Tagged: Tea Party

Posted: May 14, 2013 at 5:58 am

Small Claims: Wittich sues former client for $93.99 of unpaid bills

Art Wittich, the Montana Senate Majority Leader and Tea Party stalwart, has been in court lately to try to get what he believes is rightfully his.

Wittich, a lawyer, had once provided legal services to a Bozeman couple. There was an outstanding balance of $93.99 that the couple had not paid Wittich. Wittich was not going to abandon the matter, and not only collected the debt but got himself a tidy reward, an additional several thousand dollars.

It appears, as best I can tell from a not-very-clearly-drafted court opinion (the link to the decision is below), that Wittich quietly got a default legal judgment against the couple, for the $93.99, even as his office was in talks with the couple over possibly arriving at a settlement over this piddling amount of money. After successfully getting the judgment, he began efforts to collect it. After some time, he managed to persuade the court to award him not only the $93.99, but $2,900 more for “fees, costs and interests” that he claimed to have incurred as a result of spending his time trying to collect the $93.99.

A divided state Supreme Court, shockingly, upheld the judgment. Justice Cotter dissented, calling the decision [UPDATED pdf] “unconscionable” and an “affront,” scolding Wittich for “financial carnage wreaked upon [the Bozeman couple] for their refusal to pay a disputed $93.” Justice Baker grudgingly voted in favor of Wittich because there was apparently a contract, which Wittich had gotten the couple to sign, including a clause that allowed him, ultimately, to get this outrageous amount of money from them in the event of a collection action. But Justice Baker strongly cautioned him to review the rules of the State Bar which address lawyers and their billing practices, and are designed to prevent lawyers from fleecing their clients.

And Cotter notes that when the dust finally settles, the couple will probably owe north of $5,000 to Wittich, because Wittich will try to recoup additional costs from them, namely, his costs in litigating the case of the $93.99 in front of the Supreme Court.

In essence, Whittich did what he could, not what he should. Nice guy.

Oh, and one other point, which goes without saying: if Wittich ever thought he could run for statewide office, that dream he can now kiss goodbye.

Posted: May 9, 2013 at 10:31 pm

Former TEA Party Lawmaker’s Trial Gets Weirder

Today’s TEA Party news comes to us courtesy of former GOP lawmaker Joel Boniek, who is using his trial to put forth conspiracy theories and frivolous arguments to defend himself against charges that he ran a police roadblock in 2012. Because of his behavior, the court was forced to issue an official ruling to limit what Boniek can address in his upcoming trial to try to keep him on topic.

Cowgirl readers will recall that last year, Boniek was hauled into court to answer charges that he’d sped through a roadblock in defiance of an officer’s order to keep out. Boniek was trying to get to his house, but his house was in an area where a forest fire was burning and had been evacuated and blocked off due to the emergency. As a devoted Tea Partier and general wingnut, Boniek did not recognize the authority of the policeman to keep him away from his private property. Also, during his encounter with the officer before he crashed the barrier, Boniek allegedly reached for a gun that he had with him in the front seat. As the Livingston Enterprise reported, he:

“allegedly argued with the officers and eventually ‘dropped his left hand near what looked like a holster’ before a deputy brought him to the ground….The deputy removed a loaded handgun from the holster, according to court documents.”

For his day in court, Boniek brought with him an angry mob of supporters, who shouted down the Judge and Prosecutor in such a menacing way that they fled the courtroom fearing for their safety. At that point, Boniek stood up and proclaimed himself regent over the courtroom, and decreed himself innocent of all the charges (before the bailiff told him otherwise, while brandishing his own weapon).

Boniek, who is representing himself, has been asked to stop bringing up a number of frivolous and conspiracy-related arguments.

The first is “jury nullification” which is when a jury ignores the evidence and or instructions of the judge and returns a verdict of “Not Guilty” despite its belief that the defendant is guilty of the violation he or she is charged with. This appears to be a primary focus of Boniek’s self-defense, and the case is being closely followed by the jury nullification crew, as you can see from their press release on the case. He and his band of TEA Partiers have also been ordered not to distribute TEA Party pamphlets around the courthouse before the trial tomorrow, May 10.

