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One year ago this week, U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas was patting his own political back over nearly $200 million in federal tax dollars coming to New Hampshire to improve broadband internet access.

“Access to high-speed internet enables our businesses to compete, communities to thrive, and Granite Staters to succeed,” Pappas was quoted in a press release. “I was proud to help pass the bipartisan infrastructure law to secure these funds.”

He wasn’t alone.

Rep. Annie Kuster said she was “thrilled” by the broadband funding, and Sen. Maggie Hassan called it one of her “key priorities.”

And Sen. Jeanne Shaheen was the most excited of all, sending a “breaking news” press release taking credit for “writing the broadband provisions that created the BEAD program.”

“This is precisely what we had in mind,” Shaheen said of the $200 million broadband cash haul.

But ask Shaheen about the Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program today, and she’s a “no comment.” The rest of the delegation is suddenly silent as well. 

Perhaps that’s because of a new report saying the $42 billion program launched in 2021 has yet to connect a single person to the internet.

Not one.

“In 2021, the Biden administration got $42.45 billion from Congress to deploy high-speed Internet to millions of Americans. Years later, it has not connected even one person with those funds. In fact, it now says that no construction projects will even start until 2025 at the earliest,” Federal Communications Commissioner (FCC) Brendan Carr reported.

According to the Washington Times, the reason Biden’s expensive, high-speed rollout is stuck in dial-up mode is progressive politics.

The law Shaheen helped write imposes burdensome requirements like climate change mandates, preferences for hiring union workers and the requirement that eligible companies prioritize the employment of “justice-impacted” people with criminal records to install broadband equipment.

“The Biden Admin’s failure to turn even a single shovel’s worth of dirt with these dollars flows directly from its own choices,” Carr says. “The administration chose to pursue DEI goals and climate change priorities and to add layers of Byzantine process that senators warned would delay internet builds.”

Among the mandates is a requirement “to prioritize certain segments of the workforce,” such as “individuals with past criminal records” and “justice-impacted participants.”

Carr compared the years of spending and billions of dollars — all without result — to the recent news that Biden’s billion-dollar push for electric vehicle charger stations has led to just seven or eight actually constructed.

“A lot of people look at the seven EV chargers, and they thought that was a big miss,” Carr said. “And you know, at least you got seven EV chargers. Here, we’ve got $42 billion, and we’ve got no shovels in the ground — nobody connected at all.”

As critical as high-speed internet service is for New Hampshire families, getting them connected is taking a back seat to a shopping list of liberal items, according to Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.). He joined nine other Senate Republicans in a letter to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) demanding the agency drop its “bureaucratic red tape and far-left mandates” that have kept the program offline.

“As numerous states and stakeholders have articulated, current BEAD rules divert resources away from bringing broadband service to rural America in a manner that is inconsistent with NTIA’s statutory authority in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). NTIA’s failure to resolve these concerns will prolong the digital divide and put billions of scarce taxpayer dollars at risk,” the senators wrote.

Meanwhile, Carr says, the Biden administration has added insult to injury for Americans in rural areas like northern New Hampshire who could have been helped by the BEAD program.

“While the Biden Admin’s $42.45B plan from 2021 has not resulted in even a single shovel’s worth of dirt being turned, the government in 2022 revoked an award to Starlink that would have delivered high-speed Internet to 642,000 rural locations,” Carr said.

Worse, Carr said, a group of moderate Republicans led by Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) wrote the Biden administration in 2022 warning the heavy-handed regulations proposed for the BEAD program would prevent it from fulfilling its mission.

“Certain provisions go beyond the authority granted to NTIA and will discourage or deter broad provider participation. This undermines our shared goal of delivering broadband service to all Americans as soon as possible,” the senators wrote.

Then, as now, the New Hampshire delegation had no comment.

A migrant center resident who allegedly molested a 12-year-old Manchester girl had recently finished his probation on a federal identity theft conviction.

Angel M. Rivera-Laureano, 59, was arrested last month at the migrant shelter in Chelmsford, Mass., on the Manchester warrant, according to court records obtained by the Maine Wire. But Rivera-Laureano’s known criminal history goes back to at least 2012, when he was caught cashing counterfeit IRS checks in the Queen City, according to court records.

