LATEST: Malheur Holdouts Say the FBI Has Cut Their Phone and Internet Communications

I'm not sure what's up?

Sounds like the FBI's gonna try to smoke 'em out today, although Anderson and co. should be okay as long as the beer and cigarettes holdout.

At the Portland Oregonian, "Oregon standoff: Most phone and Internet service for occupiers ends, supporter says":

Just spoke w David Fry, one of the Malheur holdouts. "I personally am tired. I stayed up all night," he said.

— julieturkewitz (@julieturkewitz) January 31, 2016

David Fry said he's several hundred feet from the refuge, the group slept in tents. “We’re trying to show we weren’t being hostile ..." 1/2

— julieturkewitz (@julieturkewitz) January 31, 2016

"... we aren’t occupying the refuge anymore than it should be.” 2/2

— julieturkewitz (@julieturkewitz) January 31, 2016

David Fry tells @OPBnews they've lost Internet and all but his phone has been cut. He can receive calls but not dial out. #Oregonstandoff

— Amanda Peacher (@amandapeacher) January 31, 2016

It also seems the landlines at the refuge are out of service. #Oregonstandoff

— Amanda Peacher (@amandapeacher) January 31, 2016

We're not sure yet if power has been cut. The 4 occupiers say they're using a generator and not inside buildings. #Oregonstandoff

— Amanda Peacher (@amandapeacher) January 31, 2016

BURNS -- As the anti-government standoff at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge entered its 30th day, the remaining occupiers claimed many of their phone lines no longer worked.

The four holdouts awoke to discover that many lost phone and Internet service overnight, according to Greg Whalen, a Nevada supporter who said he had been in contact with the armed protesters. They have refused to leave the refuge until they are guaranteed they won't be arrested.

The occupiers have produced several online videos detailing their stance, but their account has been quiet since Saturday evening. At the time, they vowed their fight would continue.

Whalen said one of the protestors, Sean Anderson, was able to make a call this morning using a cell phone without Internet to say his other phone, with Internet access, was no longer working. Calls by The Oregonian/OregonLive to Anderson ended with an automated message saying the user was not available.

Anderson, 47, is encamped at the refuge with his wife, Sandy Anderson, 48, of Riggins, Idaho, and two other men: David Fry, 27, of Blanchester, Ohio and Jeff Banta, 46, of Elko, Nevada.

Fry relayed a similar account of the morning's events to OPB.

Expect updates...

Trump, Sanders and the Revolt Against Decadence

Following-up from earlier, "The Realignment of 2016."

Here's Ross Douthat, at the New York Times (via Memeorandum):

ONE of the puzzles of the 2016 campaign, unexpectedly defined by the ascent of a billionaire reality TV star and a septuagenarian Vermont socialist, is why now? Yes, voters are angry, yes, they’re exhausted and disgusted and cynical about everything. But why is everything boiling over in this particular cycle, in this presidential campaign?

Consider: The economic picture is better than it was in 2012, when Republican primary voters settled for Mitt Romney and an incumbent president was re-elected pretty easily. (In both Iowa and New Hampshire, the unemployment rate is currently under 4 percent.) The foreign policy picture is grim in certain ways, but America isn’t trapped in a casualty-heavy quagmire the way we were in 2004, when Democratic voters played it safe with John Kerry and George W. Bush won re-election.

As Michael Grunwald argued recently in Politico, the worst-case scenarios of the post-Great Recession era haven’t materialized. Obamacare is limping along without an imminent death spiral, and health care costs aren’t rising as fast as feared. The deficit has fallen a bit, and inflation is extraordinarily low. The stock market is wobbly, but we haven’t had a double-dip recession.

On the cultural front, out-of-wedlock births are no longer rising. Abortion rates have fallen. Illegal immigration rates are down.

The state of the union isn’t all that one might hope, but it could clearly be a whole lot worse.

So what are Trumpistas and Bern-feelers rebelling against?

One answer might be that they’re fed up with exactly this — the politics of “it could be worse,” of stagnation and muddling through. They aren’t revolting against abject failure, or deep and swift decline. They’re rebelling against decadence.

Now it may sound absurd to cast a figure like Donald Trump, the much-married prince of tinsel and pasteboard, as a scourge of decadence rather than its embodiment.