During a hearing of his court case on Friday, the Livingston Enterprise reports, Boniek himself “lodged multiple complaints and objections, including that the court is fraudulent and that officials are treating him as an “artificial person” because his name appears in all capital letters on legal documents.”

He’s also accused the judge and everyone involved with the trial of being “fraudulent” so therefore his trial should not proceed. Boniek alleges that the judge will see personal financial benefit from his trial and any fines related to it.

Boniek is also angry with the Livingston Enterprise,who he has demanded show him every story they write about him before it is printed. The whole Enterprise article on the case’s latest developments is a must read.

Posted: May 8, 2013 at 11:30 am

TEA Party Launches Bid for GOP Leadership

The TEA Party may have its own ticket among the candidates who seek to run the Montana Republican Party

Embattled TEA Party figure Tim Ravndal, who made headlines for his remarks that implied support for violence against gays, is floating a slate of candidates for GOP Chair and Vice Chair. Gary Carlson has already announced and put out a flyer listing his qualifications. Jennifer Fielder, a TEA Party legislator from Noxon with ties to the militia movement, is the second name.

In the past, the GOP has tried to give token support to the hard right wing of the party without actually letting them take full control. However, the battle we saw in the Montana legislature between the hard right leadership of Wittich, Priest, and Essmann and the more traditional GOP-ers is also likely to play out here.

Posted: April 29, 2013 at 11:12 pm

TEA Partiers Vote to Keep Seniors in Barn Rather than Use Federal Funds for Senior Center

by Cowgirl

TEA Party GOP County Commissioners have voted against grant money for a home for the local senior center–even after they previously committed to apply for the funds. Their actions will force the seniors to gather in a rented barn with numerous safety hazards–and pay rent for that privilege to key campaign supporters of the Republican commissioners’ campaigns.

The ultra-conservative Flathead Daily Inter Lake‘s editorial page explains the problem–and-excoriates Pam Holmquist and Gary Krueger soundly for their “shameful” actions and for “failing to lead” and “turning [their] backs on grandma and grandpa.”

Here’s what happened.

Ten years ago, Flathead County needed a new senior center–the area is home to a large and growing senior population and their old space was terrible. This is a place where low income seniors who live alone can come for a hot meal and some company. The county moved the senior center to a rented barn. The building had multiple safety hazards, but warehousing the seniors in a barn was supposed to be a temporary thing.

Ten years later, the county has saved up almost enough money to relocate the seniors. The money comes not from local taxes. Rather, it comes from payments the federal government makes to local government entities with lots of federal land nearby (e.g. Glacier) which can’t be used as source of local tax revenue.

To make up the difference in cost between moving to a new location and the federal funds the county had in the bank, locals started looking at community development block grants. On February 21, 2013, commissioners officially voted to proceed with the grant.A local non-profit and the City of Kalispell had both planned to apply. However, when the county voted officially that it would apply, both entities stepped aside to give the county the spot in line for the money.

But at the last meeting county commission meeting, Pam Holmquist and Gary Krueger reneged and voted against the grant. Cal Scott opposed the other two Republicans, voting instead to uphold the commission’s previous promises.

Here’s the kicker. Because the county waited until the last minute to apply for the grant, its now too late for the city or local non-profits to apply. Whether this was part of a TEA Party plot to screw seniors or sheer incompetence is not known. What is known is that the senior center will remain in the barn–and paying rent to the commissioners’ campaign supporters.

This isn’t the first scandal to plague the Flathead County Commission. In the United States of America today, it is illegal to allow only wealthy property owners to vote. So in 2011 the Republican Flathead County Commissioners did the next best thing.

They sent out a survey to the ‘doughnut’ residents (people who live in a ring around the outer edge of the city of Whitefish) asking who they prefer to manage planning and zoning, the county or city of Whitefish. Instead of mailing surveys to the registered voters in the area in question, they sent the surveys only to corporations and property owners. If you resided in the area, but didn’t make enough to own property, well, you weren’t allowed to voice your opinion.

In 2012, Flathead County officials told citizens who wanted to see the public documents related to Dennis Rehberg’s boat crash that in order get an email with the documents they must pay a fee of $82.50 per email for “photocopying.”