The Maine Wire quotes a “law enforcement source with knowledge of the case” that Rivera-Laureano is a suspected illegal immigrant using different names and identities since coming to the U.S.

“The source said Jan. 1 is a birthday frequently used for illegal aliens living under assumed identities and that law enforcement isn’t even certain Rivera-Laureano is his real name,” the Maine Wire reported.

Rivera-Laureano’s story adds to the drumbeat of crime news involving migrants. On Monday, two New York City police officers were wounded in a shootout with a Venezuelan man who was in the country illegally. 

According to the New York Post, a judge closed the immigration case against alleged shooter Bernardo Castro Mata, 19 on May 6. Mata illegally crossed the border into Eagle Pass, Texas, where he was caught and arrested but later released in July 2023, according to the report.

President Joe Biden is finally bowing to pressure on the border. On Tuesday, he announced an executive order closing down ports of entry to those seeking asylum. But Biden’s move after years of stalling is not enough, says Republican gubernatorial candidate Kelly Ayotte.

“Joe Biden’s open-border policies have allowed millions of unvetted illegal immigrants into our nation and made our country less safe. Biden’s political move today is too little too late and does not do enough to stop the flow of illegal immigrants into our country” Ayotte said.

Ayotte, a former U.S. senator, is facing former state Senate President Chuck Morse in the GOP primary for governor.

“This horrific example illustrates how weak border policies make every state a border state, inviting drugs, crime, and gang activity to New England,” Morse said. “Candidates like Kelly Ayotte, who voted to give amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants, are no better than Joe Biden and can’t be trusted to suddenly grow a backbone on this issue. As governor, I will always protect New Hampshire families and will not back down from maintaining strong stances on immigration.”

The Ayotte campaign pushed back against Morse’s claim.

“Kelly Ayotte has never and will never support amnesty. Chuck Morse can’t rewrite history — he killed the sanctuary city ban and didn’t use E-Verify at his own company,” said spokesperson John Corbett.

Neither of the two major Democratic candidates for governor, former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig or Executive Councilor Cindy Warmington, responded to a request for comment. Craig’s previously expressed openness to so-called sanctuary cities. Warmington has said that while she’s not a fan, she would not seek to ban them. Ayotte said Craig and Warmington are not going to protect Granite Staters.

“Joyce Craig and Cinde Warmington support [Biden’s] disastrous policies and would turn New Hampshire into a sanctuary state. As Governor, I’ll never allow that to happen, and I will work every day to protect Granite Staters.”

U.S. Marshals caught Rivera-Laureano at a taxpayer-funded shelter operated by the state of Massachusetts, according to the Maine Wire. The converted Best Western hotel is now a shelter for illegal aliens or homeless U.S. citizens. Why Rivera-Laureano was living at the shelter is unknown. Court records list two addresses, the shelter and a home in Chelmsford, Mass. 

Rivera-Laureano was sentenced to three years in federal prison after he pleaded guilty to several counts including aggravated identity theft and fraud in 2013. He reportedly had fake drivers licenses made for an accomplice he recruited in New York, and the pair went north to cash the fake IRS checks in Manchester where they were caught.

Rivera-Laureano’s exact immigration status isn’t clear from available court records. His plea agreement and sentencing memorandum do not reference his immigration status being put at risk for the plea. There is a note in the sentencing order written by Judge Joseph Laplante recommending that Rivera-Laureano be allowed to serve his incarceration as close to Manchester as possible.

After his release in 2016, Rivera-Laureano was ordered to be on supervised probation for another three years, according to the sentencing order. That means Rivera-Laureano was free and clear as of spring 2019.

Rivera-Laureano came to live with an aunt in New York at age 16 after suffering abuse from his heroin-addict mother and her family, according to his sentencing memo. His father had abandoned the family when he was a small child, the memo states.

“It is clear that the defendant experienced a deeply deprived upbringing which left him unprepared for adulthood, the ramifications of which continue to this day,” the memo states.

Rivera-Laureano’s now being held without bail at Valley Street Jail in Manchester. He’s due in court for an arraignment in July. 

President Joe Biden’s “Bidenomics” spending spree is buying nothing but record debt, lower wages, and a weaker economy, and Democratic U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas (D-N.H.) keeps cosigning the charges, according to a new campaign out this week from Americans For Prosperity.

