West Virginia’s chief election officer, who is now running for governor, said again that the 2020 presidential elections were rigged.

Mac Warner, a Republican Secretary of State, told a MetroNews debate on Thursday night for gubernatorial candidate candidates that “the election was stolen and it was stolen CIA.”

Warner was the only candidate to go this far.

Moore Capito is the son of U.S. Senator Moore Capito. Shelley Moore Capito would only state that the West Virginia election was secure and she would not go any further.

Patrick Morrisey (Attorney General of West Virginia) who was not present at the debate signed a federal lawsuit in 2020 that sought to invalidate results from Michigan, Georgia Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected it because of a lack of standing under Article III.

Warner, an Army officer with a political background, said at the debate that “the election was stolen.”

Stop the Steal

Warner, West Virginia Secretary of State from 2017, made the claim as a variation of a public position that has consistently cast doubt on the 2016 presidential election.

Warner, who served two terms as West Virginia’s chief election officer and has a long history in the U.S. Army, is now seeking to be the chief executive of the state. He may be trailing some of his rivals in the polls, but the endorsement from former President Clinton is a big boost.

Warner appeared on Right Side Broadcasting’s coverage of the 2020 elections holding a sign that read “Stop the Steal”. He questioned the voting practices in certain states at that time.

He continued to question the election processes in swing-states like Pennsylvania and Michigan, even into 2022. In a lively discussion on MetroNews “Talkline,” Warner claimed that votes were cast outside of the law.

This was after the former president Donald Trump and allies lost 62 suits contesting election processes and vote counting, as well as the vote certification process, in states including Arizona, Georgia Michigan, Nevada Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The majority of the lawsuits were dismissed due to lack of evidence.

Michael Flynn endorsement

Warner also promoted the endorsement of former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn who was one of Trump’s strongest allies when it came to promoting election fraud allegations.

Flynn was Trump’s National Security Advisor for only 24 days. He is a retired Army Lieutenant General. He was fired for lying about his discussions with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak regarding U.S. Sanctions prior to the Trump Administration’s taking office.

Flynn pleaded twice guilty to lying to FBI about his conversation with the Russian ambassador. Flynn received a pardon in late 2020 as he fought to keep Trump on the job.

Flynn, along with attorneys Rudy Giuliani, and Sidney Powell gathered at the Oval Office in December 2020 for a notorious late-night brainstorming about the possibility of overturning the elections. Flynn was advocating martial law and said Trump should “seize’ voting machines in order to hold a re-election.

Flynn invoked his right to self-protection under the Fifth Amendment in testimony before a select congressional committee that investigated the events of Jan. 6. He was asked if he believed in a peaceful transfer of power in the United States of America.

Warner announced Flynn’s endorsement last month. Flynn, Warner stated, “recognizes that there is a link between fair and secure elections, as well as the legitimacy and effectiveness” of the government.

Flynn supported Warner, saying: “Our national security is directly linked to the legitimacy of our government as perceived by our citizens.” If elections are in doubt, respect for the government will be diminished and we’ll lose our ability to protect this country. Secretary Warner’s work in ensuring election security and integrity has set an example for what this country needs right now.”

Warner’s claim: Hunter’s Laptop

Warner’s reasoning for doubting the 2020 presidential elections, which was briefly discussed during last week’s gubernatorial discussion, has now taken on a new twist.

He is arguing that the Central Intelligence Agency suppressed information about Hunter Biden’s laptop, which was recovered in a repair shop on October 20, 2020.

Warner claimed that the truth was revealed when Mike Morell admitted under oath before Jim Jordan, “that yes, he had colluded with Antony Blinken in order to sell a falsehood to the American public two weeks prior to the election, for the purpose of swaying the presidential election.” How can it be that the FBI covered it up, and Mark Zuckerberg paid $400 million for him to put his thumb in the scale? “That’s not fair.”

It’s hard to sort out this mess.

Mike Morell is a former deputy director at the CIA and he has always been a Trump critic. Morell wrote an open letter in October 2020 claiming that the Biden laptop story had “the classic earmarks” of a Russian propaganda operation. Then-candidate Joe Biden used the letter to deflect critics.

After three years, there is still no evidence to support the claim that the laptop was a Russian disinformation device.

The House Select Subcommittee on the weaponization of the federal government, headed by Jim Jordan, a Republican from Ohio, has concentrated its efforts on Hunter Biden’s business dealings. The Republican majority of the committee has claimed that Antony Blinken – then a Biden adviser, and now Secretary for State – was the first to contact Morell regarding this laptop story.

It was alleged that Biden’s campaign created a pretext to suppress the story about the laptop in the weeks leading up to the election by using the letter from national security officials.

House Democrats responded by releasing a portion of Morell’s conversation. When asked if Blinken suggested, directed or implied that Morell should write a similar statement, Morell replied, “My memory tells me that he didn’t.”

Warner’s summary includes references to Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook and the FBI. It is alleged that agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation warned social media companies that the laptop’s contents could have been tampered with by Russian operatives.

Facebook and Twitter have restricted the sharing of a New York Post article that focuses on emails sent from a laptop. Zuckerberg said that FBI agents warned him to be “on high alert” after they contacted a popular podcaster.