Myth Tab – The Handcuffing of a Journalist and Free Speech

Fiction: Joe handcuffed a reporter and is against free speech.

Fact: Joe did not handcuff anyone, nor did any of his paid staff. Just weeks before the General Election in 2010, with Joe Miller in the lead, his enemies plotted his defeat with the goal of undermining Joe’s campaign by creating a fake incident.

Meet dirty trickster Bill Fulton, a two-time Obama voter, left wing activist, paid FBI informant, rogue private security man, and the man with the handcuffs. Volunteering as private security at a Joe Miller campaign event, Bill Fulton, on his own accord and under no authorization from Joe Miller or his campaign, handcuffed Tony Hopfinger of the Alaska Dispatch, whom he said was being disruptive. The incident made state and national news and disrupted the Miller campaign’s momentum. Political observers say that this single incident changed the outcome of the election.

Then, after his dirty deed was done, Bill Fulton made his bombshell admission: He was working against Miller and for the left wing.

“The left-wing completely attacked me, including the Huffington Post, you bastards. I was working for you, you sons of bitches, and nobody knew It.” – Bill Fulton, The Huffington Post, 1/11/13 (Reported by Ryan J. Reilly).

And what of Alaska Dispatch journalist Tony Hopfinger who was handcuffed by Bill Fulton? Here’s what Tony had to say in retrospect about the handcuffing affair:

“Do we want the FBI dealing with cowboys like Bill Fulton who change the outcome of political elections by say, handcuffing journalists? No wonder Farmer Joe and his friends worry so about Big Brother. I don’t like the idea, either, of the FBI having a paid informant working inside a political campaign when the candidate himself is not the primary target of the investigation. Why would anybody run for office under those circumstances? Joe Miller should be more upset with the FBI/Justice Department than with Fulton.” – Alaska Dispatch, 1/13/13 (Reported by Craig Medred)

Joe believes 100% in the free speech of everyone including those who disagree with him, lie about him, and attack him, but especially appreciates those who are truthful.

Myth Tab – Joe’s Military Service

Fiction: Joe didn’t fulfill his military service commitment after graduating from West Point.

Fact: Joe accepted the Army’s offer to participate in the Volunteer Early Release Program from active duty and completed his service commitment as a reserve officer. All combat arms junior officers during the Army-wide draw-down after the first Gulf War were offered this option. At the time he left active duty, he was a top-rated officer in his battalion. During his years of service, he received the highest possible performance ratings on each of his officer evaluations.

Joe is a decorated combat veteran who lost a good portion of his hearing in both ears while serving our country as a M1A1 tank platoon leader. He further honorably served our state and country as a State Magistrate, Acting District Court Judge, Federal Magistrate Judge, and taught as an adjunct professor at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks.

Myth Tab – Joe’s Integrity

Fiction: Joe is an admitted liar who can’t be trusted.

Fact: Several years ago, during his employment at the Fairbanks North Star Borough, Joe had a lapse in judgment. Within an hour, Joe told his boss that he lied to three of his co-workers about using their computers after he voted in an online poll on four Borough computers. Far from showing a lack of integrity, Joe’s admission is a sign that he has the integrity to admit when he is wrong, and the courage to confront his own mistakes. This is all a matter of public record disclosed to the press during the 2010 election cycle. However, it should also be noted that the very personnel file where Joe’s voluntary confession is recorded, his boss wrote that this incident was not indicative of his character. She described this incident in his employment at the borough as “an isolated incident.”

Myth Tab – The FNSB Computer Incident

Fiction: Joe Miller used Fairbanks North Star Borough computers to proxy vote in the Republican Party Convention in order to rig the election against longtime party chair Randy Ruedrich.

Fact: Joe never ran for party chair, nor does the Republican Party allow proxy voting at their convention. Joe used four Borough computers to vote in an unscientific poll hosted on his own website, and was disciplined for using public assets for a political purpose.

Myth Tab – Joe’s Accomplishments

Fiction: Joe hasn’t done anything for Alaska.

Fact: Joe served the State of Alaska as a State Magistrate, an Acting District Court Judge. During his years in the Alaska Court System, he never had a decision overturned, and was instrumental in establishing of one of the State’s first Therapeutic Courts to help rehabilitate chronic substance abusers.

Joe has been active in the communities where he has lived, serving the homeless in a soup kitchen, offering pro-bono legal advise to those struggling financially and to non-profits such as Alaska Right to Life and the Alaska Family Council. He has served on the board of his local church, engaged in medical missions in the third world, and sat as the Interior Regional Chair, and on the State Central Committee and State Executive Committee of the Alaska Republican Party. He was also a Gubernatorial Appointee to the State Board of Marine Pilots, and has offered other legal advice to the Governor’s Office in an unofficial capacity.

Most lately, Joe has established one of the most-read news and opinion websites in the State where he aggregates national news and opinion, and has broken state stories that have gone national. Thousands of Alaskans receive his daily emails, and depend on it for the latest political and cultural news and commentary.

Myth Tab – Post-Election Litigation

Fiction: Joe Miller is a sore loser who engaged in frivolous litigation after the 2010 election.

Fact: The post-election lawsuits addressed serious complaints of voter fraud and election irregularities recorded in sworn affidavits by Alaskan voters, and the State’s clear violation of the plain text of the law.

Federal District Court Judge Ralph Beistline went so far as to stay the election for thirty days while the State Courts adjudicated what he called “serious issues in Alaska law.” The allegations of voter fraud were not judged on their own merits because the court determined that they did not represent enough votes to change the outcome of the election.

Myth Tab – Joe’s Residence

Fiction: Joe abandoned Alaska to cash in on his “celebrity” after the last election.

Fact: Joe never left Alaska, and continues to engage in the public policy debate through speeches, online publication, and through engagement with causes and organizations that share his values. He has lived in Alaska with his family for the last 20 years and continues to practice law.

Myth Tab – Voter Disenfranchisement

Fiction: After the last election, Joe tried to disenfranchise voters by keeping their votes from getting counted.

Fact: Joe only filed suit to petition the court to enjoin the Division of Elections to interpret and execute the write-in statute according to existing precedent. The law was clear. The precedent was clear. Joe believes that powerful senators should be subject to the same interpretation of the law as every other candidate running for public office. His fight was to keep legally cast ballots from being disenfranchised by illegally cast ballots. The voting booth is blind. Nobody really knows who’s ballots were being challenged, and who’s were not.