PETE HOEKSTRA AND THE STOLEN VOTER DATA ?!!

Indiziert: 2026-05-22

[00:00:00]Hey there, Midas Canada viewers, resistors from all over. Let's talk about the guy that you really hate, Pete Hogstra. Yeah, the ambassador to Canada from the United States who is continuing gaslighting our nation, undermining us, uh, insinuating threat. Just this past week, he was supposed to speak at this right-wing conference in Ottawa. Of course, we called him out on that. At the very last minute, he suddenly had important meetings. he had to go to.

[00:00:30]Well, what he was really having to deal with is that this is political interference. As an ambassador, you're not your job is not to go and light the fires with the far right separatists and the Daniel Smiths and pure polyv. But this is the Pete Hoostra uh playbook. It was one he used in the Netherlands, was called out for political interference and supporting the far right. Um, we see now that he's been talking, he's speaking all the time on right-wing networks in Canada and he's now blaming Canada for the trade crisis. He says it's our fault. Uh, we're being mean to the United States. And he says the Americans would love to work with us.

[00:01:08]Right. Sure. We've got a really interesting conversation today. We're talking with Luke Lebron from Press Progress. You've got to check out Press Progress. really really really important news service in Canada covering stuff the mainstream media isn't and Luke has been looking into the connections between we've talked about all the stolen data of the electoralist in Alberta how it was given to uh far-right conspiracy groups who are using this app to be able to track Yes. If you're watching from Alberta they're using this app to track you and there's a connection to guess who Pete Hoostra Yeah. So, we're going to unpack all of that today. Luke, we are thrilled to have you on the show. I just want to say we really, really admire your tenacity and your bravery in taking on so many of the dark forces right now as a journalist. So, welcome to Midas Canada.

[00:02:01]>> Thanks so much for saying that, Charlie, and thanks for uh inviting me on.

[00:02:06]>> Well, let's just talk about Pete Hoostra. I mean, you know, we've had ambassadors are tended to be guys who talk in the back rooms. They're very polite publicly. Not this guy. Uh, he's got a really bad track record going all the way back to anything to do with foreign affairs. He seems to have big black exes over everything he's ever said, including getting called out in the Netherlands for foreign interference. Not the kind of guy you uh put in to deal with your number one trading partner, unless you hate your number one trading partner, which seems like the reality. What's your sense of Pete Hookstra's role in Canada as the mega ambassador?

[00:02:45]Yeah, good question. I mean, typically one would expect an ambassador to be diplomatic and Pete Hora has been anything but for sure. I mean, uh, you know, I mean, even going back to the early days of the, I guess, now second Trump administration where Trump was musing about uh, annexing Canada and turning us into the 51st state. Um, Hoaxer really has not done much to try to downplay that or try to smooth things out. instead he's sort of acted as a bit as an enforcer for uh for uh for President Trump. Um you know I think the other thing as you sort of intimated before is it's what's really strikes me is the extent to which um the ambassador has been you know making I suppose you could describe as inroads with the Canadian uh right or even Canadian farright. Um you know he has been appearing on a number of right-wing alternative media outlets. Uh he's been, you know, appearing with, you know, Canadian right-wing think tanks. Uh most recently, I guess there was the Canada Strong and Free Network conference in Ottawa, which he, you know, sort of mysteriously pulled out of last minute.

[00:03:50]So, um yeah, he has kind of been sort of an enforcer of sorts for the Trump administration and, you know, has just been really aggressively uh pushing the Trump administration's um I guess agenda as it relates to Canada.

[00:04:07]Yeah, I we see that he's just uh given this talk with I think a Canadian businessman where he's saying that they are the United States is frustrated with Canada. He says they want to work with us. I mean this is when Donald Trump said that copper from Canada was a national security threat which I think national security threats are like the level of terrorism uh the arbitrary tariffs they've thrown at us. and he said that they really want to grow prosperity and protect protect freedoms but they're warning us about the decisions that we are making which to me is very much shot across the bow time.

[00:04:41]We've just seen how they've walked on the US Canada defense uh board that's been in place for 86 years. How do you think uh his role in sort of talking with uh far-right and and right-wing Canadian uh sources is actually undermining the the traditional relationship of ambassador Washington and our prime minister and Ottawa.

