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Failed “Never Trump” Republican presidential candidate John Anthony Castro may not have forced President-elect Donald Trump off the New Hampshire primary ballot, but he did beat the GOP nominee at something: Castro is the first to go to prison.

Castro was sentenced on Halloween to 188 months in federal prison (more than 15 years) on 33 felony counts of filing false tax returns. That works out to about one year for every million dollars he reportedly collected in his tax scam, according to court records.

Castro, 33, sued the state of New Hampshire twice during his idiosyncratic 2024 presidential bid, an effort to boot Trump from the ballot. The campaign mostly consisted of federal lawsuits Castro filed to get Trump off the ballot in 32 states. Castro used the legal actions to generate publicity for his quixotic campaign.

He also used some computer-generated graphics to project a campaign that doesn’t appear to have existed.

Publicity seems to have been his currency of choice, as the Castro For President campaign only reported about $800 in total donations just weeks before he was indicted in Texas on the tax fraud charges. Castro’s New Hampshire campaign had no offices, no paid staff, no in-state volunteers, and no identifiable supporters. He still did manage a few votes in the First in the Nation presidential primary, however.

In an effort to prove to the courts he had a viable political operation, Castro sent his brother-in-law and cousin to New Hampshire to put up campaign signs. The pair later testified they spent time in the city of “Noshua” and only talked to about a dozen people. 

Castro started his presidential campaign in order to get Trump off the ballot ahead of the primaries. Partly inspired by the 14th Amendment clause that prohibits insurrectionists from holding office, Castro based his lawsuits on the legal theory that if he was a presidential candidate himself, he could argue Trump was illegally taking his votes. That theory was charitably considered “novel” by the courts. 

Castro, who is not a licensed attorney, operated a tax law firm in Texas where he reportedly made up deductions for his clients, without their knowledge, in order to obtain larger than allowed tax refunds. Castro’s firm then took a percentage of the refund instead of a flat fee from the clients.

In a letter to United States District Court Judge for the Northern District of Texas Terry Means, Castro explained he did not so much make up deductions that did not exist as he estimated, incorrectly, deductions he thought should exist.

“Estimations and fabrications both involve arriving at final figures that a taxpayer did not expressly provide,” Castro wrote. 

Castro’s outside-the-box legal strategy led him to ask for a bench trial decided by Means, and not a jury, during which he took the stand and testified in his own defense. Even after his conviction, Castro maintains this plan was, maybe, divinely inspired. 

“I vividly recall the dream I had that instructed me I could trust your Honor’s judgment,” Castro wrote to Means. “This is what led me to pursue a bench trial and take the stand in my own defense. Others may call my decision foolish, especially in light of the verdict. But I knew and still know that, as a brother in Christ, your love of and faithfulness to justice, fairness, and transparency will validate my decision.”

Castro has a long and strained history with the truth, according to court records. Though he did graduate law school, Castro never passed a bar exam in any state. That did not stop him from presenting himself as a licensed attorney until 2016, when the Florida State Bar sent him a cease and desist letter for his unlicensed practice of law. 

Prosecutors say Castro also lists himself as a military veteran on his Texas driver’s license, though he has never served in the military. Castro did attend a military academy prep school as a teen, though he did not graduate and did not go on to attend any military academy.

Along with the prison sentence, Castro must pay $277,000 in restitution to the IRS. If there’s a plus side, the federal convictions do allow Castro to apply for a pardon from Trump. 

Kamala Harris isn’t savvy. She does well when she’s been prepped within inches of her life, as she was before the recent presidential debate; and she comes across as sharp and relevant if you put her side by side with Donald “Those Dirty Haitians Stole My Pants” Trump.

But on her own, she’s about as brilliant as the emergency understudy who gets called in to play Evita 10 minutes before the curtains open. She gets points for showing up and trying, but the actual performance is pretty feeble.

But she is hitting one point directly on the nose: She’s identified the power of Catholic self-loathing.

Catholics are swing voters, and swing voters are powerful and unpredictable. A slim majority of Catholics favor Trump, but it’s close enough to reveal a massive division in the ranks. So you’d think Harris would be treading carefully so as not to alienate that precious margin of undecided Catholics, and trying to bolster the 47 percent who do like her.

