{"id":6201,"date":"2022-10-31T20:46:26","date_gmt":"2022-10-31T20:46:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/petersantilli.com\/?p=6201"},"modified":"2022-10-31T20:52:48","modified_gmt":"2022-10-31T20:52:48","slug":"in-chaotic-texas-court-hearing-true-the-vote-leaders-found-in-contempt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/petersantilli.com\/?p=6201","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING: US Marshals Take Catherine Engelbrecht and Gregg Phillips Into Custody for Not Revealing Their Source in Konnech Scandal"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1 class=\"entry-title\">BREAKING: US Marshals Take Catherine Engelbrecht and Gregg Phillips Into Custody for Not Revealing Their Source in Konnech Scandal<\/h1>\n<p><strong>Late last week it was reported that Gregg Phillips and Catherine Engelbrecht were threatened with jail time if they didn\u2019t comply with the court.\u00a0 Today they were placed in jail.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>On Friday\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/radiopatriot.net\/2022\/10\/27\/gregg-phillips-and-catherine-englebrecht-threatened-with-jail\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">it was reported<\/a>\u00a0that the 2000 Mules creators were being threatened by the court.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201c2000 Mules\u201d Investigators Gregg Phillips and Catherine Engelbrecht Threatened with Jail Monday If They Do Not Identify Confidential Informant in Konnech Investigation<\/p>\n<p>Konnech CEO Eugene Yu was arrested earlier this month in Michigan in connection with \u201ctheft of personal data.\u201d The alleged stolen data belonged to poll workers and was the subject of TrueTheVote\u2019s \u201cPIT\u201d in Arizona last August, where Catherine Engelbrecht and Gregg Phillips singled out the company. During the PIT conference, Phillips and Engelbrecht alleged\u2026<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Phillips released a Truth last night on Truth Social:<\/p>\n<p><iframe class=\"truthsocial-embed\" src=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/@truethevote\/109260564369551143\/embed\" width=\"600\" height=\"711\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-src=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/@truethevote\/109260564369551143\/embed\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>This morning Phillips and Engelbrecht were arrested and put in jail.\u00a0 They are being charged with a process crime \u2013 obstruction of justice.<\/p>\n<div class=\"twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered\"><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-0\" class=\"\" title=\"Twitter Tweet\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=joehoft&amp;dnt=true&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=eyJ0ZndfdGltZWxpbmVfbGlzdCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOlsibGlua3RyLmVlIiwidHIuZWUiLCJ0ZXJyYS5jb20uYnIiLCJ3d3cubGlua3RyLmVlIiwid3d3LnRyLmVlIiwid3d3LnRlcnJhLmNvbS5iciJdLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X2hvcml6b25fdGltZWxpbmVfMTIwMzQiOnsiYnVja2V0IjoidHJlYXRtZW50IiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH0sInRmd190d2VldF9lZGl0X2JhY2tlbmQiOnsiYnVja2V0Ijoib24iLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X3JlZnNyY19zZXNzaW9uIjp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6Im9uIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH0sInRmd19jaGluX3BpbGxzXzE0NzQxIjp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6ImNvbG9yX2ljb25zIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH0sInRmd190d2VldF9yZXN1bHRfbWlncmF0aW9uXzEzOTc5Ijp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6InR3ZWV0X3Jlc3VsdCIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0Zndfc2Vuc2l0aXZlX21lZGlhX2ludGVyc3RpdGlhbF8xMzk2MyI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJpbnRlcnN0aXRpYWwiLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X2V4cGVyaW1lbnRzX2Nvb2tpZV9leHBpcmF0aW9uIjp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6MTIwOTYwMCwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH0sInRmd19kdXBsaWNhdGVfc2NyaWJlc190b19zZXR0aW5ncyI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJvbiIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfdmlkZW9faGxzX2R5bmFtaWNfbWFuaWZlc3RzXzE1MDgyIjp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6InRydWVfYml0cmF0ZSIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfdHdlZXRfZWRpdF9mcm9udGVuZCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJvbiIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9fQ%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1587092377818337281&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thegatewaypundit.com%2F2022%2F10%2Fbreaking-catherine-englebrecht-gregg-phillips-taken-custody-houston%2F&amp;sessionId=a582f6d5cdd733235ecd118ddce9682e2ea42b8c&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=1c23387b1f70c%3A1664388199485&amp;width=550px\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-tweet-id=\"1587092377818337281\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>They will be in custody for at least one day.\u00a0 They are trying to get them on process crimes.