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Salon
Salon
Politics
Sarah K Burris

Pro-Trump "vigilantes" go undercover

Supporters listen as President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at the Kenosha Regional Airport on November 02, 2020 in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Trump, who won Wisconsin with less than 1 percent of the vote in 2016, currently trails former vice president and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden in the state according to recent polls. Scott Olson/Getty Images

Supporters of President Donald Trump still refuse to give up on their crusade to find a massive number of votes that would ensure he won the 2020 election. In New Mexico, they've even taken to impersonating city workers to get info from voters in one solid Republican county.

"The Daily Beast" reported Monday night that the state Auditor of New Mexico revealed members of a far-right Telegram group were going door to door in Otero County to ask people about their votes. 

Otero County has already spent $50,000 on an "audit" to reveal that Trump did win the county by 60 percent, just as what was reported in Nov. 2020.

"Otero commissioners have spent nearly $50,000 on an 'audit' of their county's 2020 election by EchoMail, a conspiracy-peddling company that assisted with a chaotic audit in Maricopa County, Arizona," said the report. The company was then hired by the Telegram group, the "New Mexico Audit Force" or NMAF, to do the door knocking. "Now state officials say the NMAF is falsely representing its members as county employees during its 'canvas'" the homes.

Conspiracy promoter Shiva Ayyadurai founded the company EchoMail, which concerned corruption monitors and prompted an investigation by the state auditor. 

The investigation revealed further red flags. "Our investigation appears to have found that commissioners may have put their own personal interest ahead of the public interest," said auditor Brian Colón according to The Beast.

He informed three county commissioners of "potential violations" on Monday. 

"[T]he County is deficient in their ability to properly oversee the compliance of contractual agreements and further lacks proper oversight policies for contract compliance," Colón's says in the letter. He goes on to call the audit nothing more than political theatre.

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