reported. The info was filed away. 

 Later other stories and rumors started popping up around the same theme and issue about the same staff member. Then last week a phone call came in and one of the issues discussed was Central Committee member Pam Pollard meeting with Chairman Bennett and Executive Director Bob Dani with a hint that others were present. Allegedly National Committee member Pam Pollard recounted five, I repeat five, separate allegations of sexual harassment including text messages proving the same. The alleged reply from the Republican Party leadeship? “We are not going to Brent Kavanaugh …......” and then they gave the name of the alleged sexual harasser. 

Some of the other rumors about this one person were centered around late night phone calls to married volunteers. Stories have been written speculating about why Chairman John Bennett turned on many of the very team that recruited and got him elected as Chairman. It was all a mystery but perhaps these allegations explain part of the reasons. Of all people, Bennett and the motley crew he had surrounded himself with knew that Al Gerhart would not allow this to fester and would demand investigation and if found to be true the removal of the harassers would be demanded and an apology from the Party, as well as rule changes for the next convention including the formation of a grievance committee. 

But if the scandal was exposed Chairman Bennett gets a black eye, poor leadership and scandal, and losing an ally in a rapidly shrinking team of individuals willing to stomp on the rights of others to maintain their grasp on power and influence.. A National news story, scandal and shame was guaranteed, along with an increasingly paranoid leadership team cracking down on team members thought to be talking with outsiders. Closely held incestuous churches tend to act like this, where outsiders are kept at arms length to “protect” the congregation, and to prevent the cult like practices to create a sense of us versus them. 

 A choice was made; transparency, accountability, and civil and decent treatment of women volunteers was less important than holding onto power and influence. They seem to be saying that the Republican Party must sacrifice these young married women for Chairman Bennett and his team.

 And while the Sooner Tea Party is solidly Pro Life and against mandated vaccines, we have to remain consistent and non hypocritical in our arguments. What Chairman Bennett and his team are saying is “Your body, my choice on matters of sexual harassment and pregnancy, my body my choice on matters of public health such as masks and vaccines.” 

The hearing will on a Temporary Injunction to force the Republican Party to a) stop libeling the Plaintiff, and b) follow their own bylaws until the entire lawsuit can be heard on the merits or until the Central Committee calls a State Committee meeting and the entire mess be investigated and cleared up once and for all. When we pass bylaws and laws and regulations we always have to be aware that one day we might no longer be in power. So turning a blind eye to the current abuse and wrongful behavior is setting a precedent for future Party leaders. 

The hearing is at 12:00 pm, noon, in the court room of Judge Natalie Mai on the 7th floor of the Oklahoma County Courthouse in room 707. Bring as mask as they will surely require one once inside the courtroom. I know, yuck, but bring a mask and wear it or do not complain if Chairman Bennett and his team or the next administration of the Party puts a boot on your neck and laughs at you for trying to participate. 

My cell number is 405-942-2644 if you have any knowledge of any kind that you wish to share. Please don't call if you are upset that Party leadership is being held accountable, I could care less about you if that is how you see things. Please don't call if you are a victim and refuse to at least talk to a judge in private, the very least that is needed. If sexual harassment is to be stopped the victims HAVE to come forward and the law does protect them in many ways but at some point, if the accused is adamant, they have the right to face their accusers. 

 I would ask everyone to call their County Chair, Vice Chair, and both State Committee members and demand that they step up and deal with this mess immediately.  Probably little use to call the Vice Chair or the National Committee members, Shane Jemison, Pam Pollard, and Steve Curry.  You cannot get that contact from the Republican Party on their website, they pulled it down sometimes after July 4th of this year, about the time this controversy exploded, to prevent "phishing". However an email by replying to this email will get you what you need if there is no other way. 

This story was edited after news of a second abuser came in shortly after it was published.

Time for John Bennett to Fix some Problems or Resign

Those that have read this blog this summer know the depth of the dysfunction in the Oklahoma GOP. The straw that broke the camel's back was the lock down of the State Committee meeting, an illegal and ill advised act that served no purpose other than to exclude a few people in a vain attempt to silence criticism.

So on Friday the 23^rd I sent a certified letter to the GOP headquarters along with four copies of the letter to the four members of the Central Committee of the Oklahoma GOP. The letter was a demand letter, giving ten days from the postmark for the Chairman of the GOP to set a hearing for Rule 3A violations or face the possibility that a lawsuit would follow to enforce the rules of the GOP and enforce my rights.

