{"id":2810,"date":"2023-05-14T18:43:41","date_gmt":"2023-05-14T18:43:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/?p=2810"},"modified":"2023-05-14T19:10:42","modified_gmt":"2023-05-14T19:10:42","slug":"trump-town-hall-cnn-kaitlan-collins-make-false-statements-about-wisconsin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/?p=2810","title":{"rendered":"Trump Town Hall: CNN, Kaitlan Collins Make False Statements About Wisconsin"},"content":{"rendered":"

This post originally appeared at https:\/\/www.wisconsinrightnow.com\/trump-town-hall-cnn-kaitlan-collins\/<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Trump<\/p>\n

CNN and its journalist Kaitlan Collins both made false statements about Wisconsin\u2019s election when they \u201cfact-checked\u201d President Donald Trump on his voter fraud claims in CNN\u2019s town hall.<\/p>\n

A CNN story <\/a>the day after the Trump town hall, \u201cFact-checking Trump\u2019s CNN town hall in New Hampshire.\u201d The story continues the media\u2019s obnoxiously biased decision to affix the label \u201cfalse\u201d next to statements by Trump, while not attaching a similar label to false or misleading statements made by President Joe Biden and various Democrats.<\/p>\n

Even more egregiously, CNN\u2019s and Collins\u2019 fact checks were outright false in one key way and arguably false or misleading in another.<\/p>\n

First, here\u2019s what CNN\u2019s story says:<\/p>\n

\u201cAmong Trump\u2019s litany of falsehoods about the 2020 election, he claimed \u2018so many illegal votes were cast in Wisconsin,\u2019 and that \u2018in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, they had so many illegal votes\u2026’\u201d<\/p>\n

The CNN story then declares: \u201cFacts First: There is no evidence of illegal votes cast in Wisconsin.<\/strong> A recount requested by the Trump campaign specifically confirmed the initial result establishing Joe Biden\u2019s victory in the state.\u201d<\/p>\n

The above paragraph repeats a false claim made by Collins during the CNN town hall when she attempted to fact-check Trump on the same point. Collins said, at about 22:33 in, \u201cMr. President, there weren\u2019t any fraudulent votes in Wisconsin.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n

THIS IS PROVABLY FALSE.<\/strong><\/p>\n

See:<\/p>\n

\nhttps:\/\/youtube.com\/watch?v=CPGfJPxna7g&feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

First, let\u2019s fact-check the statement by CNN and Collins. We will focus on the 2020 election. Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney, a Republican prosecutor in Wisconsin, has obtained convictions of multiple people who cast illegal votes in Wisconsin. We won\u2019t bore you with all of them. To disprove the CNN and Collins statements, due to their absolutism, we just have to prove a single case of illegal voting in Wisconsin in the 2020 election.<\/p>\n

Here you go:<\/p>\n

Donald C. Holz<\/em><\/p>\n

On Aug. 3, 2022, Toney announced in a news release: \u201cDEFENDANT CONVICTED OF FELONY VOTER FRAUD FROM NOVEMBER 3, 2020 ELECTION AND RECEIVES JAIL TIME.\u201d That was the case of Donald C. Holz, Case No. 2021CF000760.<\/p>\n

Toney announced that Holz was \u201cfound guilty of Felony Election Fraud \u2013 Voting by Disqualified Person after entering a \u201cno contest\u201d plea in court. \u201cHolz was sentenced to 10 days jail and a $500 fine and court costs. Holz was on felony supervision stemming from a drunk driving conviction and ineligible to vote in the November 3, 2020 election. The investigation revealed that Holz illegally cast a ballot in that election,\u201d Toney\u2019s release says.<\/p>\n

\n

Jamie M. Wells<\/em><\/p>\n

Toney also convicted Jamie M Wells in Case No. 2022CF000106. In a news release, he announced that Wells \u201cwas convicted of misdemeanor election fraud pursuant to Wis. Stat. 12.(3)(g) \u2013 Falsify Voter Registration for illegally voting in the November 3, 2020 election.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the news release, the investigation \u201creflected that Wells never lived in the ward where she registered and voted. The investigation also revealed that Wells did not live in Fond du Lac County despite voting in Fond du Lac County. Wells was convicted after using a P.O. Box. address her residential voting address on her voter registration form. It is illegal in Wisconsin to register to vote with an address that is not your residential address, as the DOJ Election handbook makes clear.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Sam Wells<\/em><\/p>\n