But don’t just think about the word in moral or aesthetic terms. Think of it as a useful way of describing a society that’s wealthy, powerful, technologically proficient — and yet seemingly unable to advance in the way that its citizens once took for granted. A society where people have fewer children and hold diminished expectations for the future, where institutions don’t work particularly well but can’t seem to be effectively reformed, where growth is slow and technological progress disappoints. A society that fights to a stalemate in its foreign wars, even as domestic debates repeat themselves without any resolution. A society disillusioned with existing religions and ideologies, but lacking new sources of meaning to take their place.

This is how many Americans, many Westerners, experience their civilization in the early years of the 21st century. And both Trump and Bernie Sanders, in their very different ways, are telling us that we don’t have to settle for it anymore...

That's really good.

Still more.

WATCH: First Look Video Shows O.C. Fugitives Returned to Lockup in Central Men’s Jail (VIDEO)

At CBS News 2 Los Angeles:



And from yesterday, "All Three Orange County Jailbreak Fugitives Now Back Behind Bars (VIDEO)."

The Realignment of 2016

I called our moment the "monstrosity of an anti-establishment realignment" the other day, "The Coming GOP Crackup."

Now here comes Salena Zito, at RCP, "A Political Realignment 10 Years in the Making":

In this election cycle, we've pretty much put the cart before the horse. We mock the folks flocking to Donald Trump, because we never acknowledged their frustrations.

The political class only seemed to notice people's frustration this summer as both Trump and Bernie Sanders, an avowed socialist, began running circles around the establishment candidates.

Well, I've been reporting that frustration from locales across the country since 2005. (Yes, people have been building to this moment for 10 years.) A cursory look at the “wave” midterm election cycles from 2006 through 2014, the “change” presidential election of 2008, and the total realignment of state legislative majorities, provides sufficient evidence of America's frustration with government.

This country's political alignment is missing one thing, and it's a big thing — a party that represents the moderately traditionalist values of the country's majority.

America doesn't need two secular, cosmopolitan parties.

Trump's secret is that he has found an unoccupied space to practice politics. Call it the politically incorrect, moderately traditionalist, main-street economics zone, where winners and losers exist (just as in the real world) and it is not a crime to believe unabashedly in American greatness.

Trump has stoked xenophobic fears and used his crass showmanship to mark out this territory. His tactics of strong demagoguery make it completely understandable to lament his success.

Yet, in order for our political system to work, people must feel as if they have real choices that can make a difference — and they haven't felt that way for some time.

This election cycle began with Americans being told that Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton were the inevitable choices. Many people just snapped.

Haynes argues that this is why people looked outside the political system to independent-minded candidates like Trump and Sanders. “If that fails, they will seek to change the system,” he said.

What we don't need are two parties or candidates perceived to be standard-bearers of the secular elites who are economically comfortable.

What we do need is someone who represents a middle-class that holds traditional values and believes all things are achievable, especially if government doesn't drag us down.

That kind of disruption in our political alignment doesn't happen overnight.

Remember, it took the Republican Party 36 years — starting with the 1820 Missouri compromise, followed by several disruptive movements and fractured elements — before it pulled together as a united party, agreed on a unifying platform and elected Abraham Lincoln as president.

This is great!

RTWT.

VIDEO: How the Ambush That Resulted in LaVoy Finicum's Death Unfolded (SLOW-MOTION ZOOM)

Watch, at the clip below.

Plus, still more at the Portland Oregonian, "Oregon standoff: LaVoy Finicum's family disputes police version of confrontation":

ST. GEORGE, Utah —The family of Robert "LaVoy" Finicum said the occupation of a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon was nearing a peaceful end when he was shot and killed by police, and they disputed the official account of the confrontation.

In their first public statement since the FBI released video showing Finicum's death as police tried to arrest the occupation leaders, his family said they saw his actions in the video as "animated" but not threatening.

"We know that there are always at least two sides to every story," the family wrote, adding, "Like almost everyone else, we were not there, so we don't know exactly what happened."

The statement was sent to some media outlets Friday and obtained by The Oregonian/OregonLive on Saturday. Todd MacFarlane, a Utah attorney representing the family, confirmed the statement was authentic.

The FBI released a 26-minute video leading to the arrest of five people and the death of Finicum, one of the spokesmen for the armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. This video breaks down the key moments.

Finicum was shot by Oregon State Police officers during an attempt to stop and arrest the leaders of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge occupation, then in its 25th day.

Aerial surveillance video released Thursday showed Finicum stopping his white truck when police vehicles appeared with lights on, then waiting several minutes before driving off at high speeds. Pursued by police, he tried to drive around a roadblock further down the road before crashing into a snowbank, narrowly missing a police officer.

