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Residents of a California county are growing increasingly concerned as the election draws near — and a pro-Trump conspiracy theorist has been left to run voting administration, according to a report.

Shasta County, a community in the far north of California that includes the city of Redding, has been inundated with extremists and conspiracy theorists vying for local control of the government for years. Their ability to actually govern is about to be put to the test in a big way, reported the Guardian.

For years, the elections office in Shasta County had been run by Cathy Darling Allen, the only Democrat in county office. But since 2020, despite having majority support from the county, she has been stalked and harassed by Trump supporters who believed the election was stolen, according to the report.

Some accused her of witchcraft in public meetings, tailed her to her car and bugged her office, the Guardian wrote. She resigned this year following a medical diagnosis of heart failure.

The obvious candidate to replace Darling Allen as election registrar ought to have been Joanna Francescut, noted the report. The assistant elections clerk in the county, Francescut "had worked in elections for more than 16 years, oversaw the office of the county clerk and registrar of voters for months after her boss went on leave, and was endorsed by elections officials and prominent area Republicans alike."

But the far-right county supervisor board "selected Tom Toller, a former prosecutor who had never worked in elections and vowed to change the office culture, improve public confidence, and 'clean up' voter rolls."

ALSO READ: Retired judge grades Trump's appointees —and finds some have 'lost their way'

Even conservatives in the county are raising alarms that this could lead to disruptions within the voting process. Robert Sid, a supporter of Francescut, said, “People are worried about it. If there was any hint of scandal [at the elections office], I’d be the first one down there. But there’s never been anything.”

This is the latest in a long string of far-right takeovers in Shasta County.

In 2022, Reverge Anselmo, a Connecticut film industry millionaire frustrated by Shasta County approving developments on a winery he owned there, bankrolled the successful recall of a moderate Republican county supervisor, tipping the majority of the county board toward extremists tied to local militias.

This new board proceeded to hire unqualified radicals to a number of key offices, the Guardian reported. In 2023, to run the local mosquito control district, they selected Jon Knight, a man present at the January 6 Capitol insurrection who has proclaimed that Japanese scientists bankrolled by Microsoft founder Bill Gates engineered mosquitoes into "flying syringes that will mass-vaccinate the populations."

Some voters in Shasta County, fed up with the chaos, have started to fight back. Earlier this year, voters ousted Supervisor Patrick Jones, a local gun store owner who has tried to abolish Dominion Voting Systems equipment based on 2020 election conspiracy theories.

Donald Trump and his family are setting the stage for post-election chaos with increasingly violent rhetoric, according to panelists on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."

The former president returned to Butler, Pennsylvania, to rally at the site of his first apparent assassination attempt, which he and his family baselessly blamed on Democrats, and host Joe Scarborough and his guests agreed that Trump was stoking the possibility of violence if he loses the election to Kamala Harris.

"I rarely agree with Lara Trump, but this election is about good and evil," said panelist Donny Deutsch. "She just has it reversed, where the good and evil is. The table is being set. The day after election day will be sobering, one way or the other. If Donald Trump wins, it's going to be extremely sobering. Even if Kamala Harris wins, it'll be sobering because the streets are going to be flooded. You see it, I mean, it's being set up. I don't think there's any gray areas here. For Trump to have gotten up there and say that the Democrats were responsible, when we know for a fact that the lone assassin voted for Trump before, his family had Trump signs in their backyard, is disgusting, vile and just dangerous."

ALSO READ: White supremacist ideas go mainstream: How the GOP is embracing a dangerous narrative

Trump was joined at the rally by tech mogul Elon Musk, who owns the social media platform X and increasingly spreads right-wing disinformation ahead of the election.

"Elon Musk I find to be like a Bond villain, one of the most dangerous characters to come along," Deutsch said. "The richest guy in the world that controls a major social media platform, to get up there and actually say Donald Trump is the one who is going to save democracy. The thought that that guy could be in Donald Trump's pocket is just terrifying."