Instead, she’s breaking tradition and snubbing the Al Smith Dinner, an annual historical event, named for the first Catholic to run for president, that raises thousands of dollars for charity.

This isn’t an aberration. She’s unabashedly pro-abortion, recklessly spreading misinformation about who really caused the death of Amber Thurman (who died because of unsafe abortion pills and criminally incompetent healthcare, not from any abortion ban). Even Catholic leftists would be hard-pressed to find anything compatible with Catholic social teaching in her campaign. She and Biden were just as hard on migrants as Trump was; and her party recently quit opposing capital punishment. And she certainly hasn’t done anything to walk back her recent history of lashing out against Catholics. In 2019, then-Sen. Harris called out judicial nominee Brian Buescher for the high crime of having joined the Knight of Columbus as a teen, implying that simply to be a Christian in public makes one unfit for public office.

But at the debate with Trump, she tried talking directly to Catholics like me.  She said:

“[O]ne does not have to abandon their faith or deeply held beliefs to agree the government, and Donald Trump certainly, should not be telling a woman what to do with her body.”

At first, I was so irritated. Who is this woman telling me how to manage my conscience?

But there’s a kind of brilliance to her arrogance. Even if her campaign doesn’t understand why a person of faith would recoil from unrestricted abortion, it sure can tell we see through Trump. We know he was never pro-life and never will be. They see how we loathe the way he and his party treat women and the vulnerable. And they know there’s a very fine line between disgust for someone else and disgust for oneself. Both can be powerful motivators.

I’m a registered Republican, an ardently pro-life, faithful Catholic never-Trumper who keeps walking into the voting booth with one firm idea: Trump is the most dangerous candidate, because of his words and his behavior, and because of his awful power to encourage Americans to debase themselves. So I held my nose and voted for Hillary, and then for Biden, because I wanted to stop Trump, period. I don’t know how I’ll vote this year, but it won’t be for Trump.

But I can still recall my growing horror as more and more of my fellow Catholics did fall in with him, and started professing real love for him and his appalling ideas. I was baffled, angry, and ashamed. We should know better. I still feel I should have somehow done more to stop him and make at least my fellow Catholics see who he really is.

So when Kamala does stuff like skipping the Al Smith Dinner, maybe she’s doing it because she’s anti-Catholic. But more likely, she’s doing it because she knows burnt-out Catholics don’t care about stuff like that anymore. They don’t see themselves as part of the old guard American Catholic voting bloc. They can’t even go in the church basement and eat donuts after Mass anymore, because fellowship hour is just a bunch of dudes yuking it up over BBQ cat memes and Willie Brown jokes.

If Trump invites Americans to debase themselves, Kamala invites Catholics to lean into their self-loathing. Be ashamed to stand up for what their faith teaches, be ashamed of their fellow Catholics who threw in with Trump, and most of all, be ashamed of yourselves. Here, crawl in under the dubious shelter of this vote for Kamala, you poor sap.

She smells that misery in the air, and she knows that people are desperate for some relief. She doesn’t have to appeal to Catholics. She doesn’t even have to stop disliking Catholics. All she has to do is not be Trump. She’s counting on people being too exhausted to hope for more.

It didn’t take long for the two Republican candidates for governor to make it clear they came to the first debate of the primary ready to rumble.

Both former U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte and former state Senate President Chuck Morse are running ads attacking their opponents, and they brought those attacks on stage for the NHJournal debate at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics.

Morse, who’s trailing badly in public polls, was the first to go on offense, using his opening statement to lay out his attack against Ayotte.

Former state Senate President Chuck Morse answers a question at the NHJournal GOP gubernatorial debate on August 26, 2024.
(CREDIT: Jeffrey Hastings)

“Kelly Ayotte went to Washington and voted with the Democrats over 260 times,” Morse said. “She voted to grant amnesty to 11 million illegal immigrants, and she voted against school choice for low-income families. And in 2016, she couldn’t support our nominee for president, Donald Trump. I’m going to run on my conservative values in my record.”