Posted: February 25, 2013 at 10:35 pm

Tea Party Proposes Law to Invalidate Police Roadblocks

by Cowgirl

Last year in Montana, a right-wing lunatic state legislator named Joel Boniek was hauled into court to answer charges that he’d sped through a roadblock in defiance of an officer’s order to keep out. Boniek was trying to get to his house, but his house was in an area where a forest fire was burning and had been evacuated and blocked off due to the emergency. As a devoted Tea Partier and general wingnut, Boniek did not recognize the authority of the policeman to keep him away from his private property. Also, during his encounter with the officer before he crashed the barrier, Boniek allegedly reached for a gun that he had with him in the front seat. As the Livingston Enterprise reports, he:

“allegedly argued with the officers and eventually ‘dropped his left hand near what looked like a holster’ before a deputy brought him to the ground….The deputy removed a loaded handgun from the holster, according to court documents.”

Boniek is no longer in the legislature, needless to say, so to rectify his situation he has apparently prevailed upon a new Tea Party legislator named Jennifer Fielder, to introduce a new law. This law, SB360, quite simply would allow a person to openly defy police authority and run a roadblock. The bill would allow such an action, even if it involved brandishing a weapon, to go unpunished.

Alas for stupid Boniek and Fielder, they don’t seem to be aware that you can’t get somebody off by the hook by passing a law after the fact.

Posted: February 12, 2013 at 7:32 am

A New Low

TEA Partier has new theory of the Constitution

by Cowgirl

Most TEA Partiers claim to hold the Constitution sacred. But a Montana TEA Party legislator is now arguing that constitutionality is not relevant. Popular sentiment, he says, is all that matters.

Rep. Gerald Bennett (R-Libby) has introduced a bill which he acknowledges is unconstitutional. The bill would strip young women of their privacy rights and force them to seek parental consent before terminating a pregnancy. But Bennett believes that popular will is with him, and that

“The will of the people should never be held subservient to their own constitution.”

Continue reading →

Posted: December 10, 2012 at 8:50 pm

Courtroom Fracas “Part of God’s Plan”

The Oathkeepers this week published a defense of former Republican state legislator Joel Boniek on their website, saying the “state-worshipping collectivists and socialists of the press” have gotten Boniek’s story all wrong.

Boniek is a “card-carrying charter member” of the Oathkeepers. The group is composed of active and retired military and law enforcement personnel who swear an oath disobey orders that conflict with their world view–which is packed with conspiracy theories involving domestic prison camps and whatnot.

You will recall that a few months back, Boniek was detained by a cop at a traffic stop, appeared to then fondle a pistol in his clothing to try to scare the officer, and then ran the roadblock and got arrested. Boniek is a former legislator and ran for Lt. Governor this year.

As any good Tea Partier knows, when you have a date before a judge, the best way to win your case is to bring an angry mob with you to court, to heckle the judge and prosecutor. This is what Boniek did.

As the collectivist statists at the Livingston Enterprise reported, Boniek showed up and refused to recognize the authority of the prosecutor or judge–the crowd of foaming crackpots hooting and hollering encouragement. When the mob of hecklers took over, the judge and prosector got up and left the courtroom. At that point, Boniek stood up and declared that he was “now in charge of the court.”

“The judge abandoned the courtroom and I announced the case dismissed as the last man standing,” Boniek later explained. A bailiff who remained in the courtroom saw a lump under Boniek’s clothing and asked him whether it was a firearm, and Boniek refused to answer.

But there is a “truer side to the story” which the press has omitted. The Oath Keepers want you to see the former legislator in the same light as Thoreau and the apostles of Jesus.

Sure, Boniek spent the night in jail, but so did “Henry David Thoreau, Saints Paul and Peter, and many other men who did what is right regardless of the official prohibitions.”

Boniek said he did not lead the fracas. Rather, it was God overruling the court as “a part of the Divine plan.”

I was to be treated just like all the other petty alleged offenders who do not know the law, but get a public defender Judas to run them through the corrupt injustice system, and deprive them of their money and liberty. NOT FOR ME! MY GOD TELLS ME TO STAND UP FOR JUSTICE, AND WHEN I STAND FOR MINE, I STAND FOR EVERYONE’S! They wanted to run me through their injustice mill, but I do not intend to be a soft nut to grind.

