Pro-Trump Team Freedom Center for God and Country Invent Voter Fraud Claims Months Before the 2020 Election

A well-funded far-right group — infiltrated with Stop stealing organization, pay a former police captain more than $200,000 hunting ballots, and got tangled up in a pile of roadside trash — making war plans for Election Day 2020 months ahead of schedule, the documents reveal.

The fringe group, the Center for Freedom for God and Country (LCGC), led a lucrative fundraiser in the run-up to the election and quietly connected with prominent current election deniers. now. Their work came to light that October when former Houston Police captain Mark Aguirre allegedly crashed his SUV into a man’s truck, forced the man to lie on the ground in front of the gun, and accused him of transporting 750,000 fraudulent ballots. Aguirre’s claims are baseless – his victim was an innocent air conditioning technician – and no widespread voter fraud was discovered during the 2020 election. was indicted this week for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Criminal charges have been brought against the LCGC, which quietly transferred hundreds of thousands of dollars in the name of preventing voter fraud in the months leading up to the election, launched a website and raised funds in the months leading up to the election. month prior to November 3.

In the fall of 2020, as Donald Trump went after Joe Biden in the polls, Republican activists sought to sow doubt in the event that Trump could lose power. Aguirre and LCGC are among them.

“We are private investigators in the State of Texas who discovered an illegal vote-collecting operation in Harris County,” Aguirre wrote during a GoFundMe campaign in late September 2020. Our team was led by Mark A. Aguirre, retired Captain of the Houston Police Department, Lic Bureau. # C14256. We’ve been collecting evidence since 2018 showing massive absenteeism in voter fraud. We are currently in the process of gathering more evidence and information that will directly impact the upcoming 2020 election.”

Aguirre’s description of himself as a “retired” police captain (he was actually open fire for a catastrophic raid) is the fundraiser’s least lie. While the fundraiser did not shed light on Aguirre’s “team,” the fundraiser came a day after Aguirre signed an affidavit in a lawsuit accusing Houston-area Democrats of electoral fraud. tri on a large scale.

The lawsuit filed by Republican activist Steven Hotze, accused Texas Democrats of conspiring to defraud voters, in part by offering early voting and more polling places. Some of its claims are based on evidence allegedly gathered by Aguirre and a former FBI agent who, like Aguirre, later became a private investigator.

“Based on interviews, review of documents and other information, I have identified the individuals in charge of the vote harvesting program,” Aguirre wrote.

Aguirre’s involvement with Hotze went deeper than what the lawsuit suggested. At the end of August, according to business records, Hotze founded LCGC. The group’s earliest web presence called on Trump to designate three days “for national unification, fasting and prayer.”

Hotze is already a known number in Texas and Republican politics. An anti-LGBT fighter since the 1980s, Hotze has infiltrated the state’s conservatives, supported by money from his medical practice. where he recommends “hormone replacement.” Before the 2020 election, Hotze filed a series of lawsuits aimed at restricting open voting in Texas, such as early voting and passing ballots. In September and October 2020, he also dabbled in conspiracy theories about the upcoming election, creating lengthy Facebook videos and posts detailing what he said would be a Democratic effort. owner to steal 2020 through voter fraud in Harris County, Texas.

“Social Democrats know that Harris County, where Houston is located, is the baseless spot for the upcoming general election in Texas and across the country,” he wrote in a post shared by the LCGC. “As Harris County goes, so does Texas. As Texas goes, so does the nation. (This is not true, either about Harris County’s importance in Texas elections, or about Texas’ role in national elections.)

To crack down on allegations of pre-election fraud, the LCGC allegedly hired Aguirre to investigate people it suspects of running fake ballot rounds. According to the indictment documents, Aguirre admitted to surveying the home of air-conditioning technician David Lopez-Zuniga, on suspicions that the Houston man was carrying out a plot to force children to sign 750,000 fraudulent ballots. cheat. Aguirre allegedly crashed Lopez-Zuniga’s car on the road, forcing him to the ground at the gun’s end and kneeling on his back before a real police officer could intervene. The day after the incident, the LCGC deposited $211,400 into Aguirre’s bank account.

The LCGC has raised big bucks, its fundraisers suggest. In addition to Aguirre’s GoFundMe, which earned at least $2,600, the team also operates its own GoFundMe, raised nearly $70,000 from mid-October to mid-December.

The LCGC is also registered as a nonprofit — a status that would be helpful when connecting with a growing movement of voter fraudsters.

Shortly after Trump lost in November 2020, a website called Every Legal Vote produced proof that Trump did indeed win. The site advertises itself as something of a supergroup in the emerging field of electoral denial organizations.

“This site is the labor of love by American citizens,” the “about us” page of All Legitimate Vote has now been removed. “Our founding sponsors: Economic Warfare Chamber, Allied Security Operations Group, Center for Freedom for God and Country are building a coalition interested in protecting elections our sanctity from forgery and fraud.”

The Economic War Room is a web series run by Kevin Freeman, a senior member of an Islamic ideological organization, the Colorado Time Recorder note when a local politician promotes the Every Legal Vote page.

The Allied Security Operations Group (ASOG) became infamous in its own right, after it was involved in an effort to “test” voting machines in Antrim County, Michigan. Its founder, Russell Ramsland Jr., authored a report on their findings that was wildly misleading, in part because he confused the states of Michigan and Minnesota, using their voting data interchangeably. However, the ASOG report has become a popular document among Trumpists, with Rudy Giuliani claiming it is evidence of fraud.

ASOG also a leading candidate to conduct an “audit” ended in Maricopa County, Arizona, though they were dropped after observers pointed to their faulty Antrim County report. Messages from relevant officials during the Maricopa County audit revealed that ASOG was also working with Phil Waldron, a retired Army colonel who allegedly distributed a popular PowerPoint presentation on how legislators could be signal the 2020 election and make Trump president.

The LCGC did not return a request for comment on its relationship with ASOG. But at least one ASOG fundraiser has highlighted the financial link between the two groups.

“ASOG urgently needs your help to continue their all-important research,” read the appeal for funds on an election denial website earlier this year. The fundraiser encouraged donors to give their money to the LCGC, a non-profit organization.

“For the 501c3 Donation: Write a check to Liberty Center for God and Country,” said the fundraiser. It does not include the address of the LCGC in Katy, Texas. Instead, it asks supporters to send funds to ASOG’s Addison, Texas office, where a staff member “will take them to the LCGC and secure a receipt for your donation.”