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In chaotic Texas court hearing, True the Vote leaders found in contempt<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/ift.tt\/kaKbzEi<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/newsletters\/the-brief\/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=trib-ads-owned&amp;utm_campaign=trib-marketing&amp;utm_term=inline-CTA-brief\">Sign up for The Brief<\/a>, our daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>After a chaotic day of testimony on Thursday, a federal judge in Texas found Catherine Engelbrecht and Gregg Phillips \u2014 known as leaders of the group True the Vote \u2014 in contempt of court. They are facing accusations of defamation and computer crimes from a company at the center of a viral right-wing social media campaign engineered by the conservative voting organization.<\/p>\n<p>The judge informed the pair they would face jail time if they do not comply with the terms of a court order by Monday at 9 a.m.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI expect both defendants to be present,\u201d said U.S. District Judge Kenneth Hoyt, a Ronald Reagan appointee, looking at their table. Marshals, he said, would be ready to arrest them.<\/p>\n<p>Thursday\u2019s finding of contempt was the latest in a string of twists in the civil suit <a href=\"https:\/\/texas.votebeat.org\/2022\/9\/14\/23353874\/true-the-vote-konnech-lawsuit-catherine-englebrecht-gregg-phillips-tiger-project\">filed in September<\/a> by Konnech, a Michigan-based company that provides poll worker management software to elections offices.<\/p>\n<p>In filings and testimony, the basic facts and plot lines have shifted from week to week, often producing unexplained contradictions. True the Vote\u2019s telling involves a lengthy middle-of-the-night hotel rendezvous, double-crossing federal agents, confidential informants, and security threats on two continents.<\/p>\n<p>Konnech\u2019s lawsuit, on the other hand, <a href=\"https:\/\/texas.votebeat.org\/2022\/9\/14\/23353874\/true-the-vote-konnech-lawsuit-catherine-englebrecht-gregg-phillips-tiger-project\">alleges<\/a> that True the Vote\u2019s baseless and racist accusations against the company\u2019s CEO, Eugene Yu, forced him and his family to flee their home in fear for their lives and damaged the company\u2019s business. Meanwhile, Yu was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/us\/ceo-michigan-election-software-firm-seeks-dismissal-charges-2022-10-27\/\">arrested and charged by the Los Angeles district attorney<\/a> on allegations of storing government data in China, in breach of its contract, that appear similar to at least some of the allegations True the Vote has made, and Los Angeles officials have said they received an initial tip from Phillips.<\/p>\n<p>For years, Engelbrecht and Phillips have come under fire for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/2022\/06\/14\/true-the-vote-big-lie-election-fraud\/\">promoting election conspiracy theories while offering scant evidence<\/a> to support them. But their current campaign against Konnech is forcing them to back up what they\u2019ve said since August on far-right social networks and platforms in the more skeptical setting of a federal courtroom.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Thursday\u2019s hearing, which took place on the 11th floor of the federal court building in downtown Houston, was the first time either Engelbrecht or Phillips have appeared in court in the matter. Engelbrecht and Phillips testified only after the judge <a href=\"https:\/\/texas.votebeat.org\/2022\/10\/7\/23393718\/true-the-vote-konnech-lawsuit-data-china\">demanded they do so<\/a> \u2014 Hoyt needed their testimony so he could rule on whether the pair should be held in contempt of court for refusing, for weeks, to hand over information he\u2019d ordered they produce to the plaintiffs.<\/p>\n<p>At issue is the name and contact information of individuals Phillips and Engelbrecht have alleged were present at a Dallas hotel meeting in January 2021, when True the Vote was allegedly given proof Konnech was improperly storing the personal data of \u201cmillions\u201d of U.S. poll workers on a server in China. True the Vote then used that information to fuel months of vaguely defined accusations about the company and Yu in podcasts and appearances.<\/p>\n<p>Phillips and Engelbrecht repeatedly claimed Yu was an agent of the Communist Party of China. China, they said, had used the poll worker data to influence the 2020 election. The claims have powered weeks of fundraising for True the Vote, and Phillips and Engelbrecht have enlisted their followers to do additional research on Konnech. It\u2019s an undertaking they\u2019ve named \u201cThe Tiger Project.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>True the Vote\u2019s legal team had already, in a court hearing <a href=\"https:\/\/texas.votebeat.org\/2022\/10\/7\/23393718\/true-the-vote-konnech-lawsuit-data-china\">earlier this month<\/a>, produced one name: Mike Hasson.<\/p>\n<p>Not that they wanted to.