Browse sourced findings, connection research, and open questions. Each entry retains the status and qualifications recorded with the research. A connection research note is not automatically a verified network-map relationship.
Connection research · 2026-09-17
Recorded status: Verified common upstream operator and formal grantee-monitoring structure; Idaho candidate selection and expenditure control unproven
Western Futures Fund’s FY2024 Form 990 Schedule O states that, as management consultant, Blue Moon Strategies is responsible for Western Futures’ day-to-day operations. The filing also says Western Futures had no employees in 2024 and reports $675,134 in project-management expenses. Its Schedule I describes a grant-monitoring system using written and verbal reports, ongoing monitoring and interaction with grantees, and regular updates depending on grant si…
Read note and sources →Research finding · 2026-09-17
Recorded status: Verified official filing and domain metadata. Beneficial owner remains undisclosed/unresolved.
Official Idaho Secretary of State records identify Redbird Strategies LLC, file no. 6512063, as an active Idaho domestic LLC formed November 5, 2025. The filing lists principal and mailing addresses at 1309 Coffeen Avenue, Suite 1200, Sheridan, Wyoming; Registered Agents Inc. in Post Falls is the commercial registered agent. The original Certificate of Organization lists Andrew Pierce as governor and organizer. Follow-up establishes that Pierce founded Wyo…
Read note and sources →Open question · 2026-09-17
Recorded status: Verified export gap and live roster inconsistency; cause and original PDF not verified
Preserved September 17 official CSV transaction 383994 remains a $9,000 May 1, 2026 broadcast expenditure to Redbird with 16 populated candidate allocations of $529.41, sum $8,470.56, gap $529.44. One additional base row has neither candidate nor Amount Applied and is not an allocation. Live public transaction detail, opened from Defend's Reinke $529.41 row, shows $9,000, distribution May 1–19, history Original filed June 10, and a roster count of 16. Howe…
Read note and sources →Connection research · 2026-09-17
Recorded status: Verified primary-record connection; name variation and ownership inference bounded
Idaho Sunshine’s active Accountable Idaho committee record (filing entity ID 94) identifies Elle Casner as both treasurer and chairperson and lists PO Box 2093, Boise, ID 83701. Its expenditure ledger shows three same-day payments to Hulsen Media Services, LLC on October 16, 2024—$25,500, $22,750, and $22,250, totaling $70,500—for broadcast advertising. It then paid Esto Perpetua Group $15,000 on January 2, 2025 for general operational expenses. The transa…
Read note and sources →Connection research · 2026-09-17
Recorded status: PRIMARY VERIFIED candidate-specific independent-expenditure ledger and arithmetic. Multi-PAC convergence established; coordination, earmarking, and common control not established.
Idaho Sunshine’s candidate-specific independent-expenditure table for Brent Reinke lists 35 supportive transactions. Summed by filer, the major disclosed totals are Idaho Liberty PAC $66,077.24; Idaho Prosperity Fund $16,426.03; Defend and Protect Idaho $12,443.38; Magic Valley Voter Action $4,772.69; Hometown Heroes $3,052.68; Idaho Majority Club $2,398.28; Idaho Dairy Industry PAC $1,308.44; and WinAg PAC $559.51. Two small Concerned Citizens of the Magi…
Read note and sources →Connection research · 2026-09-17
Recorded status: SOURCE-RESTORED RECOVERY ITEM. URLs and source-specific support statements restored from corrected v2 snapshot. Evidentiary firewall preserved; dynamic aggregates and secondary reports still require ordinary publication-stage verification.
Early-cycle Hometown Heroes records show Way Back PAC and Richard Larsen as major contributors; later reporting adds Idaho PACs and legislators around the same Hometown Heroes/Defend & Protect/Idaho First ecosystem. This supports a hybrid national-plus-Idaho funding model.
Evidence firewall: Hybrid funding is documented; common control is not.
