{"id":1018922,"date":"2021-11-16T09:30:41","date_gmt":"2021-11-16T14:30:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1018922"},"modified":"2021-11-16T09:30:48","modified_gmt":"2021-11-16T14:30:48","slug":"exclusive-maine-secretary-of-state-aide-belonged-to-private-chat-of-leftist-groups-that-conspired-to-smear-west-virginias-top-election-official","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/exclusive-maine-secretary-of-state-aide-belonged-to-private-chat-of-leftist-groups-that-conspired-to-smear-west-virginias-top-election-official\/","title":{"rendered":"Exclusive\u2014 Maine Secretary of State Aide Belonged to Private Chat of Leftist Groups that Conspired to Smear West Virginia&#039;s Top Election Official"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">44<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fexclusive-maine-secretary-of-state-aide-belonged-to-private-chat-of-leftist-groups-that-conspired-to-smear-west-virginias-top-election-official%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1018922&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p class=\"subheading\">Maine Democrat Secretary of State Shenna Bellows\u2019 communications director allegedly belonged to a private communications channel comprised of leftist organizations that attempted to smear West Virginia Republican Secretary of State Mac Warner over his opposition to federalized elections.<\/p>\n<p>According to part of a lengthy public records request filed by the&nbsp;Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) and exclusively provided to Breitbart News, Bellows\u2019 Communications Director Emily Cook was reportedly a member of a Slack channel including leftist activists from&nbsp;League of Women Voters, Protect Democracy, Organizing for Action, Greenpeace, Southern Poverty Law Center Action, Code Pink, Oxfam, and many more.&nbsp;Slack is a non-public messaging app often used by businesses and can require two-factor authentication to access.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p>Tucked within the 590-page request, PILF,&nbsp;a law firm wholly dedicated to election integrity, discovered an email to Cook\u2019s state email address received from Slack, updating her on new messages to conversations of which she is a part within the Slack workspace allegedly <a href=\"https:\/\/dfadcoalition.org\/\">run<\/a> by Declaration for American Democracy. The organization describes itself as \u201can anti-oppression coalition working together to make the promise of democracy real for all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_18074266\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" readability=\"39\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Nancy-Pelosi-Chuck-Schumer-HR-1-voting-act-ap.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-18074266\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Nancy-Pelosi-Chuck-Schumer-HR-1-voting-act-ap.jpg\" alt width=\"640\" height=\"480\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) call on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to bring the Democrats\u2019 HR-1 \u201cFor the People Act\u201d to the floor for a vote, during an event on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, March 10, 2020. (AP Photo\/J. Scott Applewhite)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>On March 24, the group outlined plans to discredit Warner, West Virginia\u2019s top election official, for his opposition to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2021\/03\/04\/37-things-to-know-about-h-r-1-for-the-people-act\/\">H.R.\/ S.1<\/a>, heavy-handed Democrat-sponsored legislation, which would ultimately federalize elections under the murky guise of protecting \u201cvoters\u2019 rights\u201d from Republicans. In a Slack channel message timestamped at 9:18 a.m., Jonah Minkoff-Zern, a \u201cdemocracy advocate\u201d for Public Citizen, warned the group that Warner was expected to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rules.senate.gov\/imo\/media\/doc\/Testimony_Warner1.pdf\">testify<\/a> that day before the United States Senate \u2014 including moderate West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin (D) \u2014 disavowing H.R. 1\/S. 1 (also called the For the People Act).<\/p>\n<p>Manchin, who often holds out on legislation held dear to the far-left-wing of the Democrat Party, would play a key role in passing the For the People Act, especially due to his position on the filibuster. S.1\u2019s passage relies on a super-majority vote \u2014 support from 60 out of 100 senators \u2014 so Democrat\u2019s slim majority in the Senate is not enough to pass the bill.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cWV&nbsp;Secretary of State Warner is getting a lot of attention already in WV for speaking out again[st] HR 1 and is testifying today. Warner is a \u2018Stop the Steal\u2019 guy so there\u2019s lots we could and need to do,\u201d Minkoff-Zern wrote in the Slack channel.<\/p>\n<p>He continued, quoting alleged guidance from For West Virginia\u2019s Future, which reportedly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fwvf.org\/\">advised<\/a> the coalition to \u201cdiscredit Warner\u2019s reputation\u201d and emphasize \u201chis work spreading the Big Lie.\u201d They also advised to keep Manchin out of the campaign and to avoid \u201cnationalizing the convo by mentioning Republicans or Biden.\u201d:<\/p>\n<blockquote readability=\"12\">\n<p>Do we have or could folks create some talking points and sample posts that are ready to go and we could share around using the following guidance from our friends with For West Virginia\u2019s Future: \u201cMy general suggestion is two-fold: 1) Discredit Warner\u2019s reputation as much as possible ahead of the hearing for his work spreading the Big Lie and current misinformation inside WV. 2) Redirect any false talking point he presents inside the hearing a la Race Class Narrative \u2013 don\u2019t spend time repeating his falsehoods, instead talk about what the act means for everyday Americans and how folks like Warner are stopping that for their own selfish political reason, aka he\u2019s showing us why this Act is so important. General recommendations: avoid nationalizing the convo by mentioning Republicans or Biden, don\u2019t draw Manchin in on this, and don\u2019t spend any time repeating his lies\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Slack-screenshot.