Monument Town Manager Mike Foreman attempts to prevent a report of his wrongdoing from becoming public by calling on a mob to attack the investigator and members of Town Council. The Special Investigator Grant Van Der Jagt protected witnesses and exposed the truth.
The Town of Monument hired Special Investigator Grant Van Der Jagt just before Christmas to look into election shenanigans. At first glance, with 10 days before the report was due, it appeared to be an impossible task. However, on December 28th, when asked to begin to read his report, the audience erupted into disarray. A dozen Monument Police officers came to keep the peace and Town Council decided to adjourn rather than allow Mr. Van Der Jagt to continue reading the 140-page report.
No one had seen or read the report yet. In discussions with the audience, they attacked the personal character of the investigator with determination only seen before by ANTIFA mobsters, with claims of poor ethics, collusion, incompetence and bias.
Ironically, the story should not have been about the chaos, or about him as the investigator, but instead how powerful and comprehensive the report was in identifying and substantiating the misconduct of Town Council, its staff and its attorney. But alas, the shouting stopped the meeting, and no one discussed the report. The report is worth reading. It is 16 pages, of which about 4 pages are footnotes with legal citations and links to over 120 pages of evidence used to substantiate every claim made. Among many more issues raised, it concludes that town staff stole tax money, defrauded the public and passed an Unconstitutional Municipal Charter.
Was the heckling much to do about nothing?
One unknown heckler claimed collusion and bias. Was it proof of collusion or bias that Mr. Van Der Jagt was seen with members of Town Council after they hired him? The hecklers claimed he was seen eating dinner with a Town Councilwoman and then late in the evening with the Mayor for Monument. Even footnote 4 of the report says immediately after hiring Mr. Van Der Jagt as the Special Investigator, he began interviewing Town Council and the Mayor. It appears to be perfectly normal for an investigator to talk with witnesses and the accused before writing a report.
The IT director for the town, Drew Anderson, claimed certain people had special access to folders, showing everyone a screenshot of a list of folders and names of people with access, but each Town Council and staff member was asked whether they had special access to the report prior to the day of its release had said, "No." In fact, they each explained the same thing, they were given access to a folder into which they were allowed to upload Issues and Facts for the investigator to review, and they were also able to sort the information into privilege folders to protect executive session and attorney-client privilege. They emphasized that no one had access to anyone else's information and showed an email from the Investigator to select staff including IT Director Drew Anderson explaining the same. Although Drew Anderson alleged this misconduct, he could not provide any proof anyone gained access to any data. Therefore, the claim was false. Why would the IT Director lie? The report exposed Drew Anderson as a participant in the staff's misconduct.
Steve King, a future Town Councilman who is said to gain from the election being investigated, said he was never asked anything by the investigator, however, on 12/19/2022 at 3:36PM the investigator emailed Mr. King a request for information. Steve King's wife was noted as being the most obnoxious heckler in the audience, yelling at the Town Mayor who tried to regain control of the room with her gavel, "Free Speech", as if to say, she wanted to be arrested for disturbing the peace. But instead, the Town Council decided to adjourn and let the report speak for itself.
One heckler, Anne Howe, was yelling several attacks on the investigator's credibility. She said he was not qualified because he knows nothing about campaign finance law. But a simple google search for "Grant Van Der Jagt" turned up that he is an attorney and has been the registered filing agent for a political campaign. Therefore, he is perfectly qualified to investigate the campaign finance violations on 2A, which only requires that he be a licensed attorney. Anne Howe also claimed that Mr. Van Der Jagt was avoiding service in a lawsuit against him with Elide, however, the case notes the court found Elide had not attempted service on Grant Van Der Jagt and the case was dismissed, noting the prosecution was deficient and warning the prosecuting attorney, who submitted multiple false statement to the court, that fraud on and incompetence before the court will not be tolerated.
The investigator said he has no ethic violations against his law license, but the hecklers circulated a settlement in which he plead no contest, wherein allegations were that he had exceeded the authority of his broker's license (a limited license to practice law) by acting as an attorney. But Mr. Van Der Jagt was an attorney and was therefore authorized to practice law without limits. Although the broker license investigator concluded he had violated their restrictions, the Colorado Supreme Court Ethics Commission ruled that no violation had occurred. When asked about the issue, Grant Van Der Jagt said, "If someone tells you, 'you can't', they're showing you their limits. Not yours!"
It is ironic that one heckler claimed the investigator was shady because the Law Firm of Starzynski Van Der Jagt P.C.'s motto is "Just because you did it, doesn't mean you are guilty..." because you have Rights and are entitled to a full explanation. The hecklers are a new radicalized group determined to take over the Town of Monument, and they have no respect for Truth or process. Grant Van Der Jagt's motto is "to live like a forefather because you are: God over Nation, Liberty over Security, Principles higher than Party and Truth above Character." During his interview, he stated, his "allegiance is to Truth". He deserves our gratitude.
At the January 3, 2022 Town Council meeting, Mitch LaKind, who was also implicated, fired Mr. Van Der Jagt.
