By Ed Wallace, Publisher of UtahStandardNews.com / Mar 8, 2021

Grassroots Utah Republicans have stepped up and issued a formal censure of Utah’s junior U.S Senator Willard “Mitt” Romney. The Utah Platform Republican PAC (PRPAC) issued the censure after the 2021 Legislative session ended without any formal discussion on Romney’s activities and without making any repairs to prior legislation (SB54) that stripped Utah’s political parties of their right to determine their candidates.  

In the arena of Utah politics, this censure can not be overstated. The PRPAC is the largest and most effective organized effort in Utah to restore platform ideals and elect real Republicans to office. Some of the PAC’s 1,400 members are elected and party officials with a significant presence on the State Central Committee (SCC), the party’s ruling entity.  

The PFPAC issued the  resolution against Romney for his votes in the impeachment trials of former President Donald Trump. In the 2020 impeachment trial, Romney was the lone Republican to vote against President Trump and the first Senator, in 231 years of U.S. presidential history, to vote against a president of his own party in an impeachment trial.

The resolution states: “Whereas, on January 26, 2021, after President Trump had concluded his term and left office, Sen. Romney voted together with all of the Senate Democrats to proceed with an unconstitutional Senate show trial (at which the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court refused to preside)… On February 13, 2021, Sen. Romney voted together with all of the Senate Democrats to convict Donald Trump on the House’s impeachment charge; and… Republicans in the other six States from which Republican Senators voted to convict President Trump have held their Senators accountable for their wrongful votes.

The resolution also states that “the Utah Republican Party Platform requires us to hold elected leaders accountable to ethical standards, and voting to convict a former President without sufficient evidence to prove any of the elements of the charge of incitement of insurrection is both unjust and unethical.” 

The unanimous vote by the PFPAC Board of Directors came after the Utah Republican Party leadership failed to act and because hundreds of thousands of Utah Trump voters need to know that many Republican leaders support censuring Romney. The Board includes members of the UTGOP SCC, former and present leaders, and leading conservative activists from seven different counties in Utah.

PFPAC Director Larry Meyers told USN that “We are compelled to speak out because of the harm that Sen. Romney has done to the Republican brand, and we hope that other Republican leaders will follow us in holding him accountable. We invite all Republicans to join us in working to make the GOP a Party of bold, conservative principles, rather than a Party of Democrat-lite Romney-ites.”

The Platform Republican PAC has a mission to “recruit, vet, and support candidates who will faithfully uphold the Utah Republican Party Platform, and the Utah and U.S. Constitutions.”

Six of the PAC’s endorsed candidates won their races in the 2020 general election which included the defeat of two multi-termed, “senior” members of Utah’s state legislature.  

One PAC-endorsed candidate, Chris Wilson, defeated State Senator Lyle Hillyard, a 35-year incumbent and floor sponsor of the comprehensive tax reform package that was soundly rejected by 152,000 voters in Utah who signed a petition to place the tax law on the 2020 ballot. To save face, the legislature almost unanimously repealed this measure. 

Romney moved to Utah in 2014, a few months after SB54 passed, and registered as an Independent (“a purely clerical error”), and later changed his status to Republican. Romney’s election in 2018 was a direct result of that (SB54) interference. The new law also contributed heavily to the 2020 election of Governor Spencer Cox, Congressman John Curtis, countless present elected officials, and former Governor Gary Herbert.

SB54 ended the way in which a party selects their candidates. Traditionally, Utah has done that through a caucus system. A signature route had already been in place for anyone to be placed on the ballot, but SB54 made it possible for anyone who could gather enough signatures to force a party primary. 

In effect, this would allow Bernie Sanders to buy a couple of acres out in the West desert, gather signatures, self-identify as a Republican, and the party would be forced to recognize him as a primary election candidate.

That is exactly what Romney did. One has to wonder if the timing of his move had anything to do with the passing of SB54. Did he correctly assume that he wouldn’t win the party’s 2018 nomination? If so, he was right. The informed delegates did NOT choose Romney. By gathering signatures, donating heavily to the “Count My Vote (SB54)” effort, and spending nearly $2 Million, he forced and won a primary against Utah State Senator Mike Kennedy (SD14), who spent around $150,000. 

One also has to wonder if SB54 was planned with Romney in mind, at least partially. The Utah establishment elite has had a stranglehold on the Republican Party for decades and has used the party as a tool to remain in power and further their crony-capitalist agenda while socializing the costs of their programs, at the great expense and loss of freedom of Utah citizens. 

That grip loosened in 2010 when Utah’s U.S. Senator Robert Bennett became the first high-profile political casualty of the Tea Party movement after losing the party’s nomination to current Senator Mike Lee. 

The last thing Utah’s oligarchy wanted was for the citizens of Utah to have a deciding voice through the caucus/convention system. In general, the county and state delegates are more aware and involved with politics than the public-at-large and had become a threat to their power. Thus, the “Count My Vote (CMV) ” movement was born.

The first contributors to the CMV movement were the Hatch Election Committee ($50k), the Leavitt’s ($50k), and the Romney’s ($99.9k). Other major contributors included the Huntsman Corp ($100k), Mark & Gail Miller ($25k) and SF Eccles ($30k).

In other words, over two-thirds of the CMV money came from: (1) the government “elite”, (2) a few super-rich families, (3) a handful of big-businesses, and (4) special interest groups.

Under the guise of fairness and inclusion, CMV was really the diabolical usurpation of Utah’s democracy. In collusion with much of Utah’s mainstream media, SB54 deflated the purpose and power of the caucus system and became law in 2014, and remains so today. 