He exited the truck alone into the snow. Police said he moved his hand several times toward a pocket that contained a loaded handgun before he was shot...

More.

I posted the family's statement late Friday, "Lavoy Finicum Family Releases Statement: Challenges FBI, Announces Funeral Services (VIDEO)."

If you missed it, click through at the link to read the Scribd document, c/o FOX News 13 Salt Lake.

'I can't believe Hillary would be coasting into the primaries with her current margin of black support if most people knew how much damage the Clintons have done...'

From Professor Michelle Alexander, of the Moritz College of Law at the Ohio State University, on Facebook:



She's the author of The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness.

Chargers Announce They'll Stay in San Diego for 2016 (VIDEO)

At the San Diego Union-Tribune, "Chargers here for a year – then what?":

San Diego woke up Saturday morning with the Chargers still here, at least for one more season.

Team owner Dean Spanos announced Friday afternoon that while he's reached an agreement that would enable him eventually to join the Rams in Inglewood and tap into the greener financial pastures of the nation's second-largest media market, he'll renew negotiations with local government officials on building a new stadium here.

"This has been our home for 55 years," he said in the note addressed to Chargers fans, "and I want to keep the team here and provide the world-class stadium experience you deserve."

The announcement was greeted mostly with optimism from elected officials, sighs of relief from longtime backers of the NFL team, and caution if not skepticism from others weary of stadium machinations that have been going on for almost 15 years.

Now comes the hard part: working out an agreement on where a new stadium will be built and how it will be funded, and then getting approval from voters...

More.

PREVIOUSLY: "San Diego Chargers Should Stay in San Diego."

Hey, It's Shark Eat Shark Out There! (VIDEO)

Folks were tweeting a Newsweek story about this --- Newsweek?

Who even reads that dinosaur outlet anymore?

But CNN's got the video, from a South Korean aquarium. Shark turf wars --- who knew?

'Extremist With a Death Wish' — Citizens for Constitutional Freedom Throw David Fry Under the Bus

At the Facebook page for the Citizens for Constitutional Freedom.

I don't see the post buried there, but you can read the screencap, via Twitter:



And here's what looks like is a more recent thread, "A CALL TO DAVID FRY TO STAND DOWN IMMEDIATELY":

I am calling on David Fry, once again, to LEAVE THE MALHEUR WILDERNESS REFUGE. David is one of five holdouts at the refuge. He was not a part of the original group to go to the refuge. He had no part in the great amount of social, legal and political work that Ammon and other people did in the years prior to the takeover of the refuge. David is a Johnny-come-lately who was a media disaster from the start due to his wild public rants.

I remember when I first read some mentions of David in the media shortly after he went out to the refuge. Initially, I thought that he may have just been a naive young man who said some dumb things off the cuff in social media and was being slammed for it by left-leading media outlets. I opened a dialogue with David to find out if the reports about him were true. If he was being inappropriately maligned in the media, I wanted to be able to defend him. But if he was truly an extremist who had infiltrated the ranks at the refuge, I wanted to see him removed from the compound for the sake of the good people of the Citizens for Constitutional Freedom (CCF). So I began an investigation.

David is in his late 20s. He believes in some very good foundational principles regarding issues of morality and freedom. However, David's worldview takes those principles and runs to the fringes. I don't believe that he is altogether mentally stable. He seems to have no sense of social propriety and sees every issue as either black or white with no layers of gray in the middle. Following my investigation, I spoke with David and told him that I felt that, even if his intent was good, his methods of communication were too extreme and would be damaging to the reputation of Ammon and the others at the refuge who did not share his extremist ideologies. I was in no position to tell him to leave the refuge, but I advised him that if I were in charge I would ask him to leave. I also recommended that if he was going to stay on at the refuge, at the very least - for the sake of the reputation of the others - he needed to stop making public statements on social media that were provocative. I recommended that if he wouldn't delete his previous inflammatory messages, to at least change their status from public to restricted.

David chose not to take any of my advice or counsel. Having worked for decades as a political strategist with a keen awareness of the psychology and propensities of the individuals I've worked with, I foresaw David as becoming a serious threat to Ammon's work and to the CCF as a whole. I sent numerous warnings to individuals I knew out at the refuge to ask them to boot David from the group. David later related to me that they had given him a firm warning that if he caused any more trouble that he would be asked to leave. But then more pressing matters began to rapidly accelerate over the next week and the issue of David Fry fell by the wayside.

