In a “Call to Action” aimed at raising the profile of its campaign to organize county sheriffs to intervene in elections, the far-right Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officer Association (CSPOA) has rescheduled its conference from September to mid-July – a date chosen to coincide with the sizeable “Freedom Fest” taking place in Las Vegas, Nevada.
In an “Urgent Press Release” issued last week, CSPOA announced that the change was made “Due to the urgent nature of the election fraud across America and our nationwide call for election fraud investigations by sheriffs and law enforcement.”[1]
CSPOA announced the conference would be held on July 13 in Las Vegas. The far-right group urged those interested to
“Join us at the Ahern hotel (sic) for a ‘Call to Action.’ This coincides with the annual Freedom Fest event in Las Vegas July 13-16, where Sheriff Mack is scheduled to speak on the Main Stage. A panel discussion led by sheriffs and other knowledgeable election fraud experts and investigators is scheduled for July 14th.”[2]
The press release continued, “we are asking for all local law enforcement agencies to work together to pursue investigations to determine the veracity of the ‘2,000 Mules’ information.”[3] “2,000 Mules” refers to an oft-debunked “documentary” making the rounds in far-right circles that alleges significant voter fraud in the 2020 election.[4]
2,000 Mules and the “Constitutional Sheriffs”
A previous CSPOA press release cited the “very compelling physical evidence presented by truethevote.org in the movie ‘2000 Mules’ produced by Dinesh D’Souza.”
CSPOA and its President, former Oath Keepers Director Richard Mack, have made apparent that the group’s efforts are rooted in Trumpian-style claims about electoral fraud in the 2020 election. For example, a June 22 CSPOA press release announcing a July 12 press conference in Las Vegas declared that the group was “Calling upon all Americans and law enforcement nationwide to come together in pursuit of the truth regarding the 2020 election.”[5]
In a recent radio show, Richard Mack falsely claimed that “voter fraud was ubiquitous in 2020.”
CSPOA leader Richard Mack looks serious about his book in front of a Three Percenter flag
The June press release described that the CSPOA press conference would include “A history in summary of election fraud in America” and “Reports from sitting Sheriff’s and Election accountability organizations.”[6]
CSPOA claims that at least six sheriffs are interested in undertaking such investigations and has discussed handling money matters for an “electoral fraud” task force proposed by an allied Michigan sheriff.
Mack indicated his press conference would feature other sheriffs and Gregg Phillips of True the Vote, a Houston, Texas-based voter suppression outfit that emerged from the Tea Party mobilization. In addition, Mack expressed hope that True the Vote’s Catherine Engelbrecht and Dinesh D’Souza would attend the press conference.
CSPOA also claimed that the group would “Make our case for the need for investigations in every county in the United States. Investigation in Progress.”[7]
It is inconceivable that CSPOA has found evidence of electoral fraud in every county in the United States. As such, it is unthinkable that a call for sheriff’s “investigations in every county in the United States” meets 4th Amendment probable cause requirements for the kind of “searches and seizures” and specific “warrants” that such an investigation would necessarily entail.
But this is not just an investigation.
It is a call by Richard Mack and the CSPOA for a massive intervention by far-right sheriffs into the American electoral processes. Unfortunately, CSPOA is not the only group bringing law enforcement into the “electoral fraud” business.