Single Issue Activists are Bad for the GOP and Bad for Liberty

It must be frustrating for some of the old RINOs to watch the new administration flounder and struggle and see the Party suffer. New blood is sometimes needed for an older system but sometimes there is a lot of wasted blood in the process as the newcomers are ignorant and even arrogant, not understanding the rules and legalities, not respecting the traditions of the Party. Tearing down fences without asking why a fence was put up in the first place.

This last week's PR nightmare for the Bennett administration has gone nationwide, even international. Part of it is deserved; you don't compare minor distractions to the Holocaust. You just don't disrespect what the Jews went through especially when what you are calling for is to restrict private property rights and force new “rights” protection upon employers without regard for the consequences. The GOP ought to be about minimizing the role of government in our lives and businesses, not enlarging it.

The Abolitionist Queen Admits to the Sabotage and a Joint Interview With Her Evil Twin Part II

And now for our second installment of the interview with Leslie Nessmith and her evil twin Eilsel.   You will remember from last week that Leslie Nessmith posted a tell all post on Sooner Politics where she admitted many of the things that she had been accused of lately.   

And of course everything was told from Leslie's viewpoint so we thought it would be fun to interview her evil twin and let Eilsel interpret what Leslie wrote.  

You can read the first part of the Evil Twin story here.

You can read Leslie's original Facebook post at the very end of this story.

 Leslie's original comments are in black text and Eilsel's interpretation is in blue text.

Leslie:  With regard to Jenni White. I told Jenni White and Ronda Smith back in January that I had gotten inside of the Bennett campaign and planned to get rid of Al Gerhart’s involvement.   

Eilsel: Yeah, really I was running John Bennett's campaign, not just “gotten inside”. I guess Ronda Vulliemont Smith was getting worried about what I was telling her because she first recruited that abolitionist lady, who quickly became known as nearly brainless. Then Ronda suckered Jenni White into running against Bennett. So yeah, basically I was betraying John Bennett and making sure that no matter who won I was in control. Al got Bennett elected in 2010 and basically kept him in office till 2018, then ran the group that recruited Bennett to run for Chairman. Damn right, I had to get rid of Al.

The Abolitionist Queen Admits to the Sabotage and a Joint Interview With Her Evil Twin

Wow, Leslie Nessmith responded to the stories we have ran about her and while you might expect her to claim it was all lies, she admitted that she was doing everything possible to sabotage any work I was doing and drive me from the Party.  She literally said she got in the way of everything I tried to do.

And in one of the most stupid acts I have ever seen in politics Leslie Nessmith posts the long  rant on Sooner Politics that both admitted she was doing everything possible to push me out of the Party she claimed that Bob Dani and John Bennett thought it was a good idea!

Now you got a public relations person for the Party on Facebook outing her Chairman and Executive Director for betraying not only a decade long friend, but basically approving of the sabotage of the thousands of dollars in donations.  This ought to be grounds for immediate firing.   And by admitting, bragging actually, she has put herself and Bob Dani and John Bennett right square in the sights for  a Rule 3A violation which is punished by the loss of their office.

Oklahoma GOP Executive Director Threatening to Move the GOP out of the Dewey Bartlett Foundation Center

This story was part of an earlier story about a $6,000 donation to the GOP being sabotaged by members of the Oklahoma GOP headquarters staff.   We decided this was what is called a buried lead, an important story on its own so it needed its own article.

Click on this link and you will be able to listen to a phone call from Bob Dani where he asks that a $6,000 donation project be cancelled or pushed back.  Why?  Because Communications Director Leslie Nessmith wanted to sabotage the donation because she wasn't involved in setting it up.  Read the original story for the disgusting details of a woman that puts her own political power before the good of the Republican Party.

The Abolitionist Queen Sabotages a $6,000 GOP Donation

Leslie Nessmith

So you got this woman named Leslie Nessmith that has kind of taken over the GOP and considers herself an abolitionist. Loves “immigrants”, talks about how we need to do voter outreach to them. So initially she was on the team I put together to recruit Bennett to run for Chair, sh made one meeting in Henryetta then bowed out and refused to attend the next meeting. Showed up as Bennett's campaign manager a few months later. Then her neighbor is Bob Dani who I have known for over ten years, they are next door neighbors, and of course Bob Dani is now the Executive Director for the GOP. Queen Leslie's title is Public Relations director I think.

So back in late May Leslie started trying to sabotage projects I was working on for Bennett then she and Bob Dani started squeezed out other members of the recruitment team, such as David Van. I complained to Bennett's wife, after protecting their family for ten years in elections she kind of trusts me.

