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| Steve Lynch |
Magisterial District Judge Jackie Taschner decided Friday that four Republican State Committee members (they call themselves the "Northampton Four") must face criminal court on charges of conspiracy to commit harassment as well as harassment at the June 8, 2023 meeting of the county Republican executive committee last summer. But she bounced six other disorderly conduct-related charges brought against this quartet. The surviving charges are third degree misdemeanors, which carry a maximum penalty of one year in jail and/or a fine up to $2500. Her ruling was made after a day of testimony at the Northampton County Courthouse.
Who are the Northampton Four? GOP State Committee members Steve Lynch, Debra Biro, Melanie Heilman and Richard Morea. They ran together for state committee as a slate and have been openly hostile with county party chair Glenn Geissinger at executive committee meetings. After the June 2023 meeting, they were banned from attending future meetings.
Interestingly, the charges were brought by party chair Glenn Geissinger as a private prosecution. They were approved by District Attorney Steve Baratta. Police declined prosecution, but they were considering other matters.
The hearing attracted quite the crowd. Most were there to support two opposing factions within the county party.
There's what I'd call the Q-Anon Lynch mob, which is a bit on the looney (and violent) side. Lynch, for example, threatened to bring 20 strong men to forcibly remove Northampton School Directors over, of all things, a face mask mandate designed to protect everyone. His followers like to talk about exercising their 2A rights against critics, and Lynch has a penchant for wanting to fight people who contradict him. He once reacted to criticism from me by challenging me to a boxing match, as though a trial by combat would resolve a difference between opposing ideologies.
On the other side are the tea party Republicans, who are a bit less virulent than the Lynch mob but can be just as cRaZy. They had been trying to take over the county Republican party for many years before finally succeeding two years ago. Some of their confrontations before finally taking over were at wild county meetings during which police had to be called.
There was a third faction led by Gloria Lee Snover, which at one time was a bit more mainstream Republican and was outraged by the fanaticism of both the Lynch mob and tea party. Most of them have drifted into the embrace of the Lynch mob, at least temporarily.
All are MAGAs as the Republican party has grown more polarized. Take Beverly Hernandez, for example. At one time was a decent worker bee for the party. She had conservative values but could work within the League of Women Voters. She has been replaced by a Beverly Hernandez who just threatened a County Council with the curses of Leviticus and Old Testament fury.
There were also people like myself or Dem party boss Matt Munsey at this hearing. We were like rubber neckers at a car accident, perhaps experiencing a bit too much schadenfreude at seeing county Republicans in such obvious disarray. One of my readers contends Republicans are now more united than ever. The facts on the ground say otherwise.
I stayed for the first two witnesses, Glenn Geissinger and Andrew Azan, both of whom testified to what happened at the June 8 '23 meeting. That took up the entire morning. I did not return after lunch because it seemed clear that at least some of the charges would have to move forward, and frankly, I was tired from a long meeting the previous evening followed by too little rest. So, I'll give you my take on the first two witnesses.
Glenn Geissinger, the private complainant, was the top of the order for special prosecutor Robert Goldman, who has a strange penchant for holding one hand up in the air as he fires questions.
Goldman must have had second thoughts about taking on this case because Geissinger was a terrible witness. Glenn, a very nice person one-on-one, becomes very different in public or more formal settings. He could be pompous, arrogant and condescending when he was a member of County Council. Unfortunately, he was that way on the witness stand as well. I can't begin to tell you the number of times Judge Taschner had to direct him to answer questions, sometimes even when they were posed by his own lawyer. He also seemed a bit flippant with Judge Jackie, who takes no nonsense from anyone. She even once told a former Nazareth Police Chief to "Suck it up, cupcake!" when he complained about stickers calling for his termination.
Even if he had been a good witness, there were very few arrows in his quiver. He did establish that the meeting became raucous at times with interruptions from all four defendants. If that's criminal, then a very large percentage of citizens who attend and participate in local government could be rounded up and hauled off to the nearest gulag. He also testified that, as soon as the meeting had adjourned, Steve Lynch and Rick Morea came up to the table behind which he was standing and shoved an email in his face containing pictures of two executive committee members engaged in sex. They had apparently posted pictures and videos on the Porhub website, hoping to profit.
