Exposing the Corruption of the "Family Values" Party
Jennifer Van Laar is a GOP campaign operative who worked for the Rep. Steve Knight re-election campaign that lost out to Katie Hill in 2018. She was an editor at Red State, a rightwing news and opinion site. She published a story at the infamously hackish Daily Mail and at Red State that relied on…
S. Vance Wilkins was the Republican Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates. In 2002, he paid $100,000 to settle a sexual harassment suit brought by a woman who said he made unwelcome sexual advances to her. She claimed he groped her and pinned her against a desk. She worked for the construction company where Wilkins had his offices. He used to own the company but kept his office there after he sold it.
R. A. Strickland or Andy Strickland was the Republican sheriff of Colleton County, South Carolina, was charged with domestic violence after punching a family member in the face several times. A year later, he was charged with more than a dozen offenses including official misconduct, using his position for financial gain and sex, use of public fund to influence an election, distribution of drugs, and embezzlement.
Peter O’Rourke was the GOP Executive Director in Florida when he was accused of covering up sexual harassment complaints, retaliation, and political meddling at the Department of Veteran Affairs. In one example, he pulled an experienced investigator off the investigation of a Trump appointee named Peter Shelby, replacing him with a new investigator. He also socialized with Shelby and listened to Shelby’s venting. At Shelby’s request, the whistleblower was investigated.
Jon Bramnick is a Republican senator in the New Jersey state Senate. Before that he served in the New Jersey House of Representatives. He is also a lawyer and his law firm, Bramnick Law, advertises that it will defend those accused of sexual crimes by discrediting the victims. Everyone deserves a zealous defense, everyone, even rapists and child molesters. But, advertising from the outset that you will investigate and discredit accusers is something else.
Paul Petersen was a Republican elected county assessor in Maricopa County, Arizona. He was charged with human smuggling and selling babies in 2019 and pled guilty in 2020.
Paul Edward Acton Bowen was a prominent Alabama Evangelical religious leader. He founded Acton Bowen Outreach which still has an active internet presence promoting rightwing and religious leaders and publishing three to four articles a month. He is also a convicted child molester serving time in prison. He was sentenced to consecutive maximum sentences, more than 1,000 years in prison.
Thomas Bruce was an Evangelical pastor who frequently ranted about his support for Trump. He was a fan of Laura Ingraham as well. He founded an Evangelical church in 2003, left it in 2007, and worked at various ministries and churches since then.
Eric Lin was an avid Trump supporter and fascist ideologue. He claimed to thank God every day for Trump. He also harassed a Latina who waited on him once, sending her threats through direct message to kill her and all Latinos. His messages to her ran to 150 pages and were filled with threats of kidnapping, rape, torture, and murder. He tried to hire someone to kidnap her. She took the threats to the police and eventually Lin was arrested in Seattle.
Jodie Laubenberg is a Texas state representative who retired in 2018. In 2013, during debate on an anti-abortion bill she sponsored, she opposed an amendment carving out an exception for rape and incest. She claimed that rape kits cleaned women out and were the equivalent of a D&C. She later claimed her statement was a bit muddled. This was the bill Wendy Davis filibustered.