The Abolitionist Queen Had a Key Role in Stopping Jenni White and a History of Threatening to Leave the Republican Party

Oh my, some people were wringing their hands at the GOP Convention over the Jenny White push cards put out on the tables by the Sooner Tea Party. And there were around two thousand push cards. Super nice four color push cards, printed on both sides, a dozen or so tiny urls leading to past stories about Jenni White and Ronda Vulliemont Smith and their anti Trump posts on Facebook or to stories about Jenni White being thrown out of her City Council office by angry voters just before the Convention. They were expensive push cards but even the Sooner Tea Party doesn't know how much they cost or even where they were printed. We had never done any sort of literature for a convention.

What we can say with certainty is that before the convention we were told to contact Leslie Nessmith to pick up the push cards, that they were being delivered to Leslie's house. Oklahoma GOP Executive Director Bob Dani lives right next door to Leslie so the screen shots of texts below ought to explain how the push cards came to be in our possession.

More Motivations? And Why You Shouldn't Try to Recruit Volunteers or Donors for the GOP

After the Bennett Administration gained control over the GOP headquarters there was a flurry of activity to get it cleaned up and presentable after much neglect from the Mclain administration.  One thing that I saw right off the bat after being asked to come down to look at the office and figure out what needed done was the grass needed mowing.  There were weeds that were 18" high and going to seed.

So I hooked onto my enclosed trailer that I store inside my shop at one end of town, headed fifteen miles to  my house on the other end of town and loaded up the riding mower.  The lawn isn't large but it is quite hilly on the front and you know how riding mowers leave the grass, a bit less than perfect.  So back in the trailer goes the mower, back across town to drop the mower off and back to my shop to store the trailer.

Geeze, probably close to a hundred miles to do all this.   I need to find some help mowing the lawn.  At the time I didn't know what else I could do to help but I could find some help and keep the grass mowed.

The Ugly Side of Politics and the Danger of Religious Fanatics

Saturday I was out on an install job when my phone started ringing off the hook, unfortunately it was in my SUV so I learned a half hour later that a monstrous “letter” had been shared on Facebook, targeting me calling me an atheist, a pro abortion supporter, and other truly horrendous things including sex trafficking and abuse. The letter was “anonymous” of course, after writing these articles for ten years I know the slander and libel laws and this “letter” was so far over the top that no one in their right mind would be associated with it. Or one would think so, but that wasn't the case.

Below is the response that I put up once the owner of the Sooner Politics Group removed the original message:

“Wow, the filth that rises up in politics is amazing. Some of you were treated to a slanderous post by Brian Graham, posted in full knowledge that it wasn't factual with zero regard for the truth or human decency. As for who wrote the slanderous "letter" or email, it is obvious from the victims listed and wild claims in the letter.

Arrogance, Disrespect, Disloyalty

 

 

Who is in Control of the GOP    Part II

It is no secret that former GOP Chairman David Mclain was deep in debt to Senator James Lankford and he repaid that debt by using the Oklahoma GOP to protect Lankford. There was overwhelming support for the Lankford/Inofe censure resolutions, over thirty counties had passed the resolutions in some manner or form, others like Oklahoma County saw a hostile County Chairman, Evelyn McCoy, torpedo any chance at getting a fair vote on the resolutions. Lankford is said to have given Chairman David Mclain in excess of $100,000 dollars in the two years that Mclain was in office.

The first time I met this Lahmeyer guy was at the GOP Convention in April. I had stopped and asked if he supported the Party Platform or the principles and got an earful from his campaign manager. It seemed that after paying big money for a booth at the event Mclain's team did everything possible to make it difficult for them to attend. Once I made clear that I was not a fan of Mclain but that I was asking about the Party Platform things calmed down.

Who is in Control of the Oklahoma GOP?

 

Who is in Control of the Oklahoma GOP?

Survey Attacked,

Lies Were Told,

Leadership Knew Who Ran the Polling Group,

Some Were Part of Forming the Polling Group

David Van with Sooner Politics put outa good article about the Oklahoma State GOP effort to throttle research efforts put on by a group of journalists who were advised by a few former lawmakers, consultants, and Party leaders.

In the story he recounted how many inside GOP Chairman John Bennett's leadership team knew of the existence of the group Unite With Trump, in fact the idea for the organization came about through the effort to recruit Bennett to run for the Chairman position and  nearly everyone on that ad hoc group that paved the way for Bennett knew of the group.