AFP, a libertarian-leaning grassroots activist organization, is launching an ad campaign in five states targeting Democrats who, like Pappas, are in more centrist districts but embraced Biden’s entire economic agenda, including trillions in post-COVID spending.

The 15-second streaming ad highlights the negative consequences of Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, like the inflationary increase in prices for gas, groceries, and housing now faced by average Americans. According to AFP, it takes an extra $11,400 to afford the standard of living Americans had when Biden took office in January, 2021.

“Rep. Pappas has done nothing but rubber-stamp President Biden’s agenda. And it couldn’t be further from what Granite Staters expect of their elected leaders,” said Greg Moore, AFP-NH’s state director. “You can see the difference between the heavy hand of Bidenomics and the light-touch policies that have made New Hampshire the freest state in the nation with robust economic growth.

“Rep. Pappas needs to give up on Bidenomics and take a page from the New Hampshire Advantage,” Moore said.

AFP’s campaign, which will include the streaming ad as well as direct mail and door-to-door outreach, is a response to Biden’s reelection campaign Bidenomics Bus Tour. Despite polls showing nearly twice as many Americans believe Biden has hurt the economy (49 percent) than helped it (28 percent), the incumbent president has made “Bidenomics” a centerpiece of his campaign for a second term.

“No president’s had the run we’ve had in terms of creating jobs and bringing down inflation,” Biden claimed last week. “It was 9 percent when I came to office, 9 percent.”

(Biden’s claim is false. Inflation was actually 1.4 percent when Biden took office, though it soared to 9 percent in June, 2022.)

Not surprisingly, the candidates in the First Congressional District GOP primary aren’t fans of Biden’s economics.

“As a small business owner, I have felt the implications of President Biden’s painful inflation and Congressman Pappas’ reckless tax and spend agenda in Washington,” said Republican Russell Prescott. “As a former state senator who has balanced budgets and stopped a sales and income tax, I have the necessary experience of governing in a fiscally responsible way. Our campaign is uniquely positioned to hold Chris Pappas accountable for his out-of-control spending spree in Congress, and we look forward to doing so this November.”

Pappas is also a business owner — his family owns the Puritan Backroom restaurant in Manchester — a fact noted by GOP contender Chris Bright.

“Thanks to the disastrous Biden-Pappas economic agenda, New Hampshire families pay more for their mortgage, more for groceries, more for gas and even the chicken tenders at the Puritan Backroom cost over 30 percent more than they did before their reckless spending spree.

“It’s time for a dramatic change of direction that reins in overspending, puts our economy back on track and gets the cost of living under control.” 

And Hollie Noveletsky, another GOP candidate, said the spending pushed by Pappas and Biden adds up to fiscal pain for everyone else.

“As the owner of a small business that has been debt-free for over 30 years, I have to be fiscally responsible. If I wasn’t, my company would be bankrupt and my employees would lose their jobs,” Noveletsky said.

“Unfortunately, career politicians like Chris Pappas have blown out government spending which has been the main cause of inflation and higher costs. Those increased costs are putting the squeeze on middle-class families when they go to the grocery store. That real life impact will definitely impact the ballot box this November.”

Pappas voted for all of Biden’s major spending proposals, including the American Rescue Plan of 2021 ($1.9 trillion), the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act ($1 trillion) and the so-called Inflation Reduction Act ($1 trillion), which economists agree is not reducing inflation.

The spending has driven the U.S. federal debt to $35 trillion. In fiscal year 2022, the deficit was $1.38 trillion. The following year it was $1.7 trillion. This year, the budget deficit will total $1.5 trillion and grow to $2.6 trillion by 2034, with interest payments on the debt going from $659 billion in 2023 to more than $1.6 trillion by 2034.

“Interest on the national debt, already higher than federal spending on children or Medicaid, will exceed spending on defense next year, on its way to $1 trillion by 2026. This is no way to run a country,” said Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.

The debt is also cutting into income and wages for most Americans, according to the CBO. Over the next three decades, the national debt is expected to cut wages and income by at least $8,000 per person, though if more debt is added under Biden’s proposals, that could jump to as much as $141,000 in lost income over 30 years, according to the CBO.