Ayotte fired back, pointing out her support from across the GOP spectrum and noting, “I’m the only person on this stage who was ever asked to help the Trump administration,” a reference to her work helping sherpa Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch’s nomination through the Senate confirmation process.

Morse attacked her for serving on the board of directors of Blackstone, one of the largest corporate owners of rental property in the U.S., accusing it of “destroying” the housing market.

Ayotte shot back, “You know what, Chuck? It’s pretty ironic, because you sound like a Democrat. It really surprises me to see you denigrating the private sector. That’s what I expect to hear from the left, and that’s not the attitude I’m going to bring to the Corner Office.”

The ugliest attack came, however, when Morse tried to link Ayotte to the sex abuse scandal at the Youth Development Center. Some of the alleged assaults occurred during the years she served as attorney general, though none of the cases were brought forward during that time.

“She was the chief law enforcement person in our state when these kids were being raped and brutalized in the Sununu Center in 2005, 6 and 7. That’s when she was there. So if she wants to talk about failures, about what she hasn’t accomplished, let’s talk about that,” Morse said.

“This is what’s so sad about Chuck Morris in this campaign, that he’ll say or do anything,” Ayotte responded.

She added that her record at the Attorney General’s Office included investigating the Roman Catholic Diocese of Manchester for child abuse.

The debate also included some light moments. Asked what movie or TV show she would recommend for anyone thinking of getting into politics, Ayotte said “Game of Thrones.” Morse’s pick? “Rocky. I’m always backing the underdog.”

Other topics covered during the debate included addressing the state’s housing crisis, defending Education Freedom Accounts, and addressing Democratic attacks on the New Hampshire GOP over the abortion issue.

While the debate was live-streamed at NHJournal and broadcast by Manchester Public Television, there was also an audience of about 50 invited guests of the two candidates on hand at the NHIOP.

Ayotte supporter state Rep. Jennifer Rhodes (R-Winchester) told NHJournal afterward she believes her candidate is ready to bring the Republican Party together for the general election, while Morse’s attacks are helping Democrats.

“She responded when he actually went on the attack,” Rhodes said. “I actually think he’s done the job for the Democrats … it’s actually quite shameful, I think.”

Chuck Morse supporters outside the NHIOP during the NHJournal GOP gubernatorial primary debate.
(CREDIT: Jeffrey Hastings)

Morse supporter Ginny Busby of Atkinson wasn’t thrilled by Morse’s strategy either, because she believes he has the record to run on as an effective public servant.

“I wasn’t pleased [with the attacks] but it’s politics,” Busby said. “He’s better than that, he doesn’t need to do that.”

But former House Speaker and Republican National Committeeman Bill O’Brien said the back and forth is part of the process, and he doesn’t believe it’s going to have an impact on the November election.

“I don’t think that’s going to be terribly important … I’ve seen a lot worse than that, too,” O’Brien said.

“They are competent candidates, both of them, candidates that the party can get behind,” O’Brien said. “They each have their strengths,” O’Brien said. 

The net result, GOP insiders told NHJournal, is that Morse needed a major shift in the race. He didn’t get it.

“Ayotte won on points tonight by smartly reminding the GOP she’s fighting against Massachusetts and national Democrats simultaneously,” said one veteran GOP campaign insider. “Morse was solid, but he needed a moment to go viral and break through. It didn’t happen.”

After the debate, both candidates declared victory.

“Granite State voters deserve to know what’s at stake on the ballot this fall, and tonight was just the beginning of making sure the distinction between my record and that of my opponent is crystal clear,” Morse said in a statement touting his “dominating performance.”

“I have always stood by our party and President Donald Trump, and I am committed to uniting Republicans to secure victory this fall.”

Spokesman John Corbett said Ayotte “showed why Granite Staters are rallying around her campaign. Kelly is the conservative leader ready to defeat Joyce Craig and keep our state safe, prosperous, and free.

“These sad, desperate attacks from Phony Chuck Morse won’t change the fact that he is losing bigly, and his negative campaign is being soundly rejected by the few voters across the state who have ever heard of him.”

Democratic candidates are scrambling for support in the growing crypto currency sphere, and many want their party’s leadership to change the perception that Democrats are hostile to the emerging financial technology.

