Materials for Consideration
Pointing out the facts so that YOU THE PEOPLE may know...
This page is intended to provide you with information and proof of the nefarious acts that your 2025 CD7 Executive Committee has done since March 29, 2025 in order to undermine the new chair Bret Bussman.
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Those engaged in service for CD7 have no doubt come across material regarding CD7 leadership. For your context, best efforts have been made to place these materials in the chronological order of the circumstances arising after Bret Bussman became the chair of CD7 in the spring of 2025. The reader will come to realize that two distinct groups arise in the following correspondences. These admittedly selected communications are meant to help the CD7 Republican readers understand the backdrop behind recent events. Those readers are free to form their own opinion as we move forward to make CD7 transparent and to give the Republican voters information they need to be good stewards of Minnesota.
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The biggest issue that CD7 faces internally is adherence to the CD7 Constitution and Bylaws. By default, interpersonal relationships and the Executive Committee votes intertwine with this issue of compliance with our documents.
"Silence in the face of evil is itself evil:
God will not hold us guiltless.
Not to speak is to speak.
Not to act is to act."
-Deitrich Bonhoeffer
**Section about A4L Statement showing the division started at the first meeting**
This is an Email encouraging us to repost something from Alex P. that would condemn A4L.
This statement was brought up at our FIRST meeting with much discussion
**These minutes show the bias of the secretary from the start as well**
The two statements...almost identical. We could've just shared their post.
This is the famous writing that Bret posted
Any chance to publicly condemn A4L was encouraged
Jim intends to motion to not start additional committees until January 2026. Jim intends to motion to cease all efforts to form a compliance committee. He also mentions the former complaint form used and suggests using it again; the EC did not take up any further discussion on complaint forms.
**Blocking qualified Treasurer Appointments**
Email thread showing they had already decided to not approve Annette as treasurer.
This email started out about appointing Julie as treasurer and then started in on Steve about will he run again or not...blocking an over-qualified person because she is associated with Steve Boyd
** Bret Emails Showing Transparency to both MNGOP and CD7 Ex Comm on His Perspective of Events while trying to follow the Constitution and Bylaws **
June 2nd Email about things Tiffany and Jilann are doing to make his job difficult
Bret emailed Alex on June 12th, 2025 asking for guidance on the situation with Tiffany
Bret showing backing from the Constitution for his concern about the SDD's and the Exec Committee wanting closed meetings
** Thread Leading Up to the Removal of the Communications Chair **
Notice Katie, the chair of Comms, asks about the meeting and is continually ignored
Bret email explaining what is happening behind the scenes before Katie's removal meeting
Continuation of above conversation
Continuation of above conversation
Email to appoint Vice Chair becomes an attack on Bret by Daryl Thurn...also Bret references his 210 plan which they say he NEVER shared with the board. The Executive Committee and the public have had continual access to Bret's plan on the "Visions & Goals" page. This shows that Bret DID, in fact, share about his plan though no questions were asked or elaboration requested.
**The EC passed 2 bylaw changes. The first one was to accommodate SD13, who didn't have an SDD. They recently violated by having an SD13 BPOU meeting and selecting co-SDDs. That's not what the bylaw change calls for. The second was removing Bret Bussman, as chair, from the process of convening a meeting of the BPOU Chairs. **
Proposed bylaw change by Jilann Axt so as to be able to appoint a SD29 SDD of their chosing
Jilann's choice was then appointed as SDD
Bringing to the board something that was "brought to her attention" when she should have brought in Bret as Chair instead of dealing with it on her own
** Jim Bobier motioning to keep Dave Hughes off all committees **
Laying out the 3 minutes Dave gets to defend himself before they vote him off ANY committee FOREVER
** Blocking of Caucus Work by a Vice Chair **
Comms Committee tried to collaborate with Lisa who volunteered to create caucus video for the CD7 website's resources. She offered it willing as a collaboration between committees: Comms and BPOU Support. Eventually, Lisa published it outside of the committees as an internal work from her local BPOU. This action is not corrupt in and of itself; rather this is a demonstration of holding up a committee from accomplishing allocated tasks through non-participation or non-communication.
