When we left Monty Jensen, it was Friday, October 29. He’d just seen a scene that disturbed him; supervisors from a Brainerd-area group home voting for their charges who, while they had the legal right to vote, didn’t seem to have much idea where they were or what they were doing (which, if I were much less sober and reflective than I am these days, I would say “makes them a perfect DFL constituency”. But I am more sober and reflective these days).
Jensen chewed on what he’d seen overnight – and then took a shot in the dark.
“I called George Burton”, he says, referring to the Constitution Party candidate for Jim Oberstar’s seat. Burton got Jensen in touch with the Minnesota Freedom Council, one of a small network of grassroots groups that is scrutinizing Minnesota’s election system.
Acting on their advice, Jensen started to work. “About 10:30 Saturday morning (October 30), I looked up Don Ryan, the Crow Wing County attorney, in the phone book. I tried him a couple of times, with no answer. ”
“Then I tried Ron Kaus, at the Minnesota Freedom Council. I’d never heard of him in my life. I spoke with him – and he got right on it. They wanted all the information – and he asked me to meet at the courthouse and tell him how everything went down. When we got there, he asked me if he could record the conversation. We didn’t talk for five minutes before the recording started; I told my story”.
Here’s the story, for those who missed it the first time:
Here’s part I of the video…:
…along with Part II…:
…and Part III.
Jensen recalls “We went through and did the video. I was kinda on the hot seat. And from there, we started trying to do the investigation”. He got some advice from Kaus; “If you want this investigated, you need to do it as an affadavit; the complaint form will just get filed away”.
So Jensen spent the weekend writing the complaint. On Monday morning, he was ready to turn it in.
“On Monday morning, I brought four copies in. The auditor notarized them, and kept one”. Then, Jensen went to the County Attorney’s office. “Being that it was Monday before election day…I handed it to him personally. He said he didn’t know what he could do with the election the next day, so all the votes would count. But he said they’d follow up with the investigation.”
Later on, Jensen said the County Attorney’s office called to say the Crow Wing County Sheriff’s office had assigned an investigator. On Thursday, November 4 – two days after the election – Jensen met with that investigator for about 90 minutes. “He stated that they’d been speaking with certain group homes, had a list of ballots turned in during the time frame, and had everything to back up the story”.
And that, for the most part, was the last Monty Jensen has heard from Crow Wing County.
———-
Toward the end of our conversation, Jensen reflected. “The other day, I was talking with my girlfriend. I asked “Am I crazy, or is something going on here?”
We’ll get the girlfriend’s answer straight from her, later this week.
First Mitch – what part of this don’t you get? The people interviewed on television are mostly the disabled voters, not the staff. They clearly show they are not as represented by Jensen, and state for themselves how they voted and what miniimal assistance they received. You don’t have to rely on anyone else to tell you the functional level of these voters. You can plainl SEE it. It utterly disproves what Jensen said.
No, D. It “disproves” nothing. It is evidence that there are two sides to the story.
Second, they are a private facility, not public employees and not members of any union.
Heh.
And you think that’s all there is to the story, don’t you?
Heh heh heh.
Let me lay out the timeline for you.
Jensen apparently didn’t have any of the voter poll incidents he was looking for, so he made a video on Saturday morning, where for all intents and purposes, given the errors of fact, he seems to have made the whole damn thing up.
The video got coverage, including Fox News.
KSAX investigated, tracked down the disabled voters at Clark Lake who had voted on the Friday afternoon in question — and interviewed them after the disabled voters and staff had watched the Jensen video together with the KSAX crew present.
The disabled voters were outraged at Jensen’s claims. You can clearly observe that the disabled voters, while needing assistance, are NOTHING like what Jensen claims over and over and over.
But the KSAX interview didn’t get the same coverage that the Jensen video has received – courtesy of blogs like yours among other sources.
I don’t know why it did not, because it should have. It completely refutes Jensen’s claims. But then the facts of the ice cream bribe story didn’t either, and I could list many others that have similarly not been factually presented either.
Pretty much, other than waiting for the confirmation from the DA about the status of the investigation, yes.
The Clark Lake staff have been told by investigators that they did nothing wrong.
The people interviewed on television are mostly the disabled voters
Really?
They talked with EVERY disabled voter that voted at the CWCCH that day?
Every single one?
Sloppy, DG.
Relying on local TV news for accuracy and completeness is always a big mistake, and that’s not even getting into bias.