But New Hampshire’s Rep. Chris Pappas (D-Manchester) isn’t one of them.

A group of congressional Democrats and candidates, including Maggie Goodlander and Colin Van Ostern, recently wrote to Democratic National Committee chair Jamie Harrison asking for changes to the party’s platform to make it more friendly to Bitcoin and other forms of cryptocurrency. Crypto support could be vital in key swing states, they said in the letter.

“From an electoral standpoint, crypto and blockchain technologies have an outsized impact in ensuring victories up and down the ballot. Crypto is at the top of voters’ minds in swing states, and a balanced approach to crypto that spurs innovation while protecting consumers is a net positive for policymakers and candidates,” they wrote.

Pappas was the only major New Hampshire Democrat running for Congress this cycle who declined to sign.

Instead of embracing crypto, Pappas has amassed a record of supporting bills that would hurt the crypto industry. 

Pappas voted against Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act which proposed protections for crypto buyers. Pappas also voted against the CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act, which would block the Federal Reserve from creating its own digital currency, giving the powerful bank the ability to run surveillance on crypto users.

Pappas sponsored a bill targeting the use of crypto to purchase drugs on the so-called dark web, linking the use of crypto to criminal activity. His bill would create a task force to study the use of crypto in online crimes.

President Joe Biden’s administration, especially the Securities and Exchange Commission, has been aggressive toward the crypto industry, alienating many potential supporters and donors. With Vice President Kamala Harris leading the ticket, Democrats like Goodlander and Van Ostern hope to see change in the party’s stance. 

“We believe this previous hostility does not reflect our Party’s progressive, forward-looking, and inclusive values. A refreshed leader of the ticket represents an opportunity to change that perception,” their letter states. 

According to the Financial Times, Harris’ team is already working on a “reset” with crypto industry leaders, stressing that under her leadership the party will be “pro-business, responsible business.”

Harris needs to play catch up with former President Donald Trump. A one-time crypto skeptic who once called it a “disaster waiting to happen,” Trump is now firmly behind the industry. He gave a keynote speech over the weekend at a Bitcoin conference in Nashville, Tenn., embracing the technology and calling for establishing a national Bitcoin stockpile before ending his speech in typically Trumpian manner.

“Have a good time with your Bitcoin and your crypto and everything else that you’re playing with,” Trump said.

Trump has also pledged to fire Biden’s anti-crypto Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler.

Crypto is popular among New Hampshire Libertarians, and libertarian-leaning Republicans. Nationally, key voters who are political independents are more engaged in crypto currency than either Republicans or Democrats. According to Goodlander and Van Ostern, the technology is gaining ground among those traditionally part of the Democratic coalition.

“Data shows that digital assets are being adopted at higher rates among Gen Z, Black, and Latino Americans, and immigrant communities–key constituencies of the Democratic party–compared to traditional financial products. These technologies are revolutionizing opportunities for these communities, reflecting their transformative potential,” their letter states.

Crypto support comes with potential drawbacks, as Pappas can attest. Last year he was dogged by the campaign money he took from disgraced fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX crypto exchange. 

Bankman-Fried was convicted of fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy and ordered to repay $11 billion stolen from investors. During the investigation, it was uncovered that Bankman-Fried and his cohorts made 300 illegal political donations, including thousands to New Hampshire Democrats.

Pappas eventually gave his $2,900 FTX donation to a charity, while Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan gave up $30,000. 

The four GOP candidates in the First Congressional District primary showed Tuesday night they are up for a fight, whether it’s incumbent Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas, President Joe Biden, or occasionally each other.

Two business owners and veterans, Chris Bright and Hollie Noveletsky, joined Manchester Alderman Joe Kelly Levasseur and former Executive Councilor Russell Prescott at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at St. Anselm College for the NHJournal GOP primary debate.

The number one question: Which candidate has the best chance to defeat Pappas?

“We have a perfect example: Manchester, New Hampshire,” said Levasseur when asked to make his case.

“For the first time since 1998, the board is red. We have seven Republican aldermen and a Republican mayor. And for the first time since 1998. We have a Republican chairman: Joseph Kelly Levasseur.