MacGuineas said it’s past time for Congress to take responsibility before the debt crashes the economy.

“We can start by actually passing a budget and by establishing a bipartisan fiscal commission to tackle some of these issues. We need a real plan to put the national debt on a downward sustainable path before it’s too late,” MacGuineas said.

Pappas declined to respond to requests for comment.

The Democratic political consultant behind the robocalls featuring the AI-generated voice of President Joe Biden during the First in the Nation presidential primary campaign got hit with a federal lawsuit Thursday. It was brought by New Hampshire’s League of Women Voters.

“These deceptive robocalls attempted to cause widespread confusion among New Hampshire voters,” said Liz Tentarelli, president of the League of Women Voters of New Hampshire. “As a nonpartisan organization, the League of Women Voters works to ensure that all voters, regardless of their party affiliation, have the most accurate election information to make their voices heard. We will continue to advocate for New Hampshire voters and fight against malicious schemes to suppress the vote.” 

The lawsuit names as defendants Steve Kramer, a consultant working for former Democratic presidential candidate Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.), as well as the two Texas companies he used to push out the call, Life Corporation and Lingo Telecom.

Kramer’s fake Biden called thousands of New Hampshire voters two days before the primary, telling them to stay home and “save your vote” for November. The stunt amounted to illegal voter suppression, according to Courtney Hostetler, Senior Counsel at Free Speech For People, which serves as co-lead counsel for the plaintiffs.

“Fraudulently made robocalls have the potential to devastate voter turnout by flooding thousands of voters with intimidating, threatening, or coercive messages in a matter of hours,” Hostetler said. “No one should abuse technology to make lawful voters think that they should not, or cannot safely, vote in the primaries or in any election. It is an honor to represent the League of Women Voters and the other plaintiffs in this important case to protect the right to vote.”

Kramer has a history of engaging in questionable campaign activity, including past robocalls using an AI-generated voice, according to the lawsuit. Kramer pulled off a robocall poll in South Carolina using the computer-generated voice of Republican Sen. Lindsay Graham, the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit states, “Kramer has since claimed that the deepfake robocalls achieved a response rate four times higher than robocalls using a generic automated voice because Sen. Graham’s voice was familiar to South Carolina voters.”

Kramer was sued in 2021 by a candidate for New York City mayor for allegedly faking the signatures he was hired to collect on behalf of the candidate. Kramer was paid $80,000 for the signature drive, according to the lawsuit.

The Phillips campaign paid Kramer’s firm, Get Out The Vote, more than $250,000 to produce robocalls. When Kramer was linked to the calls, the Phillips campaign publicly distanced itself from him.

According to the lawsuit, while with the Phillips campaign, Kramer’s penchant for robocalls was being encouraged.

“Kramer began receiving requests from unspecified consultants, corporations, political action committees (‘PACs’), and Super PACs requesting that Kramer use AI-generated robocalls in connection with unspecified campaigns,” the lawsuit states.

In the fall of 2023, Kramer met with a transient magician, Paul Carpenter, who also did web design and digital marketing. According to the lawsuit, Kramer paid Carpenter $150 to produce the AI-Biden recording.

Kramer then used Life Corporation and Lingo to send thousands of calls to New Hampshire voters. Kramer spoofed the calls so that they would appear to people as coming from the phone of Kathy Sullivan, former chair of the New Hampshire Democratic Party. 

Kramer would later release a statement claiming he engaged in the robocall stunt in order to “raise awareness” about the dangers of AI technology. But, the lawsuit notes he hid payments to Carpenter using a Venmo account associated with his father. 

He also reportedly instructed Carpenter to delete emails connected to the calls. When New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella promised to prosecute those behind them, Kramer told Carpenter to keep quiet, according to the lawsuit.

“On Monday, January 22, 2024, following an NBC News report on the New Hampshire robocalls, Kramer texted Carpenter a link to the story and the message, ‘Shhhhhhh.’ Carpenter responded, ‘Gtfooh’ an acronym for ‘Get the f*** out of here.’ Carpenter subsequently spoke with Kramer over the telephone.

“On the call, Kramer admitted to Carpenter that he had spoofed the New Hampshire robocalls or deliberately falsified the information transmitted via caller ID display to disguise their identity. Kramer also directed Carpenter to delete his emails concerning the robocalls, the lawsuit states.”