More on THAT later too.
Pretty much, other than waiting for the confirmation from the DA about the status of the investigation, yes.
The Clark Lake staff have been told by investigators that they did nothing wrong
Heh.
More on that to come, too.
No, D. It “disproves” nothing. It is evidence that there are two sides to the story.
Mitch – if Jensen claims these voters were incompetent, and were improperly assisted – which appears to be the statement made about voters who appear to be Clark Lake residents, and investigators determine that nothing improper happened, court house staff says nothing improper happened, and an interviews with the disabled voters show they aren’t the incompetent people Jensen claims…….what do you have that contradicts that?
If the premise is that union staff were manipulating votes for their candidate……and the staff in question are not members of any union….what is the claimed motive here? Especially when it appears that these disabled voters did NOT vote for democratic candidates – at least some of them anyway – as Jensen claims?
I think the basic fact has gotten lost here. Minnesota’s election system SUCKS!!! It is obviously rife with fraud and incompetence. Any cogent human being can and does recognize this fact.
It’s only the ones with a particular agenda who try to obfuscate the fact. Like Mark Ritchie. Mark Dayton. Margaret Anderson Kelliher. Dog Gone.
Jensen apparently didn’t have any of the voter poll incidents he was looking for,
Did you bring a video camera to the polls?
so he made a video on Saturday morning, where for all intents and purposes, given the errors of fact, he seems to have made the whole damn thing up.
“Seems to have?”
More weasel words.
The video got coverage, including Fox News.
Code word for “Don’t believe it!” among lefties who don’t fact check. But CNN ran it too.
Did you know that?
KSAX investigated, tracked down the disabled voters at Clark Lake who had voted on the Friday afternoon in question — and interviewed them after the disabled voters and staff had watched the Jensen video together with the KSAX crew present.
The KSAX story has some interesting potential holes in it. More later.
The disabled voters were outraged at Jensen’s claims. You can clearly observe that the disabled voters, while needing assistance, are NOTHING like what Jensen claims over and over and over.
Right.
And who selected the audience? KSAX confirmed they were exactly the same people? And you know this how?
But the KSAX interview didn’t get the same coverage that the Jensen video has received – courtesy of blogs like yours among other sources.
Wow. I”m powerful enough to gundeck reporting from a HUBBARD BROADCASTING-owned station? I’ve got more mojo than a multi-billion-dollar media company?
Wow!
I don’t know why it did not, because it should have.
Maybe because it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see the gaps in the story.
It completely refutes Jensen’s claims.
I’m curious – why do you observe such a ludicrously low standard of “proof” whenever it’s a lefty sacred cow you’re defending?
They talked with EVERY disabled voter that voted at the CWCCH that day?
Every single one?
Sloppy, DG.
No Mitch. They talked with the disabled voters who voted that afternoon in a group and at that approximate time — of which there appears so far as I could discern only one group. This group.
There were other groups on other days, including one on Wednesdsay from Clark Lake of a couple of residents (three, I believe). Who saw Jensen and Jensen appears to have seen them. Two of the staff members voted that day as well. One was the woman, not with the residents at the time, that Jensen claimed to have seen on Friday.
The CW County staff also indicated that there were not four groups in that day as Jensen was claiming he was told.
Tell me Mitch – had you seen the KSAX interview? Did you know of its existence before I mentioned it?
Mitch – if Jensen claims these voters were incompetent, and were improperly assisted – which appears to be the statement made about voters who appear to be Clark Lake residents,
More weasel words. “Appear to be?” So you don’t know if they were the self-same voters that Jensen referred to?
the KSAX group interview was of no more value than a “man in the street” interview.
and investigators determine that nothing improper happened,
I have yet to see the final disposition of the case, but I have more than a hunch that the RWCSD’s statement was more like “we can’t determine if anything improper happened”. Which would mean they walked into a he-said, they-said case, had no hard evidence, and said “we got nothing”.
I don’t know that that’s the case, but I have a pretty strong hunch. And if I’m right, it means that you have misled the audience.
court house staff says nothing improper happened, and an interviews with the disabled voters show they aren’t the incompetent people Jensen claims…….what do you have that contradicts that?
I’m not sure where you learned “reporting”, DG, but all you have is stories that contradict Jensen. All of them are statements in their own interest. Not worthless, but not surprising.
If the premise is that union staff
The union bit was an off-handed interjection. Not part of my premise.
were manipulating votes for their candidate……and the staff in question are not members of any union….what is the claimed motive here?
