In Defense of Liberty – A Response to Propaganda in Louisiana
Guest post by Christopher Alexander
Michael Lunsford of Citizens for a New Louisiana (CNL) recently accused this writer as well as Christy Haik of Louisiana Republican Assembly of falsely claiming that former Louisiana Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin worked with federal partners to suppress the free speech of Louisiana citizens. Lunsford’s claim, is brazenly false, as the most cursory review of documented evidence in the public record shows.
Court-filed emails in 2020 from the federal Department of Homeland Security and the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) explicitly provide:
- “Please see attached reporting from LA Secretary of State’s They believe this is a coordinated disinfo campaign…”
- “See attached from LA SOS… Please pass ASAP to Facebook and FBI…”
This is the federal government confirming, only weeks before the 2020 Presidential election, that Ardoin’s Office reported citizens’ speech as “disinformation,” which federal officials then forwarded to Facebook, Twitter, and the FBI. That is exactly the kind of government speech-suppression pipeline Lunsford would have us believe did not exist.
Further, a resurfaced 2020 video shows Ardoin publicly praising the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) for coordinating with federal and state partners to combat so-called “misinformation/disinformation.” If this is not a “censorship enterprise,” there is oceanfront property in Arizona on sale for monopoly money.
While Lunsford insists Ardoin wasn’t involved, Ardoin himself contradicted him — on camera.
Lunsford didn’t just attack this writer — he targeted Christy Haik of the Louisiana Republican Assembly (LRA), a person of unsurpassed patriotism and unswerving devotion to principle. Haik is one of the most transparent and ethical voices in Louisiana politics. Many summer soldiers talk the talk. Haik walks the walk, and has stood consistently as a bulwark against government tyranny over the sacred liberty of Louisiana citizens.
LRA is a rapidly growing organization staunchly dedicated to the historic ideals of the Republican Party. LRA is an officially chartered affiliate of the National Federation of Republican Assemblies (NFRA). And, while not formally affiliated with the Louisiana GOP, Haik is. She is a duly elected Committee member of both the Republican State Central Committee and the Republican Party Executive Committee. Thus, Lunsford’s attack on Haik is, in effect, an attack on both the NFRA and the thousands of dedicated, conservative Republicans who elected her.
To be perfectly clear:
This writer has been attacked, and will continue to be attacked. It comes with the territory. It rarely warrants the dignity of a response, and rarely receives one. But a baseless attack on a fierce ally and friend of this writer will be countered relentlessly every single time, and not with baseless vitriol, but with objective facts.
Instead of addressing Ardoin’s public praise of censorship partnerships, the emails sent from Ardoin’s office to federal officials, and the forwarding of those reports to social media platforms and the FBI, Lunsford chose to attack the people trying to shine light on an egregious effort by our government to crush constitutionally protected speech, without which George Washington said we would be led by tyrants “like sheep to the slaughter.”
Our position has been consistent and fully supported by evidence: the Louisiana Secretary of
State’s Office, under Kyle Ardoin’s direction, did participate in reporting citizens’ speech to federal agencies, which then forwarded those reports to social media companies and the FBI for the specific purpose of censoring that speech. And Ardoin openly praised the very censorship framework that enabled it.
Lunsford can publish all the hit pieces he wants —but he cannot rewrite the public record, and he WILL not falsely attack an American patriot with impunity. Not on this writer’s watch.
Christopher Alexander Louisiana Citizen Advocacy Group www.lacag.org