New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella is investigating an AI-generated robocall that appears to feature President Joe Biden telling Democrats to skip the First in the Nation presidential primary.

Formella’s office says the calls “appear to be an unlawful attempt to disrupt the New Hampshire Presidential Primary Election and to suppress New Hampshire voters.” Gov. Chris Sununu called the messages “voter impression and illegal,” and he said he’s spoken to Formella about prosecuting the responsible parties “to the fullest extent of the law.”

But who is behind the calls? The message doesn’t include a disclaimer. And what is their motive? Are they trying to keep Democrat-leaning unaffiliated voters from voting for Nikki Haley in the Republican primary? Or is the goal to keep registered Democrats at home rather than voting in their own party’s primary, where Biden needs write-in votes to prevent an embarrassing outcome?

“This coming Tuesday is the New Hampshire presidential preference primary. Republicans have been trying to push non-partisan and Democratic voters to participate in their primary. What a bunch of malarky,” the fake Biden voice voice says. “We know the value of voting Democratic when our votes count. It’s important that you save your vote for the November election.”

White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre confirmed Monday that the voice on the call is not President Joe Biden.

The robocall spoofed the cell phone number associated with former New Hampshire Democratic Chair Kathy Sullivan, who is leading the “Write In Biden” campaign. (Biden refused to allow his name to appear on the New Hampshire ballot after failing to force Granite State Democrats to give up their “First in the Nation” status.)

Sullivan would not respond to requests for comment from NHJournal, but she told NBC News, “It’s obviously somebody who wants to hurt Joe Biden.”

Discouraging unaffiliated voters who lean Democrat from participating in the GOP primary might hurt Nikki Haley and help Donald Trump. But how would it hurt Biden? Targeting registered Democrats would have no impact on the GOP primary at all since they cannot vote in the Republican contest.

Depending on who is targeted, notes veteran GOP strategist Dave Carney, it’s just as likely that phone calls trying to keep Democrats from voting on Tuesday would help Biden.

“It’s impossible to know who did it — it could be some hacker in his basement. But if you ask who benefits, it’s Joe Biden,” Carney said.

Efforts to rescue Biden from his decision to skip the First in the Nation primary could suffer a setback if enough fed-up Democrats follow the example of North Country progressive Theodore Bosen. He received the fake call, and he tells NHJournal he plans to vote in his party’s primary for U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.)

“Half the reason I’m voting for Phillips is how pissed off I am over what the DNC and Biden have done to the First in the Nation primary,” Bosen said. “It’s terrible for the whole process –we are the best state, historically, to vet the candidates, particularly Democrats.”

Bosen also said he is motivated by his opposition to Biden’s support for Israel in its ongoing war against Hamas inside Gaza. “What’s going on in Gaza with our money and our support is a war crime,” Bosen said. “And there isn’t a viable candidate who is even talking about it.”

If anger with Biden over the First in the Nation primary state or his Israel policy drives Democrats to the polls, the write-in effort has to match those numbers to keep Biden from being embarrassed in his party’s primary. The write-in effort isn’t organic; it’s organized. So the fewer Democrats that show up, the larger a percentage of the total the write-in will be.

The latest University of New Hampshire Survey shows the percentage of Democrats who say they plan to write in Biden has been slipping and now is down to the low 60s.

“Low turnout makes their write-in votes a bigger slice of the pie,” Carney said. 

But Democrats like Sullivan and U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan insist Biden was the target.

“I urge Granite Staters to make sure their friends and neighbors know the truth and turn out in even bigger numbers to write in President Biden’s name,” Hassan said in a statement.

Bosen agrees.

“I thought it was Trump, in part because [the fake Biden] talks about Democrats and independents taking part in the Republican primary,” Bosen said. “Only Trump thinks Democrats can vote in the Republican primary. He’s said it about five times in the last week.”

Bosen thinks the call has less to do with Biden than former Ambassador Nikki Haley. Haley’s push to take on Trump in the GOP primary is going to need all the undeclared voters it can get. The call is probably a Trump trick designed to keep those undeclared voters from helping her win, Bosen said.

“We all know independents are her only shot,” Bosen said. 