Stuff the ballots for the DFL.
Especially when it appears that these disabled voters did NOT vote for democratic candidates – at least some of them anyway – as Jensen claims?
Huh?
You saw their ballots?
You know this precisely how?
Mitch – how many disabled legal voters do you believe there ARE in Crow Wing County?
How many disabled people do you think voted on that Friday in groups? Do you believe it was the 40 Jensen claimed?
So……how did that many disabled voters get there (and not be observed by the staff apparently while voting) at the very end of the day?
Or…..I can believe the Clark Lake group, who have a reasonable explanation for how many people they transported and by what means, at a slightly earlier hour, so as to have their residents back in time for supper.
So show me people who voted illegally here. Show me these ‘holes’ you claim. I think KSAX did a pretty good job – but they seem to be backed up by the Brainerd news paper as well in a number of respects.
Did you check with anyone else to see if Jensen was attempting to act as a poll watcher, not just ‘happened to be voting’ on Friday when he claims to have seen this happen?
So…..where is the support from the investigation for Jensen’s claims? Show me. I am open to this proof you claim.
Tell me Mitch – had you seen the KSAX interview? Did you know of its existence before I mentioned it?
Long before.
I’ve talked with several people about KSAX’s coverage.
“Fact-checked” it, if you will.
There’s a little more there than meets the eye.
Mitch – how many disabled legal voters do you believe there ARE in Crow Wing County?
Irrelevant.
How many disabled people do you think voted on that Friday in groups? Do you believe it was the 40 Jensen claimed?
Not sure I’ve seen Jensen claim forty. He told me a dozen, maybe fifteen.
So……how did that many disabled voters get there (and not be observed by the staff apparently while voting) at the very end of the day?
Irrelevant red herring.
Or…..I can believe the Clark Lake group, who have a reasonable explanation for how many people they transported and by what means, at a slightly earlier hour, so as to have their residents back in time for supper.
Irrelevant.
So show me people who voted illegally here.
Strawman. It was never about people voting illegally – nobody’s questioned whether any of the residents had been declared incompetent. It’s not an issue.
It’s about illegal assistance.
Show me these ‘holes’ you claim. I think KSAX did a pretty good job – but they seem to be backed up by the Brainerd news paper as well in a number of respects.
Heh. Yes, they were, weren’t they?
Funny you should mention that.
We’ll come back to Brainerd’s news coverage. Oh, yes, we will.
Did you check with anyone else to see if Jensen was attempting to act as a poll watcher, not just ‘happened to be voting’ on Friday when he claims to have seen this happen?
You’re the one disparaging his motives. The burden of proof is on you.
So…..where is the support from the investigation for Jensen’s claims?
As I noted earlier, I haven’t seen the report. I don’t suspect you have either. I noted my suspicions above. But we’ll find out soon enough.
I am open to this proof you claim.
I sincerely doubt that.
And with that, I’m going to have to leave this thread behind for a bit. I have to actually get some work done at the day job.
More, likely, next week.
Anyone want to get into a pool on how many times Dog voted for Dayton?
I’m curious here Mitch – are you claiming that the people in the television interview who identify themselves as the people voting later in the afternoon on Friday at the Crow Wing County Courthouse are NOT who they say they are? You do know these people possess legal ID, and can show who they are – and I believe did so already when interviewed by for the investigation.
Or are you claiming that the visible interaction with these voters does not illustrate they are more competent than Jensen claimed.
Or have you found another big ol group of 40 disabled people voting at that hour on that Friday who are illegally voting, and are as incompetent as Jensen claimed, and have been demonstrated to be improperly assisted by this investigation?
Because if you have these results, they must be pretty recent, and I’d love to be updated.
“Strawman. It was never about people voting illegally – nobody’s questioned whether any of the residents had been declared incompetent. It’s not an issue.
It’s about illegal assistance.”
The one is predicated on the other. The people who voted claimed they didn’t need the staff to assist them in deciding who to vote for, they claimed they had made up their own minds – including those NOT voting for democrats – and that they did not receive the assistance Jensen clamied.
If they didn’t NEED the kind or quantity of assistance Jensen claims they needed, then his claims that the assistance rendered was improper falls apart. If the disabled can clearly and coherently describe how they voted and the proper assistance they received – then Jensen’s claims fall apart.