CSPOA and PAN
CSPOA’s effort to jump its “electoral fraud” project to the national level comes as a similar group, Pinal County, Arizona Sheriff Mark Lamb’s Protect America Now (PAN), has also joined with True the Vote in an “election integrity” project – including plans to “Operate a National Election Integrity Voter Hotline to help citizens” in “reporting problems” and that “will be connected to sheriffs’ offices for quick evaluation of incoming information.”[8]
Protect American Now claims that 69 active sheriffs belong to the group.[9]
Sheriff Mark Lamb with True the Vote’s Catherine Engelbrecht
Promotions for Mark Lamb’s project lack Mack’s claims of “ubiquitous” election fraud in 2020, and the Pinal County Sheriff has less far-right baggage than CSPOA. However, a 2017 CSPOA newsletter described Lamb as “a CSPOA member and Constitutional Sheriff,” and Mack praised him as “a great example of what a Constitutional Guard should be.”[10]
Moreover, Mark Lamb was a speaker at CSPOA’s 2020 Conference in Virginia.[11] In January 2022, the Sheriff Richard Mack Facebook page promoted Lamb’s organization, posting an article about PAN and highlighting that,
“Protect America Now is a nationwide advocacy organization ‘breaking through the ‘Fake News’ to educate the public on how the American sheriff is ‘standing for our Constitution and law and order.’”[12]
Protect America Now also has an issue profile similar to CSPOA, including standing
“Against those who want to trample on our Constitution and reject law and order…those who want to infringe on our 2nd Amendment rights…those who support massive illegal immigration in this country…[and] Against those who want more government and want to raise our taxes to the point where we become a socialist country.”[13]
The mobilization of law enforcement by PAN and CSPOA is not just about “investigating” past elections. It’s also about building a base to intervene in future elections over “fraud” claims. Such looming threats could undermine free and fair elections.
Richard Mack and the CSPOA are hoping that a libertarian-leaning confab and a right-wing media empire will be enough to kickstart their election fraud campaign and elevate their group into the 2,000 Mules conversation.
Enter Freedom Fest and the Salem Media Group
In addition to the election fraud press conference, Richard Mack is slated to give a July 14 Freedom Fest speech titled, “The Greatest 10th Amendment Decision Ever Rendered: Will Citizens Back Their County Sheriff?,” an overblown claim about the Supreme Court’s 1997, 5-4 decision in Printz v. the U.S.
In that case, initiated by Mack and Ravalli County, Montana Sheriff Jay Printz, the high court continued an ongoing line of rulings undermining Commerce Clause powers by overturning sections of the 1993 Brady Bill requiring “chief law enforcement officers” to conduct background checks on an interim basis until a national system was put in place.[14]
Constitutional law scholar Louis Fisher described that given the system for federal background checks established in 1998, the Printz decision “is not expected to have a substantial effect on government policy.”[15]
And yes, CSPOA’s Richard Mack made his claim-to-fame stand by refusing to carry out background checks for firearms purchases, even for a brief period, potentially undermining public safety in a manner still visible as universal background checks go nowhere in Congress and mass shootings in the U.S. accumulate on a weekly basis.
Mack is also scheduled to appear on a Freedom Fest panel with CSPOA National Operations Director Sam Bushman titled, “2000 Mules: “Law Enforcement Has to Step In At This Point! – Will Sheriff’s Investigate?”[16]
CSPOA’s presence at Freedom Fest is one example of far-right nationalist involvement in an event with its firmest roots in libertarianism. Freedom Fest is billed as “an annual festival where free minds meet to celebrate ‘great books, great ideas, and great thinkers,” boasting, “It is independent, non-partisan, and not affiliated with any organization or think tank.”[17]
What is Freedom Fest?