If the call did come from a Biden ally, Bosen believes, it’s because the campaign sees numbers that are not so good for the incumbent president, and they’re feeling pressure from rising support for Phillips.

“It’s a schizophrenic strategy,” Bosen said. “Biden’s biggest blunder was for him to condone the write-in. (He) is screwed if Phillips does well.”

State Rep. Steve Shurtleff (D-Penacook), former Speaker of the House, is also backing Phillips.

“Dean Philips has the educational and business experience to be an outstanding president. As President Kennedy said at his inauguration, “Let the word go forth to friend and foe alike; the torch has been passed to a new generation …”

“As a senior citizen, I say it’s time for us to pass the torch. Pass it to the congressman from Minnesota, Dean Phillips.”

Formella’s office confirmed to NHJournal that it is investigating the almost certainly illegal calls. However, the Attorney General’s Office has spent more than a year investigating tens of thousands of dollars of illegal mail sent by Massachusetts Democrats to interfere with the 2022 GOP primary in the Second Congressional District. Formella and his office have taken no action or filed any charges.

An anonymous caller tried to get Nikki Haley’s campaign rally in Keene shut down Saturday, telling the city’s fire department her crowd at the Keene Country Club was over capacity.

Fire Chief Donald Farquhar told NHJournal the caller complained too many people showed up Saturday morning to see Haley as she hopes to win an upset victory over former President Donald Trump in the state’s First in the Nation GOP presidential primary.

The ballroom area at the Keene Country Club lists a maximum capacity of 350 people. Farquhar said the space was well over capacity. He worked with Haley’s staff to keep exits clear, and he and other fire department staffers conducted a patrol during the event. Farquhar praised Haley’s team for its response to make sure the event could continue safely.

“Her staff was on point,” Farquhar said.

With Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) polling in the single digits, Haley has emerged as Trump’s only viable competitor in the Granite State primary. In recent days, Trump has directed his ire, and that of his legion of MAGA fans, at her. About a dozen Trump supporters demonstrated on the road outside country club property.

There’s no evidence the call to the fire department came from Trump’s campaign or its supporters.

Even before the call came in, Haley’s campaign appeared on alert for possible mischief at the event. Her staff scrutinized press credentials and directed attendees to an overflow area.

Keene Mayor George Hansel introduces Nikki Haley at a FITN primary event on January 20, 2024.

As for the candidate, Haley played it safe during her appearance. After an introduction from Keene Mayor George Hansel, she stuck to her stump speech and did not take questions from the audience.

The crowd was friendly and positive toward Haley, if not showing the same tent-revival enthusiasm seen at Trump events.

Haley didn’t shy away from criticizing Trump. While she voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020, Haley said he is too old now for the job, as is current President Joe Biden.

“Do we really want to go into this election with two fellas who are gonna be in their 80s?” Haley asked.

She also referenced a moment from Trump’s rally in Concord Friday when, while discussing the lack of security on Capitol Hill the day of the January 6, 2021 riots, he confused Haley with former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)

“You know, Nikki Haley, Nikki Haley, Nikki Haley, you know they– do you know they destroyed all of the information and all of the evidence?” Trump said. “Everything. Deleted and destroyed all of it. All of it because of, lots of things. Like, Nikki Haley is in charge of security. We offered her 10,000 people.”

Haley said Trump’s flub is another sign Trump is not fit for the job.

“They’re saying he got confused,” Haley said. “I’m not saying anything derogatory, but when you’re dealing with the pressures of the presidency, we can’t have someone else where we’re [questioning] whether they are mentally fit.”

Trump’s expressions of admiration for despots like Chinese President Xi Jinping, North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, and Russian President Vladimir Putin show he’s not the leader America needs, she said.

“Donald Trump has got to stop praising these dictators,” Haley said. “I had to sit down and have a conversation with him because he was having too much of a ‘bromance’ with Putin.”

Trump consistently leads all comers in primary polls, but Haley has been gaining ground. Part of her pitch in the Granite State is her electability in a race against Biden. Polls consistently show her beating Biden by as much as 17 points, while Trump runs neck and neck with the current president. 

Even with Biden clearly in decline, Trump is not a sure bet to beat him in November, she said.

“Here’s something that should send a chill up your spine: President Kamala Harris,” Haley said. 