Montana, explains Boniek, has got problems. For example:

it should be noted that collectivist statists have been moving into Montana like a red tide for more than a decade, swelling University towns such as Missoula, Bozeman, Helena, etc. Like detached flotsam bringing with them all the backwash and infusoria which caused them to move from their original communities in less-free States, ( such as California and east coast urban centers), the migration of neo- and quasi-socialists has finally become visible to Montana’s native population.

Perhaps this problem will be addressed in the upcoming legislature. You can read the rest of Boniek’s defense, including the Oathkeepers’ blow-by-blow account of things the mob yelled, on the Oathkeeper’s blog. Be warned, it’s out there.

The Oath Keepers has been called the military wing of the TEA Party. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the president of a local Oath Keepers chapter in Ohio was jailed after a live napalm bomb was allegedly found at his home. In Tennessee, an armed man driving a pickup painted with the Oath Keepers logo was arrested in a bizarre scheme to “arrest” two dozen town officials. And in Oklahoma, another self-described Oath Keeper was arrested for the alleged rape and forcible sodomy of a 7-year-old. The same guy was also charged with possessing a grenade launcher stolen from a California military base.

Posted: December 6, 2012 at 8:35 am

Sandy Welch, and the Ruse

The GOP is asking for a recount in the state superintendent’s race, for what appears to be part of a high-intensity push to create a climate for passing voter suppression laws in Montana.

The Associated Press reported this week that the national Republican Party gave Sandy Welch (who ran against popular dem Denise Juneau) $100,000 to pay for the recount and another $100,000 to hire GOP lawyer behind Citizens United, James Bopp to sue for a recount (one she can’t win).

Bopp is an infamous national GOP lawyer who has been called “Public enemy No. 1 for fair elections,” and has worked for dozens of extreme-right groups. He appeared on the recent Frontline expose of dark money groups in Montana, saying he is working to eliminate or significantly loosen campaign spending limits and to eliminate donor-name-reporting requirements.

Here’s what’s odd: Welch can get a recount without her costly lawsuit, for a $100,000. She is allowed by law to buy a recount, in essence. But she admitted yesterday that she’s now invested $200,000, half on the fancy lawyer and lawsuit, and half on the recount cost. In the lawsuit, she is asking to get her recount cost refunded if she wins. But that still leaves a grand total investment of $100,000. So why the lawsuit?

Because the GOP wants it in the air, while they try to pass new laws that restrict voting rights, like same day registration, early voting, mail voting, etc

The GOP’s future, given the trends, is looking bleak. Not just a more liberal electorate, but a wild gang of libertarian voters defecting at a rate of anywhere from 4 to 7 percent in statewide elections. The Rs are now seeing that they must find a way to balance the scale. So they will try to minimize votes from elderly, Indians, poor, young and other voting blocks.

To do that, they’ll need to convince the legislature that there were “irregularities.” Part of this will involve deceiving the press and the public that the last election was fraught with problems and “fraud.” Hence the $100,000 lawyer.

As the Billings Gazette reports, Welch already alleges

numerous examples of alleged vote-counting errors across the state on Nov. 6, including ballots jamming in electronic counting machines, re-marking of ballots that were run through the machines multiple times, failure to give voters new ballots to replace spoiled ballots, and ballots that weren’t officially stamped.

The recount will allow the GOP to paw through every single ballot cast, to find examples of what they’ll call “fraud.”

Perhaps the Montana GOP is taking a cue from Florida Republicans, who admitted last week that the voting restrictions they passed after the 2008 elections were specifically designed to keep Democratic turnout low:

Wayne Bertsch, who handles local and legislative races for Republicans, said he knew targeting Democrats was the goal[....]

Another GOP consultant, who did not want to be named, also confirmed that influential consultants to the Republican Party of Florida were intent on beating back Democratic turnout in early voting after 2008.

[...]A GOP consultant who asked to remain anonymous out of fear of retribution said black voters were a concern. “I know that the cutting out of the Sunday before Election Day was one of their targets only because that’s a big day when the black churches organize themselves,” he said.