Toney also announced the conviction of Sam Wells, Case No. 2022CF000107. According to Toney\u2019s release, Wells \u201cwas convicted of Election Fraud \u2013Falsify Voter Registration. The conviction stems from the defendant illegally registering his residential address as a P.O. Box and voting in Fond du Lac County in the November 3, 2020 election, despite the defendant never having resided in the ward where he voted and not residing in Fond du Lac County. The defendant was sentenced to a fine of $300 and court costs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Toney added: \u201cThe defendant was originally charged with felony election fraud but the charge was amended to misdemeanor election fraud reflecting the defendant was otherwise eligible to vote and that his vote would not have impacted the results of the election. The Court could have sentenced up to 6 months in jail and a fine up to $1,000.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some of the convictions came in front of judges who were appointed by Democratic Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers.<\/p>\n

Toney also charged<\/a> a man he says voted twice in the 2020 election. That case is pending.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just Toney\u2019s office. To give another example, Lisa Campion \u201cwas fined $500 Friday for illegally voting in the November 2020 presidential election, even though she was ineligible to do so because she was still on probation,\u201d according to WTAQ<\/a>. That case was filed in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin. This is not intended to be a complete list.<\/p>\n

But what of Trump\u2019s own claim about Milwaukee and Wisconsin? Both CNN and Collins told viewers it was false.<\/p>\n

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel also declared Trump\u2019s statement false in a story written by Molly Beck that was headlined<\/a>, \u201cTrump\u2019s recitation of false claims during the CNN town hall included a big one about Milwaukee voting in 2020.\u201d<\/p>\n

Outright editorializing, Beck wrote that Trump \u201cinvented\u201d a number of \u201cfalse election claims.\u201d Beck also wrote that Trump has pushed \u201cfactually deficient conspiracy theories\u201d about Wisconsin.<\/p>\n

So much for objectivity.<\/p>\n

But did he?<\/p>\n

Rick Esenberg, the founder and current President and General Counsel of the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, had an informative take on that.<\/p>\n

\n

The quote attributed to me is correct but, much as I don’t agree with Trump’s stolen election claim, it’s not really “false” to say there were “illegal” votes. There were dropboxes and, whether you agree or not, SCOWI held that was illegal. (1\/4) https:\/\/t.co\/qDarFGOLL1<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Rick Esenberg (@RickEsenberg) May 12, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Esenberg shared the Journal Sentinel story and tweeted<\/a>, \u201cThe quote attributed to me is correct but, much as I don\u2019t agree with Trump\u2019s stolen election claim, it\u2019s not really \u2018false\u2019 to say there were \u2018illegal\u2019 votes. There were dropboxes and, whether you agree or not, SCOWI held that was illegal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNevertheless, SCOWI also held \u2013 in a case right after the election and 18 months before ours \u2013 that these votes could not be thrown out \u2013 because the Trump campaign knew that drop boxes were being used and did not sue until after the election.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNor can we know if tossing out these votes would have changed the election results for reasons we explained in study of the 2020 election in Wisconsin.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo Trump\u2019s claim was incomplete or maybe even misleading. That\u2019s really not good but I don\u2019t know that you can say that the words he spoke were false. We should still care about differences like this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beck did quote Esenberg, but only on the point about the dropbox ruling not being retroactive.<\/p>\n

If something is credibly open to interpretation, it\u2019s not provably \u201cfalse\u201d and that claim simply doesn\u2019t belong in a supposedly objective news story.<\/p>\n

If the media are going to fact-check Trump, they should make sure they get it right.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also the use of special voting deputies. Racine County Sheriff Christopher Schmaling said<\/a> members of the Wisconsin Election Commission blatantly and openly violated state law and committed felony crimes throughout the state of Wisconsin by ordering that special voting deputies should not go into nursing homes during the 2020 presidential election, as required by statutes. It\u2019s not clear how many votes this directive led to, and local district attorneys declined to file charges.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s true that reviews, including by Esenberg\u2019s group and a non-partisan agency, did not find organized, widespread voter fraud in Wisconsin, although they identified various concerns. It\u2019s also true that voter fraud prosecutions in Wisconsin are relatively rare. However, those are different questions.<\/p>\n

The Heritage Foundation has compiled a list <\/a>of illegal voting in Wisconsin, although some of the cases predate 2020.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This post originally appeared at https:\/\/www.wisconsinrightnow.com\/trump-town-hall-cnn-kaitlan-collins\/ CNN and its journalist Kaitlan Collins both made false…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":2812,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2810","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wi-right-now"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2810","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2810"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2810\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2813,"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2810\/revisions\/2813"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2812"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}