“There’s no one Chris Pappas, the Invisible Man, fears more,” Levasseur added. “I have won seven straight elections in a blue city as a Republican — and not a milquetoast Republican, a Republican that is Trump tough.”

Bright pointed to demographic changes, as well as the GOP’s struggles with the abortion issue.

“We have to get somebody [to D.C] just back at the table,” Bright said. “When I moved here in 2005 this was a red state. Then it became a purple state, now it’s a blue state. We need to engage with independent voters, and the abortion issue hurts us. We have to get our act together on abortion.”

Prescott, who ran unsuccessfully in the GOP primary for this seat in 2022, said his strategy of staying positive is the winner, pointing to his victories over Maggie Hassan in state Senate contests in 2002 and 2010.

“I look back at my races against Maggie Hassan, and it was a positive message that gets the independent voter to take a second look at a Republican,” Prescott said. “A Republican with a positive message, that’s what I have been doing for many, many years.” Prescott also mentioned his time working with Pappas on the Executive Council.

“We don’t need more of the same. We don’t need people who worked with him and caused this problem,” Noveletsky retorted. “We need something different.”

She also blamed an influx of voters from blue states.

“As people have moved to New Hampshire because it is such a favorable state to live in, because of our taxes and because of our quality of life, they bring with them their politics,” Noveletsky said. “We need to educate them about the values here in New Hampshire, and about why we’re different. And teach them to leave their politics at  home.”

Pappas was the main target Tuesday night, as Republicans accused him of failing to stand up for New Hampshire and instead acting as a rubber stamp for Biden.

Asked what one question they would ask Pappas on a debate stage, Noveletsky answered, “How do you sleep at night?”

All four candidates said Biden is too infirm to serve another four years, and they noted that Pappas has met with the president several times and must have seen the deterioration — not to mention the steady supply of stumbles and bumbles in Biden’s public appearances.

“We’ve been lied to for the last two years,” Bright said.

Noveletsky, a nurse who worked with the elderly and dementia patients, said Biden is clearly infirm and cannot do the job. Levasseur likened Biden’s situation to the movie Weekend at Bernie’s, and Prescott noted Biden’s infirmities are a national security danger. 

Asked to name their priority if elected to Congress, Prescott, Bright and Noveletsky identified out of control spending, skyrocketing inflation, and illegal immigration as top concerns. The more discursive Levasseur simply offered to follow the lead of former president and current GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump.

“Elect me and send me to Washington and I will be Trump’s main guy working on an America First agenda,” Levvasuer said.

Trump’s “America First” political philosophy influenced the public policy proposals from the candidates on stage. Noeveltsky wants to close both southern and northern borders to stop illegal immigration and build Trump’s oft-promised but never-completed wall at the southern border. All four candidates also said they support Trump’s call for stepped-up deportations of illegal immigrants.

“I do believe we need to deport them, I don’t believe we’re going to go door to door,” Noveletsky said.

Bright acknowledged he supported former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley in the primary after voting Trump in 2016 and 2020. He said Haley offered most of the policies of Trump, but with a younger candidates and far less “baggage.”

“We need a younger generation coming in,” Bright said. 

Prescott declined to say who he backed in the First in the Nation primary, calling the issue “old news.”

On abortion, all of the candidates are following Trump’s lead again. No one on stage supports a federal abortion ban, a major plank in past GOP platforms. Instead, like Trump, they all say with the Dobbs decision sending the question back to states, there is no longer a need to push for a federal ban.

Pappas has handily won every general election since taking office in 2018, and the Cook Political Report currently rates the district as “likely Democrat.” But a weakened Biden candidacy could hurt Democratic turnout and give a strong Republican candidate the chance to pull an upset.

Tuesday’s debate also generated its fair share of laughs, with some of the audience’s loudest prompted by a lightning round question session asking candidates to name a local restaurant where they’d pick up the tab for lunch or dinner with the debate’s moderator.

A 37-year-old Concord realtor who espoused anti-Trump sentiments online is being held for allegedly keying dozens of cars during the recent state GOP convention as police found a disturbing cache of guns, zip ties, and suicide notes in his apartment.