Again we tried to include her and she drags her heels
Though it isn't fully included in the minutes, this is where it was first presented. November meeting it was passed to use the video. **Please note her video would be okay for someone who has never attended before. If you have attended one in the past, there are incorrect statements in it. Even so, the Exec Committee enthusiastically approved it without questioning anything.
** Jim Bobier Resolution on CD7's March 2025 Convention**
Jim bringing forth a resolution about March CD7 convention and Lisa Murphy calling it a "joke of a convention"
** Donation Match Pledge **
Notice the highlighted part where Curtis says "due to recent events within CD7" which is the same phrase that Bret uses in an email. Because of this reuse of the phrase, they accused him of blaming the Exec Comm for withdrawal of the pledge. However, Bret was just using the same language that that Curtis used to rescind the pledge.
Everyone starts agreeing with Curtis's decision and saying "can't we just get along and win elections?" (paraphrase)
**It should be clear that the Fundraising Committee is responsible for fundraising and the SDDs are responsible for recruiting candidates in their SD, not the Chair. **
This shows the plan that was already in place before calling for this meeting. They discuss Bret not being chair, things not being recorded, and rules that would be voted on at the beginning of the meeting. Daryl Thurn made three different motions at the beginning to remove Bret from any authority in this meeting. Always the one to do the dirty work.
** Unauthorized Email to BPOU Chairs **
Lisa Murphy sent out an email to the BPOU chairs WITHOUT approval from Bret, the chair, in an attempt to combat a petition request made by Amanda Hughes for BPOU chairs to sign a resolution to support Chair Bussman's leadership. There is a lot of misinformation in here which Bret responds to in the next email thread. Notice Lisa calls herself chair of the "BPOU Outreach Committee", of which this committee does NOT even exist. She is chair of the "BPOU SUPPORT Committee". Also, the formatting is skewed in the same manner as a cut-and-paste section added to an email, meaning that although she takes full ownership of these words, her letter may not have originated with herself. Highlighted text shows the repeating of the lie that it took 3 weeks to take down and no apologies were given. Also, Lisa declares "Bret is at war..."
Bret's Response to the above email from Lisa
Committee Chairs were invited to a Comms Meeting to discuss messaging. It became a "that is too late", "let's do it at this time", "consider others and their schedules". (paraphrase) Notice Lisa Murphy is "a hard no".
Not sure why this became such a big deal that Wendy wanted her Comms report included with the minutes
**This section is information from other sources showing information or support for Bret**
This was from Parliamentarian Joel Novak about the OTC convention before the CD7 convention. These were printed and shared at the CD7 convention in Detroit Lakes as well.
BPOU Support and/or Response:
Following is the Becker County Republican Party response to the removal of the chair of the Minnesota Congressional District 7 Republican Party.
To the Minnesota Republican Party Executive Committee:
We, the Executive Committee of the Republican Party of Becker County Minnesota, by unanimous vote on December 22, 2025, reject the recent leadership change in the chairmanship of CD7. MNGOP had no authority to do this, as it is the delegates who run this party. At the State Central Committee meeting on December 13, it was made very clear that CD7 was to take care of its own business and that MNGOP was to stay out of it. The CD7 delegates made a clear choice in Detroit Lakes in March, and that is the authoritative answer. We recognize Bret Bussman as the chair of CD7. To do anything else is lawless and invalid.
The Republican Party of Becker County Minnesota Executive Committee
Of note, the majority of the SD members on the CD7 Exec Committee have not been elected as required by the constitution (as I was required to do) and instead were appointed to their positions by Craig Bishop.
These members were holdovers from Bishop's chairmanship--holdovers constituting a majority of the executive committee.