Today, Ammon and other CCF leaders are in prison. LaVoy Finicum has been murdered. The militia has fled. And, to my shock and disgust, David Fry has become the self-appointed leader of a 5 person band of holdouts who are continuing to defy the FBI. They are armed and, at least as of this writing, they are determined to stay - come hell or high water. Up until yesterday, David Fry was simply a foolish young person with some socially inappropriate views. Today, David is putting the lives of other people at risk, as well as his own.

If any of the other members of David's party can see my words - PLEASE, abandon David and leave. He has become unhinged and seems to have a death wish. Yesterday he was screaming on video that the world was going to get to watch him get killed on live TV. Last night he sent out a Livestream of him and a few others smoking dope together. He is bringing shame upon the CCF and NO GOOD can come from following him.

David, if you continue to wield weapons and defy the federal authorities, they are going to kill you. For the love of God, lay down your arms and come out.

Jake Morphonios

Check for more at the Facebook page.

Surfer Rescued After Getting Tossed Onto Rocks Along U.C. Santa Barbara-Goleta Beach (VIDEO)

I walked this beach many, many times when I was in grad school at UCSB, but never when it as being pounded with El Niño surf.

Watch, at KEYT News 3 Santa Barbara, "Water Rescue at Goleta Beach."

WATCH: Donald Trump Hammers Ted Cruz in Iowa, Exhorts Supporters: 'We will run the table...' (VIDEO)

He's really confident.

It's an AP raw video out of Iowa:



And remember, he's being talked about is if he's the inevitable nominee, "Will Americans Upend the Political Order? Iowa May Tell."

Donald Trump Holds 6.3 Percent Lead in RCP's Iowa GOP Presidential Caucus Poll Average

Following-up, "The Iowa Caucuses Through Sabato's Crystal Ball."

The polling looks great for Trump in Iowa, based on the RCP average, here, "Iowa Republican Presidential Caucus."

But once again, how's the Trump Train's turnout machine shaping up? I sure hope he doesn't end up doing his own Howard Dean scream from Des Moines on Monday night, lol.

That said, the New York Times characterized Trump as the GOP nominee in its piece, or at least, accepted Trump's narrative as the inevitable one. Here, "Will Americans Upend the Political Order? Iowa May Tell."

Keep checking back for all your updates on all aspects of our crazy polarized political times.

WATCH: Ted Cruz Slams Donald Trump and Marco Rubio at Campaign Event in Iowa (VIDEO)

It's a raw video from Ruptly, out of Sioux City, Iowa:

Will Americans Upend the Political Order? Iowa May Tell

Well, I sure hope so.

At the New York Times, "Iowa Will Gauge Ardor to Upend Politics as Usual":

DES MOINES — The presidential race hurtled over the weekend toward a watershed moment: voting that will start to reveal the true depth of Americans’ desire to cast aside traditional politicians and Washington-style compromise and embrace disruptive outsiders appealing to their passions.

After a year of countless and often conflicting polls, more than 250,000 Iowans are expected to attend caucuses on a relatively mild Monday night and render judgment on insurgent candidates who would bar Muslims from the country (Donald J. Trump), oppose concessions to Democrats (Senator Ted Cruz of Texas) and pursue a high-tax, big-government agenda (Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont). Voters are poised to bring order to the race, or reorder politics, as in no other recent election.

Money, experience and endorsements — advantages that usually turn candidates like Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush, the former governor of Florida, into inevitable nominees — will be tested against the potent messages of rivals promising upheaval.

The importance of aggressive fund-raising and campaign commercials, which have cost a combined total of more than $100 million so far, will become suspect if the social-media-driven organizing by grass-roots groups helps yield upset victories for candidates like Mr. Sanders.

And the national mood about entrenched power — Wall Street, political dynasties and Washington — will almost certainly be reflected in the outcomes of the nominating contests this winter.

On the Republican side, Mr. Trump, who spent Saturday barnstorming across eastern Iowa, projected the supreme confidence that has defined his campaign. A Des Moines Register/Bloomberg Politics poll released Saturday found that 28 percent of likely Republican caucusgoers supported Mr. Trump, while 23 percent favored Mr. Cruz and 15 percent backed Senator Marco Rubio of Florida.

Mr. Trump, in an interview on Friday, barely dwelled on those two rivals, saying that he was already looking ahead to the prospect of a general election matchup against Mrs. Clinton, a former secretary of state and senator.

