How a QAnon-Backing Hormone Doctor Financed 2020's Craziest, Scariest Election Conspiracy - 2020-12-18

How a QAnon-Backing Hormone Doctor Financed 2020's Craziest, Scariest Election Conspiracy December 18, 2020, Will Sommer, Daily Beast

---

Last fall, as Donald Trump promoted fears about widespread election fraud and pressure mounted on Texas Republicans to prevent the state from going blue, local GOP kingmaker Dr. Stephen F. Hotze became convinced that the far-right John Birch Society's long-ago warning of a communist takeover was on the verge of coming true.

Hotze warned his wife to prepare for a left-wing revolution. And, using a fortune he amassed as a "hormone replacement" doctor, he began paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to a small army of private investigators, dead-set on proving his claims that Houston Democrats were committing voter fraud on a massive scale.

Hotze's private investigators tracked the movements of specific people in the city who he suspected of committing crimes. In a blog post, Hotze claimed that his investigators were working 15-hour days and cost $200,000 a week.

Wikipedia cite:

{{cite news | first = Will | last = Sommer | title = How a QAnon-Backing Hormone Doctor Financed 2020's Craziest, Scariest Election Conspiracy | url = https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-a-qanon-backing-hormone-doctor-financed-2020s-craziest-scariest-election-conspiracy?ref=home | work = Daily Beast | date = December 18, 2020 | accessdate = December 20, 2020 }}