Read note and sources →Research finding · 2026-09-17
Recorded status: PRIMARY VERIFIED filing signer/contact chain; SECONDARY ATTRIBUTED fake-persona reporting from WIRED and ICIJ. Beneficial ownership remains unresolved, and no suspected Idaho actor is identified in the filings.
The underlying Wyoming filings show that Esto Perpetua Group LLC’s public signatures do not identify its beneficial owner or operating manager. Its December 9, 2021 Articles of Organization and November 16, 2022 annual report were signed “Riley Park,” using Registered Agents Inc.’s email reports@registeredagentsinc.com and phone (307) 200-2803. WIRED, citing five former Registered Agents Inc. employees, reported that Riley Park is a fictional persona creat…
Read note and sources →Connection research · 2026-09-17
Recorded status: SOURCE-RESTORED RECOVERY ITEM. URLs and source-specific support statements restored from corrected v2 snapshot. Evidentiary firewall preserved; dynamic aggregates and secondary reports still require ordinary publication-stage verification.
Primary Idaho filings show recurring Esto Perpetua → Idaho Prosperity Fund contributions: $3,500 on 03/10/2017; $3,500 on 04/05/2018; and in 2019, $3,500 on 03/04 plus $1,000 on 11/26. The original emergency snapshot understated 2019 by listing only the $1,000 payment. The same 2019 Esto Perpetua filing also shows a separate $1,000 contribution to Idaho Victory Fund on 12/09/2019.
Evidence firewall: Historical PAC-to-PAC transactions are factual; they do …
Read note and sources →Connection research · 2026-09-17
Recorded status: Verified overlapping vendor-executed slates; coordination, control, and earmarking unproven
Idaho Sunshine's Independent Expenditure search returns 150 candidate-level allocations naming Redbird Strategies. The four Hometown-network committees used Redbird for substantially overlapping slates. Hometown Heroes' May 5 Redbird buy supported Jim Guthrie ($6,600), Jim Woodward, Mark Sauter, Julie Van Orden, Ben Fuhriman, Mark Harris, and Michael Veile ($1,850 each). Defend and Protect Idaho's Redbird allocations also supported Guthrie, Woodward, Saute…
Read note and sources →Connection research · 2026-09-17
Recorded status: Verified corporate political contribution; no verified downstream Idaho use
Right Insight LLC contributed $7,500 to the Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC) on January 25, 2026, according to RSLC’s IRS Form 8872 first-quarter report. The filing uses Right Insight’s PO Box 421, Boise address—the same ZIP/address used in federal campaign-vendor records. RSLC describes itself as the national Republican organization focused on electing state legislators and other down-ballot state officials. This establishes that Right Insight…
Read note and sources →Connection research · 2026-09-17
Recorded status: FCC folder names, upload timestamp and document URLs verified; internal document contents not yet retrieved. Same-day Redbird relationship is a lead, not attribution proof.
KIVI-TV’s 2026 FCC political file contains a Defend and Protect Idaho folder under Non-Candidate Issue Ads. The station uploaded two documents at 2:42 p.m. on May 8, 2026: “KIVI Defend-and-Protect-Idaho-Political-PFD-05-08-2026” and “NAB DEFEND PROTECT IDAHO.” May 8 is also the date Defend and Protect Idaho reported a $110,000 payment to Redbird Strategies for category B broadcast advertising. This establishes a specific broadcast purchase artifact on the …
Read note and sources →Connection research · 2026-09-17
Recorded status: SOURCE-RESTORED RECOVERY ITEM. URLs and source-specific support statements restored from corrected v2 snapshot. Evidentiary firewall preserved; dynamic aggregates and secondary reports still require ordinary publication-stage verification.
Transparency USA's 2024-cycle IMC page lists a $5,000 IMC payment to Idaho Victory Fund. Current-cycle data list a $50,000 Idaho Victory Fund payment to IMC. IMC's current endorsement list also includes candidates such as Tammy Nichols whom Victory-funded Idaho Liberty PAC had opposed in an earlier cycle, so the money relationship does not by itself establish slate control.
