Despite Jerry Brown using "goon squads" to intimidate voters, and angry Democratic Party leaders verbally assaulting signature gatherers, organizers of the effort to recall California state Sen. Josh Newman (D-Orange County) gathered 85,000 signatures in support of a recall election.

Sensing Newman's vulnerability, legislators changed the recall rules ex post facto (which will assuredly be legally challenged by recall supporters), and now Democrats are stepping up their attacks on people who organize dissent in the state.

College students. Or, more specifically, three College Republicans who volunteered as signature gatherers.

That's right. The California Democratic Party is suing them, accusing them of lying to voters and saying that the recall would repeal the gas tax.

First of all, that any California Democratic Party official or candidate would accuse Republicans of lying to get votes - and say it with a straight face - is a massive insult. These are the people whose confiscatory gun control scheme was called "Safety for All" in ads. These are the people who claim that sanctuary cities are simply shielding hard-working, law-abiding, family-centered immigrants from being deported. These are the people who call taxpayers "freeloaders" when they finally get sick of forking over the highest gas taxes in the nation.

The lawsuit names three Cal State Fullerton College Republicans, as well as other activists, as defendants - Amanda McGuire, Brooke Paz, and Ryan Hoskins - and was filed in Sacramento County Superior Court, a clear effort to make it as difficult as possible for the three to defend themselves. If you're not familiar with California, Sacramento is at least a six-hour drive from Fullerton. (And that's if you leave in the middle of the night to avoid traffic.)

Paz, the group's public relations director, told the Daily Wire:

"This lawsuit is a baseless attack on the character of hardworking and passionate activists, as well as a shameful intrusion on the democratic processes that are my right as an American citizen." "As we just celebrated the 241st anniversary of our independence, my God-given rights are being threatened by the California Democrats simply because they disagree with me and my colleagues," Paz continued. "Our elected representatives are supposed to govern by the people and for the people. The people do not want higher taxes, and as proven by the incredible amount of signatures we've gathered for this recall petition, the people do not want Newman."

Republican Party of Orange County Chairman Fred Whitaker told the Daily Wire:

"Democrats are desperate to hold on to absolute power – whether it is changing the rules ex post facto on signature verification, or contribution limits, or a lawsuit challenging the validity of signatures – they will stop at nothing to keep absolute power," said Whitaker. "There is no principle left for them, it’s only power, and it doesn’t matter if we change the rules or ruin the finances of ordinary college students now having to defend their own signatures."

Conservatives in other states should take note. If we do not vigorously fight back against the "spin" the mainstream media and Democrat politicians put out there, and Democrats take over, this will be the way the entire country is run.