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOn behalf of my clients we don\u2019t want to release the name of this individual,\u201d True the Vote attorney Brock Akers told Judge Hoyt in an Oct. 6 hearing. The \u201canalyst\u201d was, he said, in \u201cdanger from forces of the Chinese Communist party.\u201d Hoyt didn\u2019t buy it, and demanded Akers hand over the name, which Akers wrote on a yellow legal pad and read aloud for the record.<\/p>\n<p>True the Vote would only provide Hasson\u2019s name, though. Asked Thursday for contact information or more detailed information about Hasson\u2019s identity, Phillips told the court he had no way of contacting Hasson and had only communicated with him through unspecified messaging \u201capps.\u201d He had not seen Hasson, he said, since the night at the hotel in January 2021.<\/p>\n<p>Shown a photo of a man who Konnech\u2019s attorneys believed to be Hasson, Phillips said he didn\u2019t recognize him. Shown the same photo, Engelbrecht also demurred. \u201cMy general recollection is that he was younger than I, and Caucasian. But beyond that I really couldn\u2019t tell you,\u201d said Engelbrecht.<\/p>\n<p>On Friday, True the Vote\u2019s attorney\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/23219180-43-main\">moved<\/a> to seal the photo, which Konnech\u2019s attorneys had entered as an exhibit, \u201cto safeguard the privacy of\u201d the man depicted, in the event he is not indeed Mike Hasson.<\/p>\n<p>Konnech\u2019s attorneys \u2014 Dean Pamphilis and Nathan Richardson of the Houston office of Kasowitz Benson Torres \u2014 were convinced Hasson hadn\u2019t worked alone, given True the Vote\u2019s insistence over weeks of broadcasts that the work had been done by \u201canalysts\u201d and \u201cguys\u201d in the plural.<\/p>\n<p>The attorneys pressed the pair for more names.<\/p>\n<p>Phillips, who took the stand first, said one other \u201canalyst\u201d had been present, though he said he didn\u2019t believe this man had been involved in Hasson\u2019s research. Phillips refused to name the man or describe the reason for his presence \u2014 as did Engelbrecht, who took the stand next.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvery name I give you gets doxxed and harassed,\u201d Engelbrecht said to Richardson. \u201cI know what happened to Mike after his name was released and he\u2019s in hiding.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At that, the judge interjected. \u201cExcuse me,\u201d Hoyt said. \u201cHow do you know he\u2019s in hiding?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve been \u2026 it\u2019s been rumored. In fairness, it\u2019s been rumored,\u201d she responded.<\/p>\n<p>She and Phillips told the court the second unnamed person was a \u201cconfidential informant\u201d for the FBI. Phillips told the court the man would be at risk of harm from drug cartels on the border if identified, refusing to elaborate. Despite prompting from the judge, who expressed disbelief at the need for such discretion, both Phillips and Engelbrecht refused to name the person.<\/p>\n<p>Hoyt has now given True the Vote\u2019s attorneys until a Monday morning hearing to disclose the man\u2019s name to Konnech\u2019s attorneys, or Engelbrecht and Phillips will be held in jail until it is released.<\/p>\n<p>Shortly after the hearing, Phillips announced Hoyt\u2019s decision on Truth Social. \u201cDoing the right thing isn\u2019t always easy but it\u2019s always right,\u201d he posted. \u201cWe were held in contempt of court because we refused to burn a confidential informant or our researchers. We go to jail Monday unless we comply.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The post is thematically consistent with the image Engelbrecht and Phillips attempted to craft in the courtroom: That they are the victims of a smear campaign and have attempted in good faith to address election vulnerabilities, even at the expense of their own physical safety.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to multiple lawyers, a paralegal, and a small handful of True the Vote associates, Engelbrecht and Phillips were accompanied on Thursday by two security guards. Dressed in suits with matching American flag lapel pins, the pair stood at attention on either side of an alcove in the hallway, where Engelbrecht, Phillips and a few others had gathered before the hearing.<\/p>\n<p>Staring straight ahead, the two men pretended not to hear the group\u2019s conversation, loud enough to be audible throughout most of the hallway.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m the sacrificial lamb,\u201d Phillips said, before being comforted by his attorney, who told Phillips he would seek to take the case \u201cas incrementally as possible.\u201d Later a staffer offered her reassurance to others: \u201cShe\u2019ll get her revenge,\u201d she told them, apparently referring to Engelbrecht. \u201cThey always do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The bodyguards would then spend much of the day accompanying the small swarm of True the Vote associates in and out \u2014 and in and out \u2014 of the courtroom. The group\u2019s attorneys, who were routinely admonished by Hoyt for flouting basic courtroom procedure, repeatedly requested breaks to consult with Engelbrecht and Phillips in whispers as they determined next moves.