First, there was this from Henson, Published on the Asheville Tea PAC website (link below):
It’s a big fat lie. I was there and I know.
The fake audio of Lynda Bennett was a hoax manipulated by people who were seeking revenge. The rest of the story is even more interesting.
Lynda Bennett is a huge supporter of Trump. Lynda Bennett was scolding a group of angry guys for their behavior.
This group did not want US Senator Richard Burr, NC Senator Jim Davis or Commissioner Ensley on the palm cards being distributed by the Haywood County Republican Party. Lynda was asking people to get behind the candidates that had been elected during the primary because it was the right thing to do.
The Hoax started with a recording at GOP headquarters of a get-out-the-vote materials organizational meeting. When we realized they were recording, we asked them to stop. They did not.
Lynda was expressing her view that it was not right for ‘Never Trumpers’ in the rest of the Republican Party to refuse to get behind the Presidential nominee selected by the voters. She made it clear that it was not right. This group was behaving like ‘Never Trumpers’ by trying to deny Burr, Davis, and Ensley the place they earned in the primary and denying the voters their choice.
The ‘Fake’ recording hoax changed the meaning of the words. Lynda is a big supporter of President Trump. This group knew that. She waved signs for Candidate Trump many times over the election cycle. She worked at the polls. This group was intent on hurting her and Candidate Trump by making it appear she did not support him.
It is not hard to cut and splice an audio which is exactly what they did to make it say something totally different than what the speaker actually said.
I was there and I know what happened.
People volunteering at the headquarters to organize to get voters out heard what was said and understood her. These guys changed the audio to misrepresent the truth. She has proven her loyalty to Trump. One of the guys posted the hoax hundreds of times on the Internet. They did not care about the truth. They had an agenda and did not care who they hurt.
These people were opposed to Jim Davis and now their lies are turning against them. By hurting Lynda Bennett – they actually help the very person they hate.
Richard Burr’s office called these guys down for striking his name and others from the palm card. Eventually, they had their keys to the Haywood County GOP headquarters taken away to prevent them from doing more damage.
Eventually, some in this group were censured by the NCGOP to prevent them from attending any more Republican meetings. These are the people spreading bold-faced lies.
Those of us that know these guys, know how bad they are. Lynda Bennett did nothing wrong. She supported our Republican candidates against their attacks and she was paid back with lies and a hoax.
Lynda Bennett supports President Trump in her words and deeds.
Ken Henson,
Chair of the Haywood County Republican Party
828 506 0205
Then this from Lynda Bennett’s campaign website (link below):
STATEMENT FROM HAYWOOD REPUBLICAN PARTY CHAIR
KEN HENSON:
Manipulated Audio of Lynda Bennett
It’s a big fat lie. I was there and I know.
I am the Chairman of the Haywood Republican Party. Everyone that was there knows that this audio has been manipulated to sound like the exact opposite of what really happened. It has been twisted to have different meaning from what Lynda was trying to say.
The audio of Lynda Bennett was manipulated by people who are seeking revenge..
Lynda Bennett is a huge supporter of Trump. Lynda was scolding these guys for their behavior.
We were in a work session at the headquarters to create the palm cards with our candidates on it. This should have been simple, but a small vocal faction did not want our elected Republicans on the palm cards (especially TRUMP), to be distributed by the Haywood County Republican Party. Lynda was asking them to get behind the candidates that had been elected during the primary because it was the right thing to do. They continued to oppose the candidates.
The Hoax started there.
Lynda was expressing her view that it was not right for ‘Never-Trumpers’ in the rest of the Republican Party to refuse to get behind the Presidential nominee selected by the voters.
These guys were behaving like ‘Never Trumpers’. She made it clear that it was not right when people go around saying “I am never Trump. I am never Trump.” She made it clear that people who are working in the party as officers or supporters of the Party cannot say that about the Republican candidates. But they kept on complaining about the candidates and she responded that they still sounded like People that say “I am never Trump”.
The manipulated recording hoax changed the meaning of the words into the exact opposite of what she was saying. We do not have access to the part of the audio that clears up the confusion because they have only released a portion of the conversation.
Lynda is a big supporter of President Trump. She waved signs for Candidate Trump many times over the election cycle. She worked at the polls for all the candidates including Trump at the top of the ticket. She helped organize a victory party at headquarters. Everyone that knows her over here knows she worked for Trump during the election.
Lynda, along with several others, hosted a huge “2017 Trump Inaugural Ball”. She spent two weeks decorating for the event. There was no charge for the Ball. We all pitched in – out of our packets – to cover all of the expenses for the food, the music, and the decorations. We wanted to be able to share in the excitement of the Trump Inauguration. Over 250 people attended the Haywood Inaugural Ball. Everyone knew the hosts of the party were Trump Supporters.
This small group of guys have tried to hurt many other Republican volunteers over the last few years. Many people have been attacked by them with innuendos and falsehoods. This was not a new tactic for them. Now they are are intent on hurting Lynda.
After the Trump victory, Lynda Bennett was elected as the Secretary of the Haywood Republican Party. Then two years later she was promoted to vice-chair. Our county is very pro-Trump and they know that Lynda is too.
It is not hard to cut and splice an audio and that is exactly what they did – to make it say something totally different than what the speaker actually said. I was there and I know what happened. These guys changed the audio to misrepresent the truth.
She has proven her loyalty to Trump. One of the guys posted the hoax hundreds of times on the Internet. They did not care about the truth; they had an agenda and did not care who they hurt.
Richard Burr’s office called these guys down for striking his name and others from the palm card. Eventually this group had their keys to the GOP headquarters taken away from them to prevent them from doing more damage.
Eventually some in this group were censured by the state NCGOP to prevent them from being able to attend any more Republican meetings and from holding offices. These are the people spreading bold-faced lies. Lynda Bennett did nothing wrong. She supported our Republican candidates against their attacks and she was paid back with lies and a hoax.
Lynda Bennett supports President Trump in her words and deeds.
Sincerely,
Ken Henson, Chair of the Haywood County Republican Party
https://lyndaforcongress.com/home/trump/
What rules were violated?
On page 36 of the North Carolina Republican Party Plan of Organization, one finds the following:
F. REFRAIN FROM UTILIZING POWERS OF OFFICE IN REPUBLICAN PRIMARY Each Officer and each Member of any Committee created pursuant to this Plan of Organization shall refrain from utilizing the powers and dignity of his or her office or position in any Republican Primary for public office at any level. Nor shall any Committee created pursuant to this Plan of Organization make or issue, in any way, manner or form, any endorsement in any Republican Primary for public office. Nor shall any Committee issue any contrary endorsement or withhold support from any non-partisan judicial candidates properly endorsed pursuant to this Plan of Organization.