[00:05:06]I mean, hugely. I think that you would typically expect an ambassador, especially an American ambassador to Canada, um, to try to be, you know, developing, you know, economic ties and trade ties with with Canada, um, you know, and trying to, uh, you know, bring in more trade, I suppose, uh, on the American side. But I mean I think even just looking more broadly at uh Trump's foreign policy. I mean you see in Europe um you know Trump and the sort of wider MAGA movement has been quite obsessed with um backing farright parties for example in Europe. Um I mean I think even I mean there was Elon Musk for example who went to Germany and he attended the alternative for Deutselands uh political conference and was endorsing them before elections there.

[00:05:53]Um, I mean, you've seen this, I mean, also in in the UK and elsewhere. Um, so yeah, it is really hard to figure out what exactly they're up to, but I mean, it does seem to it does seem to really underline the extent to which I guess, you know, not just Trump, but the wider MAGA movement is a transnational movement and one um, in which I guess to them borders don't really seem to matter. They're they seem to be trying to actively build up sort of right-wing ideologically sympathetic um you know political actors, parties and so forth in various countries around the world and to what end it's it's not really clear to me.

[00:06:31]>> Well, I I think that was I'm really glad you raised the issue of the uh FDA in Germany. We have lots of viewers in Europe who are very concerned and we saw JD Vance uh undermining the the the um de democratic movements in Germany, interference in Romania, uh interference of course with Nigel Farage, but in Canada it seems to be focused on driving the separatist agenda. And we've been getting these very disturbing stories of the Alberta separatist crew who are quite the mly lot. I mean, this is very much like Dawn Bash. You don't need credible people to break up a country when you're dealing with a gangster regime. But that they were highlevel meetings in Washington. They talked about a $500 million slush fund. Is it possible to believe that they had these meetings in Washington without Pete Hoostra or the Canadian or the US embassy in the in Canada not being aware that these connections were being made between far-right Alberta separatists and the the the the White House?

[00:07:34]Well, I mean the US State Department has actually confirmed that these meetings happened and that there were multiple meetings. So, um yeah, I mean it seems pretty implausible to think that they wouldn't have been aware of that.

[00:07:46]>> I mean I find that just shocking, you know. I mean we're what we're talking about is treason. People who go to a foreign country and ask for a slush fund and money to break up our nation and the State Department says, "Yeah, we met with them." I mean like as if they see Canada as a banana republic. So, let's go to speaking of Banana Republic, let's talk about what happened when the the private information of 3 million Albertans was doxed, put online. We've seen video footage of these extremist groups talking about using it as this searchable database to identify individual people in Alberta. And you've done a piece on the connection between the app that they're using and the American ambassador. So, walk us into this rabbit hole. Sure. Yeah. Um, so where to begin? I mean, I guess some of your viewers might be aware already of uh, you know, this scandal in Alberta involving the private information of over 3 million, sorry, nearly 3 million voters uh, that was that was uh, basically made accessible to separatist activists through this app. A lot of the news coverage uh that I had heard over I guess the last this has been sort of playing out for the last two or three weeks um in Alberta, but a lot of the news coverage that I heard was sort of focusing more on the data set itself, which to be clear is pretty significant because um you know, elections Alberta um alleges that this is data from the official list of electors and if you um if you misuse that data that could involve uh criminal uh you know like going to prison basically for a year or like massive fines. So, it's a pretty serious offense to do that. Um, but what hasn't really gotten a lot of attention was the app itself. Um, so we did, as you mentioned, uh, see this one video where David Parker, the leader of the Centurion Project, the Centurion Project is the Alberta Separatist group that was um, you know, running this app. Uh, so they were holding these training sessions over Zoom basically. And in one of these uh Zoom training sessions, for example, they were showing how you could find Jason Kenny, the former premier of Alberta's uh home address just by typing in his name and so forth. So, I thought it was interesting that um there wasn't really a lot of attention on the app itself. And so, I started to pull on some threads as uh you know, an investigative journalism does. And um yeah, no, I it immediately just sort of started finding some really interesting things. So, uh, I guess first of all, David Parker again, who's the leader of the Centurion Project. So, he has done podcasts where he's sort of talked at length about this app and um, its connections to uh, some people in Michigan, some Republican operatives in Michigan. Um, I guess before I go further, maybe I'll just explain what the app actually is. So, basically, it's it's actually pretty Yeah, it's pretty simple. So, I mean, it's basically a database. You just type in anyone's name and you can uh find their contact information. The way this app works or I guess the theory behind it is they ask people to sign up for the app and then uh identify 10 friends, 10 family members, uh co-workers, neighbors, uh people at your church or whatever. Uh people who you think are, you know, politically aligned with you but might not be the type of people who show up to vote reliably. And uh so this was developed by a group called 10x votes which is as I mentioned based in Michigan during the 2024 US presidential election. Uh they actually used this app. Um the people who made it like I mean they they claim that their app helped to uh basically sway the outcome of the vote and deliver Michigan's 15 electoral college votes to Donald Trump.