<\/p>\n<p>On one break, Engelbrecht and her attorneys were gathered at a table in the courthouse cafeteria. I approached to ask Engelbrecht for a comment \u2014 Votebeat was <a href=\"https:\/\/arizona.votebeat.org\/2022\/10\/27\/23427525\/clean-elections-usa-drop-box-watchers-voter-intimidation\">publishing an unrelated story<\/a> about True the Vote\u2019s backing of an effort to monitor Arizona drop boxes that afternoon, and that morning the group <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/2022\/10\/27\/2020-election-fraud-claims-voting\/\">had been sued for defamation<\/a> in Georgia \u2014 only to be blocked by the second security guard, a tall, thin man wearing black running shoes with his suit.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m sorry, I can\u2019t let you go any further,\u201d he said, stopping me a few feet from where they sat, citing unspecified \u201csecurity concerns.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Later, Engelbrecht would sit next to me in the courtroom gallery, unattended by security, having recognized me from prior coverage. \u201cThere is so much more to this,\u201d she said, promising to say more when True the Vote\u2019s present legal situation cleared. \u201cIt\u2019s not what it seems.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Neither she nor her team took additional questions from the press.<\/p>\n<p>Engelbrecht and Phillips\u2019 Thursday testimony offered the most insight into the tangled relationship between True the Vote, Konnech, and the district attorney of Los Angeles than any development so far. But the latest hearing highlighted how some aspects of True the Vote\u2019s story have shifted from initial court filings, and how some of their answers in court conflict with their prior public descriptions of events.<\/p>\n<p>In an event called \u201cThe Pit\u201d held in Phoenix in mid-August and live-streamed on Right Side Broadcasting, Phillips and Engelbrecht told participants they\u2019d \u201cstumbled upon\u201d hard evidence of a Chinese communist plot to influence the 2020 election. It revolved, they said, around a company called Konnech.<\/p>\n<p>The allegations hit right-wing social media like a bomb, sparking calls to county offices that had contracted with Konnech. Over several weeks in August and September, Engelbrecht and Phillips repeatedly called attention to their fight against Konnech in podcasts and interviews.<\/p>\n<p>In an Aug. 23 episode of the Elijah Streams Podcast (which tells listeners its \u201cmission is to encourage you in your faith through a unique blend of patriotism and prophecy\u201d),<\/p>\n<p>Phillips describes a meeting with some of his paid consultants. \u201cMy guys invited me to Dallas on a Friday night. We met in a hotel room, towels under the doors,\u201d he said, nonchalantly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cReally?\u201d interviewer Steve Shultz asked, impressed at the spectacle. \u201cWow.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was pretty weird,\u201d Phillips offered in response. \u201cIt was like some kind of a James Bond kind of thing or some sort of weirdness like that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He told Shultz he arrived at the hotel close to midnight. One of the analysts plugged his laptop into the hotel TV, and the group looked at \u201crows and rows\u201d of data for hours.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m looking at this live. By 4:30 in the morning I was pretty well scared this was bad,\u201d he said, expressing absolute confidence in the skills of those who\u2019d helped him get the information. \u201cMan, those are the best analysts in the country. In the world, maybe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As he tells the story in interviews, events, and podcasts, Phillips often describes aspects of the night differently. Occasionally, his versions contradict. In one, for example, he said he and the others in the hotel room that night were able to crack into Konnech\u2019s data because they guessed the password, which had been \u201cpassword.\u201d In others, he insists there was no password at all, and \u201cno hacking.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Central to many of the claims made by Engelbrecht and Phillips is a mounting tension with the FBI \u2014 an increasingly popular positioning in far right circles, where calls to \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2022\/08\/16\/defund-fbi-trump-republicans-midterms\">Defund the FBI<\/a>\u201d have seen a swell in popularity given former President Trump\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/national-security\/2022\/08\/17\/pence-jan-6-search-defund-fbi\/\">recent tangle<\/a> with the agency. In one podcast, Phillips said the group \u201cengaged with [the FBI] as an operational asset in a counterintelligence operation\u201d against Konnech over a period of more than a year and a half before things changed. In another, Phillips claimed the FBI turned on him, accusing him of \u201cstealing the Chinese internet\u201d and threatening to investigate True the Vote. Though the specifics vary, the pair make clear they feel the FBI has not appropriately addressed the extent of their complaints.