David Sumrall, from Stophate.com, shared a harrowing and complex story of personal struggle, political activism, and legal persecution by a woman named Diana Watt, who described a level of lawfare against her by the state of Colorado that is highly dramatic- primarily because of its timing.
Sumrall, known for his activism in media and legal consulting, is a staunch advocate for the fair and compassionate treatment of individuals imprisoned in connection with the events of January 6th and those facing prosecution due to misconceptions surrounding those events.
His Rumble account for Stophate.com is full of footage from the Capitol on Jan. 6th.
Watt, a Florida electioneer, was arrested and extradited to Colorado in November 2023 over the submission of petitions containing fraudulent signatures, including those of deceased individuals. Despite not personally obtaining or submitting the fraudulent signatures, Watt faced charges of attempting to influence a public servant and perjury from months before.
And she believes it was made a big deal to damage President Donald J. Trump.
Watt tells the story of how she was held in a Florida jail for nearly 20 days without bond; she feels the timing was perfect to be used for political posturing before being extradited to Colorado, a state that becomes the center of controversy over removing Trump from ballots in connection to his activity on January 6, 2021.
This is how Colorado SOS Jena Griswold described her attempt to get Trump off the ballot:
Watt feels she was a part of the scheme.
To make it worse, Watt claims that the Lee County Sheriff’s officers abused her and denied the ability to speak to her attorney during her incarceration, perhaps as an intimidation tactic.
Watt says she was used for headlines to bash Trump, to benefit Colorado officials who were out to get Trump by removing him from the ballot, because she too participated in Jan. 6th activities in Washington DC.
Watt is not alone in seeing some extraordinary coordination around that time, as seen in Laura Loomer’s investigations of a fundraiser at the same time for Fanni Willis:
Here is how Watt described her shocking experience of being treated as a participant in J6 and being a supporter of Trump:
“They threw me in jail on a no-bond hold. My attorney from Colorado went to the Attorney General and said, Hey, let’s get her out of jail. She’s nonviolent. This is really ridiculous. I’ll have her here by the end of the week. The Attorney General in Colorado said no, now she’s sitting in jail. They wanted the news headlines of me being extradited to Colorado. I was released the very next morning. They chained me up, dragged me across the country, then released me the next morning, and then dropped both the initial charges. I was used for headlines. My life was destroyed for headlines and nothing more,” Watt told Sumrall about her nasty experience, adding:
“It was the most traumatic thing I’ve gotten through in a long time. So they pulled me out of bed at three o’clock in the morning. They say that you’ve got five minutes you’re being relocated. They chained me up to take me downstairs, where two deputies from Denver County were waiting for me. They do a DNA swab. They fingerprint me. Then they strip-searched me. They humiliate and kind of strip search where they’re you’re told to lift your breast so they can look under. You have to open your mouth. You have to inspect your ears, you have to bend over,” Watt told Sumrall about her experience.
“Then they got me redressed, and they put chains around my ankles and my waist. Handcuffs, a block in between the handcuffs. And they shuffled me out to the airport, where they put me in a wheelchair and dragged me through the front of our SW airport, where I became just a piece of cargo and never spoken to again for the rest of the day.”
“They flew me to Colorado. I was in jail overnight, and in the morning, I saw a judge, and the judge said these were very low-level charges she had. She doesn’t have to be here. He released me instantly. No bail was necessary for you to fly back to Florida. Only I didn’t have my driver’s license, a credit card, a phone, or a coat, and I was wearing a pair of flip-flops. It was Thanksgiving week in Denver, Colorado. And I was released like that, and I must get home. I was made to pay for my own extradiction too,” she told Sumrall.
Watt served as a prominent Trump campaign official in 2020 and actively participated in the rally at the US Capitol on January 6th, 2021. Subsequently, she says she faced political persecution, arrest, assault while in prison, and numerous media attacks.
Like this article: “Florida GOP operative arrested in Colorado over dead voter petitions.”
Watt feels she was singled out because of her connection to J6.
She described her experience on January 6 as a peaceful gathering until witnessing a sudden surge of people storming the Capitol. Despite not participating in the breach, she faced backlash and scrutiny, with media attention and legal troubles following her involvement.
After J6, Watt said she worked on political campaigns in Colorado but found herself wrongly accused, she said, of election fraud and arrested on politically motivated charges. She was subjected to a traumatic arrest and extradition process, ultimately released with dropped charges, but left without resources to return home.
Throughout her story, she highlights the injustices and struggles faced by those who challenge the political establishment, such as other J6 participants. She emphasizes the need for truth and accountability in the face of adversity. Despite her hardships, she remains steadfast in her beliefs and determination to fight for justice.
According to Watt’s account, the ordeal she endured at the hands of law enforcement officials appeared to be motivated by political retaliation against President Donald J. Trump. She believes that the timing of her unjust treatment in Colorado, followed by media scrutiny portraying her as a Trump supporter in legal jeopardy, coincided with Trump’s challenges in Colorado as he faced ballot challenges for his 2024 Presidential run.
“On November 1, a lovely day, I was doing my laundry, and the police knocked on my door, and they arrested me. It took 10 hours to get me booked into the jail. I ended up having to go hospital that night and spent 20 days there,” Watt said, adding that at some point during the night, a police officer from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement confessed to feeling confused about the aggressive arrest tactics for charges that were considered to be so low level.
That was Watt’s foundation to believe the arrest was political because the next week, after smear media about her support of Trump and attendance at J6, Trump was taken off of the ballot in Colorado.
Watt told Sumrall, describing that time, “They were using me for media headlines to help transform the ground for them.”
Watt described herself to Sumrall as a veteran and former Democrat turned-Trump supporter.
She recounted her journey from military service to political activism. After experiencing personal tragedies, including the loss of her daughter and caring for her sick son, she became disillusioned with government assistance and turned to support Donald Trump, she said. She actively campaigned for Trump and other Republican candidates, eventually getting involved in organizing ballot drives for candidates.
Here is her story of political persecution:
Media reports show that after pleading guilty to tampering with nomination papers and petitions, Watt was sentenced to probation and ordered to repay the Denver Sheriff’s Office. She asserted her innocence, claiming she was targeted because of her political activities and connections. Watt also criticized the handling of her case by the Colorado Attorney General’s Office and maintained that she was unfairly punished for the actions of others involved in the petition process.
Diana has a Give, Send, Go to help with legal issues.
The US Supreme Court recently ruled that Trump could not be removed from the Ballot: