OPINION: IFF Files, Part 5 — When they tell you who they are, believe them

Organized groups from all over the country are converging on Idaho. They have been drawn to our state because of our conservative politics, but now declare we are not conservative enough. Some of the most outspoken groups have berated our existing state government as RINOs (Republican In Name Only), then openly admit that they, themselves, are not Republicans. They are aggressive Libertarians who want to use the Republican Party in Idaho as their vehicle for success. Think Ron Paul meets Attila the Hun. Let’s look at what they say about themselves.

One of the more dramatic and outspoken new citizens of North Idaho is Vincent James Foxx, who moved to Post Falls in 2021. He is tagged as a White Nationalist racist by many sources. I don’t know if that is true, but I can tell you what he says about himself in some online videos: “Yes, we are the Christian Taliban. We won’t stop until the Handmaid’s Tale is a reality. We will roll back the last 100 years of women’s rights and it’s even going to get worse for you.” He tells his followers that North Idaho is awesome: “All the landscapers in North Idaho are white, all the gardeners are white, all the people working at the fast food places are white. There’s no way to describe North Idaho other than utopia! It’s utopia! It’s awesome!”

One of his friends, David Reilly, arrived in Post Falls about the same time and has also been tagged as racist. He was noticed at the 2022 Lincoln Day dinner, jumping up and yelling at the keynote speaker Dinesh D’Souza, saying “I hate this f---- brown guy.” Reilly later described the goal of their group: “We don’t care about integrity, we only care about winning.”

Believe him.

Vincent James Foxx is adamant about their plan: “We are going to take over Idaho. We have a great, large group, and it’s growing. It’s a true right-wing takeover, and there’s nothing these people can do about it. So if you are a legislator in Idaho, either get in line or get out of the way.”

Please realize that you are considered “these people” who can’t do anything to stop this group, even though you’ve lived here for years and made Idaho the conservative state that the aggressive Libertarians now want to conquer. They are telling us very clearly who they are.

Other people and groups are helping this right-wing effort to dominate Idaho. Idaho Freedom Foundation (IFF), and the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee (KCRCC) are key players in this battle to control our state. But make no mistake, they are not fighting for YOUR rights as citizens and voters of Idaho, they are all-in for the aggressive Libertarian takeover.

Here are just some of the national groups involved:

Citizens Alliance — This group is headquartered near D.C. but the Idaho chapter is run by Matt Edwards of Hayden. He demands that legislators sign a “pledge” to obey Citizens Alliance, not you. The punishment for not signing is negative ads on social media and attack post cards sent to the voters. Most of the new legislators have signed their pledges. The few incumbents remaining are trying to avoid it. (I did not sign either, because my pledge was always to my constituents, to do my best for our district and the state of Idaho, not to some outside group.)

Citizens Alliance is funded, in part, by IFF board members Doyle Beck and Brian Smith. Each gave $30,000. The group gets money from other sources as well, including their headquarters back in D.C., which sent the Idaho branch $373,000, and SMC Properties which sent $88,500. SMC’s ownership is unclear. Notice the strings of money and influence.

Then there’s a group called Young Americans for Liberty (YAL) out of Texas. I could write a whole column on this one. They have a seven-page Candidate Questionnaire that must be completed by those wanting the substantial donations from this group. IFF recommends the Idaho candidates who should receive the questionnaire, which is heavily detailed about the legalization of drugs. One YAL organizer told a pastor in Boise that their goal is the legalization of ALL drugs. Believe them.

Next on the list is Make Liberty Win. (MLW) out of the D.C. area. Both this group and YAL were owned by the same person during the last election. Both are Libertarian groups, and IFF’s Dustin Hurst said of them, “We are partners." Believe him.

See the intricate web of Libertarian groups working to grab control of Idaho? IFF/KCRCC seem to be pawns for the big groups out of D.C. and Texas, but are willing to sell us out and do as they are told. We haven’t even started on the North Idaho based groups which are part of IFF’s chain of influence. We’ll talk about them next week.

What is missing in almost every aspect of this cluster is transparency. Research shows an obvious effort to cover up funding and obscure motivation. It’s easier to take away citizens' and voters' rights if you use cover words like “freedom” and “liberty," when the real goal is control.

Please be careful with your donations and your votes. It is your decision. Do your own thinking.

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Mary Souza, a Coeur d'Alene Republican, represented District 4 in the Idaho Senate for eight years from 2014 to 2022.

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