Years before the FBI raid on President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home, Catherine Engelbrecht, founder of election monitoring organization True the Vote, already understood that federal agencies were being weaponized against political foes.
During President Barack Obama’s administration, her personal, business, and nonprofit dealings suddenly became of intense interest to the federal government. She endured more than 15 instances of audits or inquiries from the FBI, IRS, Environmental Protection Agency, Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
Engelbrecht said seeing Trump’s home raided made her sick. It reminded her of her own experience and offered proof that more than a decade after her dealings with federal law enforcement began, the United States is moving toward communism.
“It was a nauseatingly clarifying moment,” Engelbrecht told The Epoch Times. “Like, just in case you thought it was enough to cheat him out of an election—No. They want him gone. They want him indicted.”
It galvanized her resolve to continue speaking about election integrity.
“It was clarifying in its clear weaponization, and a stark reminder of what we’re facing,” Engelbrecht said of the raid. “We cannot allow this to continue, or children do not have a chance.”
‘They Needed to Kneecap Us’
Engelbrecht became interested in election integrity after she volunteered to work the polls in Texas in 2009 and noticed procedural problems she felt should be addressed. She started True the Vote, which grew into a national election integrity movement. True the Vote is the investigative group behind the documentary “2,000 Mules,” but it was started well before the 2020 election.
Engelbrecht says True the Vote was the first national election watchdog group. She had another group, King Street Patriots, a Tea Party organization she founded in Texas.
Her troubles began in 2010 after she applied for tax exempt status for her nonprofit organizations. Engelbrecht had to file a lawsuit and deal with intimidating federal agencies for more than three years before her application was finally approved.
By Beth Brelje
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