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Situation Report and Exposition on the 2022 Congressional District 5 Convention

Erik van Mechelen

Apr 3, 2022 — 17 min read

From the Preamble to the United States Constitution

What follows is a SITUATION REPORT and EXPOSITION from my experience attending the Minnesota 5th Congressional District Republican Committee 2022 Convention as a delegate, held at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 494, Crystal, MN on Saturday, April 2, 2022 from the vantage point of finding and supporting leaders who will both represent and hold themselves accountable to the people and the Minnesota Constitution while simultaneously asking reasonable yet hard questions of candidates to uphold a high standard in values, competence, judgment.

This was my first time meeting many of the people in attendance and I didn’t meet nor speak to everyone in attendance (more than 100 people). The cab driver who dropped me off shared that his grandmother said a person has two ears and only one mouth. Therefore I was reminded to listen, and listen I did to every speech although I neither digitally recorded nor heard every word. As such, the Situation Report and the Exposition were drawn from notes and memory.

I was thankful to attend the convention to learn more about the current state of the MNGOP and to meet other delegates, a good portion of which were first-time delegates. I also recognize the work done by many putting the event together.

I got a ride home from a new friend. Not the kind of brand new friend Attorney Keith Ellison was talking about in this tweet. He is a genuine man, like I aspire to be. Our conversation, as tends to happen with people who care deeply about the future of our country and world, was helpful and uplifting. One question in particular influenced the writing of this report. My new friend asked, What’s the goal of your newsletter? I will save my reply for a separate notice, in part because I am still clarifying it.

Please use the open comments section for discussion and send factual inaccuracies to writer@hey.com.

Thank you for taking the time.

- Erik

5:45pm on Sunday, April 3, 2022

SITUATION REPORT

1. Candidates’ election process knowledge.

Many guest speakers, who were mainly candidates for public office, lacked clear indication of appropriate working knowledge of the election ecosystem which by my criteria is a prerequisite to holding public office. In my view some understand how mass absentee/mail-in ballots combined with machine manipulation and inflated voter rolls makes cheating technically trivial—with only these and possibly very few additional ingredients, any race on the ballot can be determined in advance and delivered.

Selection, not election.

Those candidates who haven’t adequately accessed this publicly available information to strengthen their understanding are encouraged to do so. Still others seem well aware of the key issues but nevertheless choose to ignore them (an awkward approach given a growing number of their constituents understand the basics and see this as a critical issue).

2. Endorsement for Congress and Establishment candidates.

Cicely Davis, the perceived establishment candidate, received the Party endorsement for Congress, overcoming Royce White and Shukri Abdirahman in two rounds of voting.

In the first round Davis received 58% (60 out of 103 votes) which was below the 60% threshold required in the rules to endorse; there would be a second round. Soon after, Shukri Abdirahman, who had received 4 votes, dropped out (by rule, having received below 15% of the votes), and during time given to speak said she would support Davis by introducing her to Somali and other community leaders. In the second vote, this time only between Davis and White, Davis prevailed with 75% of the votes (77 of the 103 votes). If available, I would like to know the breakdown in votes between non-first-time delegates and first-time delegates.

Davis said “Now is the time to close ranks as a party” and hopes White suspends his campaign.

White called the event a “show” and said he plans to take things to the Primary Election with Davis on August 9, 2022.

White also called attention to what he described as Davis’s handlers, the influence of which on Davis was evidenced by two speakers sharing words ahead of her 12-minute speech, something which did not happen for either Abdirahman or White. The risk of establishment candidates, even if running as Republicans, is that by definition they may be controlled by the uni-party, and therefore should be avoided. Regretfully it looks like Cicely Davis could be one.

3. Resolutions.

This phase, which is largely not consequential in their current method of processing and application to the party platform, saw the passage of most of the roughly 119 resolutions which were brought up from the BPOUs, covering a range of potential legislation, general issues, and principles. Slightly out of order, there was an attempt to bring a motion to shortcut the Resolutions phase altogether. Through Section 10 there is the opportunity to scratch all resolutions, which if somehow re-positioned to occur before the reading of any resolutions might have abbreviated this segment by an hour, but that would also have prevented me from observing environmental and non-verbal information during that segment, for instance one of Davis’s accused handlers in my view reacting negatively to the resolution to remove electronic voting machines.