Related Article: Report: Utah’s Oligarchs – Fighting to Maintain Control

The Utah Republican Party’s top leaders are not behind the effort to censure Romney even though he used his Senatorial power and influence to undermine President Trump. To many Utahns, Romney is an embarrassment to the State of Utah and appears to be an agent for the establishment deep-state. That explains why Utah leaders have effectively condoned Romney’s behavior instead of censuring him. He’s one of them. 

The backlash against Romney is growing and is not confined to censure. Over 48,000 Utah voters have signed an online petition calling for Romney to resign. Some party leaders are calling for the GOP to strip Romney of his party membership. A recent internal poll by USN puts Romney’s approval rating at 18%

One party leader stated: “Romney is a liberal Democrat in Republican clothing. He has lived in democrat states his whole life. He’s a chameleon. He is intentionally a globalist and a crony-capitalist (Private-Public-Partnerships). And, what’s worse is that there will be many of us happy to see him go down in flames when all he had to do was listen and demonstrate a bit of humility. He was supported by the State establishment and LDS leadership in the primary….Add in voter ignorance and you get a Romney. He was handed a seat in the US Senate. Had he rolled up his sleeves, gained a reputation as a hard working Senator and acted like a real Republican,…in a few years, people would be begging him to run for President.

History shows that Republicans usually roll over and play dead. Just like the Dem’s never suspected that Trump would release the Ukraine transcript, Romney is confident that no one will stand against him, especially with the stranglehold that Utah’s deep state has on things.”

Related Articles:   

Kate Dalley: Romney & the Senate GOP Traitors’ Caucus:                   

Chris Herrod: Why Does Romney Continue to Get A Pass?

Will RINOS Ever Become Extinct?

How Did Utah End Up With ‘Mitt McCain Flake?

What happens when REAL Utah Republicans Organize? THEY WIN!

Resolution of Censure against Senator Mitt Romney

March 6, 2021

Whereas, at the first impeachment trial, on February 5, 2020, without evidence of a federal crime or misdemeanor and ignoring the unconstitutional House impeachment process, Utah Sen. Mitt Romney was the lone Republican voting with the Senate Democrats to convict Pres.

Trump, becoming the first senator in 231 years of U.S. presidential history to vote against a president of his own party in an impeachment trial; and

Whereas, on January 13, 2021, the U.S. House of Representatives passed an article of impeachment claiming that President Trump had incited an insurrection against the U.S. government, without any evidence to prove he incited violence, given that President Trump had, on January 6th, asked his supporters to “peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard” and that the FBI had concluded that the occupation of the Capitol building by the rioters had been pre-planned in advance of the President’s speech; and

Whereas, on January 26, 2021, after President Trump had concluded his term and left office, Sen. Romney voted together with all of the Senate Democrats to proceed with an unconstitutional Senate show trial (at which the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court refused to preside) on the House’s article of impeachment; and

Whereas, on February 13, 2021, Sen. Romney voted together with all of the Senate Democrats to convict Donald Trump on the House’s impeachment charge; and

Whereas, Republicans in the other six States from which Republican Senators voted to convict President Trump have held their Senators accountable for their wrongful votes; and

Whereas, the Utah Republican Party Platform requires us to hold elected leaders accountable to ethical standards, and voting to convict a former President without sufficient evidence to prove any of the elements of the charge of incitement of insurrection is both unjust and unethical;

Therefore, be it resolved that: We, the Board of Directors of the Platform

Republican PAC, hereby declare our united censure of Sen. Mitt Romney.

Layne Beck, Cache County

Matt Bell, Utah County

Aaron Bullen, Utah County

Mary Burkett, Washington County

Dalane England, Davis County

Brad Green, Iron County

Teena Horlacher, Davis County

Bob McEntee, Weber County

Larry Meyers, Washington County

Lowell Nelson, Utah County

David Pyne, Salt Lake County

Helen Redd, Salt Lake County

Lisa Shepherd, Utah County

Ed Wallace, Washington County

*****

The Platform Republicans PAC is a Utah political action committee with a

mission to recruit, vet, and support candidates who will faithfully uphold

the Utah Republican Party Platform, and the Utah and U.S. Constitutions.

To donate: www.platformrepublican.com/donate/

Press Release:  For Immediate Release

Date:  March 8, 2021

Platform Republicans PAC Issues Resolution Censuring Sen. Romney

The Utah Platform Republicans PAC issued a resolution today censuring Utah Senator Mitt Romney for his votes in the impeachment trials of former President Donald Trump.  The Resolution states that the Utah GOP Platform requires that public officials be held accountable and asserts that Sen. Romney’s votes were “unjust and unethical.”

According to PAC Director Larry Meyers, the PAC’s Board of Directors, which includes members of the Utah Republican Party’s State Central Committee, former state and county Party leaders, and representation from seven of Utah’s largest counties, unanimously voted to censure Senator Romney because the Utah Republican Party has not issued a censure and because hundreds of thousands of Utah Trump voters need to know that some Republican leaders support censuring Romney.

“We are compelled to speak out because of the harm that Senator Romney has done to the Republican brand,” Meyers stated, “and we hope that other Republican leaders will follow us in holding him accountable.  We invite all Republicans to join us in working to make the Utah GOP a Party of bold, conservative principles, rather than a Party of Democrat-lite Romney-ites.”

The Platform Republicans PAC is a Utah political action committee with a mission to “recruit, vet, and support candidates who will faithfully uphold the Utah Republican Party Platform, and the Utah and U.S. Constitutions.”

Website:  www.platformrepublican.com

 DONATE HERE

For more information, contact Larry Meyers at dixierepublican@yahoo.com.