Idaho Second Amendment Alliance (I2AA)
Political Action Committee
About Idaho Second Amendment Alliance (I2AA)
The Idaho Second Amendment Alliance (ISAA), led by Greg Pruett, is a no-compromise gun rights organization known for its confrontational tactics against fellow Republicans, often labeling them RINOs (Republicans In Name Only) if they do not fully support his agenda. Pruett’s approach, influenced by the Dorr Brothers, focuses on aggressive public confrontations and pressure tactics to push for legislation, even in a highly gun-friendly state.
Pruett and the ISAA have been linked to far-right figures and movements, including collaborations with the Dorr Brothers, notorious for their fundraising and political strategies across multiple states. These connections have drawn criticism, with allegations that their operations prioritize fundraising over genuine advocacy, often misleading donors. Additionally, the ISAA has supported candidates and movements with divisive and inflammatory rhetoric, reinforcing their position on the far-right of Idaho’s political spectrum.
Despite Idaho’s strong gun laws, the ISAA continues to push for more radical legislation, which critics argue is unnecessary and potentially harmful. The organization’s actions are also tied to broader far-right initiatives, aiming to influence local politics and challenge more moderate Republican leadership in the state.
Pruett uses his platform to attack Republican legislators who do not follow the Idaho Freedom Foundation’s directives. He uses ad hominem attacks against legislators like “Red Flag Rod” to lob false accusations and bully those who do not bend to his organization. The I2AA sends out surveys each year masked as a pledge to its organization, and it has seen a significant drop in responses as less than a third of all legislators bother to fill out self-serving surveys.
Greg Pruett took a step back from running the day-to-day operations of the Idaho Second Amendment Alliance after helping former legislator Chad Christensen engage in a scheme to set up a critic and write dishonest content about them. This led to a counter-claim of defamation being filed against Pruett, who admitted to lying about the critic under oath and publishing an article written by someone else under his name.
NPR ran a six-part expose on Greg Pruett and his Dorr Brothers cohorts that won a Pulitzer Prize for shedding light on an incredibly dishonest network of astroturfing Facebook pages and a questionable fundraising operation. Pruett was featured in the finale episode, which exposed his confrontational political tactics and dishonest approach to Idaho’s political influence operations.
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As reporters Lisa Hagen of WABE in Atlanta, Ga. and Chris Haxel of KCUR in Kansas City, Mo. have chronicled, Greg Pruett is the head of the Idaho Second Amendment Alliance, part of a network of gun rights groups that push a no-compromise message in statehouses across the country.
And it turns out Pruett operates more than one Facebook page; he has several. And, according to Ellis, he has fashioned himself into a one-man propaganda band for a whole set of anti-government subcultures in Idaho.
The philosophy Pruett and his pro-gun partners follow is modeled after a book called Confrontational Politics. Its lessons offer a blueprint for political insurgency that activists across the no-compromise movement use.
Greg Pruett, president of the Idaho Second Amendment Alliance, represents himself as a champion of gun rights. His history, record, and far-right connections tell a different story. Greg Pruett’s true talents lie not in his understanding of the Constitution or gun rights, but in his ability to manipulate social media. Taking lessons from a group of now-infamous anti-conservative grifters, he practices the art of creating the false appearance that he is merely one prominent member of a large group of grassroots activists.
But the grass is fake, and Greg Pruett is Idaho’s king of astroturfing.
Contrary to Greg Pruett’s often used line of when they are attacking me, they are really attacking you, the gun owners… this isn’t to attack those who’ve been drawn in by Pruett’s astroturfing campaign. He learned from some of the best social media grifters in the midwest who like Pruett have betrayed the interests of gun owners to build an empire of astroturfed front organizations.
Idaho gun owners are not the problem, they are the victims of Greg Pruett’s deceptions.
After a campaign finance complaint was referred to the Idaho attorney general for investigation, Greg Pruett of the Idaho 2nd Amendment Alliance belatedly filed a campaign finance report on his TV ad campaign in favor of Rep. Christy Zito, R-Hammett, who is running for the state Senate.
Pruett’s report, filed Monday evening, shows his group has raised $15,869, with $1,600 of that coming from Idaho Falls attorney Bryan Smith and the rest in small, unitemized donations of less than $50; and spent $4,430 on TV and Facebook advertising in multiple legislative races.
Pruett acknowledged that under Idaho’s Sunshine Law, he was required to file a report and disclose his donors of $50 or more when he distributed an “electioneering communication” that “unambiguously refers to any candidate,” and was sent out within 30 days before a primary election.
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