EXPOSITION

Royce White called it a "show.” I think he's right.

I will try to show how and why. Gradually, at considerable length. Stay with me.

The first element of the show was the atmosphere: Windowless walls of the VFW post 494 basement covered in hundreds of posters; pages of propaganda on every seat. When asked to put stickers on my clothing I declined as I was already wearing a "Minnesota, #1 in Voter ~~Turnout~~ Fraud" t-shirt provided by Susan Smith, who was among the first if not the first to formally question the certification (video and slide) of Minnesota's November 3rd 2020 election before it happened.

Next element of the show: A lack of meaningful content on election corruption and reform from candidate speeches (including guest speeches). No mention of a stolen election 17 months ago. Currently, mass absentee/mail-in ballots + machine manipulation + inflated voter rolls = (s)election of establishment candidates.

Given the Democrat machine (which includes but is not limited to exploiting weaknesses in our election laws), how does any Republican candidate expect to get elected within the Minnesota status quo? Well, there is one way. Here I speculate, but if that candidate is deemed worthy and controllable by the powers that be, they are greenlighted. Can such a candidate really serve the powers that be and the people? I think not. Which is why especially of late the establishment doesn’t like it when those who truly represent the people step up, like Mark Bishofsky or Nathan Wesenberg, Bret Bussman or Pastor Ben Davis (there are others)—because these candidates already have the support from the grassroots based on their character and service which through momentum will trump any flimsy establishment campaign running against them.

If I may expand on the near silence on election issues: Did no one in the room know that Minnesota may well have voted in favor of President Trump on November 3rd, 2020 (and possibly in 2016, too)? The trends and word on the street in 2020 suggested it would be a close call and Attorney General Keith Ellison even seemed worried based upon his 3:57pm tweet on election day: “…We don’t have all the votes we need quite yet. So, help a friend (even a brand new friend) vote. Right now would be awesome.” Therefore do not let Biden’s official (unofficial) 7.2% margin deceive you; would Trump really have spent as much time here if it was not in play? Now, many Minnesotans are aware their state is well known for daycare fraud and food fraud. It is emerging that voter, ballot, and election fraud are probably as prevalent, or worse, as indicated by a combination of trends, forensic analysis of Dominion systems also used in several Minnesota counties, and coordinated vote trafficking findings presented by True the Vote in an informational hearing before the Assembly Committee on Campaigns and Elections on March 24th, 2022 in Madison. Even though Milwaukee officials failed to provide video surveillance, geospatial data and cell phone signal data revealed vote or ballot trafficking into drop boxes to the tune of 137,000 ballots, or 7% of all WI ballots (in the sample, 138 people met a minimum threshold of visiting 5 NGOs and 25 drop boxes during the 2020 election election period, and 10% of that group were also present at a violent riot). What makes anyone think that organized ballot abuse isn’t happening a few hundred miles west here in Minnesota? (Conveniently for this article, in the cab ride to the Crystal Lake VFW, the cab driver said he’d heard it was happening in Minneapolis—word of mouth has long been effective but is especially powerful in our censorship-ridden world.)

Rick Weible and Susan Smith’s presentations, given throughout 2021 and 2022, such as this one in Rosemount, are filled with data and analysis from recent Minnesota elections—it only takes one night of your life to attend and become much more educated on perhaps the biggest scandal of our lives. At this point it is a choice to be ignorant when the data is available, just as it was with covid. It is not an excuse to say the media or your county election official is hiding it from you. So far I’ve attended Rick and Susan’s events three times and learn something new every session. Ultimately, it appears that historically Minnesota was a kind of template for questionable election process ideas and integral to the establishment’s soon-to-be foiled designs to hold onto power.

With all this publicly available information, you’d have thought candidates seeking election or building their reputations at a Republican convention would at least mention the general topic. To be fair, some did. For the most part however, what this writer heard was a delicate tiptoeing around the heart of the issue. Case in point, no one brought up machine manipulation.