Keene Mayor George Hansel told the crowd they would regret not voting for Haley on Tuesday, thereby handing the nomination to Trump. It’s time for the country to move past Trump and his chaos, Hansel said.

“For the first time in a long time, you and I have the opportunity to vote for someone we believe in,” Hansel said.

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.

President Joe Biden has competition for his ‘meaningless’ write-in campaign.

Former Executive Councilor Andru Volinsky is asking his fellow Granite State Democrats to skip writing Biden’s name on their ballots and instead take part in his anti-Israel write-in campaign called “Ceasefire.”

Announced Wednesday with a Zoom press conference, Ceasefire is Volinsky’s campaign pushing New Hampshire voters to write in the word “Ceasefire” on their ballots in Tuesday’s Democratic presidential primary. The plan, which may cause headaches for town clerks and election moderators across the state, is meant to protest Biden’s support for Israel in the war with Hamas.

“Vote Ceasefire aims to get N.H. voters to voice their anger and pain at the polls. Politicians listen to votes, and the people want a ceasefire,” the group said in a statement.

Leading Granite State Democrats like former state party chair Kathy Sullivan, U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, and U.S. Rep. Annie Kuster are supporting a write-in effort on behalf of Biden. The effort, funded largely with out-of-state money, is necessary because Biden tried to kill the Granite State’s long-standing First in the Nation presidential primary and refused to allow his name to appear on the ballot.

Biden said moving New Hampshire from its place at the front of the line is necessary in the name of diversity, and prominent progressives have long argued New Hampshire Democrats are “too White” to be entrusted with this important primary.

Critics of the state Democrats’ write-in effort say it’s a mistake to reward Biden for his insult to his party’s primary voters by helping him win an election he tried to cancel.

Volinsky and fellow progressive peace activists Bill Maddocks and Morgan Brown focused their criticism on Biden and his Israel policy.

“I think about this in terms of ending the regional conflict and stopping the annihilation of the people of Gaza,” Volinsky said.

Brown, a self-described community activist, was more blunt: “The United States has been funding genocide in Gaza.”

Brown also claimed without evidence that Israel has killed hundreds of thousands of civilians in Gaza, a figure that far outpaces even the numbers reported by the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.

For Brown, writing in Ceasefire is not an empty gesture but a way to pressure Biden to stop standing with Israel.

“I want Democratic leaders to see the American people are taking a stand against the bombing of civilians,” Brown said. “The bombs being used in their genocide are coming from the Democratic Party.”

Notable by its absence: Any mention of the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack by Volinsky or the other press conference speakers. Hamas terrorists killed more than 1,200 people, including women, the elderly, and children. They also took some 240 hostages. As of Jan. 13, Hamas was holding 132 hostages in its network of tunnels beneath Gaza. Six of them are U.S. citizens.

Maddocks, a peace activist and UNH professor, said the write-in campaign is a last resort after elected officials ignored calls to abandon Israel.

“Our words, our letters, our texts, our calls are not being heard,” Maddocks said.

NHJournal participated in the Zoom press conference, though its question asking why no one in the Ceasefire conference publicly condemned the Oct. 7 atrocities was ignored by the organizers. Reached later in the day via Facebook, Volinsky again declined to answer, instead responding with a heart emoji.

Volinsky claims he came up with the idea for the campaign after getting positive feedback on a letter to the editor he sent to the Concord Monitor. Volinsky sought the Democratic Party’s nomination for governor in 2020, losing the primary to then-state Sen. Dan Feltes (D-Concord).

“Vote Ceasefire New Hampshire is an informal group of concerned citizens encouraging New Hampshire Voters to register to vote and write-in ‘ceasefire’ on the Presidential Primary ballot on Tuesday, Jan. 23,” the group’s disclaimer reads. “The movement aims to get the attention of President Joseph R. Biden and other political leaders and demand they redirect their care for their campaign efforts towards an immediate ceasefire.”

Meanwhile, Shaheen is one of a dozen or so Senate Democrats pushing an amendment to make it harder for the Biden administration to send military aid to Israel. It would prevent the White House from skipping congressional review of arms transfers to Israel.

“The administration has utilized waivers allowing it to bypass congressional review for recent arms sales to Israel, prompting outrage from progressives,” Jewish Insider reports.