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe media, and now possibly even the FBI and other agencies in the federal government are supporting this nonsense. This is crazy,\u201d Phillips said in a Sept. 2 podcast, looking to Engelbrecht for a response. \u201cI agree,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>As the defamation suit got under way, the larger plot points appeared similar in sequence to the facts True the Vote\u2019s lawyers represented to the court, conveyed in dry legal language that was considerably less dramatic.<\/p>\n<p>In late September, the group\u2019s attorney \u2014 Brock Akers, an attorney in Houston who\u2019d initially represented True the Vote in the matter \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/23219179-923-court-filing-ttv-response#document\/p2\/a2167462\">said in a court filing<\/a> that True the Vote had \u201cturned over data and information to the Federal Bureau of Investigation which had been given to them.\u201d He offered few details as to who had provided the data or by what means.<\/p>\n<p>Then, details began to shift.<\/p>\n<p>In a hearing two weeks later, the same attorney told Judge Hoyt that True the Vote had never been in possession of the data. Mike Hasson, not Phillips or Engelbrecht, Akers said, \u201cactually has the data who then turned it over to the FBI.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In Phillips\u2019 testimony on Thursday, he said again that he\u2019d spent more than four hours in a Dallas hotel with Hasson and an unnamed third party. From there, his explanations also begin to diverge from the previously established timeline.<\/p>\n<p>When Pamphilis asked Phillips about previous claims that he and \u201chis guys\u201d had broken into Konnech\u2019s data by guessing a simple password, Phillips said he had not personally accessed any information and did not know how the data Hasson showed him had been obtained. Asked if he was told about the existence of a password by someone else, Phillips said he didn\u2019t remember.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t have recollection,\u201d said Phillips.<\/p>\n<p>Phillips said Hasson did not directly access any Konnech data that night in January 2021. Instead, Phillips said Hasson simply showed him files and screenshots that had been previously gathered. They could not have possibly downloaded the files \u2014 which Phillips said totaled \u201csomewhere in the 350-terabyte range\u201d \u2014 on hotel internet, Phillips said confidently. Lawyers for Konnech did not remark on the enormousness of the file size. (It takes about 2 billion document pages to amount to 350 terabytes, <a href=\"https:\/\/experience.dropbox.com\/resources\/how-much-is-1tb\">an amount of data<\/a> that would fill nearly 1,500 standard laptops.)<\/p>\n<p>Phillips and Engelbrecht told the court that True the Vote and its supporters continued to research Konnech after Hasson revealed what he\u2019d found, relying on \u201copen source\u201d research tools and public records requests sent to Konnech\u2019s government customers. The fruits of this additional probe were shared with the FBI and LA County, they said.<\/p>\n<p>It was the unclear status of these ongoing investigations and acute concern for the safety of confidential FBI informants that prevented them from offering more extensive information as part of their Thursday testimony, both Engelbrecht and Phillips told the court.<\/p>\n<p>Hoyt asked Phillips and Engelbrecht additional questions when attorneys turned over the witnesses. While the judge attempted to clarify whether Phillips and his \u201canalysts\u201d were or were not claiming to have broken through a password, confusion arose as to the provenance of a Truth Social post written by a supporter and \u201cre-Truthed\u201d by Phillips. The poster claimed Phillips and his analysts used a default password to access Konnech\u2019s data, mimicking Phillips\u2019 earlier language. One of True the Vote\u2019s attorneys \u2014 John Kiyonaga, who had already been instructed by the judge not to interrupt proceedings \u2014 jumped to his feet to object.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cExcuse me, take your seat and don\u2019t get up again,\u201d Hoyt said to Kiyonaga, who continued to protest.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou are mischaracterizing her testimony, and that is unfair,\u201d Kiyonaga barked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTake your seat,\u201d Hoyt said again.<\/p>\n<p>Engelbrecht, as Phillips had before her, ultimately provided no clarity on the existence of a password.<\/p>\n<p>By the end of the hearing, which had lasted for nearly five hours, Hoyt had lost all patience with True the Vote and its team. \u201cI\u2019ve been asked to make a finding of contempt, and that is my finding,\u201d he said. \u201cThey are both in contempt of court.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The ruling came so swiftly that many of those seated at the defense table did not immediately register a reaction. Then, Engelbrecht took a slow breath. A paralegal, seated at the end of the table, stared at the judge. Kiyonaga looked as though he might erupt. True the Vote\u2019s cohort of 12 then quietly left the courtroom, gathering their binders and bags and regrouping to whisper in the hallway.