Lynch and Morea wanted the committee to take action against these members that very evening because it's not a good look for Republicans to be profiting on Pornhub for their sexual encounters.
The accused members denied involvement, but it was learned nearly a year later that the female member had, in fact, been lying. She posted the porn herself.
Geissinger had been sent an email earlier in the day apprising him of this discovery. But he was unaware of it at the time of the meeting. He was called a liar and the four defendants were demanding that he remove the accused members at that time, even though Geissinger tried to explain they had due process rights. Though Lynch and Morea were yelling just inches from Geissinger's face, there was no profanity or physical contact.
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| Andy the Clown |
Andy Azan, the party's vice chair, was a much better witness. He's also known, incidentally, as
Andy the Clown. He didn't wear his clown costume or anything like that to the preliminary hearing but was everything that Glenn was not. He was quiet, unassuming, listened to the judge carefully, and answered questions as they were asked. He had a sad look to his face, almost as if he was constipated.
Defense lawyer Andrew Teitelman absolutely destroyed Geissinger during his cross. But as my friend Ron Angle observed, Teitelman lost ground during his cross of Azan. He kept digging a hole for defendants Lynch and Morea. The longer he had Azan on the stand, the deeper that hole got.
Azan corroborated Geissinger's account of the meeting, including the assertion that defendants Lynch and Morea accosted him right after the meeting. Azan was standing next to Geissinger, and an elderly female Secretary was standing next to Azan. He was concerned about her safety as half of the Northampton Four bellowed in Geissinger's face. He described the scene as "very vocal, very belligerent." Geissinger was told, "You need to see this pornography right now." He added that Morea grabbed Geissinger's gavel and began pounding it until it broke. "They looked like they wanted to start a fight," he said.
Azan described "constant chatter" throughout the meeting, and said many members left, telling him, "I don't feel safe here."
Azan asked Lynch why he always tries to intimidate people. Lynch responded, "We can take it outside and you can throw the first punch."
Azan eventually did go outside, but not to fight Lynch. Apparently, there was an altercation between Brian McCulloch and another member that Andy the Clown broke up.
While testifying, Azan twice whispered to a female deputy standing in the well of the court that he'd like a drink of water. Both times, she acted as though what he was seeking was a major imposition. She was relieved shortly before noon and said, "This sucks!" to the person replacing her in a tone of voice loud enough to be heard from where I was seated. This is highly inappropriate behavior. Whether she likes it or not, she works for Azan. He does not work for her.
I failed to return for the afternoon session as my internal battery was near zero. But Tom Shortell of Lehigh Valley News has an excellent account. According to Shortell, at least one witness testified that Geissinger broke the gavel himself as he tried to restore order.
An audio tape of a portion of the meeting was introduced by Northampton Area School Director Brian McCulloch. It appears to me as though it corroborated the prosecution, not the defense.
Defense attorney Chris Shipman said the meeting was unruly, but no more so than many meetings of Congress or local municipalities. He characterized what happened as free speech. It can be ugly, but it's pretty basic to American democracy.
He's right. That's why I consider this a weak case. Perhaps the harassment count against Lynch should survive. He clearly was attempting by physical menace to put Azan in fear of bodily injury. Technically, he could even be charged with assault for this kind of toxic masculinity.
Judge Taschner maintained firm control of the courtroom. She explained at the onset that her role is quite limited. She does not determine guilt or innocence. Her sole function is to determine whether there's enough evidence to show that a crime occurred and that the Defendants were somehow involved. She is unable to engage in credibility determinations and must accept as true the evidence offered by the prosecution. Even with all these limitations, she dismissed six of the eight charges.
Defendants will be arraigned on September 5, 9 am, in Courtroom 1. That's when Taiba Sultana's daughter is also being arraigned for encouraging her minor siblings to deface campaign signs opposing her mother.