[00:11:29]Uh you know I don't know if that's true or not but that's what they say. And uh basically the idea behind this is that you identify people in your own personal networks and then you basically pressure them into voting. And so this is a way to get out the vote and get out people who you think are people who you think are on your side but might not actually get out to vote unless they get an extra push. So, um, basically in these podcasts, David Parker, uh, of the Centurion Project, he basically talks about how he encountered this group and he was really inspired by it and he wanted to bring that, uh, technology and that methodology to Alberta to help with uh, basically pushing for a referendum on Alberta independence. So, uh, that's kind of the backstory behind the app.

[00:12:12]And as I, you know, as I kind of pulled on these threads, I realized that there were quite a few connections to, for example, wealthy uh Republicans in Michigan to some MAGA influencers and >> Pete Hora, the US ambassador to Canada.

[00:12:27]>> So now Pete Hora, I mean, he was raving about this app. Now, I haven't really heard this app being used much outside of Michigan, but you know, remember 10 time votes, Hoster told the rally in Warren, Michigan. It's an app that you can download in real time, up-to-date data. It will tell you whether your friends and family have voted or not.

[00:12:49]It's called 10 times vote. He repeated again. You need to go out and get a few more folks to the folks so that to the polls so we can swamp the vote. So we I mean it's like right now we have two points that don't necessarily connect but we have Hoostra tied to an app that he's been promoting and promoting and promoting. We have uh the separatist group that's undermining Canada who just happen to be using a Michigan-based app um with the same intention which is about being able to identify people getting them to vote um uh influencing the outcome of a referendum that could destroy our country. Um, do we know if there's any connection at all or is this just wow, what a strange coincidence between Pete Hoostra and the Alberta separatists both tied in on the same Michigan app.

[00:13:40]>> Yeah, I mean, so I should say at the outset, so I actually asked the US embassy about uh this connection and um Ambassador Hora's official position is that he knew nothing of the uh Alberta separatist group using this app. That being said, I mean, you just look at all the different connections and it is, you know, a pretty pretty wild uh series of coincidences here, right? Um, I mean, just to to be clear, like there are quite there are quite a few apps, there are quite a few, you know, digital platforms that are used by political uh campaigns in Canada, the US, across the world. This isn't really one of them. I mean, this is a very, very obscure app uh that only exists in Michigan. Uh Pete Hoster was like the loudest public backer of this app. Um as you mentioned, you know, he repeatedly at multiple uh Trump rallies during 20 the 2024 US presidential election was pleading with the audience to uh download this app and to start using it. Um, you know, as I go get into in my article, I mean that he's uh we can place him at this uh this VIP VIP suite at a Tucker Carlson event with uh Kid Rock and uh you know, so it's him in the in the VIP suite with the representative from this app. Very small, obscure app. Kind of kind of strange, just all these connections. Um you know, in fairness, at the time, Hogster was the um he was the chair of the Michigan GOP. So, you know, according to him, you know, in his role as the chair of the Michigan GOP, it was his uh, you know, it was his responsibility to promote these kinds of things. Fair enough. But it is very strange that that app would then somehow end up in the hands of uh, you know, Alberta separatists after he's become the ambassador uh, to Canada, right? And then if you start looking into the actual individuals who are um involved in this app, who actually developed the app. So there's two guys. I won't get into all the weeds about who they are and all that sort of stuff, but I mean I will just say that um the two guys who are running this app are uh Michigan Republican political operatives. They have ti like family ties to some pretty wealthy people. Uh the main guy, I mean, his father actually donated to um to Hoaxra when he was a a congressperson uh about 10 or 15 years ago. Um you know, he's also there's the other guy there.

[00:16:04]He's he's actually family he has a family connection with Eric Prince of Blackwater and Betsy Devos who's Trump's former um former uh education secretary.

