Thread by @merissahamilton

👀🚨👀🍌👀🚨👀

MARICOPA COUNTY 🧵FEATURING ELECTION OFFICIAL STEPHEN RICHER:
💥"THE FIRST AMENDMENT is the Biggest Threat to Democracy and Elections"💥

Many have seen the article by @azfreenews on Stephen using government resources to have staff compile news on his "personal" defamation lawsuit, but not everyone saw in the article that he tried to get published by @nro, but it was TOO EXTREME for even them

WHY WAS IT TOO EXTREME?

Let's break it down, shall we!

Article: azfreenews.com/2024/03/marico…

In August of 2021, Jack Butler, the Submissions Editor at National Review, reached out to Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, asking if he would like to place another op-ed in @NRO

Stephen offered to write a piece making the case that the "Stop the Steal" movement is "anti-conservative"

But on Sept. 23rd, 2021, Recorder Stephen Richer presented a very different op-ed & copied one of his staff on the email

Stephen said, "Not the article I promised, but what do you think about this one"

Jack Butler from @NRO gave a reply that it was essentially too extreme for them

What made it so controversial?👀

😲Jack said Recorder Stephen Richer needed to "shed the bits about reconsidering First Amendment jurisprudence"🤯

But he could keep the parts about the D *mini*n lawsuits "having their desired effect"

Oh my gosh! What desired effect is that? Oh boy, buckle up!

Recorder Stephen Richer opens up lamenting that his job has caused him to be disturbed by humanity

And that's led to him having a new perspective on the First Amendment.... He references European laws as an alternative

You know, the ones where the Police arrest you for posting almost any opinion on social media that the government doesn't approve of at any given moment

It should be noted that as I write this, there have been several posts of the FBI visiting people to "check in on their social media posts"

He then moves into fabricating a ridiculous fake example of an obviously fake statement saying that "gullible people" might believe this "fake" set of facts

He goes on to lament that the First Amendment is particularly "protective of political speech" and that seems to be a BIG problem for him when it comes to people talking about elections

In Recorder Stephen's world of receiving a paycheck from your hard-earned tax dollars, YOUR OPINIONS AREN'T WELCOME!

Recorder Stephen continues by saying that "local crazies" -- YES YOU --- believe the "lies" about election operations

We should apparently just TRUST OUR GOVERNMENT as the MINISTRY OF TRUTH -- how very Orwellian

He claims prominent politicians tell him in private that they believe elections are fine

He says the First Amendment means he "can't touch these idiots" --- especially for him as a public official

He suggests suing for DEFAMATION as a remedy -- sound familiar🧐

Recorder Stephen Richer goes on to complain about America First news @OANN and Telegram, calling his voters "IDIOTS"

What an election tagline -- "YOU ARE AN IDIOT IF YOU DON'T BELIEVE EVERYTHING I SAY AND VOTE FOR ME BECAUSE I AM THE GOVERNMENT"

Recorder Stephen Richer says that the First Amendment is "the biggest threat to elections and democracy"

He claims the First Amendment is the cause of people "dropping out of elections" --- Of course, people losing trust in elections has absolutely nothing to do with citizens just wanting the most secure and competent elections possible that FOLLOW THE LAW {note my sarcasm}

This is a theme we've seen recently at the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, where Supervisor Clint Hickman blamed peaceful citizens participating in public comment as the reason they face violent threats

I am a survivor of violence, and I find Hickman's statements extremely offensive and, quite frankly anti-American

While violence should always be condemned, it's massively irresponsible for a public official to falsely blame peaceful people for the actions of others that have absolutely nothing to do with them

We've heard such rhetoric from despots in the last century in Europe, and it didn't end well

While I condemn such rhetoric too, Clint Hickman has a right to say such haphazard speech, seemingly looking to whip people up into a frenzy since it was getting close to the 11:30 MAG Region closing time

REMINDER: Elections are the First Amendment antidote to politicians we don't like!!!!

PS. As a former government employee, I also experienced threats. There are a lot of unstable people out there, and everyone is their verbal punching bag, unfortunately. If only there was a large county that had a tremendous budget for mental health to help people resolve their demons🙄NOPE! Too busy distributing health services by race instead of need.

Recorder Stephen Richer closes his op-ed with the hope that the D* mini *n defamation lawsuit "resets" some of this First Amendment jurisprudence "landscape"

He goes on to suggest that whether or not the election tabulation systems provider wins their defamation lawsuits, it's within the government's best interest to limit First Amendment rights in America

This is TERRIFYING STUFF!!!!