Held since 2007, according to Freedom Fest producer Mark Skousen, the event this year boasts over 200 speakers, 120 sponsors, and 100 exhibitors. Freedom Fest brings together predominantly libertarian and libertarian-leaning individuals and organizations seeking to unfetter business and “personal liberties” from government regulation.[18]
Freedom Fest Producer Mark Skousen
For instance, prominent announced Freedom Fest speakers include U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky); 2020 Libertarian Party Vice-Presidential candidate Spike Cohen; former U.S. Representative Justin Amash (R-Michigan), whom Freedom Fest describes as moving from Republican to Independent to Libertarian party affiliations between 2019 and 2020; and the lackluster CEO of Forbes Magazine, Steve Forbes, whose failed 1996 and 2000 presidential bids championed such causes as a flat tax, medical savings accounts, and school choice.[19]
Likewise, event sponsors include the national Libertarian Party and Libertarian Party of Nevada; Ayn Rand devotees at the Ayn Rand Institute, The Objective Standard, and The Atlas Society; Reason magazine; and such groups as Young Americans For Liberty, Foundation for Economic Education, the Pacific Legal Foundation and the Libertarian Institute.[20]
Freedom Fest also has more than 50 business sponsors, ranging from gold and coin dealers, to investment and internet tech firms, to oil and mining companies such as Gulf Coast Western, Hornet Corporation, and Uranium Energy Corp. Such support is not uncommon with libertarian-oriented movements whose policy frameworks generally undercut government capacity to regulate industries for equality, worker safety, and environmental protection purposes.[21]
Other prominent speakers include onetime Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang, anti-vaxxer Del Bigtree, and John Cleese, the Monty Python comedian whose interests of late include assailing “cancel culture” and “political correctness,” right-wing bugaboos frequently bandied as a defense of endemic bigotry in society.[22]
But Freedom Fest also includes a smattering of far-right groups that, though generally supporting “free market” policies, have also taken up opposition to civil rights and promoted or allied their cause with racism and bigotry.
Libertarianism offers a starting point for a pipeline to far-right and even white nationalist politics – one frequently recognized by white nationalists who attempt to exploit it.
On the one hand, the general libertarian stance against using government to address inequality positions adherents of this ideology as logical defenders of economic privilege and primes them for reaction against government efforts to address discrimination. Recall that libertarian stalwart Ron Paul’s newsletter carried racist stereotypes of African Americans and that he once declared that the 1964 Civil Rights Act had “undermine[d] the concept of liberty” and “destroyed the principle of private property and private choices.”[23]
Because staunch libertarians generally fail to adequately address the unequal power and persistent inequality baked into economic systems characterized by concentrated wealth ownership and control along class, race and gender lines, some have sought to explain persistent racial inequality by way of biological determinist views common before the 1960s.
Libertarian Charles Murray, for instance, would co-author the Bell Curve in 1994, offering a soft-sell of such explanations for racial difference in intelligence and U.S. wealth distribution. Murray has been a scheduled speaker at past Freedom Fest events, including in 2019 when an event promotional for his presentation described the racist Bell Curve as having “sparked heated controversy for its analysis of the role of IQ in shaping America’s class structure.”[24]
Often referred to as paleo-libertarians, some such libertarian groups have embraced an even more openly racist brand of politics. For instance, the Mises Institute and Libertarian Party Mises Caucus, both Freedom Fest sponsors.[25]
The Mises Institute biographical blurb on the Freedom Fest website describes that the group “exists to promote teaching and research in the Austrian school of economics…in the tradition of Ludwig von Mises and Murray N. Rothbard.”[26] A now-infamous essay by Murray Rothbard, published by the Mises Institute, advocated the,
“decomposition and decentralization of the modern centralizing and coercive nation-state, deconstructing that state into constituent nationalities and neighborhoods, we shall at one and the same time reduce the scope of government power, the scope and importance of voting.”[27]
That is, Rothbard coupled reducing “the scope of government” and the “importance of voting” to a society built around “constituent nationalities.”
In keeping with such a view, Rothbard embraced the 1992 election campaign themes of David Duke, defending the neo-Nazi as a so-called “right-wing populist,” a misnomer for a former Klan leader who looked more to the likes of Adolph Hitler for inspiration than 19th Century American populists. Rothbard wrote,
“There was nothing in Duke’s current program or campaign that could not also be embraced by paleoconservatives or paleo-libertarians: lower taxes, dismantling the bureaucracy, slashing the welfare system, attacking affirmative action and racial set-asides, calling for equal rights for all Americans, including whites: what’s wrong with any of that?”[28]
The Libertarian Party Mises Caucus, which pushes Austrian economics and champions Rothbard, recently made a successful bid to take the helm of the national Libertarian Party.[29]
Murray Rothbard
Such features of modern libertarianism create political space for far right groups. In addition to CSPOA, groups engaged in far right politics and present at the Freedom Fest include such event sponsors as the Tea Party Patriots Action and,
- Conservative Political Action Coalition (CPAC), a longtime conservative coalition whose annual conferences have had a history of involvement by far rightists, including white nationalists. CPAC has also increasingly exhibited middle American nationalist and far right ideas and policy aims as a component of its mainstream.
