Senator Cliff Branan
Mike McCarville
Senator Cliff Branan is on the receiving end of emails from the acerbic Al Gerhart and his Sooner Tea Party compatriots that at best constitute hardball politics taken to the extreme and at worst, could be construed as attempted blackmail.
Gerhart, known for his bullying, crude nature that has made him anathema to many conservatives, sent Branan this email about the anti-UN Agenda 21 bill; Gerhart’s email is raising eyebrows in political and legal circles:
From: Al Gerhart [mailto:al@thecarpentershop.net]
Sent: Tuesday, March 26, 2013 9:42 PM
To: Branan@oksenate.gov; clifford hearron
Subject: Re: HB 1412
Branan,
Get that bill heard or I will make sure you regret not doing it. I will make you the laughing stock of the Senate if I don’t hear that this bill will be heard and passed. We will dig into your past, yoru family, your associates and once we start on you there will be no end to it.
This is a promise.
Al Gerhart
Sooner Tea Party
From The Oklahoman: Under the law, blackmail occurs if the intent of the communication is “to extort or gain any thing of value from another or to compel another to do an act against his or her will.”
Branan is chairman of the Senate Energy Committee, to which the bill was assigned after passing the House. The House voted overwhelmingly to approve the measure, protecting private-property rights and banning the controversial United Nations “sustainable development” scheme known as Agenda 21, which critics say represents a serious threat to American values and liberty.
If approved by the Senate and signed into law, the bill would also prohibit state and local governments from working with the UN or its affiliates to implement any sort of “international law” that violates the U.S. or Oklahoma constitutions.
There’s much more to this growing story, with the OSBI being asked to investigate the threats, as Nolan Clay reports in today’s The Oklahoman. In addition, Gerhart has called a press conference later today at the Capitol to discuss what he characterizes as the “criminalization” of “political activism.”
This sounds like the same tactics used by the White House against Bob Woodward re: his column about POTUS “moving the goalposts” on the sequester. Neither appear particularly threatening and show that both sides of the aisle take similar tacts when attempting to move the ball into their court.
And (while this is not a defense of Gerhart or the STP), all Gerhart is threatening to do is conduct opposition research and use it. This is a common political strategy, everyone uses it and everyone knows it’s being used. Gerhart simply appears to lack the political savvy to realize that you don’t have to tell you’re opponent you’re going to do oppo and use it…they already know!
Saying you will investigate their family is more than op research. This is a threat, what’s Gerhardt going to do? Print newspapers that a Senator’s kid is a bully, or is not reading at his level? Come on, family values (that Republicans claim to have) should mean protecting kids, not exploiting them for political blackmail.
Gerhardt should grow up. Oh wait, I forgot who we were talking about…
I have been forced to seek legal counsel about libel by him and/or his newsletter regarding claims made about my wife and myself, including my personal, financial, professional and political background. Due to my potential case against him I can’t comment specifically, but let’s just say you should not use the public records of multiple people who have the same name against one person – and certainly not their wife.
If I was a democrat, and wanted to derail the Constitutional / conservative / liberty agenda, I don’t think I could accomplish more than Mr. Gerhart has.
The question I am faced with, on a personal level, is whether or not to pursue this. I am 100% confident I would win both my case and my wife’s. Do I want to waste thousands of dollars and untold hours on such an effort? Would there be anything to collect at the end, to offset my cost to sue him? He is already not worth the time I have wasted in dealing with him. I am not a rich man, just a normal guy who believes in his country and his state, and believes we all have a duty to be involved. For this I have been libeled.
He has also attacked others – Lukus Collins, Brady Wright, Qadoshyah Fish, Kaye Beach, Charlie Meadows, and too many to list – who are my friends and people I respect, in addition to numerous legislators. He attacks their personal characteristics and their families. I don’t know what his agenda is, or what he hopes to accomplish, aside from destruction. I would really like to know who funds him and who feeds him his lies. Perhaps such things will be uncovered in the lawsuit(s) that are headed his way.
I would encourage anyone who subscribes to his “newsletter” to stop. I would encourage any sources who feed him to stop – he is not helping your cause, whatever you might think that is (unless you’re a democrat).
Any candidate or activist who associates him will not receive any help from me, and most (if not all) of my friends.
PS – Senator Branan, please consider hearing this bill in spite of this threat. Rise above it. If I were you, my first reaction would be to do the opposite of what he claims to want. Ignore him, and do the right thing – hear the bill anyway. Know that there are thousands of Oklahoman’s who will support your actions, and cheer you for being the adult in the room. It’s a good bill that should become law. And welcome to the “Al G Hates Me” club. Your membership card is in the mail…
Al Gerhart uses whatever tactics he needs to get the job done – in other words the ends justify the means. He has been attacking people since the start of the OKC Tea Party since 2009 – even the threat of hurting some if they didn’t see it his way and apologize. He has slandered and libeled many, but narry gives it a thought – is essence he has no conscience to speak of. He has fooled many from his narcissistic group the OCA to his tactics now. Any news is good news for Al if it is about him.
Mr. Dickson if I were you I would get the best lawyer you can afford and sue him with every bit of strength you have. These type of people -narcissistics and sociopaths never learn and they never change.
Here is a response from the OKC Tea Party – yes they are a separate and independent group from Mr. Gerhart – the OKC Tea Party does does play dirty politics. This is what they had to say:
We are writing on behalf of the executive committee of the OKC Tea Party pertaining to the April 2nd Oklahoman article entitled: Email to Oklahoma senator turned over to OSBI for investigation. We predict that, as a result of this story and the apparent involvement of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, Mr. Al Gerhart may receive further attention or perhaps even deliberately seek further public exposure in the interest of “making news”.
Whatever has happened or happens in the future, please be advised that Mr. Gerhart does not speak for the Tea Party movement in the State of Oklahoma. He merely speaks for himself and an independent organization or group (if you can call it that) he founded in 2009 called the Sooner Tea Party, based in Moore, OK where his business is based. While we at the OKC Tea Party do not endorse the tactics Mr. Gerhart seems to routinely use (i.e. verbal personal attacks and threats to public figures to either do things his way or the highway, electively speaking), we believe we can safely say that the many other independent Tea Party groups within our State adopt the same stance as we do — focusing on issues rather than the diminution of specific personalities.
Accordingly, we would suggest in the interest of fairness and accuracy that any future stories contain appropriate caveats concerning Mr. Gerhart, who seemingly seeks to be or is being portrayed as occupying the top of some sort of “pyramid” in the Oklahoma based Tea Party movement. Nothing could be further from the truth. While he credits himself with founding the “Oklahoma Constitutional Alliance” (OCA), that alliance of various Tea Party and issue organizations became defunct a short time later. Guess why? A simple Googling of his name could easily indicate why.
This guy is a buffoon, a bad person, and ought simply be ignored.