“Our popularity is strong enough to put states in play in November that Republicans don’t usually win anymore: Michigan, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Florida, Ohio,” Mr. Trump said. “I’m a little surprised that I’ve done this well, to tell you the truth. But my message is something that people want to hear, more than just going along with the usual politicians.”

Keep reading.

'It feels like a zombie apocalypse' — Last Malheur Holdouts Hope Against Hope (VIDEO)

The "zombie apocalypse" is below, showing the mess of items left behind when most of the remaining militiamen hightailed it out of there, fearing a Waco-style incursion by the feds. Considering the massive convoy of vehicles into the refuge, and the enormous numbers of LEOs, that was probably the smart thing to do.

Now, though, Sean and Sandy Anderson, David Fry, and Jeff Banta are all of whom remain at the compound, and they're definitely not giving up. I've blogged the reasons a few times already. Fry's crazy. Sean Anderson's got a troubling criminal background and is probably looking at some major time behind bars. His online rants have been threatening. And there's been talk among the holdouts of "suicide by cop." And of course they're heavily armed. Something like 20 additional firearms were left behind in the panicked exodus of the militiamen on Thursday.

In any case, at the Portland Oregonian, "Oregon standoff: Last of the occupiers 'hoping for a miracle'":

BURNS -- Six miles beyond an FBI roadblock, the four remaining holdouts at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge huddled around a small fire Saturday and waited for divine intervention.

That's what Sean Anderson told his hometown sheriff, who called from Idaho County, Idaho, to ask if he could help. Anderson, 47, and his wife, Sandy, 48, remain encamped at the Oregon wildlife refuge with Jeff Banta, 46, of Elko, Nevada, and David Fry, 27, of Blanchester, Ohio.":

"I'm hoping for a miracle," Anderson told Sheriff Doug Giddings, who has been Idaho County's top law enforcement officer for eight years.

"I believe God put us here."

Their Saturday afternoon conversation was broadcast live on the Internet -- one of their only connections to the outside world. The video showed the four occupiers gathered beneath plastic tarps, sitting in lawn chairs next to a white truck.

"If we don't stand up 'til the end on this, then why did we come here in the first place?" asked Sean Anderson, who had recently moved with his wife to Riggins, a community of 400 people in Idaho County.

Giddings told The Oregonian/OregonLive on Saturday that he reached out to the Andersons to let them know their options. "I'm not speaking to him on behalf of anybody but me," he said, rebutting Sean Anderson's assertion that the sheriff was acting as an intermediary to the FBI.

"They pretty much are limited by the FBI to one decision, and that's to come out," Giddings said.

The four reiterated their key demand: assurances they won't face charges.

Until then, Banta said, "nothing's going to happen because we're just camping out."

The audio feed crackled as he squeezed a can of Coors Light in his hand. He started another sentence that Sandy Anderson finished. "We're armed but -- "

"We're always armed," the only woman at the refuge said...

Keep reading.

Plus, from Jennifer Dowling, at KOIN News 6 Portland, "Malheur occupiers: ‘All of us out or all dead’":

Near the refuge, a sign says “FBI Go Home” and roadblocks seal off 4 remaining occupiers — David Fry, Jeff Banta and married couple Sandy and Sean Anderson. They claim the FBI will let all but Sean Anderson go, and he believes it’s because of an online outburst:

“Don’t be afraid of those roadblocks, drive up there and shoot them. They are dishonorable, not following their oath.”

In a later clip, Anderson said he “thought that was the last day of my life and I was hoping American people would stand up.”

Ammon Bundy, through messages delivered first by his lawyer and now through a videotaped cell phone call with his wife Lisa Bundy, told the remaining occupiers to stand down and “go home to your families.”

But Sean Anderson rejected that plea from the now-jailed militia leader.

“Your husband and your brother-in-law and all your friends are in prison right now because they do what they want to do. I have to submit to people I don’t believe or trust. You say Ammon is directed by God. So am I.”

PREVIOUSLY: "They're Going to Murder All of Us!' — #Malheur Occupiers Livestream Siege at Wildlife Refuge (VIDEO)," and "WATCH: Sean and Sandy Anderson, Husband and Wife Occupiers at #Malheur, Post 'Last Dance' Video."

Plus, "Armed Militiaman David Fry, Among Last Holdouts at Malheur Reserve, Says He's Prepared to Die in Siege," and "'Bombastic, Paranoid, and Angry' — Update on David Fry, One of the Last Holdouts at Malheur Occupation."