If the people Jensen describes as having rendered the improper assistance weren’t even the people who actually WERE there – Jensen’s claims fall apart.
And yes – I have two separate individuals who describe Jensen as having been at the court house as an unofficial poll watcher that week. So, I am provisionally satisfied he wasn’t ‘just there as a voter’ as he describes. In fact Jensen has been described as being very politically involved with what was identified to me as a Tea Party group with a very specific agenda. I’m still checking that out, but there is at least enough to the claim to continue checking that – and nothing so far that refutes it.
Did you at any point question Jensen or anyone to verify his claims, for your part, to ascertain if Jensen was telling YOU the truth or not? Or did you simply believe it because you wanted to believe it?
Show me any confirmation of voter fraud – in this case, improper assistance. Show me where the letter of the law was not followed, strictly and carefully. Give me proof, give me something that is supported by someone who was there, who is a disinterested party, someone other than Jensen.
I’m curious Mitch — how many people in Crow Wing County have YOU contacted directly, rather than relying on second hand information?
I’m betting I’ve contacted more than you have.
I’m curious here Mitch – are you claiming that the people in the television interview who identify themselves as the people voting later in the afternoon on Friday at the Crow Wing County Courthouse are NOT who they say they are? You do know these people possess legal ID, and can show who they are – and I believe did so already when interviewed by for the investigation.
[Mitch]
Irrelevant
[/Mitch]
are you claiming that the visible interaction with these voters does not illustrate they are more competent than Jensen claimed.
[Mitch]
Irrelevant
[/Mitch]
have you found another big ol group of 40 disabled people voting at that hour on that Friday who are illegally voting, and are as incompetent as Jensen claimed, and have been demonstrated to be improperly assisted by this investigation?
[Mitch]
Irrelevant
[/Mitch]
Because if you have these results, they must be pretty recent, and I’d love to be updated.
[Mitch]
Irrelevant
[/Mitch]
DG,
So much just plain sloppy thinking and illogic. And zero time to respond.
Later. Maybe.
I have just completed a MULTISOURCED FACTCHECK of this entire thread.
The ROCK SOLID conclusion is that this thread constitutes INCONTROVERTIBLE PROOF that it is REDICIUOLOUS to try and discuss anything rationally with a punch drunk moonbat.
ONE question Mitch – just one.
Have you seen the television interview with the disabled voters which show them to be other than as Jensen described them, and which shows them articularely denying the improper assistance Jensen claimed? I’m referring to the KSAX television interview; I’m not aware of any others.
I’m guessing not. But I’m asking.
I’m betting I’ve contacted more than you have.
“I see dead people”
Dog Gone said:
“ONE question Mitch – just one.”
This should be easy. It was one that was already answered:
“More weasel words. “Appear to be?” So you don’t know if they were the self-same voters that Jensen referred to?
the KSAX group interview was of no more value than a “man in the street” interview. ”
Can you read Dog Gone?
ONE question Mitch – just one.
Like a fusion of Lt. Columbo and Rain Man. But far less edifying than either.
Dog,
How could you possibly have screwed all this up? Accident or on purpose?
Doggy, you perfect little lefty journalist, you! Your indoctrination has gone well, Comrade! Obfuscate and attack, using your fellow lefty journalists BS stories as your “facts!”
Once again proven your value to the Party as a useful idiot! Congratulations!
Signed,
Comrade Vladimir Markaovitch Ritchie
Adopt Voter ID
Adopt Voter ID
Adopt Voter ID
Adopt Voter ID
Adopt Voter ID
Now!
DG,
Your guess is as wrong as the rest of your “fact check” has been.
But I don’t put a lot of weight on it. Think about it; you expect they’re going to put people on camera that will contradict their story? Leaving aside how very suggestible the residents would be? It *contradcited* Jensen et al, to be sure – but doesn’t disprove anything.
As to how many people in Crow Wing County I’ve talked with? Irrelevant. I’m not sure who you’ve spoken with – but none of them have any interest in disturbing their, or your, narrative. All of it may or may not dispute Jensen’s account, but none of it disproves it in any way. It’s data. It’s not dispositive proof.
Mitch, stop using big words like “dispositive”. You’re confusing the masses.
It’s data. It’s not dispositive proof.
[DG]
Irrelevant
[/DG]
Dog Gone:
As I exit the DFL, I’m posting on my blog stuff you will *not* be able to rationalize or explain away. After the December 11th Executive Committee meeting, there will be even more.