One thing is certain in Florida. If you are the chairman of a local county GOP, no rules apply to you. The illegitimately elected chairman of Saint Johns County, Denver Cook knows that all too well. Not only was Denver elected as Chairman without even having a valid membership in the organization, but he has also since decided to make his own set of rules.

Cook has boldly cancelled the August meeting for the organization stating that he had an emergency meeting with the state chapter.

While cancelling a meeting might not seem to be a huge deal for some, it is for others. Florida’s Primary is scheduled for August 20th and a meeting will not be rescheduled before the date of the Primary. In addition to the primary, the Board is yet to appoint an Audit Committee or elect a treasurer. Despite allegations of large-scale financial misappropriations, Chairman Cook tabled a motion to elect a Treasurer until the August 1st meeting. In addition, Cook also brought to a vote that the treasurer’s report would not be shared with the membership. The vast majority of the membership has no clue what amount of funds are available in the organization’s bank account, and their chairman appears to be determined to keep it that way.

In the Republican Party of Florida’s Constitution there are clear cut provisions made for instances when the Chairman cannot attend. Article IV- Section 4 states “The presiding officer at all meetings shall be the county chairman, and in the absence of the chairman, the vice-chairman, secretary or treasurer, in that order shall preside.

Denver Cook appears to be violating the Constitution of his own organization so that transparency cannot be established. A source tells me that a grievance has been filed over these actions, however the Republican Party of Florida is yet to respond. Having personally filed multiple grievances myself with the state party, I can sadly say that a non-response is typical. My grievances were filed under the previous chair Christian Ziegler, however things appear to be no different under current chair Evan Power. In my experience, Florida Republicans protect their own interest over that of the Republic, so if Donald Trump struggles in Florida it will not be because of Donald Trump. Florida has 67 counties, and therefore 67 individual Republican organizations. I could most likely write daily for 2 months about the integrity issues facing them.

UPDATE:

Since the original publication of this article, it has now been made clear that meeting was canceled due to a Zoom call.

In the meantime, electing Donald Trump is the most important action of our lifetime. It is obvious that the Republican Party is not committed to that action, so individual grassroots patriots must be.