3-16-24
Summary of Investigative Findings:
On or about February 26th 2024, at the instruction of Donald Trump Junior, the Addison McDowell campaign reached out to VFAF Veterans for Trump attorney Jared Craig inquiring if the endorsement of Mark Walker issued by the North Carolina State Chapter was authentic. Mark Walker was reported by the national media to be claiming endorsements he did not actually have.
Addison McDowell is endorsed by President Trump for North Carolina’s 6th congressional district and the race is now heading to a run off May 14, 2024.
An internal investigation revealed that the endorsement was issued through an unauthorized cloned website and the authentic North Carolina state website hosted on the VFAF server was shut down. A public statement was issued on February 28th of these facts. On March 1st 2024 the VFAF organization issued an authorized endorsement of Addison McDowell for congress with an attached interview with VFAF attorney Jared Craig. The internal investigation was ongoing at this point.
On March 16th 2024 , the internal investigation into the North Carolina Veterans for America First cloned website has been completed and has been released for pubic transparency as follows:
The findings indicate that former state chapter president Butch Conz ,aka Ed Conz, breached a contractual agreement between himself and L-Strategies (attorney Jared Craig representing L-Strategies) by moving the NC State Chapter off the VFAF server and cloning said website – Further breaching the contract by denying access to the VFAF Webmaster. Conz violated endorsement protocols which he acknowledged receiving, in writing ,prior to making an endorsement against President Trump’s candidate.
On or about 2-26-24 , upon becoming aware of the cloned website ,and unauthorized endorsement against the Trump candidate, VFAF National in a group text made it clear the inquiry was directed by Donald Trump Junior and demanded access to the website as per the contractual agreement stating this would be handled quietly and internally. Conz was notified in same text thread he was being removed and would be refunded which in writing he at that time agreed to.
On or about 3-1-24 , a defiant Conz , in an effort to work against the Trump endorsed candidate, stood by the unauthorized endorsement on the cloned website. Conz then publicly shared news on the cloned website for the press containing defamation sourced to Angie Wong who is a defendant being sued by L-Strategies and Legacy PAC in Georgia. Conz sharing the defamation was an apparent effort to discredit the VFAF Veterans for Trump national endorsement that was to be carried by the state chapter. Conz was aware Wong is being sued in Georgia by L-Strategies and Attorney Jared Craig for defamation in ongoing litigation.
Our organization is deeply troubled that a self professed Trump supporter would go to such great lengths to work against a Trump candidate. To further use defamation in an effort to diminish the influence of the national endorsement , when Donald Trump himself shared his own VFAF national endorsement ,on Truth Social during the presidential campaign is appalling behavior by the former NC chapter president Conz.
Notice : For the purposes of the contractual agreement there are only two signatures , Jared Craig and Butch Conz. Any inquires should be directed to VFAF Veterans for Trump attorney Jared Craig at [email protected]
Authorized websites can be navigated to by logging onto our national website at https://veteransfortrump.us/ and clicking on the state which will take you directly to the authorized website. For North Carolina you will find that lands here at this site.
Published May of 2023 VFAF endorsement protocols can be found here: https://veteransfortrump.us/vfaf-veterans-for-trump-endorsement-protocols-for-national-and-state-chapters/
For information on ongoing litigation against Angie Wong visit https://virginiavfaf.org/news/ reading from oldest to current for chronological order.
Events in chronological order:
November 2023 – Butch Conz aka Edward Conz signs NC State Chapter agreement with Jared Craig : Page 1 Client Requirements , website to remain on VFAF Server (Vlad Lemets) with VFAF accessibility (Vlad Lemets Webmaster). Conz breached both of these contractual requirements . See Exhibit A.
On January 17th 2024 , in a group text thread , VFAF President Stan Fitzgerald became aware of the intent of Conz to ignore endorsement protocols and was advised by Chad Caton VFAF National Operations director to document the incident but send it directly to himself and Jared Craig , leaving Conz out of the loop that he , Caton , would personally handle discussing the incident with Conz. See Exhibit B.
February 8th 2024 , an email reminder of endorsement protocols was sent out , Conz acknowledged receiving the protocols – See Exhibit C.
Feb 26th 2024 text thread showing Conz was aware an inquiry came in from Donald Trump Junior pertaining the President Trump endorsement of Addison McDowell and whether or not VFAF authorized the endorsement of Mark Walker. In writing Conz also agreed to take the refund after establishing the breach of contract. See Exhibit D.
March 2024 – Conz, with Angie Wong , are currently making public statements about FBI Operation Bullpen. Bullpen dates back to the mid 1990’s. Wong in her ongoing efforts of trying to diminish the influence of VFAF is using this decades old FBI wrongful conviction, combined with countless defamatory statements, in her unsuccessful attempt to discredit the organization .
Conz most recently commented on the endorsement of minority candidate Willie Montague who is a black faith leader in a congressional campaign that has the endorsement of VFAF. See Exhibit E In that effort by Conz to comment on the minority candidates endorsement, he tags in the alias account of Angie Wong known as Exposing VFAF – It has been reported that ExposingVFAF is Angie Wong and that account, while focusing on attacking VFAF ,has also attacked President Trump , His Attorney Alina Habba , Trump Pundit Gavin Wax and numerous other America First Leaders. Anti Semitic comments are reported to have been shared by Wong. https://www.proagfarmers.com/markets/stocks.php?article=issuewire-2024-1-13-angie-wong-angiewong-democrat-using-national-veterans-parade-nationalvets-and-exposingvfaf-for-circular-reporting
VFAF National President Stan Fitzgerald was wrongfully convicted in that 30 year old investigation and has very publicly stated that he credits the wrongful conviction as inspiring him to be a grassroots leader in the America First Movement and produce the film “The Fall of Deceit” – The National Media has covered the wrongful conviction and the information is on both Fitzgerald’s personal website and the Veterans for Trump website. Conz and Wong are deflecting from their own actions as in the aforementioned Conz operation against the Trump candidate. Both Conz and Wong were aware of the wrongful conviction when they joined VFAF wanting to benefit from Fitzgerald’s leadership. https://www.issuewire.com/stan-fitzgerald-from-operation-bullpen-to-the-fall-of-deceit-hitting-back-on-political-persecution-1784710722803880
Fitzgerald has now been invited to meet with President Trump 13 times , worked as leadership on the SC Trump Campaign Coalition Team and has received a verbal shout out from President Trump for his work.
Fitzgerald’s work is credited as helping dozens of America First candidates take office as well as sitting members get re-elected in close elections. Under Fitzgerald’s leadership the organization is credited with having a powerful primary endorsement by the national media. To date the VFAF endorsement is coveted by hundreds of candidates nationwide each cycle but sparingly issued.
Exhibit A – Signed Contract
Exhibit B – Incident Report
Exhibit C. Emailed Protocols reminder that Conz acknowledges receiving:
Exhibit D – Text Thread showing Conz knew the Trump family had inquired if the endorsement was authentic and showing Conz agreed to receive a refund being removed from office after breach of contract. The entire text thread is available through Attorney Jared Craig via email request. Noting here that portions were omitted based on profanity.
Exhibit E – Conz attempts to hurt the campaign of a black faith leader for congress.
