President Donald Trump has added notorious 2020 election denier Gregg Phillips to his administration as he seeks freedom for Tina Peters, a Colorado county clerk serving a nine-year prison term. Meanwhile, Mike Lindell, a leading election skeptic, announced he’s running for governor of Minnesota.
Phillips isn’t a household name, but he was one of the founders of True the Vote, the group that manufactured false claims that millions of Trump votes were illegally given to Joe Biden, claims that were the basis for the movie, 2000 Mules, which was viewed in hundreds of churches before it was withdrawn amid lawsuits.
Phillips spent a week in jail for contempt of court after failing to reveal evidence of election fraud. He now has a top leadership role at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which has been weakened by budget and personnel cuts and seen threats from Trump that he will shut the agency down.
Phillips has no experience in emergency management and may only add to the woes at FEMA, which is providing less assistance for disaster recovery. The assistance FEMA does provide appears increasingly partisan, with aid approved for red states that voted for Trump (Alaska, Nebraska, North Dakota) but denied for blue states that supported Biden (Maryland, Vermont, Illinois).
Tina Peters was the first local election official to be charged and convicted for supporting Trump’s “big lie.” She opened voting machines to conspiracists, and the resulting data were published online and used in presentations at a conference organized by Lindell, the MyPillow founder who funded a movie about Peters.
Peters was convicted in a state court and can only be pardoned by the governor, not by the president.
Mesa County Clerk and Colorado Republican candidate for secretary of state Tina Peters reacts to early election returns during a primary night watch party at the Wide Open Saloon on June 28, 2022, in Sedalia, Colorado. (Photo by Marc Piscotty/Getty Images)
Nevertheless, Trump has been going to bat for Peters, whom he calls a “hostage,” for much of the year:
- In March, he asked the U.S. Justice Department to “review” her conviction. DOJ officials said they would determine whether her prosecution was “oriented more toward inflicting political pain” than seeking justice.
- In May, he asked the DOJ to “take all necessary action to help secure the release” of Peters.
- In an August social media post, Trump demanded, “Let Tina Peters out of jail, RIGHT NOW.”
- A federal judge rejected Peters’ petition to be released.
- In November, the White House asked Colorado to transfer Peters from state to federal custody. The state refused.
- In a Thursday social media post, Trump claimed, “Today I am granting Tina a full Pardon for her attempts to expose Voter Fraud in the Rigged 2020 Presidential Election!” But Trump can only pardon people convicted of federal crimes, not state convictions.
Peters has organized a fundraising campaign on GiveSendGo.com seeking $50,000 a month. The campaign claims: “Tina Peters is a Gold Star mother, an American hero, and she needs your help. For five years, Tina has been the target of unprecedented attacks from every angle. For simply following the law and doing her job as Mesa County Clerk, Tina remains in prison today.”
Mike Lindell’s Thursday announcement that he is running for governor makes him the fifth Republican candidate seeking to replace Democrat governor and failed vice presidential candidate Tim Walz in Minnesota.
Lindell is making his history of election fraud claims a centerpiece of his campaign even though he was fined $2.3 million for defaming an election machine executive and faces additional defamation lawsuits. In a post, Lindell claimed he had been “FULLY EXHONERATED.”
That is not true.
His campaign website says: “Many of you already know me. … You know that I have been relentless in making people aware of the fraud in our elections. You know that others have been relentless in trying to tear me down because of my efforts. They tried to take away my voice. They targeted my banks and suppliers. … It didn’t work. I’m still standing. And now … I want you to know that … I’ll stand for you as the next governor of Minnesota.”
Lindell claims his business experience would help him run the state, but BNG has reported, MyPillow has suffered as he has spent an estimated $60 million on his election conspiracies:
- Delivery company DHL sued Lindell for $800,000 in unpaid bills.
- A judge ordered Lindell to pay $5 million to a scientist who proved Lindell’s alleged data was false, winning Lindell’s “Prove Mike Wrong Challenge.”
- Lindell was evicted from a warehouse over $200,000 in unpaid rent.
- The IRS filed two liens against Lindell’s Texas home and land for unpaid taxes. Lindell claims the IRS wrongly denied him a tax exemption for COVID medicine that passed its sell-by date in a warehouse.
- Two of Lindell’s former attorneys quit his case and said he owes them millions.
Lindell previously claimed he would run for governor in 2022 in an interview with Focus on the Family.