Comment Left for Bryan Smith & Brent Regan

Our post called Leaky Leaks in the KCRCC has generated a considerable amount of comments. One left by a someone named Bungjulio was this bombshell. We can only assume the commenter was a fan of Mike Judge’s show Beavis and Butthead (Chester is a fan of his movie Idiocracy). Here is the comment in full, then our analysis.

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The COmment

“For me, no real conservative endorses Democrats because their policies run counter to conservative solutions—you know, the ones Frank claims have proved far more successful than those of the ‘liberal left.’ Yet, Frank has a long history of endorsing Democrats.” – IFF Board Member, Bryan Smith.

What about Republicans claiming to be conservative but actually DONATING to Democrats? Hey, Brent, aren’t they hypocrites too??? What about Republican Chairmen that cover for these phonies???

Both Bryan Smith and Brent Regan are on the board of the Idaho Freedom Foundation – the self titled champion of conservative and libertarian principles. Brent Regan is the chairman of IFF and chairman of the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee – you know, that political party that claims to be conservative and anti-Democrat.

Brent Regan has yet to come out against the actions of Doug “Doug-0” (that’s Doug-Zero) Okuniewicz for spending gobs of money on Democratic organizations and candidates through his PAC Winning For Idaho. Brent and the rest of the KCRCC were pretty vocal about donations to Democratic causes from gubernatorial candidate Tommy Ahlquist. They even penned a resolution condemning Tommy for it!

Hypocrite much??? Where is the outrage, Brent & Bryan??? You are both full of you-know-what!

Here is the article by Bryan Smith: https://keepidahofree.org/obama-donor-frank-vandersloot-not-what-he-pretends-to-be/

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An answer

The commenter has a valid point. To our team’s knowledge the KCRCC has not made an official release of the full Election Committee’s findings on Doug Okuniewicz. At their April meeting they did address the Item 2 pertaining to Patrick Mitchell. But there was no mention of the Item 1 on Doug Okuniewicz. Nor has the KCRCC made mention of this on Facebook, email subscription, the press, or anywhere else we can find. The only mention that we can find is here on this site, and by those that shared the post on social media. If perhaps we missed the announcement, we will correct this post.

Our team has researched Robert’s Rules of Order and the KCRCC bylaws. First, the KCRCC is a private organization, the leadership is under no obligation to release an elections committee report to the general public. But we do find it conspicuously odd that Bjorn Handeen, the elections chair only read Item 2 of the report. There was even discussion among the committee about what to do regarding Patrick Mitchell, who ran as a Democrat in a previous election, but is now running as a Republican.

In the discussion there was mention of Tommy Ahlquist, and the stand they made against him. The committee was attempting to show they had a history of frowning on Republicans that give or are associated with the Democrat party. One positive thing, a few members did voice that they won’t fault someone that once was a Democrat, but educated themselves out of that party and is now conservative. We agree, people can become more conservative.

Here is the full text of a resolution the KCRCC passed in September 2017.

THE resolution

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PROTECTING THE REPUBLICAN BRAND

Whereas, In 2014, Tommy Ahlquist gave Idaho Democrat gubernatorial candidate A.J. Balukoff, who was running against the Republican candidate, the maximum allowable donation of $5000 [1]; and,

Whereas, In 2015, Tommy Ahlquist gave David Bieter, the Democrat Mayor of Boise and Hillary Clinton Idaho Campaign Leadership Council member the maximum allowable campaign donation of $1000 [2] [3]; and,

Whereas, In 2015, Tommy Ahlquist gave Lauren McLean, the Boise City Council President Pro-Tem, a Democrat who received and cashed a check from Planned Parenthood PAC, and was a Hillary Clinton supporter, the maximum allowable donation of $1000[3] [4] [5]; and

Whereas, In 2016, Tommy Ahlquist gave to TJ Thomson, a Democrat Ada County Commissioner candidate and one of Barack Obama’s Idaho state chairs, the maximum allowable donation of $1000 [6] [7] [8] and,

Whereas, Tommy Ahlquist did not affiliate with the Idaho Republican Party until March of 2016 and did not vote in any May Republican Primary until May of 2016 [9]; and,

Whereas, Tommy Ahlquist did not support nor vote for the 2016 Republican Presidential nominee [10] [11]; and,

Whereas, the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee believes the Idaho Republican Party has a vested interest in protecting the integrity of its Republican brand; therefore, Be it Resolved, the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee expresses serious concern over Republican gubernatorial candidate Tommy Ahlquist’s repeated and recent support of Democrat candidates who are pro-abortion and are supporters of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama; and,  Be it Resolved, the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee wants to make Republicans in Idaho aware of Tommy Ahlquist’s recent 2016 affiliation with the Republican Party; and

Be it further Resolved, the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee directs our Chairman to have our Secretary send this resolution to the Idaho Republican State Party, the 44 Republican County Chairs and the provided media list.

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Analysis

Some in the KCRCC aren’t being consistent.  They led the way to make a HA-HUGE stink about Tommy Ahlquist in 2017, and again regarding Patrick Mitchell in 2020. But regarding the big RINO in the room, Doug Okuniewicz they are silent. And truth be told, Doug’s giving to Democrats far outweighs the deeds of Ahlquist and Mitchell combined.

So what gives? Money, that’s what gives. Doug made sure Winning for Idaho was a gold sponsor at this year’s Lincoln Day Dinner. Add to that he’s made sure they give loads of dough to legislators across Idaho. We’ve heard rumors that some of the leadership doesn’t support Doug a a candidate, but they don’t want to cut off the money either. So they just stay quiet, hoping Doug will keep throwing money at the Republican Party.

Closing

KCRCC members, this is a primer for a future post. The power in the committee lies in members, and not the leadership.  The Chair is only a facilitator of the meeting, and currently is held by a fellow PC. In the future if a report is ignored, any PC can make a motion to have that portion read. The committee members have a voice in the reading and releasing of the report. At the April meeting, any member could have made a motion to have the full report released to the public. Sure it might have been a no vote, but it never hurts to try.

Lastly, the rumors are still going about that Doug O claims he doesn’t personally hand out checks. He’s attempting to feign ignorance on Winning for Idaho paying Democrats. We’ve asked around Doug, and every legislator we’ve asked has said you PERSONALLY handed out checks. Not your treasurer, not some random guys, but Doug O in the flesh. Maybe someone needs to get a recording of Doug and his handful of loot.

We hope Bryan Smith sees this, and can weigh in with his opinion. He’s one of the brightest attorneys in the state, and an all around great guy.

The Chuckleberries Team