Lawrence Anthony Dunlap of South Spring Street was arrested and charged Friday with 11 felonies for the incident that took place earlier this month.

The investigation into Dunlap’s connection to the vandalism became intense Friday when Concord Police issued a “be on the lookout” alert for Dunlap over concerns for his safety and the safety of police who might encounter him, according to reporting by Tony Schinella at the Concord Patch.

Dunlap was reportedly seen leaving his home on foot Friday morning. Police report finding guns, a manifesto, suicide notes, and a bag containing zip ties, masks, and gloves.

Dunlap’s social media profiles were largely scrubbed Friday. But some remaining posts indicate an antipathy for former President Donald Trump and Trump’s supporters. In a rambling Facebook post accusing Trump voters of racism and law enforcement of denying the events of Jan. 6, 2021, Dunlap called Trump a dictator before oddly calling for unity.

“Y’all (Trump supporters) lost your s–t when [Obama] tried to fix healthcare. Never mind the sheer f—ery Trump has pulled for the last for [sic] years,” Dunlap posted.

“Then to tell me a dictatorship by Trump is better than the democracy we know. Kinda say [sic] it all now doesn’t it,” Dunlap added. “As long as we elect people who chose to divide [sic] over unify we will never get anything done.”

Dunlap is registered as an unaffiliated voter. He is accused of riding a skateboard around the cars parked for the state GOP convention and keying them as the car owners were inside.

Di Lothrop, a Nashua Republican whose car was damaged during the GOP convention held at Concord High School, is heartened by news of an arrest, but unnerved by Dunlap’s alleged motives.

“Now that is sick,” Lothrop said.

As a Trump campaign volunteer during the primary, Lothrop met a lot of Nashua residents who were not fans of the former president when she knocked on doors. Most were polite, but Lothrop did have an unsettling encounter with one anti-Trump Nashua resident making threats.

“He told me I had three seconds to get off his property or he would drop me,” said Lothrop, who is in her 70s.

The man followed up that threat by getting close to Lothrop and counting, she said.

“It is what it is. People like that are sick. There’s nothing you can really do or say to them to change their minds,” Lothrop said.

“I’m appreciative of the professionalism displayed by the Concord Police,” said state GOP Chairman Chris Ager.

Dunlap is being held on preventative detention and is due in Merrimack Superior Court on Monday. He’s charged with 11 felony counts of criminal mischief.

Dean Phillips and his insurgent Minnesota Nice campaign could be a problem for President Joe Biden, based on the upstart congressman’s packed house in Concord Friday.

Phillips is the only elected Democrat running to unseat Biden in the primary, saying he got into the race out of concern for the 81-year-old incumbent’s age and poor poll numbers.

“I did not intend to be here, but I am running to be president of the United States,” Phillips told the standing-room crowd at Brothers Cortado, a downtown coffee shop.

About 150 people came out on a frigid night, squeezing into the coffee shop for a chance to hear him. At times defiant, in a nice way, Phillips said his campaign is the last thing the Democratic Party wants in the state the party tried to cancel.

The Democratic National Committee’s attempt to strip New Hampshire’s first in the nation primary in order to protect Biden appears to have backfired. Biden supporters have launched a write-in campaign to save Biden from the embarrassment of losing a primary in his own party. Phillips has been running a proactive retail campaign, and best-selling author Marianne Williamson is pushing hard as well.

“The Democrats tried to tell you this is ‘meaningless,’” Phillips said, referencing a statement from the Democratic National Committee. “There is nothing more antithetical to our democracy than telling you your votes don’t count.”

“Tell the DNC they can’t do this to you,” Phillips said.

Phillips’ message of reaching for pragmatic solutions and finding a middle ground with opponents struck a chord with the Concord crowd. Phillips said he wants a national healthcare system so that people caught in the trap of drug addiction can get care and recovery. He wants to reduce gun violence by focusing on mental health solutions and not gun bans. And he wants to shore up social security by lifting the earnings cap for wealthy Americans.

