Unfit to Serve
The Appointment of a January 6th Putschist to the State Board of Elections should be the last straw should be the last straw for Nicole Harris
It was bad enough when Nicole Harris tried to appoint election denier and conspiracy theorist William Newton to the State Board of Elections last year.
Harris finally convinced Governor Wes Moore and the State Senate to confirm somebody. But whoops, Nicole Harris managed to screw up even more in that appointment because it turns out that her chosen appointee Carlos Ayala was one of the January 6th Putschists that stormed The Capitol:
A Republican member of the Maryland State Board of Elections was arrested by federal authorities this week and charged for his alleged role in the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, the U.S. Department of Justice has announced.
Carlos Ayala, 52, of Salisbury, was charged in a criminal complaint filed in the District of Columbia with civil disorder, a felony. Ayala has also been charged with related misdemeanor offenses.
He resigned from the Board of Elections on Thursday morning.
Ayala, who was confirmed to the state board last spring, was arrested Tuesday by the FBI in Maryland and made an initial appearance in the District of Columbia, according to court records. He was released on personal recognizance and must ask for permission to leave the state of Maryland pending trial. He cannot possess firearms while out on bail.
Ayala is being represented by James Trusty, a former attorney for Donald Trump. Trusty declined to comment on Thursday morning.
For reasons that defy logic, Harris decided that she should defend the accused putschist in a statement:
In a statement provided to Maryland Matters Thursday, Maryland Republican Chair Nicole Beus Harris, who will recommend a new nominee to Moore to serve on the board, noted that Ayala is “innocent until proven guilty.”
“The MDGOP believes in the 1st Amendment and in the American principle that one is innocent until proven guilty,” she said. “That said, Mr. Ayala did choose to resign because he believes that the 2024 elections process and the State Board of Elections is extremely important and should not be muddied with distraction.”
While Harris is technically right, the statement should have been, “We agree with Ayala’s decision to resign.” and left it at that.
All of this begs a few questions:
HOW THE HELL DID NOBODY AT ANY POINT FIND OUT THAT AYALA WAS ONE OF THOSE WHO PARTICIPATED IN THE JANUARY 6TH COUP D’ETAT?
Did anybody at any point do any investigation about Ayala’s background?
Did Nicole Harris ask Ayala if he was involved in the January 6th event?
What, if anything, did Andy Harris have to do with Ayala’s appointment?
That it ever got to the point that a January 6th Putschist was appointed to the Board of Elections by the Maryland Republican Party is a damning indictment of the state of the modern GOP and yet another catastrophic failure of Nicole Harris’s leadership. This should, be likely won’t, be the last straw with her feckless leadership.
Nicole Harris is unfit to serve in any office and Maryland Republican Party officials would be wise to begin defenestrating her at once.