OPINION: The Challenges of Fair Trials and Fair Elections in The Silver State

In 2020, Judge James Todd Russell dismissed a high-profile election integrity lawsuit challenging the results of the General Election, refusing to hear and acknowledge evidence of election fraud in the State of Nevada. The media, funded by a multitude of far-left organizations, jumped onto the very tired and worn out “Conspiracy Theory” bandwagon in short order, publishing dozens of articles which foster that false narrative, saturating the nation with disinformation despite irrefutable evidence to the contrary. 

On Monday last week, Judge Russell did it again.

Russell refused to take evidence into consideration in his ruling to allow a change of venue in a high-profile case involving election integrity and seemed to exude salacious contempt as he ruled in favor of the Defendants. He seemed to enjoy taunting Plaintiff Robert Beadles even after praising him for his stellar legal work. He went so far as to make an outrageous claim the lawsuit was “frivolous and vexatious” despite the fact the Defendants are on record admitting election processes are so badly broken, that it will take $30 million to repair them.  

Gasps of shock and dismay from dozens of over 100 citizens in attendance, who filled not just one but two court rooms in Carson City were audibly heard. At one point Russell scolded citizens who were stunned at his complete disregard for facts and evidence.

The Defendants were represented by their own Washoe County District Attorney, spearheaded by Attorney Lindsay Liddell, who previously authored an elaborate memo harassing the plaintiff for requesting public records. Liddell is the same DA who works under Obama-appointed Judge Miranda Du.

It’s important to note that despite the egregious disregard for the law displayed by Judge Russell, everyone in attendance was peaceful. After court adjourned, citizens poured into the public hallways where there was a noticeably heavy U.S. Marshal and police presence. When citizens vocalized their valid concerns in this area about what transpired in the courtroom, they were met with hostility by one female law enforcement officer, who offered up a loud rebuke of “Watch your mouth and show some respect.” Apparently, opinions in a public area are not acceptable and now subject to outright hostility by law enforcement.

Welcome to Nevada

The Defendants in this case are Washoe County Manager Eric Brown, Commissioner Alexis Hill, and Registrar of Voters Jaime Rodriguez. They are being protected by Judge James T. Russell who seems to have a vehement disdain for simple, paper ballots, free and fair elections, evidence and transparency.

Here’s another development in the saga which may explain further why Nevadans are in jeopardy:

As previously published, Judge James Todd Russell is President of the John and Grace Nauman Foundation, a nonprofit which reports millions of dollars investments in stock trades on an annual basis, but which donates less than 8% to nonprofits. One of Russell’s nonprofits, The Boys and Girls Club of Western Nevada, shows thousands of dollars were sent to an address of a boarded-up building owned by Carson City and the State of Nevada. 

Judge Russell’s former law firm, Allison Mackenzie, describes their current first-hand involvement in this same nonprofitAllison Mackenzie, a lobbyist Firm based in Carson City where Judge Russell presides, in 2017 and 2022 made campaign contributions to Attorney General Aaron Ford.  

Why is this problematic?

Because Aaron Ford, the Attorney General for the State of Nevada, publicly endorsed the Defendant in the case Judge Russell just dismissed, thereby showing deference to the Defendant, Washoe County’s Alexis Hill.  Ford also attended a fundraising event at Hill’s family residence in Sparks Nevada this summer and maintains a staunch anti-conservative stance by leading efforts to “investigate fake electors” in Nevada who point out what Washoe County leadership already admitted–that elections in Nevada are broken.

Allison MacKenzie has direct financial ties to both Russell and Ford, which is a sincere conflict of interest. And they also have direct financial ties to Washoe County, and the Defendants in this case. 

Washoe County records reflect just over $300,000 was paid to The Boys & Girls Clubs in just nine months, from July 2022 to March 2023. 

The entity which handles donations on behalf of all Boys & Girls Clubs, including Truckee Meadows and Western Nevada, is called Give Lively. Give Lively was founded by Jonathan Soros and his wife Jennifer Allan, who met while working on the Clinton/Gore Presidential campaign in 1992. It’s widely known Soros funds the Democrat National Committee, is part of the World Economic Forum, is the backbone which funds the biased Media, and influences elections nationally by funneling money through his Open Society Foundation via billions of dollars in grants.

Washoe County DA Lindsay Liddell, who represented Hill, Brown, and Rodriguez last Monday, works directly under Obama-appointed Judge Miranda Du. Liddell works alongside an attorney with global reach, Adam Hosmer-Henner of McDonald Carano Law Firm.  McDonald Carano represents Mayor Hillary Schieve, who endorsed Hillary Clinton in the 2020 general election – the same lawsuit Judge Russell tossed in 2020 after refusing to hear evidence.

McDonald Carano staffers also sit on the Board for Give Lively’s Boys and Girls Club, alongside Schieve’s Reno Housing Authority.  In fact, financial donations are made directly under their individual names through Give Lively.

As if this isn’t enough to prove a sincere conflict of interest, The Carson City DA, Jason Woodbury served on the Board of Directors for the Boys & Girls Club of Western Nevada – the same entity Judge Russell claims he paid via his John & Grace Nauman Foundation.

And that’s not all.

Judge Russell lists Treasurer John McKenna under his John & Grace Nauman Foundation, who also serves as Carson City Board of Supervisors, Ward 3. McKenna is also listed at the main contact for Brewery Arts Center, an organization receiving funds directly from their own John & Grace Nauman Foundation, paying one another through their own nonprofits, where McKenna serves as treasurer for both entities.

In a YouTube video published by McKenna’s Brewery Arts Center, McKenna is recorded discussing elections and mentions his business partner Judge Russell in that video. Nowhere on the Brewery Arts Center Form 990 does this service of providing recordings for Carson City appear to exist. The location of Brewery Arts Center and activities are duplicated by both businesses, both claiming operational expenses, at the same address.

When Robert Beadles went on record to say that “Judge Russell is a disgrace to the robe” he was right.

Russell made a point on Monday verbalizing many times he was capable of being impartial in his rulings, but his ties to the defendants and his own businesses dealings prove otherwise.