WATCH: Wild Bill for America, Statement on Shooting Death of LaVoy Finicum (VIDEO)

Via Theo Spark.

It's an interesting discussion, which I agree with for the most part. Once LaVoy reached down, even if it was to the left side, which wasn't the side he kept a holstered weapon, the LEOs had reason to suspect a catastrophic threat to life.

And Wild Bill's discussion of the need for, and coming likelihood of, a massive campaign of civil disobedience is something I talk about every semester in my American government classes.

Watch:



PREVIOUSLY: "Last Holdouts Remain at #Malheur Refuge; LaVoy Finicum Protesters Roll Through Burns, Oregon (VIDEO)."

All Three Orange County Jailbreak Fugitives Now Back Behind Bars (VIDEO)

For the national media, this was a bigger story than the Oregon standoff.

Shows you where priorities lie.

At the O.C. Register, "O.C. jail escape: 2 remaining fugitives caught in San Francisco, being returned to Orange County tonight."

And at CBS News 2 Los Angeles:



It looks like this dude Captain Chris Wilson is getting thrown under the bus. More details at BuzzFeed, "All Three Escaped California Inmates Arrested."

Black Radical Cornel West Slams Hillary Clinton at Bernie Sanders Rally Ahead of Iowa Caucuses (VIDEO)

West slams Clinton for take that "Wall Street money."

And hey, maybe Cornel's gonna help mobilize the "Black Lives Matter" constituency, heh.

And Sanders takes the podium, nailing down to the bottom line issue: "We will win the caucus Monday night if there is a large voter turnout. We will lose the caucus on Monday if there is a low voter turnout."

I blogged about precisely that earlier today, "Can Bernie Sanders Turn Out the Votes in Iowa?"

Watch:

Last Holdouts Remain at #Malheur Refuge; LaVoy Finicum Protesters Roll Through Burns, Oregon (VIDEO)

Jennifer Dowling reports, for KOIN News 6 Portland:



More earlier report is here, "'Bombastic, Paranoid, and Angry' — Update on David Fry, One of the Last Holdouts at Malheur Occupation."

David Fry has uploaded a new "Defend Your Base" video to YouTube, indicating he's not ready to pack it in and wondering why he's not getting a deal from the feds. Listen, "Response to Ammon Bundy."

Top Iowa Elections Official Slams Ted Cruz Campaign on Public Shaming Mailers

Following-up from earlier today, "Wow! Ted Cruz Campaign Threatens Iowa Voters With Public Shaming if They Don't Caucus on Monday!"

At Politico, "Top Iowa elections official slams Cruz mailer" (via Memeorandum):

The Republican secretary of state says 'voting violation' piece is 'not keeping in the spirit of the Iowa Caucuses.'

AMES, Iowa — Iowa’s top elections official condemned Ted Cruz’s campaign on Saturday for sending mailers to Iowa voters designed to look like official documents that accuse them of a “VOTING VIOLATION” for failure to turn out in past elections.

Republican Secretary of State Paul Pate said in a statement that Cruz’s mailers, which has the words “official public record” printed in red at the top, “misrepresents the role of my office, and worse, misrepresents Iowa election law.”

“There is no such thing as an election violation related to frequency of voting,” said Paul, who was elected statewide as a Republican in 2014. “Any insinuation or statement to the contrary is wrong and I believe it is not in keeping in the spirit of the Iowa Caucuses.”

The controversial Cruz mailers show the name of the person receiving the mail at the top and then give them a grade on an A to F scale. Below, it shows their neighbors and their voting scores. It then urges them to caucus next week and warns, “A follow-up notice may be issued following Monday’s caucuses.”

Political science studies have shown that such voter-shaming and peer-pressure techniques can be effective to motivate less likely voters. Past campaigns have sent such mail but they come at the risk of backlash from voters who feel their — and their neighbors’ privacy — has been compromised.

Cruz spokeswoman Catherine Frazier said Saturday that the piece was “a standard mailer that folks at the Iowa Republican Party and other get-out-the-vote groups have used to help motivate low-propensity voters.”

“We're going to do everything we can to turn these folks out,” she said. She did not immediately respond to comment about Pate’s criticism.

The Republican Party of Iowa did not immediately respond to requests about whether they had sent such mailers in the past...

Keep reading.

These shaming mailers have been used abundantly by the Democrats. I'm literally sorry for Ted Cruz on this. It makes him look desperate.