Kim Crockett spoke about signing up 8,000 election judges: I'm sorry but no amount of election judges can prevent cheating if the mass mailing of absentee ballots and machine manipulation remain. Now, if a number of counties move to hand-counting, those election judges will be better placed. Several candidates spoke about voter ID (but said little beyond that) suggesting they don’t grasp the bigger picture. It’s been 17 months since November 3rd, 2020. Isn’t that enough time to do your homework? Those holding public office or desiring to need to be informed and willing to speak and act on that knowledge and understanding. Willful ignorance is unacceptable; continuing to ignore data that in the internet age is one click away speaks volumes.

Stronger on election process, fraud, and corruption were the following people: Kelly Jahner-Byrne asked the room if they were familiar with Judge Sarah Grewing (link to complaint about judicial misconduct; background to consent decree cases also explained in this video by Susan Smith). Mike Murphy said he would audit every election and make elections a single-day event. Doug Wardlow said he would prosecute election fraud.

The third element of the show was the Congressional District 5 endorsement of US Congress candidate, which was up for grabs between Cicely Davis, Royce White, and Shukri Abdirahman. Davis won in the second round after Abdirahman didn’t reach the 15% minimum threshold but said she would show Davis around the Somali and other communities. However compared with Davis, White and Abdirahman spoke more authentically—in front of the podium without notes—and White is correct to take this to a primary. I personally voted for Davis twice (I chose to be influenced by others instead of following my God-given intuition), although I am not sure that wasn't a mistake. Davis immediately asked for unity after the result. If you were the strongest candidate, wouldn't you welcome a primary? (So far, Davis has only won a vote consisting of 103 people and only received 60 of 103 votes on the first round.) On this note, it was apparent to more than this writer that the establishment members of the meeting were feeling vulnerable.

Suggestive of this was the fact that already at 3:16pm I received an email from Davis’s campaign announcing a victory “with 75% of the vote.” That headline is immediately misleading because in the first round of voting Cicely Davis received 58%, failing to reach the 60% threshold to receive the endorsement. At that point, Abdirahman dropped out, said she would back Davis; I think that gesture was significant in her getting Davis over the 60% mark in the second round. The email goes on to quote Davis: “My campaign is focused on the issues that matter to us all: Public safety, combating inflation, educational freedom, economic revitalization, individual liberty and responsibility, and a strong national defense that includes secure borders.” What’s missing? But if you’re read this far you already know. (Voter, Ballot, and Election Fraud.)

Next Davis is quoted as saying, “Now is the time to close ranks as a party. I’m grateful for Shukri Abdirahman’s endorsement and support, who pledged to work with my campaign. I sincerely hope that my other Republican challenger who fell short on votes today will suspend his campaign and work with me and the people of this district to build the movement necessary to win in November.” Based on the tenor of these comments alone, I’m afraid Davis has lost this writer’s support. This is such a strange time where so much seems in flux. Why ask that the discussion end before it’s barely begun? I’d love to see a debate between Congressional candidates, for example, or have them each separately do a 1-2 hour conversation live-streamed with me. I want more people to have more time to learn about the people who will serve them in public office. Getting 60 out of 103 votes in a room largely consisting of Party regulars could be seen as a vote against the establishment. I’d like to see a breakdown of votes between those who’d previously been a delegate and those who are delegates for the first time. From these vantage points, it starts to make sense that Davis or those who advise her came up with the language of “closing ranks.”

Please understand, my criticism comes from a place of holding people who will serve in public office to a very high standard. Each of us in on a journey. Davis could well regain my confidence, but perhaps only if she speaks for herself and shows she is willing to be herself, and be all she can be, just as grassroots candidates across the state have shown is effective in garnering the support of regular people unconnected with the party.

To step back slightly in the chronology of events, I’d like to unfold more of the details that helped me arrive at my temporary conclusions. (As new data becomes available, it is only honest to adjust one’s analysis.) After Shukri Abdirahman and Royce White spoke for the first time (12-minute time slots), two men shared words to prop up Davis prior to her speech. I didn’t know these men but others seemed to. One of them, seated a row in front of me, on at least one occasion clapped vigorously, in my mind, trying to get others clapping (what Cicely had said in that moment had not nearly stirred me in the same way). When Cicely finished speaking, he rose to his feet quickly and clapped loudly once more. During the resolution phase of the meeting, while eating a cookie, he was shaking his head at the prospect of removing electronic voting machines. Maybe like me he detests voting machines, but my read of his non-verbals was the opposite. (Others audibly said Yes or cheered at resolutions they preferred.) Perhaps these two men were among the handlers White referred to which seemed to rile Davis up after all three candidates were given time to speak before the second round of voting. Maybe they were not handlers but merely ardent supporters.