<\/p>\n<p>The next day, Friday, True the Vote attorney Michael Wynn submitted <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/23219185-1028-ttv-filing\">nearly 30 pages<\/a> of evidence to the court, which he indicated was an effort by his clients to \u201cpurge contempt in advance of the hearing\u201d on Monday. None of the documents identify the unnamed person present in the Dallas hotel room, nor do they more specifically identify Mike Hasson.<\/p>\n<p>Among the documents, however, are screenshots of text messages between Engelbrecht and several people True the Vote claims are FBI agents. Few messages sent by the identified agents mention Konnech, though Engelbrecht repeatedly and directly asks for updates on the company. As a whole, the screenshots do little to bolster True the Vote\u2019s version of events.<\/p>\n<p>One set of text messages are between Engelbrecht and a person the documents identify as a San Antonio-based FBI agent named \u201cKristina,\u201d though the screenshots list her name as \u201cKaykay.\u201d They show several largely unsuccessful attempts by Engelbrecht to contact the agent in late September and early October.<\/p>\n<p>On Oct. 12 \u2014 exactly one month after Konnech filed suit against True the Vote \u2014 Engelbrecht wrote her lengthiest correspondence to Kakyay. \u201cWe have been drug into a vicious lawsuit filed against us by Konnech,\u201d she wrote in part, before claiming that she, Phillips and Hasson were \u201call in danger.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have all been doxxed. It is all over the press,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/23219185-1028-ttv-filing\">she said<\/a>. \u201cLastly, there is the possibility that I have been poisoned.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>via The Texas Tribune<\/p>\n<p>October 31, 2022 at 04:37PM<\/p>\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-black-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-black-background-color has-background is-style-wide\"\/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BREAKING: US Marshals Take Catherine Engelbrecht and Gregg Phillips Into Custody for Not Revealing Their&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6203,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[103],"class_list":["post-6201","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pete-santilli-post","tag-sbn"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/petersantilli.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Screen-Shot-2022-10-31-at-4.41.55-PM.png?fit=1646%2C910&ssl=1",1646,910,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/petersantilli.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Screen-Shot-2022-10-31-at-4.41.55-PM.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/petersantilli.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Screen-Shot-2022-10-31-at-4.41.55-PM.png?fit=300%2C166&ssl=1",300,166,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/petersantilli.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Screen-Shot-2022-10-31-at-4.41.55-PM.png?fit=640%2C354&ssl=1",640,354,true],"large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/petersantilli.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Screen-Shot-2022-10-31-at-4.41.55-PM.png?fit=640%2C354&ssl=1",640,354,true],"rpg_gallery_admin_thumb":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/petersantilli.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Screen-Shot-2022-10-31-at-4.41.55-PM.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1",150,150,true],"rpg_gallery_thumb":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/petersantilli.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Screen-Shot-2022-10-31-at-4.41.55-PM.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1",150,150,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/petersantilli.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Screen-Shot-2022-10-31-at-4.41.55-PM.png?fit=1536%2C849&ssl=1",1536,849,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/petersantilli.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Screen-Shot-2022-10-31-at-4.41.55-PM.png?fit=1646%2C910&ssl=1",1646,910,true],"newsphere-slider-full":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/petersantilli.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Screen-Shot-2022-10-31-at-4.41.55-PM.png?resize=1280%2C720&ssl=1",1280,720,true],"newsphere-featured":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/petersantilli.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Screen-Shot-2022-10-31-at-4.41.55-PM.png?fit=1024%2C566&ssl=1",1024,566,true],"newsphere-medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/petersantilli.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Screen-Shot-2022-10-31-at-4.41.55-PM.png?resize=720%2C380&ssl=1",720,380,true]},"author_info":{"info":["Peter Santilli"]},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/petersantilli.com\/?cat=1\" rel=\"category\">Pete Santilli - 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