Scarborough pointed out that it's not clear who 20-year-old Thomas Crooks, the gunman who fired a shot at Trump in July, actually voted for, although 58-year-old Ryan Routh, who has been charged with plotting another assassination attempt against him, did vote for the former president in 2016.

"I mixed them up," Deutsch said. "I'm sorry – my bad."

However, Scarborough agreed that Trump was priming his supporters to carry out violence on his behalf if he loses next month's election.

"What we have, though, here is, again, we have this vile political punchline that Donald Trump, vice president nominee [J.D. Vance], and his members were getting at," Scarborough said. "But the recurring theme about everything Donald Trump says, it's wrong. The lies we have seen over the past week, so many lies. Let's just focus in on three – lies about the 2020 election, Donald Trump continues to lie about it, J.D. Vance continues to lie about it, won't answer questions and then is chased down and says he did win. Then you have lies from so many other people, despite the fact that Republican officials in Georgia, the governor, the secretary of state, Republican officials in Pennsylvania, Republican officials in Michigan, Republican officials in Arizona, in all the swing states saying Donald Trump lost, yet, four years later, still undermining American democracy and telling all of his supporters, we got robbed."

"Then lying about dogs and cats being eaten by immigrants in Ohio, even when the governor, the Republican governor, the lifelong Republican governor, who was the Republican senator before and now is a two-term Republican governor, is saying that's a lie," Scarborough added, "and asking Vance, an Ohio senator, to stop lying about his own constituents and making their lives more dangerous. Then the lie about Democrats trying to kill Donald Trump, again, as a vile political punchline that all but invites Trump supporters to launch a civil war if he loses this campaign."

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However, an investigation by the Daily Montanan, reviewing those full recordings, show no evidence of the tapes being manipulated, and the quotes were accurately first reported by Char Koosta News, the official newspaper of the Flathead Indian Reservation. Moreover, Char Koosta last week released two previously unknown tapes of other events that demonstrates that Sheehy, who is challenging incumbent Democrat U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, made similar disparaging comments about Crow people.

Furthermore, a full review of all the recordings also demonstrates Sheehy repeating a debunked claim that doctors are allowed to kill infants after their born; that he wants to defund and eliminate several federal departments, and repeatedly calling into question Tester’s record helping veterans, referring to Tester as “Jabba the Hut.”

The Sheehy campaign did not respond to requests for interview or clarification about the comments.

The recordings of several Sheehy events were released by Char Koosta News after Sheehy told Fox News on Sept. 20 that the original tapes that were published by the outlet were “chopped up” and edited. The publication then released full recordings of the event, and included two others where Sheehy made similar comments about getting Coors Light beer cans thrown at his head while working on the southern Montana reservation, where Sheehy and business partner Turk Stovall have part of their ranching operation.

One of those recordings that was previously released shows Sheehy saying:

While Sheehy has largely been on the defensive after commenting on Native Americans, which has included a coalition of tribal organizations, the four recordings show a pattern of not only repeating that Crow tribal members pelt him with beer cans, but also demonstrate a pattern of repeating questionable or dubious claims about abortion, education and Tester, his opponent.

The tapes, published by Char Koosta, were from four public speaking events — Big Sky Motel in Superior on Sept. 18, 2023; Clark’s Family Restaurant in Shelby on Nov. 6, 2023; the Tri-County Republican Women’s Club Meeting in Helena on Nov. 9, 2023; and the Rodeo for State Sport fundraiser in Hamilton on Nov. 10, 2023.

Yet in the newly released tapes from an event in Superior, Sheehy appears to tell a similar story about getting beer cans thrown at him that hasn’t been reported:

“You want a tough crowd when you’re roping, go up to the Crow Reservation. You miss that double heel shoot and you get a Coors Light up side the head and a ‘Ha, white boy.’”