- Judicial Watch, a group whose President, Tom Fitton, heads the Executive Committee of the Christian Right Council for National Policy; that has mobilized against “critical race theory;” and whose Director of Investigations, Chris Farrell, was reported to be on a membership roster of the paramilitary Oath Keepers.[30]
- State Policy Network, a national organization that supports a mix of conservative, libertarian-leaning and far right state-level groups around the country. Member organizations include the anti-labor Freedom Foundation, a group that has also opposed tribal sovereignty; the Idaho Freedom Foundation, a group that took part in COVID Denial mobilizations, including at least one involving paramilitary activists; and the Texas Public Policy Foundation, currently leading one anti-immigrant coalition in Texas and working with the notoriously racist Federation for American Immigration Reform on another.[31]
- Gun Owners of America, the “gun rights” group that has worked to push the NRA to the right and long included among its leaders Larry Pratt, an advocate of far right paramilitarism.
While the lines between the broader far-right and white nationalism have increasingly dissolved in recent years, they are at times drawn. For instance, unlike Rothbard’s embrace of David Duke, Freedom Fest reportedly scheduled, and then turned down, an appearance by Lauren Witzke and a showing of the Nick Fuentes “Documentary” misnamed “The Most Canceled Man in America,” according to Witzke. Fuentes is the white nationalist leader of the “Groyper” mobilization and Witzke a Fuentes’ ally.[32]
From Freedom Fest to the Salem Media Group
Richard Mack and CSPOA’s quest to initiate “electoral fraud” investigations around the country found a potential ally also represented at Freedom Fest – the Salem Media Group (SMG).
The Salem Media Group is the Executive Producer of “2000 Mules.” In a May 2022 press release about its election denial project, the group claimed that “1 million people have seen the movie,” available for download on an SMG website. The Salem Media Group claims the video has produced $10 million in revenue.[33] The release continued:
“The movie’s shocking revelations are based on research done by True The Vote, a non-profit dedicated to providing election integrity and honest voting practices. The film features five Salem radio talk show hosts as they walk through the process of learning what the evidence shows, and then discussing what this means for the American belief in free and fair elections. Those hosts, Dennis Prager, Sebastian Gorka, Charlie Kirk, Eric Metaxas and Larry Elder all came away disturbed at what they learned really happened to hand the election victory to Joe Biden.”[34]
In a May episode of CSPOA’s “Posse Webinar,” the group’s National Operations Director, Sam Bushman, promoted SMG’s SalemNOW as the platform to access “2000 Mules.”[35]
Salem Media Group, Inc is a publicly-traded company incorporated in Delaware with principal executive offices in Irving, Texas. Claiming to be “committed to programming and content emphasizing Christian values, family themes, and conservative news,” the company runs broadcast, digital media, and publishing operations, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).[36]
The Salem Media Group reported $516.11 million in total assets at the end of 2021, including holding over $320 million in broadcast licenses. SMG reported bringing in $258.2 million in revenues for 2021, comprised of $191.44 million from broadcast (74.13%), $42.16 from digital media (16.33%) and $24.64 from publishing (9.54%).[37]
SMG owns or operates 101 radio stations in 35 markets, including 32 FM and 69 AM stations. The group’s SEC filings include “60 radio stations in 23 of the top 25 markets.”[38] In addition, the group noted “As of February 10, 2022, we employed 1,336 total employees of which 1,079 were full time and 257 were part time. These employees consisted of 906 in broadcasting, 161 in digital media, 92 in publishing, and 177 corporate employees.”[39] SMG’s Dallas, Texas-based Salem Radio Network “delivers programming via satellite to approximately 3,200 affiliated radio stations throughout the United States.”[40]
According to SEC documents, the company’s digital revenues “increased by $7.7 million due to growth in digital product offerings and the launch of the Salem Podcast Network in January 2021. Salem Podcast Network is a highly specialized platform for conservative, political, news, and family-oriented podcasts with talk show hosts including Dinesh D’Souza, Todd Starnes, Charlie Kirk, and Trish Regan.”[41]
While Dinesh D’Souza has a long history of serving far-right politics by denying the extent of racism in American Society, Turning Point USA’s Charlie Kirk has, of late, taken things a step further. Kirk did this when he expressed his idea, common in white nationalist circles, that a “citizen force” should be deputized and placed at the border in defense of “white demographics” – an idea of white dispossession akin to the concept of the “great replacement” that animates hardcore racist organizing.
