Friend,
Grab your popcorn because today we’re diving into some political theater starring none other than Idaho GOP Chair Dorothy Moon. It’s a tale of endorsements, alliances, backstabbing, secret tape recordings, threats and—spoiler alert—blatant hypocrisy.
YAL Poster Child
Once upon a time (in 2020 and 2022, to be exact), Dorothy Moon happily accepted the endorsement and support of the openly pro-Marijiuana group Young Americans for Liberty (YAL). She basked in their praise, attended their conventions, posed for pictures, and touted their help in her campaigns. YAL even paid for her multiple trips to Florida for events featuring speakers like Ron Paul and Edward Snowden. (Fancy, right?)
Enter 2024 primary season, YAL’s, PAC “Make Liberty Win”, begins their vicious attacks on Idaho legislators that didn’t carry their proverbial “policy water”. There were Facebook ads, text messages, and more mail than the North Pole gets in December. Ads that contained twisted policy positions to downright lies and false information about legislators. These attacks included incumbent legislator Julie Ann Young, Dorothy’s BFF, who Dorothy previously appointed the IDGOP legislative liaison. Whatever that is.
Rep. Young, a “conservative” Republican from Blackfoot lost her primary re-election by only 2 votes after a deluge of lies and propaganda from YAL. Whoops.
They All Knew
There was obvious outrage over the JulieAnn Young loss, someone screwed up. YAL spent $656,000 against incumbents running in Idaho’s Republican primary. Including a nearly $110,000 smear campaign against House Speaker Mike Moyle alone. Folks, that's a heck of a lot of out-of-state money indeed.
But let's not act like no-one knew.
In May 2024, before the primary, news broke that there was a recording of a capital office argument between District 1 legislator Heather Scott and State Freedom Caucus employee/lobbyist Maria Nate. Yes, that Maria Nate. Nate was in Scott's office reading Scott the riot act for supporting Speaker Mike Moyle. On the tape you can clearly hear, Nate threaten Scott that YAL would withdraw 1.1 million in financial support in Idaho unless significant gains were made in the legislature. Maria bragged of her insider knowledge that YAL was going to spend the 1.1 million campaigning for pro YAL candidates and warned that the money was in jeopardy unless Idaho legislators toed the YAL line.
Where was the outrage in 2024?
It’s not like it was the first that anyone, including legislators, had heard of YAL and its pro-maijiauna motives. There were plenty of social media posts, internal conversations, press conferences, independent expenditures and of course many all-inclusive paid conference trips. With a quick Google search one can find tweets, news articles, and blog posts of Idaho citizens ringing the warning bell of YAL long before the May 2024 primary elections. What you won’t find, before the primary election, is a statement from the party or Dorothy Moon condemning YAL and warning Idahoan’s of YAL’s real motives. Apparently IDGOP party leaders had their “head in the sand”.
Their Tactics Were Actually Never Okay
But that was 2024, today Dorothy has suddenly decided that YAL is the villain of the story. Why? Because now YAL is using the same disgusting tactics on her friends, and she knows it's wrong and makes her “conservative” rabble-rousing legislative allies weak. Just like they had her political opponents in the 2024 primary.
This hypocrisy has reached Shakespearean levels of absurdity. Dorothy. In a recent (Jan. 29th, 2025) email, Dorothy condemned out-of-state groups for attacking legislators. She used words like "confrontational politics”, “outrageous”, and “disgraceful”.
Does she think we’re stupid?
Dorothy had no problem cashing in on YAL's financial support when it suited her personal political ambitions. This sudden moral awakening feels a lot less like principle and a lot more like convenience.
The irony is so thick you could cut it with a butter knife. Dorothy’s about-face on YAL reeks of political opportunism. She loved them when they helped her win elections but wants them gone now that they’ve stepped on her toes and those of her allies.
So The Question Is
So here’s the real question: Is Dorothy Moon standing on principle, or is she just playing politics? Based on her track record, the answer seems pretty clear. We’ve attached photos and documentation to jog your memory about Dorothy’s cozy relationship with YAL. Because, as they say, receipts don’t lie.
Let’s demand consistency, transparency and accountability from our leaders. Idahoans deserve better than this political double-dealing.
Sincerely,
Party Watch
P.S. Dorothy, if you’re reading this, maybe it’s time to pick a lane—and stick to it.