During another speech in Helena, Sheehy told the Republican Women’s Club:

“I rode on my horse through the Crow Reservation festival with Tim Sheehy signs strapped to me. One of our ranching operations are on the Crow Reservation, and I’m down there. I rope and brand my own cows, and I cut and bale my own hay. I’ll tell you if you don’t make that double heel shot on the Rez, the Coors Light cans hit you on the side of the head.”

As much as Sheehy told that story — twice as previously reported, and now on two other recordings — the GOP Senate candidate also said that more Native Americans should be voting Republican because the Democrats have failed tribal communities by letting drug cartels operate there. He characterized most Native Americans as conservative, pro-life, pro-guns and anti-crime.

“I’m on your reservation, and I care about your issues,” he said.

Sheehy on education

Several times in the recordings, Sheehy calls for defunding large portions of the federal government, including the Department of Homeland Security and the Transportation Security Administration as well as the federal Department of Education.

Sheehy said that he and his wife home-school their four children with an agriculture and faith-based curriculum.

“The Department of Education is an indoctrination factory to push out curriculum that parents don’t want,” he said.

He claimed during those speeches that part of public education was to confuse children about gender.

“Boys are girls and girls are boys in the legislature, thanks to our friend up there,” Sheehy said, making a likely reference to Montana Rep. Zooey Zephyr, the first openly transgender woman to serve in the Montana Legislature. “It’s like Dr. Seuss.”

That was a message Sheehy repeated at a rodeo event in Hamilton where he said that children need to go to school “knowing boys are boys and girls are girls.”

Federal government

Sheehy during the speeches also outlines a broad, different vision for the federal government, starting with a civil service reform that echoed some of the points emphasized by the conservative and controversial “Project 2025,” authored by many former Trump administration officials.

Sheehy called for cuts to the federal government modeled after Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, who he reportedly said cut 30% of the state government.

However, Sheehy said that the federal government was being destroyed by Democrats who are career bureaucrats and “hunker down” during Republican administrations. Sheehy supports a maximum of eight years for any federal government employee, and then suggests they return to the private sector.

“You can’t fire federal employees. You can’t dock their pay. The way you used to get rid of them was by saying, ‘Hey guess what? Your new duty station just got moved to Fairbanks, Alaska,’” he said. “And by definition, if you can’t fire someone, they don’t work for you, you work for them.”

At a speech in Helena, he said the problem with the federal government is “permanent bureaucrats.”

“They need to retire and go away,” Sheehy said. “They need to be replaced by real Americans who understand what Americans do every day.”

Sheehy said much of the problem with the federal government stems from its location in Washington, D.C. He repeatedly called for moving federal agencies away from the Capitol, not unlike the failed plan to the move the U.S. Department of the Interior to Colorado during the Trump administration.

He suggested the United States Department of Agriculture be located to Iowa, near cornfields and that the United States Forest Service should be in some place like Missoula. He suggested the Federal Aviation Administration should move to Oklahoma City.

“We need to return competency to those industries they’re required to regulate,” he said. “Most have never seen a forest, never seen a cornstalk, driven a combine or flown an airplane, and they’re telling us how to run our government.”

Sheehy has also come under fire for his work with the Property and Environmental Research Center, a think tank on which he previously served as a board member. That organization has advocated for private management of public and federal lands. Sheehy has been accused of wanting to privatize public lands, much of which are in large western states like Montana. At his speech in Shelby, Sheehy seemed to advocate for a similar position.

“The federal government has managed government lands for far too long, and when the federal government manages lands, things just don’t go well,” Sheehy said, “that’s the simple truth.”

Sheehy was also asked a question about his company, Bridger Aerospace, taking a PPP loan during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sheehy defended taking the forgivable loan, saying that the U.S. Forest Service shut down his operations, and that during the pandemic, the company did not lay off any employee or dock pay.

Instead, Sheehy said he spent the pandemic hiding under a bed “with a diaper on my face.”