The reason the congressional Democrat is taking on his party and possibly destroying his own future in politics is the fact he does not think Biden is up to the job. Trump, who Phillips said ought to have been impeached after the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol Riot, is too dangerous to be let back in the White House. Phillips does not think Biden can beat Trump in a matchup.

Phillips tried to deliver this theme in as nice a way as possible.

“We all love Joe Biden, but we know he’s in decline,” Phillips said.

Phillips delivered his stump speech and answered questions with his “aw shucks” demeanor. At times joking, occasionally serious, but always striving to be nice. His big idea for the White House is hosting regular Americans of all political persuasions for “common ground” dinners. 

Even with the sign of a late surge, Phillips said his campaign might be further along now if he changed his personality.

“I could have been in a much better position now if, when I started this run, I had been willing to do one thing, be a total jerk,” Phillips said.

Phillip’s campaign may not last beyond Tuesday, but he said Granite Staters have the chance to shock the DNC and the country. Phillips is making a big bet on New Hampshire, and he faces a long shot on Tuesday, almost as big a long shot as getting a nice guy into the White House.

He’ll always have Noshua.

Indicted on 33 criminal counts for allegedly filing false tax returns, John Castro’s presidential campaign would be facing a serious roadblock if that campaign had a car. Or knew where the road was.

The law school graduate, who is not a licensed attorney, is in trouble for allegedly making up deductions for clients of his Texas tax law firm, according to the indictments. Castro allegedly used the fake deductions to collect big refunds for clients, and split the take with them, the indictment alleges.

Castro launched his presidential ambitions as part of his effort to boot former President Donald Trump from the GOP presidential primary ballot in 32 states, including New Hampshire. His latest New Hampshire lawsuit is pending while United States District Court Judge Samantha Elliott decides whether or not Castro’s $800 campaign with two volunteers, no offices, and no New Hampshire Republican supporters counts as a viable concern.

Castro was indicted in United States District Court in Fort Worth, Texas, on Jan. 3, the same day he was in Concord trying to convince Elliott that sending his brother-in-law and cousin to New Hampshire to plant 15 Castro for President lawn signs on vacant lots outside Nashua counts as a serious presidential campaign. 

The New Hampshire campaign swing was headed by volunteer campaign David Garza, who is also Castro’s personal assistant and brother-in-law. Garza brought his cousin and fellow Castro employee, Alexander Gomez. Garza testified they started the one day of fieldwork in a city south of Manchester called Noshua, though Gomez testified it was called Joshua.

If any New Hampshire Republican Castro voters exist, they may be dissuaded by indictments that lay out a years-long scheme to defraud the government and lie to clients.

According to the indictments, Castro’s tax law firm attracted clients by offering large refunds, larger than they could get filing themselves, or by employing an accountant, or by hiring an actual licensed tax attorney. One client was entitled to a legitimate refund of less than $400, but Castro promised to get back more than $6,000 from the government, the indictment states.

Castro did get the large refund by claiming almost $30,000 in deductions that the client did not have, the indictment states. 

“These were not expenses that the (client) had identified or discussed with Castro and were not based on information provided by the (client) to Castro or his employees and were not approved or verified by the (client). These false statements resulted in a claimed refund of $6,007.”

Castro allegedly split the big paycheck with the client, keeping $3,000 for himself. Unknown to Castro, that client happened to be an undercover informant for the government, according to court records.

Castro presents himself as a tax attorney qualified to represent clients in federal court, though he is not licensed to do so. He explained to Judge Joseph LaPlante in October that he can act as a “federal practitioner” thanks to a loophole he found in college.

Castro thinks he’s found another loophole to get Trump off the ballot, using the 14th Amendment and the GOP nominating process. Castro is on primary ballots in several states as a Republican presidential candidate under the theory that his candidacy will confer the necessary legal standing to force Trump’s name to be removed.

Castro’s lawsuits claim that Trump is unqualified to be president due to the 14th Amendment’s anti-insurrection clause. He’s suing by alleging Trump’s continued campaign is costing Castro, potential voters, and donors. Castro has yet to prove his campaign has any New Hampshire Republican supporters, and of the $800 he raised last year, none came from any Granite State resident. 

