In Wednesday's post, Draz, Gruenhagen, Mort & "a number if other MN legislators" at Mike Lindell's Cyber Symposium, we promised to update readers with any news of other Minnesota legislators who were at the symposium.
A reader shared news of a video interview in Bemidji with state senator Paul Utke, R-Park Rapids, on Minnesota Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott Jensen's campaign Facebook page. Both men are entranced with Lindell's Cyber Symposium, though only Utke has custody of the Lindell bobblehead and the cred of actually having been at the symposium in Sioux Falls.
Here's the item, posted on Wednesday:
Jensen writes in the post:
Conversation with Senator Paul Utke regarding ELECTION SECURITY & Mike Lindell’s symposium. Fair and trustworthy elections should not be a partisan issue.
Thank you Senator Utke.
While both Republicans lap up Lindell's Big Lie, the event is meeting with poor reviews. At the conservative Washington Times, Joseph Clark reported on Wednesday in EXCLUSIVE: Cyber expert says his team can’t prove Mike Lindell’s claims that China hacked election:
The cyber expert on the “red team” hired by MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell now says the key data underpinning the theory that China hacked the 2020 election unveiled at the Cyber Symposium is illegitimate.
Mr. Lindell said he had 37 terabytes of “irrefutable” evidence that hackers, who he said were backed by China, broke into election systems and switched votes in favor of President Biden. The proof, he said, is visible in intercepted network data or “packet captures” that were collected by hackers and could be unencrypted to reveal that a cyberattack occurred and that votes were switched.
But cyber expert Josh Merritt, who is on the team hired by Mr. Lindell to interrogate the data for the symposium, told The Washington Times that packet captures are unrecoverable in the data and that the data, as provided, cannot prove a cyber incursion by China.
“So our team said, we’re not going to say that this is legitimate if we don’t have confidence in the information,” Mr. Merritt said on Wednesday, the second day of the symposium.
Mr. Merritt’s break from Mr. Lindell accelerated the unraveling of the MyPillow millionaire’s months of spinning of a conspiracy theory that he said would reverse the outcome of the 2020 election and restore former President Donald Trump to the White House.
Mr. Lindell delayed a scheduled unveiling of his evidence on Wednesday at the symposium.
He had offered $5 million to any in-person attendee who can disprove his claims. The offer is no longer on the table, Mr. Merritt said. . . .
My, my. Read the rest at the Washington Times. Today's big news from Sioux Falls is Utke and Jensen's hero claiming to have been attacked. Forum Communications' South Dakota news bureau chief quote tweeted the Sioux Falls Argus Leader's article on the claim:
Like always with Lindell, a good rule of thumb: extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. Or just even: basic claims require basic evidence. https://t.co/r3qopfa7qk
— Jeremy Fugleberg (@jayfug) August 12, 2021
Hard to top that elegant assessment.
Who is Paul Utke?
Now an insurance agent, Utke represents Minnesota Senate District 2; our Minnesota House favorites--Matt Grossell and Steve Green--serve the citizens in the lower chamber.
His current concern about election security did not appear in his May 19 commentary in the Park Rapids Enterprise, Minnesota Senate Republicans’ top priorities.
Not long after, he made The case for voter I.D. in the paper; a constituent fired back with ‘Distrust’ in elections based on lie.
In January, the paper carried a Forum News Service article by Dana Ferguson and Sarah Mearhoff, Sen. Utke one of eight who go maskless at Capitol ceremony:
It was a first day unlike any other at the Capitol as the Minnesota Legislature kicked off the 2021 session Tuesday, Jan. 5.
Of those who attended the first day of session on Capitol grounds, a handful of lawmakers opted not to wear face masks, despite clear guidance from public health professionals and legislative leaders. In the Senate, lawmakers took a moment of silence to reflect on the death of Sen. Jerry Relph (R-St. Cloud) who died of COVID-19 in December.
The senators were Mark Johnson (R-East Grand Forks), Paul Utke (R-Park Rapids), Justin Eichorn (R-Grand Rapids), Carrie Ruud (R-Breezy Point), Jeff Howe (R-Rockville), Andrew Mathews (R-Princeton), Mark Koran (R-North Branch) and Dave Osmek (R-Mound).
Sen. Matt Klein (D-Mendota Heights), who is a doctor, said on the floor that it was a sign of disrespect to colleagues and legislative staffers to forgo a face mask as the pandemic continues to rage.
"Not only does it create risk for our neighbors, but it sets a bad example of leadership in an area where easy and good leadership would be so simple to do," he said. "A mask on the face, showing our constituents that this is serious."
Asked afterward for his reasons for not wearing a mask, Utke said, “The problem we have with the information surrounding the coronavirus is what is fact and what isn’t. We can all find data that supports both sides of this issue. Some will say that masks help, and others tell us how bad masks are for our health. The CDC guidelines suggest the following to control the spread of the virus: social distancing of six feet or greater, or if in a confined area with others, they suggest wearing a mask. There were 10 senators at a time in the large Senate Chambers for the swearing in. We not only had six feet between each of us, we easily had 15 to 20 feet and more.”
Okay then: dueling facts. Utke did share information about COVID vaccine availability with his constituents, so there's that. He's not entirely another Jensen.
This week's visit to South Dakota wasn't Utke's only recent appearance in South Dakota. Here he is at a Republican Party of Minnesota retreat in Deadwood:
Here's the MN GOP caring about getting the pandemic under control. No mask, no distancing, at their retreat in SD.
— MusicInMyHeart (@StayCoolMN) January 26, 2021
MN lawmakers in attendance :Sen. Paul Utke, R-Park Rapids, and Rep. Greg Boe, R-Chaska. pic.twitter.com/WGkrNG43dA
In November 2020, the Star Tribune reported:
At least four Minnesota senators and an unknown number of staffers have tested positive for COVID-19, but multiple members who attended large indoor caucus gatherings where the virus is believed to have spread say there's no need for them to get tested. https://t.co/RyuSrUpziQ pic.twitter.com/2JaL8yXPWB
— Matt DeLong (@mattdelong) November 17, 2020
Why do we wonder about Senator Utke's critical thinking skills?
Screengrab: Former state senator Steve Jensen (left), a candidate for the GOP endorsement in the 2022 Minnesota gubernatorial contest, talks with Park Rapids state senator Paul Utke about Mike Lindell's cyber symposium in Sioux Falls. Utke attended the first day of the event.
Related posts:
- Draz, Gruenhagen, Mort & "a number if other MN legislators" at Mike Lindell's Cyber Symposium
- The headlines keep coming for MN vaccine skeptic gubernatorial candidate Scott Jensen
- MNGOP gubernatorial candidate Jensen earns another anti-vaxx headline, with Jan 6 attack doc
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