Evidence firewall: Financial relationship is documented; centralized candidate con…
Read note and sources →Research finding · 2026-09-17
Recorded status: Primary invoices and totals verified; producer, candidate content and state-ledger match unresolved
Retrieved and visually checked all pages of three May 2026 KREM invoices in Defend and Protect Idaho's FCC political file. All bill Commercial Space Experts / POL at the previously observed Austin billing address, identify advertiser ISS/ Defend and Protect Idaho, and use the identical 30-second creative Ad-ID CPMDAPI26005H. Invoice 3277030-1, estimate 4265, alternate order WOC15690695, dated May 17: 13 actual logged spots May 9 and May 11–13; gross $1,260…
Read note and sources →Connection research · 2026-09-17
Recorded status: verified recurring transactions; direction and earmarking unproven
The legacy Idaho Sunshine ledger shows recurring direct support from Risch Pisca to Esto Perpetua: $1,000 on 2021-12-07, $1,000 on 2022-04-20, and $1,000 from Risch Pisca PLLC on 2023-08-14. The same historical record shows Esto Perpetua contributed $5,000 to Idaho Prosperity Fund on 2021-12-22. Separately, Idaho Education News reported in 2018 that Esto Perpetua had sent much of that year's contributions to Risch Pisca PLLC and Idaho Prosperity Fund. This…
Read note and sources →Research finding · 2026-09-17
Recorded status: Verified from live rendered source on 2026-09-17. Interpretation limited: minimal disclosure is a warning sign, not proof of concealment or unlawful activity.
Live technical inspection of redbird-strategies.com confirms that the site discloses no human principal, direct email address, public telephone number, street address, client list, portfolio, or social-media account. It does contain a contact form requesting name, email, ZIP, phone and message, so it is inaccurate to say the site has no contact mechanism at all. The underlying Squarespace LocalBusiness structured data has a blank address. The site context …
Read note and sources →Connection research · 2026-09-17
Recorded status: PRIMARY IDAHO SUNSHINE VERIFIED common management vendor and payments; reporting corroborates McLean-aligned slate. Way Back-to-Scrap-Shop contract and unlawful coordination remain unproved.
Idaho Secretary of State Sunshine records identify The Scrap Shop LLC as a substantial Idaho political-management node. The vendor profile reports 18 candidates and four PACs paid the firm $227,204. In 2023, Colin Nash paid The Scrap Shop $3,000 per month in multiple months; Lauren McLean paid much larger recurring management/payroll and operations amounts; Jordan Morales, Meredith Stead and James Hallyburton also paid the same firm. The historic client li…
Read note and sources →Connection research · 2026-09-17
Recorded status: verified transaction pattern; earmarking and coordination unproven
Transaction-level Idaho Sunshine records show direct financial support for Esto Perpetua PAC from the Risch Pisca operation: Risch Pisca PLLC contributed $1,000 on 2023-08-14, and Jeremy Pisca contributed $2,000 on 2026-04-08. The ledger also shows an exact same-day funding match on 2026-05-21: Esto Perpetua received $10,000 from Jackson's, $10,000 from Tamarack Food and Beverage LLC, and $3,000 from DaVita—$23,000 total—and on that same date contributed e…
Read note and sources →Connection research · 2026-09-17
Recorded status: corrected and verified with evidentiary caveat
CORRECTION: Hometown Heroes' profile lists “Esto Perpetua” among its contributors, but transaction-level Idaho Sunshine records show the underlying transfers occurred in 2026, not 2024: $35,000 on 2026-05-12 and $23,000 on 2026-05-21, both categorized as contributions to candidates/PACs and reported on Esto Perpetua's 2026 May Monthly Report. Separately, Hometown Heroes paid “Esto Perpetua Group” $22,396.57 on 2024-08-02 for production, using PO Box 2535, …
Read note and sources →Connection research · 2026-09-17
Recorded status: SOURCE-RESTORED RECOVERY ITEM. URLs and source-specific support statements restored from corrected v2 snapshot. Evidentiary firewall preserved; dynamic aggregates and secondary reports still require ordinary publication-stage verification.