I repeat, I’m pulling for Davis (just as I’m pulling for someone like Dr. Jensen even though I don’t think he’s the strongest candidate for governor) but based on what I saw publicly in this meeting alone I worry that she may not be thinking (or being allowed to) think for herself. In addition to that, I've spoken with Davis about election process twice (very briefly but sincerely) and she still failed to mention it in any of her speeches, instead focusing on how to reach previously Democrat voters. The truth is I think previously Democrat-ticket voters who are honest with themselves about a path forward in this country will—like just about anyone—vote for any candidate that demonstrates an understanding of the current landscape, their job, and is unwavering in personal accountability and forthrightness in truthful speech.

It was White in is parting speech who asked the seated delegates and everyone else in attendance whether what we’d just witnessed was not how we’d gotten to the place in America we find ourselves. He called it a show. I’d sat through the spectacle and a day later I believe he is spot on.

I am still researching Royce White but even while recently entering the running for Congress I think he attracted attention because he does call out the powers that be pulling strings behind the scenes, whether politicians, banksters, or the World Economic Forum. I have heard people like Steve Bannon are mentors to White, and while I perceive Bannon to be playing an interesting role in new media I also think White should think for himself and trust God as he claims to do.

Man in the Mirror

Asking tough questions brings me to my own shortcomings.

In the Bible there is a story of Jesus flipping the tables of money changers and of those selling doves (Matthew 21:12-13). And as I too try to walk with Jesus by following my conscience, speaking the truth, and confronting evil, I must acknowledge where I fell short yesterday. And in Luke 5:10 Jesus says to Simon,

“Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.”

I make no excuses for myself. Simply put, if I'd been better prepared as well as had more courage, I might have been able to overturn more tables, such as:

Asking Paul Gazelka about what happened in Morrison County at the February 1st, 2022 precinct caucuses regarding his staffer Mandy Heffron, one outcome of which meant candidate Nathan Wesenberg was waiting about a month for delegate lists. Also, as a separate matter, as a Senator "holding the line", why did you not more forthrightly go on the offense on a host of issues where you would have had the people's support?
Asking Michelle Benson about her son Calvin Benson’s “attempted coup” in Clay County. Press release from March 13, 2022 (Dropbox link). Meeting minutes from March 8th, 2022 (Dropbox link). Video (Bitchute) detailing connections between Calvin Benson and Rep. Michelle Fischbach.
Asking Kim Crockett why she thought we could win in Minnesota even with the existing cheating, as apparently she was very excited about potential globalist Glenn Youngkin winning in Virginia despite the probable ongoing cheating. (Having said this, please note that I do not pretend to know with any relevant confidence level what is happening in either Virginia or Ukraine.)
Asking Dr. Neil Shah, Dr. Scott Jenson, Matt Birk, Kendall Qualls, Jim Schultz, Paul Gazelka, Michelle Benson, Rich Stanek, Tad Jude, Shukri Abdirahman, Royce White, and Cecily Davis why they didn't or did not substantially mention election corruption and reform in their guest speeches. I have heard some of this group speak on these topics elsewhere, whether through speeches or mailings or emails, but my high standard looks for meaningful commitment and consistency.

RECAP OF EXPOSITION

This is partial recap of notable moments with a few questions sprinkled in:

A big letdown was that no one even mentioned machine manipulation within Dominion, ES&S, or Hart software/hardware. Given the recent publishing of Report #3, Election Database and Data Process Analysis from Colorado on Dominion systems, there was a chance it could be brought up. Doug Wardlow did mention Dominion two nights prior at the Attorney Generals debate.