The Salem Media Group also owns Regnery Publishing, a “conservative” book publisher and source of “election fraud” and racism denial literature, including titles like Mollie Hemingway’s Rigged: How the Media, Big Tech and the Democrats Seized Our Elections; David Horowitz’s I Can’t Breathe: How a Racial Hoax is Killing America; John K. Amachukwu’s Eraced: Uncovering Lies of Critical Race Theory and Abortion; Dinesh D’Souza’s The Big Lie: Exposing the Nazi Roots of the American Left; and Eric Eggers Fraud: How the Left Plans to Steal the Next Election.[42]
Freedom Fest Producer Mark Skousen writes for the Salem Media Group’s Eagle Financial Publications, also a sponsor of the Las Vegas event.[43]
Mark Skousen is also the nephew of W. Cleon Skousen, the deceased founder of the far-right National Center for Constitutional Studies (NCCS). Through NCCS and in his writings, W. Cleon Skousen, who at one time worked closely with the John Birch Society, authored revisionist histories casting American chattel slavery as humane, claimed that America is a Christian nation and espoused an ideology that would support gutting the capacity of the national government to address racial and economic inequality – even writing that “No Constitutional authority exists for the federal government to participate in charity or welfare” – a decidedly skewed reading of the U.S. Constitution, particularly given its Commerce Clause empowering Congress to regulate commerce “among the states.”
Mark Skousen praised Glen Beck for boosting his uncle’s book The 5,000 Year Leap (in which W. Cleon endorsed America as a Christian nation) and wrote that “God sent us W. Cleon Skousen to counter the influence of these two evils,” a reference to the federal income tax and the Federal Reserve bank.[44]
Mack and CSPOA promote a similarly distorted, and far right, version of American government and the U.S. Constitution.[45]
Richard Mack and CSPOA’s presence at Freedom Fest is currently that of a small far right fish in a larger libertarian sea.
Mack and CSPOA’s goals, however, are clear – by moving up their conference to coincide with Freedom Fest and taking advantage of Salem Media Group networks, the group aims to grow a network of far-right sheriffs primed to insert themselves into national elections based on spurious Trump-like notions of “electoral fraud.”
Correction: This article originally referred to Sam Bushman as CSPOA’s Vice-President of Operations, a position he formerly held. As of July 14, 2022 the group’s website lists Bushman as the National Operations Director (https://cspoa.org/about/our-leadership/). This article has been corrected to reflect this fact.
Notes
[1] Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association. CSPOA Strongly Encourages Sheriffs and Local Law Enforcement to Investigate Alleged Election Fraud in Their Jurisdictions. https://cspoa.org/press-release-urgent-cspoa-2022-calling-all-americans-and-law-enforcement/. Accessed June 30, 2022.
[2] Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association. CSPOA Strongly Encourages Sheriffs and Local Law Enforcement to Investigate Alleged Election Fraud in Their Jurisdictions. https://cspoa.org/press-release-urgent-cspoa-2022-calling-all-americans-and-law-enforcement/. Accessed June 30, 2022.