Three 2026 Republican primary contests under review are Brent Reinke vs. Glenneda Zuiderveld, Casey Swensen vs. Josh Kohl, and Cherie Vollmer vs. David Leavitt. Idaho GOP's own Integrity in Affiliation page records Reinke/Swensen/Vollmer as 'Yes, with exceptions' and Zuiderveld/Kohl/Leavitt as 'Yes.' Idaho Education News lists Defend & Protect independent spending of $36,532 against Zuiderveld, $31,990 against Kohl, and $16,138 against Leavitt.
Evidence f…
Read note and sources →Connection research · 2026-09-17
Recorded status: Verified state-ledger payments; contractual and bank flow unresolved
Deduplicating the official Idaho Sunshine CSV by Transaction Id yields 18 Redbird transactions totaling $627,302 and three Hulsen Media Services transactions totaling $95,414. Defend and Protect Idaho paid Hulsen $77,194 on 04/30 for broadcast advertising, $16,420 on 05/05 for broadcast advertising, and $1,800 on 05/05 for ad preparation/production. It then paid Redbird heavily during the same primary window: $42,549 on 04/24; $12,500 total on 05/01; $20,0…
Read note and sources →Connection research · 2026-09-17
Recorded status: PRIMARY IDAHO SUNSHINE VERIFIED for 2022 donors, payments and listed chair/treasurer; 2024 common-chair reporting corroborated but amendment chronology needs direct filing verification.
Official Idaho Sunshine records show the terminated Stronger Idaho PAC raised $91,000 from only six donors in 2022: Idaho Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee ($25,000), Political Action Committee for Education / Idaho Education Association PAC ($25,000), Accountable Idaho ($12,000), Not Another Penny–Labor First ($10,000), Conservation Voters for Idaho Action Fund ($10,000), and Keep Ada Home ($9,000). Stronger Idaho then reported at least $59,803.75…
Read note and sources →Open question · 2026-09-17
Recorded status: open identity-resolution question; no attribution yet
A March 28, 2025 federal prosecution filing in United States v. Casada et al. states that bank records for Cade Cothren's other business entities included 'Redbird Strategies' and says prosecutors intended to show that Cothren concealed his identity when conducting political business. DOJ later reported that Cothren and former Tennessee House Speaker Glen Casada were convicted and sentenced in the Phoenix Solutions bribery/fraud case. Separately, Idaho fil…
Read note and sources →Connection research · 2026-09-17
Recorded status: Verified shared filing and brand lineage; formal ownership, merger and continuing legal status unresolved
Federal trademark records show two distinct limited-liability-company applicants—Right Insight LLC and Right Impact LLC—filed related marks on the same day, November 2, 2022, through the same attorney, Alexandra Hodson, and each claimed first commercial use on May 1, 2022. Right Insight’s marks cover business messaging, advertising, market research and data analysis; Right Impact’s mark covers political strategy, voter analysis, campaign planning/staffing,…
Read note and sources →Research finding · 2026-09-17
Recorded status: Verified committee-officer finding; records-custody inference
Idaho Sunshine identifies Judith Ellis as treasurer and Gary Raney as chairperson of Defend and Protect Idaho, filing entity ID 661, registered January 24, 2024, with mailing address PO Box 162, Boise, ID 83701. The committee’s own website repeats Judith Ellis as treasurer and the same mailing address. This does not connect Ellis or Raney to ownership of Esto Perpetua Group. It does identify the committee officers most likely to have custody of the 2024 Es…
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