Less convoluted attempts to get Trump off the ballot have had limited success. Maine’s Secretary of State Shenna Bellows recently announced she was blocking Trump, as did the Colorado Supreme Court. Both of those decisions are pending review by the United States Supreme Court, and Trump’s name is on the ballots already printed for New Hampshire’s upcoming first-in-the-nation primary.

Granite State Republicans overwhelmingly oppose the move by Maine’s secretary of state to take Trump’s name off the ballot, according to the new CNN/UNH poll. The same poll found independent voters also oppose the action by 50 to 40 percent.

Castro is representing himself in the many so far unsuccessful lawsuits he’s filed to get Trump off the ballot based on his qualifications. He graduated from the University of New Mexico School of Law in 2013. However, The New York Times reports Castro is likely to hire a lawyer for the criminal case. 

There is a Granite State connection to the latest story of then-President Trump trying to pressure election officials into rejecting the outcome of the 2020 election.l

One of the Michigan election officials who reportedly gave in to pressure from Trump to not certify his election loss in 2020 became the victim of a New Hampshire woman’s violent threats as a result.

Monica Palmer, one of the two Republican members of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers called by Trump Nov. 17, initially refused to sign the certification that President Joe Biden won. In the firestorm that followed her decision, Palmer became the target of deranged and violent text threats from Katelyn Jones.

Jones, 26, was arrested at her mother’s home in Epsom and she pleaded guilty this year to threatening Palmer.

According to new reporting by the Detroit News, Trump and Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel called Palmer and GOP canvasser William Hartmann on Nov. 17, 2020 in a bid to stop them from signing off on the election results. A recording of that call came to light last week.

“We’ve got to fight for our country,” Trump is heard saying. “We can’t let these people take our country away from us.” 

Trump and McDaniel are also heard assuring Palmer and Hartmann that attorneys would be provided if they did as Trump wanted. After voting to certify the election, Palmer and Hartmann then refused to sign off on the results, and they tried unsuccessfully to rescind their votes.

Wayne County was eventually certified for Biden, despite the attempt.

Soon after Palmer tried to rescind her vote to certify the results for Biden, she began getting violent online threats, including bloody photographs of nude women along with threats against her daughter. These threats would later be traced to Jones.

“F**king with our election is TERRORISM, and us Americans clearly don’t tolerate terrorists so yes you should be afraid, your daughter should be afraid, and so should (name of the victim’s husband,)” Jones allegedly wrote in one of the messages.

Jones allegedly did not appreciate Palmer’s move to not certify the results for Biden sent her violent texts via cell phone and Instagram accounts. Jones used to live in Michigan, but allegedly created the accounts she used for the threats at her mother’s house in New Hampshire where she was living at the time, according to the court records.

When confronted at her mother’s house, Jones reportedly acknowledged to FBI agents that she had sent the messages. The threats include violent photos as well as threats against Palmer’s daughter.

“Hmmmm I’d be a shame if something happened to your daughter at school,” Jones wrote to Palmer via Instagram.

Jones reportedly told the agents she made the threats and called Palmer a terrorist and a racist because she was upset with Palmer because of the election certification, according to the affidavit.

Trump’s alleged efforts to prevent Michigan’s 2020 election results from being certified are part of one of the many criminal investigations the former president is now facing. Trump is indicted on four counts of criminal conspiracy to defraud the cited States, in part for trying to stop the Michigan certification. Biden won the state by 154,000 votes.

Steven Cheung, a Trump campaign spokesman, told the Detroit News Trump did nothing wrong when he called Palmer and Hartmann.

According to Cheung, Trump’s actions “were taken in furtherance of his duty as president of the United States to faithfully take care of the laws and ensure election integrity, including investigating the rigged and stolen 2020 presidential election.”

There is no evidence to support Trump’s repeated claims that the 2020 election was stolen.

Donald Trump Campaign Rally at UNH

Saturday, December 16th

1:00 pm to 3:00 pm

University of New Hampshire Campus
Whittemore Center Arena
128 Main Street
Durham, NH

11:00 am – Doors open
1:00 pm – Program begins
2:00 pm – President Donald Trump delivers remarks