Hand-counting in-person voting on a single election day is a reliable and immediately available remedy to the mass absentee mail-in ballots and machine manipulation of voter's voices—why didn’t anyone ask why this isn’t already being drawn up in legislation? Several senators, Michelle Benson and Paul Gazelka, were in attendance and running for governor. Ilhan Omar doesn’t need to be unseated to begin working on this legislation, nor for county’s all across Minnesota to work toward removing machines from their own election process.

During his speech the Senate Majority Leader from 2017 – 2021 Paul Gazelka said he will get rid of mail-in ballots and points at me because I challenged him to say anything about absentee/mail-in ballots or machine manipulation by Dominion, ES&S, and Hart. What is Gazelka’s record on this topic? Please note that at my first suggestion he said he only had three minutes, to which I countered, “you only need three seconds.” (Mike Murphy said much more in about the same amount of time.)

Mike Murphy not only said he will audit the election but that it will take place on one day. He said he will donate 100% of his governor salary.

Kelly Jahner-Byrne asked if the audience knew about Judge Sarah Grewing and her role in the consent decrees which removed witness and signature requirements on absentee ballots.

Kendall Qualls said his faith guides him and that his oath to protect the Constitution has no expiration date.

Royce White asked if the Republican Party is the party of God and there is some hesitation, though not from everyone.

Shukri Abdhirahman supported Davis after dropping out, Davis then won the endorsement, but White said he will go to Primary.

At least two guest speakers including Shukri Abdhirahman and Matt Birk talk about electability. I do not understand what electability means. I’m not so sure I want to have candidates who self-describe or are distinguished by others as ‘electable.’ This writer just wants honest candidates being themselves and thinking for themselves, who know right from wrong, and will say and do the right thing even under difficult circumstances.

Parting Thoughts

Overall, in attending the convention, I got the feeling that there is a club and I'm not in it. If you're reading this, you probably aren't in it either. But it's not a club I'd like to be in, and I thank God for keeping me distanced despite my interest in small 'p' politics, that is my intent to contribute to creating a future for our kids and grandkids free from this current shade of tyranny.

Meanwhile, I’m not so sure the club cares about our kids or grandkids and would rather the status quo carry on. My perception of their view is if the people in the seats of political power in DC and St. Paul need to have Republican R's on them, so be it, if that will appease the people. (A short review of the very short list of legislator honorees in the 2021 Report on the Minnesota Legislature by the Legislative Evaluation Assembly should already raise concern of whether our current representatives in the Minnesota House and Senate actually have the fortitude to vote on common sense principles.) But the people are already wise to this uni-party approach; with each passing day fewer people identify as democrats or republicans but as Americans. The only reason I was at a Republican meeting is because I think at the local level the Republicans are less organized than the Democrats and therefore represent a weak spot where the people can retake the power that President Trump said in his inauguration speech would be given back to us. But we have to take it back. We already are.

In the bigger picture, I am very thankful to have attended the Minnesota 5th Congressional District Republican Committee 2022 Convention. If I had not been there, I wouldn't have learned what I did. I plan to attend the State Convention in Rochester and report on it as well. That's in mid May. Who can tell what information will come to the public light between now and then? Stay alert and go with God.

“This movement is about replacing a failed and corrupt political establishment with new government controlled by you, the American people.”

As of today I am also putting aside time to speak with any candidate for public office in an in-person live-streamed video podcast format. Please commit to at least an hour, preferably 2-3 hours, similar perhaps to a Joe Rogan style conversation, taking place at a recording studio for this purpose that we agree upon. Throughout our conversation I will ask questions that occur to me and you will have some time to more fully express your values, background, and vision. This email list already has about 300-600 regular readers, with some posts reaching thousands. I will never stop working to bring the truth to the people. Participating in a debate or shaking thousands of hands and writing marketing emails is fine, but a long-form video interview where the people get a chance to really learn about you might be the biggest return on time and effort you give in your entire campaign season.

Links for Further Reading, Research, and Action

How to Rig Any Election

1. mass absentee/mail-in ballots +

2. machine manipulation +

3. inflated voter rolls

= (s)election of establishment candidates

Prediction - State Certification Will Happen Without Proving Results are Accurate

Record Attendance at Anoka County Certification Meeting

Hennepin Elections Remain Tightly Guarded But Obviously Fraudulent

Guard the Ballots Unlawfully Denied in Washington County