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-18763546 alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Slack-screenshot.jpg\" alt width=\"646\" height=\"345\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Lauren Bowman, spokeswoman for PILF, confirmed to Breitbart News that while Cook did not direct activists in the group to smear Warner, her \u201cinvolvement in a [S]lack group is deliberate.\u201d&nbsp;PILF reportedly did not find any proof within the confines of the public records request that any other politicians or aides were involved in the channel.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is no surprise that leftist organizations would work to attack and discredit people who do not agree with them. This is their M.O. It is shocking that a government aide would be involved in this and that a Secretary of State\u2019s office would be involved in attacking another Secretary of State,\u201d Bowman said. \u201cThe Maine Secretary of State\u2019s office and Emily Cook clearly did not want this information to be publicly available. Otherwise, they would not have been involved in a [S]lack group that is a non-public communication tool.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>Bowman told Breitbart News that Cook was Bellows\u2019 only staff member in the Slack channel and that the message from Minkoff-Zern was the only one of its kind found in the 590-page public records request. PILF reportedly did not reach out to the Maine Secretary of State\u2019s Office upon discovery of Cook\u2019s presence in the Slack channel.<\/p>\n<p>Breitbart News reached out to Cook and to Bellow for comment, asking if they wished to respond to the accusation. Breitbart News also asked if it is the typical practice of the Maine Secretary of State\u2019s office to collaborate with partisan organizations who discredit government officials with differing opinions and if any disciplinary action had been taken. Neither Cook nor Bellows responded to a request for comment by the time of publication. It is also unclear if Cook is still a part of the Slack channel.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_18765818\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" readability=\"37\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Shenna-Bellows-candidate-Senate-file-May312014-maine-ap.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-18765818\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Shenna-Bellows-candidate-Senate-file-May312014-maine-ap.jpg\" alt=\"Shenna Bellows candidate for U.S. Senate speaks at the Maine Democratic Convention in Bangor, Maine, Saturday, May 31, 2014. (AP Photo\/Michael C. York)\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shenna Bellows candidate for U.S. Senate speaks at the Maine Democratic Convention in Bangor, Maine, Saturday, May 31, 2014. (AP Photo\/Michael C. York)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Warner\u2019s office had no knowledge of the alleged attempted smear campaign when Breitbart News reached out for comment on Monday, though&nbsp;Director of Communications for Secretary Warner Mike Queen said he was \u201cdisappointed to think that something like this could be true.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile they may disagree at times on policy issues, Secretary Warner has always respected Secretary Bellows. And I believe that feeling is mutual,\u201d Queen said. \u201cIf I was ever part of coordinating a secret smear campaign behind Secretary Warner\u2019s back and against another Secretary of State, I\u2019d be looking for another job the same day Secretary Warner found out what I was doing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As for the For the People Act, Manchin ended up being the only Democrat hold-out. A slimmer bill was later <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2021\/09\/14\/election-reforms-senate-democrats-flag-revamped-voting-rights-bill\/\">introduced<\/a>, called the Freedom to Vote Act, which is co-sponsored by Manchin and reportedly addresses his qualms with the previous version. Republicans successfully <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/news\/senate-republicans-block-voting-rights-bill\/\">blocked<\/a> the legislation from passing on October 20, voting 49-51 to end debate. It is the second time Republicans have filibustered to prevent a Democrat voting bill from advancing, though Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY)&nbsp;voted against advancing it so that he could bring it up for a vote again in the future.<\/p>\n<p><em>Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on&nbsp;<a class=\"x5l\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/katherineeeeee2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\">Twitter<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Maine Democrat Secretary of State Shenna Bellows\u2019 communications director allegedly belonged to a private communications channel comprised of leftist organizations that attempted to smear West Virginia Republican Secretary of State &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1018922","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1018922","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1018922"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1018922\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1018922"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1018922"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1018922"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}