[3] Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association. CSPOA Strongly Encourages Sheriffs and Local Law Enforcement to Investigate Alleged Election Fraud in Their Jurisdictions. https://cspoa.org/press-release-urgent-cspoa-2022-calling-all-americans-and-law-enforcement/. Accessed June 30, 2022.
[4] Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association. CSPOA Strongly Encourages Sheriffs and Local Law Enforcement to Investigate Alleged Election Fraud in Their Jurisdictions. May 24, 2022. https://cspoa.org/elections/
[5] Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association. Calling upon all Americans and law enforcement nationwide to come together in pursuit of the truth regarding the 2020 election.” June 22, 2022. https://cspoa.org/wp-content/uploads/CSPOA-Press-Conference-Release-Flyer.pdf
[6] Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association. Calling upon all Americans and law enforcement nationwide to come together in pursuit of the truth regarding the 2020 election.” June 22, 2022. https://cspoa.org/wp-content/uploads/CSPOA-Press-Conference-Release-Flyer.pdf
[7] Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association. Calling upon all Americans and law enforcement nationwide to come together in pursuit of the truth regarding the 2020 election.” June 22, 2022. https://cspoa.org/wp-content/uploads/CSPOA-Press-Conference-Release-Flyer.pdf
[8] True the Vote. PROTECTAMERICA.VOTE – Citizens and Sheriffs. June 22, 2022. https://www.truethevote.org/protectamerica-vote-citizens-and-sheriffs/
[9] Protect American Now. Membership. https://protectamericanow.com/membership/. Accessed July 6, 2022.
[10] Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association. April 2017 Newsletter. April 15, 2017. At Republic Sheriffs. https://republicsheriffs.net/. Accessed July 4, 2022.
[11] Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association. CSPOA 2020 Virginia Conference Video (Download). https://cspoa.org/product/cspoa-2020-virginia-conference-video-download/. Accessed July 4, 2022.
[12] Sheriff Richard Mack. Facebook. January 4, 2022. https://www.facebook.com/SheriffMack/posts/pfbid0xQUubna92WbGh3SfgAYper8f6CoVTSZe8npiWn8MYdb5UN2xpjx56iTf4CbtWJYAl
[13] Protect American Now. https://protectamericanow.com/home/. Accessed July 5, 2022.
[14] United States Supreme Court. Printz v. United States. 1997. 521 U.S. 898. For Printz’s place in Supreme Court undermining Commerce Clause powers, and in the face of clear Constitutional text that Congress is embower to ““to regulate commerce…among the several states,” see Fisher, Louis. 2005. American Constitutional Law, Sixth Edition. Durham, North Carolina: Carolina Academic Press, p. 316-366. Louis Fisher writes of Printz, “The Court’s decision is not expected to a substantial effect on government policy. Most states already require background checks and the federal government is developing a system that can do the work currently left to local law enforcement officials. Beginning on November 30, 1998, gun dealers were required to check the names of prospective buyers against a computerized list of offenders prepared by the FBI.” p. 356.
[15] Fisher, Louis. 2005. American Constitutional Law, Sixth Edition. Durham, North Carolina: Carolina Academic Press, p.356.
[16] Freedom Fest. https://freedomfest2022.sched.com/event/13by1/2000-mules-law-enforcement-has-to-step-in-at-this-point-will-sheriffs-investigate?iframe=no. Accessed June 30, 2022.
[17] Freedom Fest. About Us. https://www.freedomfest.com/about-us/. Accessed July 5, 2022.
[18] Freedom Fest. Speakers. Mark Skousen. https://www.freedomfest.com/speakers/mark-skousen/; Freedom Fest. https://www.freedomfest.com/; MSSKOUSEN.COM. Freedom Fest. http://mskousen.com/freedomfest/. Accessed July 6, 2022.