The man (Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer) who oversees one of the most essential functions of the First Amendment, OUR RIGHT TO VOTE, believes it's the government's role --- in a way his job -- to limit that fundamental human right of speech

The Founders must be rolling over in their graves!!!

Without free speech, the consent to govern does not exist! We quickly slip into tyranny!!

But IT GETS WORSE!!!!

A few days earlier in 2021, Recorder Stephen Richer sent his staff a version of the op-ed to use as a speech on CONSTITUTION DAY -- a sacred day in the history of human rights

NOTE: He says he oversees the administration of elections, which is precisely the type of description he's suing @karilake for defamation over🍌🤡

Maricopa County Recorder Steven Richer's speech seems designed to trample on the Constitution, but he tries to give it a smiley diet-coke cover

He reminds us he's broken the main promise he made to us -- "Make the Recorder's Office Boring Again"

Where do we get a refund for that one?

Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer goes into the Constitutional history of voting rights before laying down the hammer and fully trampling on one of the most sacred documents in human rights history

THE FIRST AMENDMENT IS A THORN IN HIS SIDE

He says: "I posit that the gravest threat to voting rights and our elected form of government is no longer the systematic disenfranchisement of a particular class of people, but instead the undermining of the entire
election system through lies and disinformation.

And it is in this respect, that the Constitution today is in some ways a thorn in the side of my office. Specifically the First Amendment."

(WHAT ON GOD'S GREEN EARTH🤯😡🤯😡)

Well, yeah, dude.... LITERALLY, THE POINT OF THE FIRST AMENDMENT WAS SO IT WOULD BE A THORN IN THE SIDE OF TYRANTS AND DESPOTS

He also complains of "C*VID" misinformation on the vaccine --- This is where I get especially perturbed🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

My side note: I am still heartbroken that I lost the co-founder of and one of my closest friends earlier this year in part to a common lethal symptom of taking vaccines, who was forced to take the vaccine by Trudeau to see her newborn grandbaby

My dear friend was disabled, so in 2020, she took a scooter she adjusted for her needs and went door to door in triple-digit weather to get that "Make the Recorder's Office Boring Again" man elected in support of the FIRST AMENDMENT and free, fair, and competent elections!

The 501c3 arm of our organization is currently suing Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer and the County. My co-founder planned on being the main plaintiff because she saw it as the best recourse to get that man and his office to follow the law, giving us our best chance to fairly re-elect President Trump and save freedom! She wanted Stephen to know how she felt about his job performance.

Unfortunately, she died suddenly right before the lawsuit was supposed to be filed.

On the morning of her death, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors held a special meeting to review the Presidential Preference Election Plan. We couldn't make it because I was attending to her family in ensuring her body was well looked after according to her wishes.

Reportedly, Clint Hickman complained we weren't at the meeting. I would have spoken about this at the PPE certification meeting last week, but Chairman @jacksellers banned public commentEZAZ.org

Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer closes his speech by saying, "he doesn't have a solution" to the problem of the pesky First Amendment ---

He calls it a RELIGIOUS PROBLEM too --- HAPPY EASTER FELLOW CHRISTIANS!

He says he's "hesitant to disrupt something that has served this country well for so long"

Wow! A lot can change in two (& three) years!!!! Doesn't seem so hesitant now.

BUT IT STILL GETS WORSE!!!

The response from his staff (presumably) wasn't anything like Jack Butler's --- kindly saying it's too extreme

NOPE!!!

Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer's staff is ALL-IN saying, "I love it"

This man, Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, NOW has the hubris to ask the voters to re-hire him to finish what he's started

This begs the question⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️

If he's using his government staff to assist in this effort of First Amendment jurisprudence, what exactly is happening in his office with your hard-earned money?

That's a great question and I hope we get some answers on this!!!!

In the meantime, you can download the full speech and op-ed public record requests from Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer at merissahamilton.com

BY THE WAY

It's definitely just a coincidence that my entire account was suspended yesterday while I have been working on government accountability in Maricopa County with a whole department run by a man who seeks First Amendment Jurisprudence while the Supreme Court is reviewing a case as to whether or not the government can coordinate with social media companies to suppress our speech and even access to the platforms

TOTAL COINCIDENCE!!!!!