EXCLUSIVE GOP rising star Konner Earnest, linked to white supremacist Nick Fuentes, faces rape charges from two exes
Konner Earnest, 22, was a rising star on the Texas conservative political scene, working for ex-lawmaker and governor candidate Don Huffines and influential ultra-conservative political consultancy Pale Horse Strategies.
But he was reportedly fired in 2023 over his links to Hitler-admiring white supremacist influencer Nick Fuentes, who asked his followers to 'kill, rape and die' for him in one video, and repeatedly called for a 'holy war' against Jews.
In arrest warrant affidavits filed by Texas police last week, Earnest was charged with the felony sexual assault of two women between 2021 and 2024, and a third felony charge of 'continuous violence against the family'.
In one graphic and disturbing criminal complaint filed in Montgomery County, a woman he dated from 2020 to 2022 – referred to as H.H. – claimed he physically forced her into anal sex, leaving her bleeding, and raped her on several other occasions while she cried and told him to stop.
Another complaint by a second ex-girlfriend he dated in 2023 and 2024 – referred to as E.M. – said that after an argument on January 13, 2024, he held her down and forced his penis into her mouth.
The woman told police that on June 26 that year she and Earnest had a 'physical altercation', she hid from him in a closet, he found her and forced her into sex.
This ex said three-quarters of the estimated 180 times they had sex were 'not consensual'.
In arrest warrant affidavits filed by Texas police last week, Earnest was accused of the felony sexual assault of two women between 2021 and 2024, and a third felony charge of 'continuous violence against the family'
She also told officers she was 'punched in the face multiple times' by Earnest, 'bitten on the hand causing permanent scarring', and 'burned with hot food and grease'.
Earnest was arrested and released on $20,000 bail. His next court date is scheduled for May 13, according to Montgomery District Court records.
From a young age, the resident of Woodlands, Texas, was building an illustrious career in Republican politics.
He wrote for right-wing news site Texas Scorecard, which gave him a 'Conservative Leader Award', and made videos for Texans For Strong Borders.
In a 2022 interview with Texas right-wing site Current Revolt, he described working for the gubernatorial campaign of former Texas State Senator Don Huffines, a far-right challenger to Greg Abbott.
But Earnest found himself in the center of a political firestorm in the Texas GOP in October 2023, when he was photographed at a controversial meeting of Republican leaders, donors, Fuentes and Kyle Rittenhouse – notorious for being acquitted after fatally shooting two men and injuring another during protests in Wisconsin in August 2020 – at the Pale Horse offices near Fort Worth.
The Texas Tribune pictured Texas Republican Party Chair Matt Rinaldi, the multi-million-dollar GOP donor Jonathan Stickland, president of Texans for Strong Borders Chris Russo, and Fuentes entering the Pale Horse offices on October 6, 2023.
The article helped prompt the Texas GOP to pass new rules banning association with anti-semitic individuals or groups.
Earnest began to be frequently spotted at Texas GOP events after he started to work for governor candidate Don Huffines. In October 2023, he was spotted with conservative figure Kyle Rittenhouse, at the Pale Horse offices near Fort Worth, preparing for Fuentes' visit
Rinaldi told the Tribune he was 'just borrowing a conference room', adding about Fuentes: 'I completely condemn that guy and everything he stands for. I would never in a million years meet with that guy.'
Despite his acquittal for killing two Black Lives Matter protesters in 2020, Rittenhouse has become a prominent but controversial GOP activist.
After the Tribune broke the story, Rittenhouse released a statement saying he left when he saw Fuentes at the meeting, adding that he had Holocaust victim relatives, and denounced Fuentes's 'hideous views'.
But Earnest appears to have been an avid fan of Fuentes.
He told Current Revolt that he watched Fuentes shows 'on a daily basis', and tweeted about getting a Mother Jones magazine cover story about Fuentes followers framed.
Journalist Amanda Moore also published pictures of Earnest outside a Houston meeting of the European American Community, a group that espouses views linked to white nationalism, including that American citizenship should be based on European ancestry.
Pale Horse reportedly fired Earnest after the Tribune story, according to then-Tribune writer Robert Downen.
The 22-year-old was pictured with his arm around another far-right activist and former colleague at Pale Horse, Ella Maulding, at the Texas GOP annual convention in San Antonio last May.
But troubles for Earnest came full force when one of his alleged victims filed a criminal complaint on April 16, saying he had 'knowingly penetrated the anus' without their consent
The victim, referred to as H.H., dated Earnest from 2020 to 2022. She claimed he physically forced her into anal sex, leaving her bleeding, and raped her on several other occasions while she cried and told him to stop
She said she recorded their final conversation in May 2022 in a church parking lot where he admitted he 'treated her like an object'
Criminal complaints against Earnest were filed on April 16 in Montgomery District Court, with graphic and disturbing details of his alleged attacks on two former partners.
In an arrest warrant affidavit, Montgomery Sheriff's Deputy Kristopher Dossey wrote that Earnest's ex-girlfriend, E.M., told them about alleged violent rape and sexual assaults that occurred throughout 2024.
'The first incident of non-consensual sexual penetration occurred on January 13, 2024, inside the defendant's bedroom,' Dossey wrote.
'After a verbal argument, the defendant became coercive and physically manipulative, ultimately forcing his penis into her mouth while she was lying on her back and verbally expressing discomfort and resistance.'
The ex described 'numerous other instances' of sex 'without her consent'.
'She recalled one specific incident on June 26, also in The Woodlands, where she attempted to hide from the defendant following a physical altercation,' the affidavit said.
'The defendant entered the closet where she was hiding, forced her onto the floor, restrained her arms, and penetrated her vagina with his penis despite repeated verbal resistance and attempts to physically push him away.'
The woman said they had sex 'between 120 to 180 times over the course of the relationship, and that approximately 70 to 75% of those encounters were not consensual.'
The complaint, filed by another ex-girlfriend he dated in 2024, described violent sexual assault by Earnest, alleging that '70 to 75%' of the times they had sex was not consensual during their relationship
The third felony charge was related to E.M.'s claim that he threw hot food at her in May 2024, which burned her skin, and hit her in the face with his hand
The affidavit said she provided texts to police in which Earnest 'apologized for sexual and physical assaults'.
The woman, E.M. who was named In a separate criminal complaint for domestic violence charges filed along with the sexual assault charges, claimed that Earnest repeatedly attacked her throughout their relationship, between August 2023 and August 2024.
'These included being punched in the face multiple times, bitten on the hand causing permanent scarring, shoved to the ground, burned with hot food and grease, and grabbed by the face and pushed to hard surfaces,' the officer's affidavit said.
She claimed that on one occasion he 'threw a hot pan of eggs at her back', and on another occasion 'she was repeatedly punched and bitten during an argument'.
'The victim indicated that she documented some of her injuries through photographs and screenshots and later provided those digital files to law enforcement on a USB flash drive,' Dossey's affidavit said.
The second accuser, H.H., told police that she dated Earnest between December 2020 and February 2022.
She claimed that in July 2021, he 'came up behind her', 'pushed her against a wall' and forced her to have sex while she told him to stop.
She told police that on Valentine's Day 2022, he 'held the victim's arms down and pinned her legs against the side of the bed' and then forced her to have anal sex, while she 'screamed out for the defendant to stop'.
The ex said the alleged horrific ordeal left her 'bleeding', and she broke up with him over it.
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