[19] Freedom Fest. https://www.freedomfest.com/#; Freedom Fest. Speakers. Justin Amash. https://www.freedomfest.com/speakers/justin-amash-2/; Freedom Fest. Speakers. Steve Forbes. https://www.freedomfest.com/speakers/steve-forbes/ Acessed July 5, 2020
[20] Freedom Fest. Sponsors. https://www.freedomfest.com/sponsors-2/. Accessed July 5, 2022.
[21] Freedom Fest. Sponsors. https://www.freedomfest.com/sponsors-2/. Accessed July 5, 2022.
[22] Freedom Fest. https://www.freedomfest.com/#; Yossman, K.J. Channel 4’s Head of Factual on John Cleese Cancel Culture Show: ‘He’s Got Very Strong Views on That’. Variety. August 24, 2021. https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/john-cleese-cancel-culture-1235047583/
[23] Markon, Jerry and Alice Crites. Ron Paul signed off on racist 1990s newsletters, associates say. January 27, 2012. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/ron-paul-signed-off-on-racist-newsletters-sources-say/2012/01/20/gIQAvblFVQ_story.html; Bassett, Laura. Ron Paul: Civil Rights Act Of 1964 ‘Destroyed’ Privacy. January 2, 2012. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ron-paul-civil-rights-act_n_1178688.
[24] Freedom Fest. 2019. Speakers. Charles Murray. https://freedomfest2019.sched.com/speaker/charles_murray.1z7fffcp; Reason Staff. Announcing Reason Day at Freedom Fest in Vegas This Weekend! Reason. July 9, 2013. https://reason.com/2013/07/09/announcing-reason-day-at-freedom-fest-in/
[25] Freedom Fest. Sponsors. https://www.freedomfest.com/sponsors-2/. Accessed July 5, 2022.
[26] Freedom Fest. Sponsors. Mises Institute. https://freedomfest2022.sched.com/sponsor/pat313?iframe=no&w=100%&sidebar=no&bg=no. Accessed July 5, 2022.
[27] Rothbard, Murray. Nations by Consent. Mises Institute. December 9, 2017. https://mises.org/print/40952
[28] Rothbard, Murray N. Right-Wing Populism. The Rothbard-Rockwell Report. January 1992. https://www.unz.com/print/RothbardRockwellReport-1992jan-00005.
[29] Doherty, Brian. Mises Caucus Takes Control of Libertarian Party. Reason. May 29, 2022. https://reason.com/2022/05/29/mises-caucus-takes-control-of-libertarian-party/
[30] Armiak, David. Revealed: New Leaders of Council for National Policy Set Extremist Agenda. March 11, 2022. https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2022/03/11/revealed-new-leaders-of-council-for-national-policy-set-extremist-agenda/; Southern Poverty Law Center. udicial Watch Investigations Director Listed As Dues-paying Oath Keeper, Leak Shows. November 2, 2021. https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2021/11/02/judicial-watch-investigations-director-listed-dues-paying-oath-keeper-leak-shows; Judicial Watch. Search: Critical Race Theory. https://www.judicialwatch.org/?s=critical+race+theory. Accessed July 7, 2022.
[31] Texas Public Policy Foundation. Conservative Leaders Band Together in Border Security Coalition. October 9, 2021. https://www.texaspolicy.com/press/conservative-leaders-band-together-in-border-security-coalition; Federation for American Immigration Reform. Strongest-Ever Assembled Coalition Calls for Immediate Consideration of a Flagship Border Security Bill in the 118th Congress. May 11, 2022. https://www.fairus.org/press-releases/border-security/strongest-ever-assembled-coalition-calls-immediate-consideration
[32] Malkin, Michelle. Telegram. June 30, 2022. https://t.me/MichelleMalkin/4830
[33] Salem Media Group. 2000 Mules Becomes the Most Successful Political Documentary in a Decade, Seen by 1 Million. May 12, 2022. https://investor.salemmedia.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/753/2000-mules-becomes-the-most-successful-political
[34] Salem Media Group. 2000 Mules Becomes the Most Successful Political Documentary in a Decade, Seen by 1 Million. May 12, 2022. https://investor.salemmedia.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/753/2000-mules-becomes-the-most-successful-political
[35] Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association. Posse Webinar. May 24, 2022.