From day 1 of the CD7 Executive meetings this spring, Tiffany Lesmeister and holdovers actively obstructed and paralyzed the Committee from functioning. Then in December 2025 she spearheaded an effort to impeach Chair Bussman because of
"paralysis of the committee"
The holdovers then voted to impeach Chair Bussman and replace him with Tiffany Lesmeister.
The unconstitutional SD Directors then insisted that their vote be secret in order to conceal it from the delegates in their districts.
The moral obsurdity of unelected SD members voting to overturn the legitimate election of Brett Bussman as CD7 Chair, mocks the very concept of election integrity, honesty and due process.
During Bishop's tenure, my understanding is that, the CD7 Congressional District committee (which serves as the district equivalent of the State Central Committee) was removed from the CD7 Constitution. This committee consisted of BPOU Chairs, BPOU officers and Legislators which provided grassroots over site of the District Executive Committee.
The removal of this over site committee effectively allowed the CD7 Executive Committee to intrude unchecked into the affairs of local BPOU's.
Noel Collis MD
Morrison County BPOU Chair
Chair SD10
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Hello Everyone,
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Have you ever been a kid of parents that are going through a divorce? I sat through 2 zoom meetings last night one for each CD7 Chair. Both of them say according to the Constitution and Bylaws they are the rightful CD7 Chair.
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Each side of this circus we're in is setting up their teams. Setting up the committees and all the business. People resigning, people stepping up to do new rolls on each team. They both talked about unifying the party (only if it's their way). Tiffany's team set a horrible precedence of trying to remove or removing a Chairman duly elected by the CD7 body. That is exactly what the Democrats tried doing to the President of the United States. So, will this happen again if they don't like who gets voted in next time? I think so. Bret Bussman hasn't been perfect either. There will be fighting over the money, website, and whatever else. The real crazy thing about all this is both teams have the exact same goals for 2026. To defeat the Dems.
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I'm still very new to all this and there's no way I can ask my family and friends to join this dysfunctional group. It's a complete waste of time. Can you imagine the next CD7 convention. It will be utter chaos.
Once again Minnesota will be the laughingstock of the country for this mess. I guess sometimes you need to destroy something in order to rebuild it better.
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Both sides should be ashamed of themselves. Grow up and humble yourselves. I only see this getting worse until you do.
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If your goal is to drive people away that don't want to be on your team, that just might work.
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Stop the madness.
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David D. Ose Sr.
Co-Chair YMC
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This references the Convention flyer that Comms wasn't supposed to post due to not being approved by Caucus committee Chair, Holli DeShane. Strangely enough, it was Holli's idea and urgency to post it but then she retracted once Tiffany threw a fit about it, acting like she also thought it shouldn't have been posted.
In Conclusion
In Ephesians 4, the Apostle Paul gives the local church advice on walking with integrity while serving together as members of one Christian body. Paul knew that even in a church setting people desiring to go in one direction can be "tossed to and fro" rather than having a spirit of meekness, a bond of unity, and an insistence on words of truth. Like the church body, our CD7 Republican group can benefit by following this advice in our current situation of people going in the same direction while facing differing opinions of the law and examples of servant leadership.
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In this passage, Paul provides God's instruction in these times. Speak truth with your neighbor (Ephesians 4:25), which we want to do here. Encourage forgiveness after anger (Ephesians 4:26). Deny the desires of the devil by following after Jesus (Ephesians 4:27). Use your time for physical production in order to help others (Ephesians 4:28), such as using our time to get Republicans to participate in the caucus. Promote edifying speech, not lies but truth that leads to justice, peace, and God's grace (Ephesians 4:29). Paul further reminds these disciples of Christ to listen and not to suppress the prompting of the Holy Spirit. Then he writes, "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you," instead encouraging the group to "be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another" which forgiveness mirrors the act of God in forgiving sinners.
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In the same vein as Ephesians 4, the Chair Bret Bussman and the officers encourage you to work locally to bring people to your caucus, to research our CD7 documents, and to foster a positive attitude toward speaking the truth with one another in love.