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.

According to investigators, a young Dover girl hid under her bed, scared for her life, as Jheisson Rizo Suarez broke into her home during a burglary.

Now, Suarez, 39, from Colombia, is facing his second deportation after pleading guilty in U.S. District Court in Concord to one count of reentry after deportation.

Suarez is the third high-profile illegal immigrant arrested in New Hampshire in recent months, including a convicted mass murderer and an alleged human smuggler. It is part of a national crisis that has reached from the U.S. border in Texas and Arizona to New Hampshire’s border with Canada.

Some seven million undocumented migrants have poured into the U.S. since President Joe Biden took office, But Democrats like Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), who sits on the Homeland Security Committee, have declined to take any action.

Suarez was arrested in 2021 in connection with the burglary. Police responded to the residence when the girl, alone at the time of the break-in, called 911. According to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for New Hampshire, she reportedly whispered to the 911 operator that an unknown person or persons had forced their way into her home.

Dover police officers soon had Suarez in custody and discovered it wasn’t his first sojourn to the United States. Suarez had been previously deported in 2013, according to prosecutors.

Suarez, due to be sentenced in January, faces up to 10 years in federal prison. His plea comes weeks after Mexican national Reynaldo Velasco-Velasco, 36, was arrested at the Canadian border for allegedly smuggling people into New Hampshire.

Velasco-Velasco had already been deported from the U.S. in 2011 when U.S. Border Patrol agents caught him this month. According to court records,  Velasco-Velasco was illegally leading four other Mexican nationals across the northern border into New Hampshire. 

The smuggler allegedly had two cars ready for the people he was bringing through, and Border Patrol agents stopped the cars as they were trying to flee the border region.

And last month, federal agents raided a home construction site in Rye to arrest wanted killer Antonio Jose De Abreu Vidal Filho, 29. According to federal sources, Filho was in the U.S. illegally after overstaying his visa. The former Brazilian military police officer entered the country legally in 2019, even though he was fleeing prosecution for his role in the Curio Massacre.

According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Filho was recently convicted along with three other military state police officers of 11 murders, plus charges of attempted murder and physical and mental torture, for his role in the 2015 massacre in the Curio neighborhood in Fortaleza.

El Globo, a Brazilian news outlet, reported the murders had been retaliation for the death of a Brazilian police officer in Fortaleza. Four of the 11 people murdered were teens under age 18; three were between 18 and 19, according to El Globo.

Filho was ordered to serve a 276-year prison sentence for his part in the massacre.

The arrests come as New Hampshire’s northern border is in crisis. This month, Chief Patrol Agent Robert Garcia of the U.S. Border Patrol’s Swanton Sector — which includes the New Hampshire border with Canada — announced more apprehensions in the past year than in the previous decade.

“Over 6,100 apprehensions from 76 different countries in just 11 months, surpassing the last ten years combined. Swanton Sector Agents are resolute and determined to hold the line across our 295 miles of border in northeastern New York, Vermont, and New Hampshire,” Garcia said via social media.

Gov. Chris Sununu has been raising the alarm for months and keeps getting turned down when he asks President Joe Biden’s administration for help. This month, Biden’s team rejected Sununu’s request that the federal government restore millions of dollars in border security funding New Hampshire received during the Trump administration. The funding, through Operation Stone Garden, gave the state resources to backstop federal border enforcement actions.

Sununu has not gotten any help from New Hampshire’s all-Democratic federal delegation. Sens. Maggie Hassan and Jeanne Shaheen, as well as Reps. Annie Kuster and Chris Pappas have been MIA, according to Sununu.

“I haven’t heard from them. I haven’t heard of any action that they’ve taken with the administration. I haven’t heard of any actual action or results that they have even attempted to bring to the table,” Sununu told NHJournal after the latest Biden rejection.

Asked Monday by NHJournal what they planned to do about the border chaos,  Shaheen, Hassan, Kuster, and Pappas all declined to respond.

While prominent elected New Hampshire Democrats have been silent, state party Chairman Ray Buckley spoke for them, reposting a social media message calling Ayotte a “fascist fearmonger” for focusing on the border.

Presumably, Buckley was not hiding under a bed when he posted that message.