Part 3: Exposing The Colorado Swamp

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Part Three – The Three Stooges

When the Colorado Public Radio article on Friends for the Future (F3) was released, our timeline for releasing our articles on the Colorado Swamp was bumped up. The truth is that we at Colorado Citizen Press felt we had a fiduciary duty to inform Colorado activists and donors the kind of people they were getting into bed with if they donated to Polly Lawrence, Lois Landgraf, and Dan Thurlow.

We felt they needed to know that their money may be used to primary Republicans, or may even be kept away from Republicans in ways that help Democrats. That’s the reputation they have in the Capitol, and that’s the story purported by court testimony.

Dan Thurlow has gone even further, he didn’t work behind the scenes, he ran against a Republican. Just this last cycle, faced with losing his House seat to a conservative, Dan Thurlow went after conservative Republican Senator Ray Scott. The voters saw right through Thurlow, who was clearly running for political gain and handed him a one-sided 27% loss.

How can somebody who lost so bad now claim they hold the key to defeating the Democrats? Hubris, insanity, delusion? Maybe even a mix of all of those. We don’t know, but we can tell you that if electing Dan Thurlow is a victory for Republicans, we should all vote for Democrats. Because on the major issues, there’s not much difference between Dan Thurlow and the Democrats.

In 2017, Dan Thurlow, much like the Democrats are now, tried to get rid of your tax refunds through TABOR. He wanted more taxpayer money to go to government waste and pet projects. In fact, JUST THIS WEEK Dan Thurlow testified in committee in support of Democratic efforts to kill TABOR.

Friends for the Future

That is the kind of bold leadership we can expect from Friends for the Future. A Republican in Name Only surrounded by turncoats who used House Republican money to go after their fellow Republicans.

Character issues, mistrust and even abuse of power aside, there is a far larger reason for Republican donors to steer clear of Friends for the Future, and it has criminal implications. Simply put, the plans they laid out for Colorado Public Radio are blatantly illegal.

We don’t like to use absolutes, but there’s no getting around the fact that the Three Stooges of Polly Lawrence, Lois Landgraf, and Dan Thurlow are announcing their intention to violate Colorado law.

The Colorado Public Radio article clearly states, “They want to help candidates run all aspect of a campaign, from fundraising and knocking on doors, to writing speeches and making sure candidates are a good fit for the district.” The problem is, that this is illegal for an independent expenditure committee such as Friends for the Future.

As the law is now, if Michael Bloomberg wants to drop $10 million dollars to help a candidate, Bloomberg can do so through an independent expenditure committee, a committee that makes expenditures independently of the candidate — assuming that there is no coordination between said candidate and Michael Bloomberg.

If there is coordination between an independent expenditure committee and a candidate, the perpetrators of such coordination face huge fines and potential jail time.

Tyler Harber for example, was sentenced to 24 months in prison after admitting to illegal campaign coordination between a candidate and an independent expenditure committee.

Friends for the Future similarly can spend whatever money they want on candidates, assuming they don’t coordinate with candidates. Which means that Friends for the Future running all aspects of a campaign is illegal, the same for fundraising, knocking doors with, or writing speeches for a candidate — ALL ILLEGAL.

When Polly Lawrence talks about the need for Friends for the Future to be training candidates, she is declaring her intention to skirt or break the law.

Stay tuned for our next edition of The Colorado Swamp in which we address if Friends for the Future is correct in saying that the Republican Party needs to move left in order to win seats. We’ll also explore more into the voting history of Dan Thurlow, Polly Lawrence and Lois Landgraf. Let us know how you feel in the comments below and on Facebook.