Reproductive freedom

Sheehy admitted that Democrats are beating Republicans at the “ground game” on the subject of abortion. He repeated in several of the forums that it was legal to kill infants after an abortion, after they’re born, a claim that has been forwarded by presidential candidate Donald Trump, and repeatedly debunked.

He said that the Republican Party must do more to woo young, female voters. He characterized females less than the age of 25 as “indoctrinated” and “single-issue” voters.

“Murder is the official position of the American Democratic Party,” Sheehy said.

Voting reforms

Sheehy has been urging voters to send ballots in early, and advocated for overhauling the election system, calling for paper ballots and Election Day voting.

During those speeches, he stopped short of saying the 2020 election was fraudulent or rigged, instead saying that Republicans must expand their party tent and get younger people involved, including welcoming those who may not agree on every point.

However, he did call repeatedly for voter identification laws, voting on paper ballots and voting on Election Day.

“The Democrats will use every trick possible,” he said.

Sheehy recounted how he helped Iraq conduct the first open, free elections and did it through paper ballots and a blue ink that stained fingers to show proof of voting.

“I do not believe in electronic voting machines,” he said. “A No. 2 pencil and a piece of paper sounds pretty good to me.”

He also characterized America’s voting infrastructure as “fancy Chinese machines.”

Jon Tester

Repeatedly, Sheehy takes after Tester’s record, calling him a “dyed in the wool Socialist.” In the speeches, he reminds the crowd that he’s a decorated combat veteran and said his goal was to capture the veterans’ vote.

“(Tester)’s never signed the front of the paycheck. He’s hoodwinked the veterans of this state,” Sheehy said, then changing his voice, “I’m the head of the VA committee and I have this stupid flat-top.

Several times when speaking about Tester, Sheehy took shots at the flat-top haircut Tester has had since his childhood.

He said that Tester, as the chairman of the Veterans Affairs Committee, in Congress is responsible for the failures of the VA, while at the same time, accused Tester of plopping down VA clinics across Montana in an attempt to appease the veteran community.

“He puts on a jacket and waddles around like he cares,” Sheehy said of Tester.

He accused the three-term Senator of lying to veterans’ face, and said the only thing that has been successful while Tester has sat as the leader of the Senate’s VA committee is that more VA employees have unionized.

“He’s accountable for a record number of veteran suicides,” Sheehy said. “He’s accountable for the dysfunction of Veterans Affairs and let’s hold him accountable by sending him home.”

Tester has been a strong advocate for the veterans community, including his bipartisan effort to get the PACT Act which he co-sponsored with U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kansas. That extended benefits to veterans who were the victims of toxic chemical exposure and “burn pits” and the cancers and neurological diseases associated with handling the materials. In August, the federal government reported that more than 1 million veterans were getting benefits through that legislation.

“I’m a war hero, a job creator and a philanthropist,” Sheehy said. “Those are three things that Jon Tester can’t say.”

He also blamed the Democrats for “destroying our culture and violating the Constitution.”

However, he said that Democrats were also doing a better job courting young voters, and that the GOP must work to invigorate young voters.

“We all want a culturally pure warrior to take the field of battle, but we’re going to lose every time so we have to have a message and a message that most Americans can get behind,” Sheehy said. “We have to stop this grievance and talking about the past or else we’re going to lose young voters.”

Former President Donald Trump completely made up his accusation that President Joe Biden is robbing Federal Emergency Management Agency relief funds from Hurricane Helene ravaged areas, Washington Post fact-checker Glenn Kessler wrote in a Four Pinocchios review of Trump's latest claims made at a Michigan rally Thursday.

And worse, Kessler wrote — Trump is actually accusing Biden of something he did himself as president in 2019.

“The Harris-Biden administration says they don’t have any money [for hurricane relief]," Trump said at the rally. "They spent it all on illegal migrants … They stole the FEMA money just like they stole it from a bank, so they could give it to their illegal immigrants that they want to have vote for them."

None of that is true, wrote Kessler.

