The Real Scott Gessler

On Sunday, March 7th, I received a response to my “Colorado Establishment Election Cabal” article from former Secretary of State Scott Gessler, who is named in the article. Given the nature of his response,  I will not be responding directly to Mr. Gessler.  That said, I am publishing his un-redacted email which attempts to refute and discredit portions of my article in order to protect my reputation.

I have not edited Mr. Gessler’s email at all. Below I have posted the entire email so that the public has full and accurate information in order to determine for themselves who Mr. Gessler truly is.  

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From: Scott Gessler<scott@scottgessler.com>

Date: On Sun, Mar 7, 2021 at 3:55 PM

Subject: Fwd: Nice work!

To: Holly Casen <hollyataltitude@protonmail.com>

Cc:

Not.

I just took a look at your web site in which you list me as part of the election cabal. Also, I see that you provided a transcript of our conversation (the transcript contains numerous errors). 

I had asked you not to publish our conversation, and you agreed to that. You lied to me. You flat-out lied. You betrayed my trust and have no integrity. How do you claim you fight for election integrity, when you have no personal integrity?

And of course your election cabal “box” is wrong. It states that I supported “mail in ballots.” That is bullshit. You have it backwards. DO YOUR FUCKING RESEARCH. The last link below is to the committee testimony for the all-mail balloting bill. Maybe, just maybe, you’ll realize how fucking wrong you are. (But that might require honesty and integrity).

https://www.coloradopolitics.com/news/gessler-slams-election-bills-blasts-dems/article_0c7963e4-81d3-5442-9793-22b6bc31447c.html

http://freebeacon.com/overhauling-the-vote/

http://coloradoga.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=23&clip_id=3722

You say I have a “direct connection” to Lisa Flanagan-Crane, Matt Crane’s wife. I’ve never met her or talked to her in my life. You have no fucking clue.

Likewise, I just love the “direct connection” to Pam Anderson — someone whom I clashed with again and again and again while I was Secretary of State. That’s a “connection”? Again, you have no fucking clue.

And your comment that I selected Dominion and Clear Ballot for Colorado as our systems in Colorado is also wrong. No fucking integrity.

I made a mistake believing that you are one of the good guys. You’re not. You’re another one of the bad guys. It’s people like you who let the Democrats control our elections, with a poisonous combination of idiocy, dishonesty, and self-righteousness. Congratulations. Next time you don’t like Democrats being in charge of the elections, take a good look in the mirror.

Scott

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Response to Gessler’s claims:

Gessler Claim 1:  I just took a look at your web site in which you list me as part of the election cabal. Also, I see that you provided a transcript of our conversation (the transcript contains numerous errors). 

Response: The content of the transcription was peer-reviewed. Edits made to the transcript were to 1).  Clean up Scott Gessler’s vulgar language. 2). Clarify sections the AI could not transcribe. 3). Removing a section of the interview insulting female volunteers at their request.  

The transcript was generated from using a web-based transcription service.  This type of AI voice recognition software designed to generate transcripts is commonly used by journalists.  The errors Gessler points out are typos that I missed, or points in the recording that were inaudible and I added for clarity.  Gessler is correct in that there were unintentional mix-ups between Doyle’s and Crane’s last names in the first minutes of the interview due to the AI which have since been corrected.  

I am happy to publish the audio for the public to verifiy, but have agreed not to air the audio of the conversation. (below) 

Gessler Claim 2: I had asked you not to publish our conversation, and you agreed to that. You lied to me. You flat-out lied. You betrayed my trust and have no integrity. How do you claim you fight for election integrity, when you have no personal integrity? 

Response: Personal attacks on my integrity aside, our agreement was about publishing the recording. I have not aired the audio publicly. For the public’s awareness, here is the clip of that portion of our conversation. 

Gessler Claim 3:  And of course your election cabal “box” is wrong. It states that I supported “mail in ballots.” That is bullshit. You have it backwards. DO YOUR FUCKING RESEARCH. The last link below is to the committee testimony for the all-mail balloting bill. Maybe, just maybe, you’ll realize how fucking wrong you are. (But that might require honesty and integrity). 

Response:  Nowhere in the article or in the graphic does it claim Gessler supported mail-in ballots. It references CO SOS Mail-in Ballots in the graphic because Scott Gessler was the Secretary of State in 2013 when mail-in ballots were expanded in Colorado.  

Gessler Claim 4:  You say I have a “direct connection” to Lisa Flanagan-Crane, Matt Crane’s wife. I’ve never met her or talked to her in my life. You have no fucking clue. 

Response:  The connection between Flannagan-Crane and Gessler exists. 

Scott Gessler was the Colorado Secretary of State (2011-2015) when Lisa Flanagan-Crane was listed on a Dominion RFP (page 137 of the 207 page RFP).  The RFP titled, “State of Colorado Uniform Voting System Request for Proposal” was submitted in 2013. This citation is an additional reference to the one in the article.

• Gessler and Crane have known each other on a professional level.  Gessler is on the record claiming he is friends with and respects Crane.  

• On March 7th I reconfirmed with my source of the background information confirming Crane and Gessler’s longtime friendship.  The source stated, “I’d testify in court to that fact that Scott went on about how much the kids play together.”  Given this information, it’s strange that Gessler would have never met or spoken to Crane’s wife, but OK. 

Gessler Claim 5: Likewise, I just love the “direct connection” to Pam Anderson — someone whom I clashed with again and again and again while I was Secretary of State. That’s a “connection”? Again, you have no fucking clue. 

Response:  The connection between Gessler and Anderson exists.  Gessler is on the record both “clashing with” and praising Pam Anderson, “She’s a pretty darn good manager of the Clerk’s Office”.  Whether or not Gessler and Anderson got along is irrelevant to the context of the article.  

Gessler Claim 6:  And your comment that I selected Dominion and Clear Ballot for Colorado as our systems in Colorado is also wrong. No fucking integrity. 

Response: Gessler claims the article says “selected”, the article actually says “approved.”  This is a semantic argument.  Scott Gessler approved the use of Dominion and Clear Ballot through the development of his “Universal Voting Standards”. Gessler’s UVS ultimately narrowed down the pool of vendors to two, Dominion and Clear Ballot.  

I made a mistake believing that you are one of the good guys. You’re not. You’re another one of the bad guys. It’s people like you who let the Democrats control our elections, with a poisonous combination of idiocy, dishonesty, and self-righteousness. Congratulations. Next time you don’t like Democrats being in charge of the elections, take a good look in the mirror.

Scott

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The bottom line is that the facts disrupt the carefully crafted narrative that Mr. Gessler wants the public to believe. Clearly, he is very upset.  Gessler’s email raises serious questions:

• Is this how he responds to journalists and the press when faced with articles he doesn’t like?

• As mentioned in the article, Gessler is running for GOP Chair. One of the Chair’s jobs is to help candidates get elected.  Would Gessler counsel candidates to behave the way he does?  

• Moreover, the GOP Chair is responsible for “growing the party.”  It’s hard to imagine anyone wanting to associate themselves with a party led by someone displaying a deeply troubling lack of judgement and professionalism. 

• Is this the person best suited to lead the Colorado State Republican Party? 

Ultimately people must decide for themselves.