Thread by @FPWellman

Have I got a story for you. It starts with a simple tip that someone has done a FOIA request for all 7 million voter signature cards in Georgia. I was able to get a screenshot of the request. It's much more insane than I could have possibly thought and people need to know.

The requester is a guy named Vince Espi who claims to be a "reporter for the Peach Tree Times." More on him later but look at what he wants and think about the implications of a malicious actor getting the info he asks for in signature cards a year from a Presidential election.

Look at this list and always keep in mind why does a "reporter" need this? "Copies of the signature cards used in the election process, including all relevant information associated with each card, such as the voter's name, address, and signature."

He lays out precisely what he wants
1) Voter signature cards
2) Absentee or ballot signature cards
3) Provisional ballot signature cards
4) Any other signature cards collected during the election process

You're talking about 7M records that will need redaction. Again, why?

So Vince Espi says he's a member of the media so he gets the fees waived. Is he? He claims Peach Tree Times. They are part of an astroturf media network. More on them later. You see Vince has lots of jobs but his real job is being a right wing data miner. Google helps.

He's a busy beaver with lots of jobs. Here he works for "LocalLabs" in Illinois and in April 2023 wanted the mission statement of Antioch schools in Illinois. antioch34.com/cms/lib/IL0221…

Here he is again back in October, 2020 working for LocalLabs asking for two years of records on any guest speakers at Illinois' Crystal Lake School district northwest of Chicago. d47.org/cms/lib/IL0190…

Here is a fun one for Jacksonville, Illinois school district with LocalLabs again in September, 2021 requesting "A list of all materials in your district that fall under the 1619 project." jsd117.org/board_of_educa…

October, 21 he hit Union Ridge Schools with the whole list of Moms for Liberty questions from LocalLabs:
1) COVID-19 Protocol Response
2) 1619 Project Curriculum
3) American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief
campussuite-storage.s3.amazonaws.com/prod/1558520/7…

If you Google Vince Espi + Peach Tree Times he never shows up. His company is LocalLabs and they advertise themselves as a data miner for media. What news media? Peach Tree Times is part of a huge right wing astroturf op of "local" news sites funded by a network of cut outs.

Columbia Journalism Review did a deep dive on this dark money operation and it's many layers of foundations and cut out organizations to hide the money tied to "Metric Media." It's insane how big this operation is. Read the two stories here. cjr.org/tow_center_rep…

How do I know Peach Tree Times is part of this vast astroturf network...they tell you right on the About Page. It's actually a 501c3 which tells you how broken the IRS system is for nonprofit oversight.

Here is the number one story on this GA "local news" site right now. A hard hitting story about how we need to pay attention to the...Texas border. Notice the story is based on militia Tea Party Patriots (the founder of TPP is also founder of Metric Media) https://t.co/YkOeXkarYXpeachtreetimes.com/stories/647514…

So, Vince Espi is not a reporter by any means. He's a well funded data miner for far right groups asking questions right out of the Moms for Liberty playbook. Now he is requesting ALL of the signatures of every voter in Georgia pretending to be a reporter to get it for free.

What would far right groups do with every single voters name, address and signature? Intimidate people who are scared that their signature might look different? Target them with disinfo? Get them kicked off the voter roles? What is Georgia doing about this outrageous request?

Why haven't we heard about it until now? Is @GaSecofState quietly going to give millions of Georgians personal info to a dark money front group? Does @staceyabrams, @ossoff or @ReverendWarnock know about this? I have heard it's about $.30 per record in fees. That's $2.1M if paid.

If I was a Georgia voter I would be losing my shit right now knowing that Election offices around the state are working on filling this request and giving your info to a fake news group for uncertain reasons. This is voter intimidation, suppression, and anti-democracy in action.

What about @BrianKempGA are you going to let your citizens be treated like this or are you afraid of the Mercers and the other right wing billionaires probably funding this? I'd love to see @bluestein or @gpbnews take a look at this and ask some hard questions. Lots of questions.

Where else is this happening? Have they dropped these requests in other states. Vince seems like a busy guy. I can't imagine Georgia is his only target and Media Metrics has 1200 websites now nationwide providing disinfo and cover to "reporters" to get our info. Get mad people.

Oh heyn since you're here you can find more of my analysis about the threats to our democracy on my network home @MeidasTouch where we post new episodes of @OnDemocracyPod every Friday night at 11PM EST and my hot takes. Catch the current episode here.

So, this will all be dismissed as "hysteria" and lack of understanding of the law by many reporters. This is not the same info normally available in VoteBuilder or other databases. But the larger issue is a fake media network as cover for right wing groups vacuuming our info.

I've worked with NGP and VoteBuilder. The signature request is what sets me off. The idea that Vince is going around the whole country saying he's a journalist but never publishing any "stories." It's the dark money funding all of it. This isn't just about GA. Jesus I'm tired.

Great update from the good folks at Dade County Democrats that confirms my sources worries as well. This is not a typical request. Don't let anyone tell you it is.