[36] Salem Media Group, Inc. United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Form 10-K. Accessed at Salem Media Group. https://investor.salemmedia.com/sec-filings/annual-reports/content/0001193125-22-066029/d301480d10k.htm
[37] Salem Media Group, Inc. United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Form 10-K. Accessed at Salem Media Group. https://investor.salemmedia.com/sec-filings/annual-reports/content/0001193125-22-066029/d301480d10k.htm
[38] Salem Media Group, Inc. United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Form 10-K. Accessed at Salem Media Group. https://investor.salemmedia.com/sec-filings/annual-reports/content/0001193125-22-066029/d301480d10k.htm
[39] Salem Media Group, Inc. United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Form 10-K. Accessed at Salem Media Group. https://investor.salemmedia.com/sec-filings/annual-reports/content/0001193125-22-066029/d301480d10k.htm. According to SEC filings, 21.8% of broadcast revenue came from selling local spot advertisements ($41.7 million) and 7.5% from selling national ads ($14.3 million); 25.4% came from selling national air time primarily to “well-established non-profit religious and education organizations” ($48.7 million) and 12.9% from selling local air time to “community organizations and churches ($24.8 million). Another 12.0% derives from SMG’s Dallas, Texas-based Salem Radio Network, which “delivers programming via satellite to approximately a 3,200 affiliated radio stations throughout the United States.”
[40] Salem Media Group, Inc. United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Form 10-K. Accessed at Salem Media Group. https://investor.salemmedia.com/sec-filings/annual-reports/content/0001193125-22-066029/d301480d10k.htm
[41] Salem Media Group, Inc. United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Form 10-K. Accessed at Salem Media Group. https://investor.salemmedia.com/sec-filings/annual-reports/content/0001193125-22-066029/d301480d10k.htm
[42] Regnery Publishing. https://www.regnery.com/. Accessed July 5, 2022; Salem Media Group, Inc. United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Form 10-K. Accessed at Salem Media Group. https://investor.salemmedia.com/sec-filings/annual-reports/content/0001193125-22-066029/d301480d10k.htm
[43] Salem Media Group, Inc. United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Form 10-K. Accessed at Salem Media Group. https://investor.salemmedia.com/sec-filings/annual-reports/content/0001193125-22-066029/d301480d10k.htm; Freedom Fest. Speakers. Mark Skousen. https://freedomfest2022.sched.com/speaker/mark_skousen.23hfibcr?iframe=no. Accessed July 1, 2022.
[44] Skousen, Mark. Glenn Beck puts Cleon Skousen at #1 on Amazon. MSKOUSEN.COM. March 16, 2009. https://mskousen.com/2009/03/glenn-beck-puts-cleon-skousen-at-1-on-amazon/; Skousen, Mark. Tribute to my uncle, W. Cleon Skousen. MSKOUSEN.COM. January 28, 2003. https://mskousen.com/2003/01/tribute-to-my-uncle-w-cleon-skousen/
[45] For instance, in his booklet The County Sheriff: America’s Last Hope, Mack offensively compares the Internal Revenue Service to the German Nazi Gestapo and displays broad-based assault on federal powers to address inequality, protect the environment and protect worker safety, among other things:
“The EPA, FCC, OSHA, Dept. of Education, FBI, CIA, Homeland Security, INS, BATFE, HUD, BIA, SEC, the Federal Reserve, DEA, the Forest Service, BLM, and or course, our own American version of the notorious WWII Gestapo, the IRS, all were never meant to be based upon the enumerated powers granted under the Constitution.” See Mack, Richard. 2009. The County Sheriff: America’s Last Hope. Richard Mack. Pima, Arizona.
