AZ Mirror Reporter Jerold Macdonald-Evoy Labels Mesa Republican Verl Farnsword "The Q-Anon Politician"

That's right - or wrong - but what's left to say after this first describing him as "a failed candidate" to open the reporter's paragraphs using the featured image shown of Verl Farnsworth working at the Arizona election audit.

Maybe he could be "a table manager" or maybe this is one more example of the reporter's highly touted "creative story-telling skills'?

Pool photo.

 

Auditors promised to screen workers, but QAnon promoters and Capitol rioters were hired

Jerod MacDonald-Evoy June 17, 2021                    Last Updated: June 17, 2021 9:08 am

 

OK,,, Let's dive in > "

The Arizona election audit has employed a failed candidate who has espoused QAnon beliefs and a man who was at the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot of Donald Trump supporters who tried, but failed, to overturn the election.

The Arizona Mirror was able to identify the audit workers through their social media postings, media coverage of the audit and through interviews with people who know them. 

How they were hired is unclear, and their work on the audit — where they both counted ballots and worked as “observers” tasked with monitoring the proceedings — flies in the face of the pledge that audit leaders made to ensure conspiracy theorists and those who spread falsehoods about election fraud in 2020 wouldn’t be allowed near the 2.1 million ballots being recounted.

Auditors insisted in April that all volunteers would face a background check, including an examination of their social media postings . . .

> It isn’t clear whether those background checks actually happened or if they have been imposed consistently throughout the months-long audit, which has run weeks behind schedule and faced staffing shortages. Audit spokespeople professed not to know or didn’t answer the Arizona Mirror’s questions about who was hired.

> The Mirror also provided the audit with the names, social media profiles and information of the people, along with a list of questions about the background check process and the work the people did. The audit leaders never responded, . .

The QAnon-promoting politician

A year ago, Verl Farnsworth was running for Mesa mayor, where he hoped to unseat incumbent John Giles. But those hopes were dashed in the city’s August election when he mustered only 33% of the vote as Giles cruised to re-election.

In May, Farnsworth was working on the audit floor, where he was captured in photographs by the media pool photographer on multiple days. People who know Farnsworth confirmed to the Mirror that he was the man in the photos. 

Farnsworth was working as a “table manager.” Audit spokesman Pullen previously told the Mirror that many table managers start as observers and work their way up to that position, often having a secondary vetting process. It is unclear if this is how Farnsworth became a table manager. 

His work on the audit followed months of social media posts promoting QAnon topics, including posting that a “storm is coming” — a common QAnon catchphrase referring to the mass arrest and execution of Democrats — and writing that it was “time to choose.” 

Farnsworth also appears to have connections to local extremists. 

The Mirror discovered that Farnsworth is Facebook friends with a “secret account” of AZ Patriots founder Jennifer Harrison, who took a plea deal last year to avoid felony charges of identity theft. Farnsworth is also friends with Harrison’s boyfriend, Michael Pavlock. 

Farnsworth did not respond to a request for comment. . . .

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About the author:

Jerod MacDonald-Evoy

Reporter Jerod MacDonald-Evoy joins the Arizona Mirror from the Arizona Republic, where he spent 4 years covering everything from dark money in politics to Catholic priest sexual abuse scandals. Jerod has also won awards for his documentary films which have covered issues such as religious tolerance and surveillance technology used by police.

He brings strong watchdog sensibilities and creative storytelling skills to the Arizona Mirror.

 

 

Read more > https://www.azmirror.com/2021/06/17/auditors-promised-to-screen-workers-but-qanon-promoters-and-capitol-rioters-were-hired/