"Even though Trump was once president, he still appears to have little clue about the appropriations process," wrote Kessler. The truth, he wrote, is that while Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has asked Congress to shore up the Shelter and Services Program, hurricane relief is a separate fund — with thousands of pounds of supplies being delivered to affected areas.

Additionally, Biden did not take any money out of the other, unrelated program that is facing a shortfall, he wrote.

DHS issued a statement in response to Trump's speech, saying, “These claims are completely false. As Secretary Mayorkas said, FEMA has the necessary resources to meet the immediate needs associated with Hurricane Helene and other disasters."

But Trump shouldn't be so quick to raise this accusation, Kessler noted, because he did something like this himself when he was president.

ALSO READ: He’s a sociopath:' J.D. Vance has Congressional Democrats freaking out

"In 2019, the Trump administration, in the middle of hurricane season, told Congress that it was taking $271 million from DHS programs, including $155 million from the disaster fund, to pay for immigration detention space and temporary hearing locations for asylum seekers who have been forced to wait in Mexico," he wrote.

In fact, this isn't even the first time Trump falsely accused Biden of mismanaging relief funds in a way his own administration did.

Trump recently claimed in another speech that Biden and North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper are "going out of their way to not help people in Republican areas." He offered no evidence — but in fact, in 2019, Trump announced he would cut off all FEMA wildfire relief to California until the state started "raking" the forests better, and only reversed course when a Republican lawmaker pointed out to him that his own heavily pro-Trump district was in the California wildfire disaster zone.

President Joe Biden on Friday had a laugh at the expense of Sen. Marco Rubio after the Florida Republican claimed that numbers in the latest jobs report were "fake."

While taking questions from reporters in an impromptu White House briefing, the president was asked what he made of Rubio's comments about the purportedly "fake" jobs numbers showing that the American economy added 254,000 jobs in September, with wage gains significantly outpacing the rate of inflation.

Upon hearing the question, Biden immediately started cracking up.

ALSO READ: Trump regaled donors with jokes about rallygoer killed by would-be assassin: leaked audio

He then composed himself and delivered a response.

"Look: If you've noticed, anything the MAGA Republicans don't like, they call fake — anything!" he said. "The job numbers are the job numbers. They are. They're real. They're sincere... And by the way, just look at how the [European Union] talks about us, they'd like to have an economy like ours. Let's talk about how the rest of the world looks at us."

Multiple Republicans, including Donald Trump's running mate Sen. J.D. Vance, have tried to find fault with the jobs report even though most economists have said that it shows significant strength in the American economy.

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A newly released legal filing that dropped Wednesday in Donald Trump’s election interference case is “really powerful,” a former prosecutor argued, adding it was clear that its release came because the special counsel wanted people to know “this was a bad guy acting in bad faith.”

“This really is a two-part document,” said former federal prosecutor Jennifer Rodgers. “This is for the public, this is for us all to say, 'Well, this is a really powerful case against the former president. This is really, really bad what he did.'”

Rodgers said during an appearance Wednesday night on CNN that she believes the motivation behind the massive legal filing is to try to convince the judge in the case “and all the judges up the chain” that the new evidence should be admitted, and is not subject to the Supreme Court’s recent immunity decision that upended the case against Trump.

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“It kind of has those two things, but that is really more of an atmospheric point,” she said. “They want everyone to know this was a bad guy acting in bad faith and the case against him is really powerful.”

CNN contributor Joey Jackson said that, as a former criminal defense attorney, he is especially concerned by former Vice President Mike Pence’s possible influence over a potential future trial.

“Number one I see Mike Pence shaping up to be an all-star witness here,” Jackson told CNN host Kaitlan Collins. “So, you're going to have Mike Pence really taking the stand if it moves forward, giving damning evidence with respect to the conversations he had with his boss, concerning this fake elector scheme, concerning his presiding over the senate and ditching the real ones and putting in these other ones.”

“And so that's going to be problematic.”

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