ASHE IN AMERICA

Y’all, I have a stalker. Let this post be a public record in case anything mysteriously happens to me.

journalists v. journactivists

An institutional  “journalist” named Erik Maulbetsch has been putting me into his stories for nearly a year now, whether I am legitimately a part of the story or not. I’m being generous with institutional. The Colorado Times Recorder is an overrated tabloid. But I digress.

Some of Creepy Erik’s mentions are warranted – for example, if he calls or emails and I respond, or if he covers an event that I attend. You know, journalism.

Last year, Fremont County Clerk and Recorder Justin Grantham held a town hall meeting to discuss elections. I wasn’t there and didn’t speak about the event publicly at all, but Creepy Erik put me in the article anyway. Over the past year, Creepy Erik has labeled me QAnon, attempted to tie me to violence, and presumes to know my motives for civic engagement.

It was that Fremont County article that made me start to question Creepy Erik’s motives.

once upon a time i gave creepy erik the benefit of the doubt

Back when this all began, sometime in the Spring of 2021, Creepy Erik called me for comment. We spoke for over an hour. He told me he didn’t believe in election fraud (now – I’m sure he was all about it when Trump won in 2016); I told him about the overwhelming evidence we had collected in Colorado; he said our evidence was meaningless because we were biased Republicans and sore losers; I told him that I hadn’t been a Republican since 2011 and that I was more concerned with the GOP’s role in the fraud; and around and around we went.

Before we hung up, I asked him what happened to his journalistic curiosity and why he was simply regurgitating the talking points of The State without doing his own research. His response was so unimpressive that I don’t remember what he said. You’ve seen the photo. He is all around pretty unimpressive.

In September 2021, after I blew up his buddy Quentin Young for putting some of my colleagues and I on a numbered list of “dangerous” people, Creepy Erik reached out for another chat.

They put us on numbered lists and beg the state to take away our rights…but we’re the fascists?

As my “number one fan,” he was likely slighted that Quentin was getting my attention. I didn’t respond to his request for comment because by that time he had smeared me in so many of his “articles,” that I knew another go would just be playing chess with a pigeon.

Fast forward to earlier this week, and Creepy Erik’s latest attempt to win points with the communist overlords that pay his salary. (Don’t worry, we are researching this angle and will report what we find).

He posted a completely pointless and inaccurate article about the flight path of Mike Lindell’s plane. He tracked the tail number of the plane, posted the flight plan, and speculated on why the plane was moving and who was on it.

Now, consider that Mike Lindell, Tina Peters and others involved in this story have been physically attacked, and they regularly receive death threats from rabid communists like Creepy Erik and the 12 people who read the Colorado Times Recorder. This activist’s cyberstalking is now crossing state lines as he engages in interstate cyberstalking, presumably at the command of his handlers. Tracking the plane is next level for Creepy Erik, and I’m sure he didn’t get the idea himself.

Putting the potentially criminal aspects of his behavior aside, what Creepy Erik wrote isn’t even true.

He claimed in this piece that, “Reached for comment following publication, Lindell explained that the plane’s stops were part of shuttling Ashe Epp and other Cause of America staffers to their homes in Colorado.”

I had a very hard time believing that Mr. Lindell said this because…I wasn’t on his plane. So, I called Mr. Lindell, and he confirmed that he did not tell anyone that I was on his plane…because I wasn’t on his plane.

In fact, as I write this, I am 40,000 feet in the air on a commercial flight home to Colorado from visiting family. While it was humorous to read Creepy Erik’s blatant fabrication while I was out of state, I didn’t get a call for comment and his inclusion of me in the story is irresponsible, unethical and, candidly, just plain lazy. At least Quentin Young had the decency to call my teammate before giving him a ridiculously short, artificial deadline and then lying about him. But Creepy Erik can’t help himself. He has done this with me several times now.

Also, Mr. Lindell didn’t speak to Creepy Erik. He spoke to a CBS reporter. Notice how it says, “reached for comment” so passively? Did Creepy Erik put me on the plane based on a rumor? Or did he just straight make it up? Are reporters across the leftie press colluding and collaborating to lie about us? This is truly bizarre because…I wasn’t on the plane.

Stalker, media conspiracy, or both?

Creepy.

Rumors and innuendo are what passes for journalism these days. Imagine how many rainforests we could save if leftists stopped lying in print.

I’m starting to wonder if I’m going to find Creepy Erik naked in my closet holding a boiled bunny.

there are well known standards of conduct for journalists

The inaccuracy of the reporting by Creepy Erik – and his pals Quentin Young, Heidi Beedle, Jan Wondra, Charles Ashby, and all the rest – is journalistic malpractice.

Once can be a mistake – but then it is the duty of the reporter to correct the record.

This, however, is a pattern of behavior by a whole group of activists playing “reporter” with the sole intent of smearing those who have different political views. Smearing and endangering. Publishing routes and whereabouts puts my team and I in danger. Maybe that’s the whole point?

Anyone who still believes in the Fourth Estate should be outraged.

The mission of the press is to hold the State accountable. Our civic vitality depends on it. The Republic depends on it. But these efforts by Creepy Erik and the Comrades – and this is a playbook that is happening to grassroots activists all over the country – these efforts are intended to protect the state from their own constituents – facts and accuracy be damned. Can’t bite the hand that feeds you and lick the boot at the same time, amirite?

This is well funded and well-coordinated.

I could comment about how “stunning” the collaboration between the media and the government is, but that would be disingenuous. I knew the press was broken in 2001 when I graduated from journalism school and decided to go into business because modern journalism was incompatible with my personal integrity. We are betrayed on all sides.

Clearly Creepy Erik and the Comrades didn’t have that same integrity challenge, knowing them by their works.

As a news junkie, one thing that I DO find stunning is this current phenomenon where a whole group of alleged reporters are willing to burn their reputations and credibility by publishing falsehoods for money. And the level of coordination – THAT is stunning. When it comes to this crowd, their pens are for sale, and the same sugar daddy pulling SecState Griswold’s strings appears to be buying.

In contrast, I don’t even enable ads on my site. My pen belongs only to me, I buy ink by the barrel, and I am obsessed with the truth.

nothing more than lazy, lackluster losers

I do not operate from a place of fear, and I will not be intimidated or silenced. But Creepy Erik’s ongoing obsession with placing me in his stories does make me a bit uneasy. It’s like Hannibal Lechter started writing choose-your-own-adventure books. Won’t change my daily in the slightest, just gives me a moment of pause.

It makes me wonder: who else are Team Pravda stalking, and why?

well, we kind of know why

So, friends and readers if anything happens to me, please look at Creepy Erik Maulbetsch first. If the investigators say, “Did she have any enemies?” he should be suspect number one (whoops, I started a numbered list…oh well, that’s apparently acceptable behavior now).

Maybe “enemy” is the wrong word; fascinated and obsessed, creepy and potentially dangerous seems more on the mark.

Do you guys think he is stalking me? Here is one of his emails. Smash the like button and let me know what you think in the comments.

NB. Creepy Erik, I know you’ll read this: How about you pretend to be a real journalist for a day and ask Jena Griswold why she destroyed election records in Colorado voting systems?

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CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article stated that Mr. Lindell did not speak to Creepy Erik. Erik reached out with the transcript of the call as proof of his conversation with Mike. The article has been corrected based on the transcript in which, as correctly reported, Mike did not say that I was on the plane.

Ratioinvictus contributed to this report.