[00:16:15]Uh there's photos of them at like you know Mara Lago and they're attending these Turning Point USA fundraising gallas. Um there's a number of you know photos of them with some pretty influential kind of MAGA influencer type people. I mean Alex Jones of Infowars also endorsed this app. Um so you can just go through the whole list of things and it is very very odd. Um >> usual suspects.

[00:16:40]>> Usual suspects.

[00:16:41]>> Usual mega sus suspects. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:16:43]>> Yeah. The one other thing too I'll just say quickly is that uh one of the guys who runs this app was actually involved in this um kind of like a political pressure group in Michigan that was uh devoted to opposing the construction of an EV uh battery uh plant for some reason. Um so you know there's a lot of a lot of a lot of connections between Hoaxra and these people. I mean it doesn't necessarily indicate that Hoaxra knew about this or that he's you know pulling all the strings but you look at the networks that are involved here and it is very strange that uh you know it is very strange and quite a coincidence that you know the people in Alberta are suddenly using this technology.

[00:17:24]>> Yeah, this is this is really fascinating. So yeah, of course what we're saying might viewers is that you know uh this is all very strange. It's all super coincidental, right? But how are we going to find out? Uh, are we going to trust Elections Alberta to uh to investigate this or the Alberta Privacy Commissioner? I've been pushing and I will continue to advise Albertans, call on the Federal Privacy Commissioner. He may say he doesn't have jurisdiction, but um they have the tools to find out what who stole your data and who has your data because we need to know uh this database. Is it being run uh out of Michigan? Is it being run out of Mara Lago? I mean, is it being run out of St. Petersburg right now? But the other thing, and and Luke, I want to get your opinion on this is that we've been calling for we need a foreign interference inquiry to find out, you know, about these offers of money, about who's involved, and if it goes all the way to the uh that giant Darth Vader building um off Sussex Street in Ottawa called the American Embassy, then we need to know. We need to know who's involved. And Canadians are going into this blind. Albertans are going into this blind. But the other side are not blind at all. And I would just also say, talk to Thomas Lucassic with the Forever Canadian campaign. They don't have access to a database. They don't have access to people's information. But the people who want to break up our country, they have all the information. So what do you think about the need for a foreign interference investigation into US interference in our country?

[00:18:58]>> Yeah. Well, I mean the thing that that makes me think about is how I mean in Canada we did have a foreign interference inquiry a few years ago, but it mainly looked at uh you know, China. It did look at India. It looked at um uh >> Iran. Yeah, Iran, you know, um you know, so Russia and all that sort of stuff, but it didn't look at the US. And it is kind of interesting um you know, even if it's not, you know, some sort of like CIA backed uh you know, covert operation. I mean clearly we have a lot of uh you know independent US political operatives that are you know in trying to influence politics uh north of the border in Canada. Uh you have these sort of influencers who are also similarly doing that kind of stuff. Um, so yeah, I mean it really does beg a lot of a lot of questions and I do think that, you know, it makes me think to myself like if this were the Russian ambassador, if this were the Chinese ambassador, uh, if it were the, you know, Iranian ambassador and, you know, it just so happened that all these, you know, all these people surrounding the ambassador were involved in a an app that was being used by, let's say, a New Brunswick secessionist group. Um, you know, what would people say? I mean, it would look very fishy and certainly certainly people would want uh more more answers than they're getting right now.

[00:20:16]>> Luke, I really thank you for coming on, folks. Uh pressprogress.ca, right? That's >> that's right.

[00:20:22]>> How they can support Yeah. Uh you guys are frontline great journalism, fearless, absolutely fearless, and suffering all kinds of intimidation constantly for being fearless. So, we really thank you for coming on. hope we can have you on again because what you're bringing to people really does matter. So, uh I just want to thank you so much for for the work that you have been doing.

[00:20:43]>> For sure. And uh thanks so much for saying that, Charlie. Anytime. I'm happy to be on anytime.

[00:20:48]>> All right, folks. You know the rules. We got to keep kicking at the darkness until it bleeds daylight. And it is starting to bleed daylight cuz we are starting to see through the cracks in that ugly mega machine. So, thank you.

[00:20:59]Merci and me witch.

[00:21:02]There. Will I see you there?

[00:21:08]I will I see you there. Will I see you there? Will I see you there? Will I see you there?