EmmaLee Robinson

EmmaLee Robinson was Chad Christensen's supervisor at State Farm Insurance in Idaho Falls. She made the recording.

Robinson saw a Facebook comment thread on an East Idaho News story about Christensen's 2020 race and reached out privately to Gregory Graf, telling him she had "red flags" about Christensen. Before taking that call, she told Christensen about it. Sworn deposition testimony in Case No. CV10-21-1197 established that Christensen helped her download a recording app on her phone. His voice is audible in the first minute of the recording, coaching her before she stepped outside to take Graf's call. She recorded the conversation without Graf's knowledge or consent.

She forwarded the recording to Christensen. He forwarded it to Greg Pruett the following morning.

Robinson also provided the recording directly to counsel at Melaleuca, where Graf worked, a step that bypassed the media campaign and targeted Graf's employment on its own track. The recording became the stated basis for a multi-part smear series co-published by Dustin Hurst and Pruett on Keep Idaho Free.

In her deposition, Robinson claimed she never gave Pruett permission to publish the recording. The timeline of her communications contradicts that account. She had been in active contact with Pruett throughout. Text messages recovered in discovery document coordination before the articles appeared, including a message referencing Bryan Smith's offer of pre-committed free legal defense to the network's participants. Robinson sent the "no permission" message to Pruett only after Graf's attorney issued a cease and desist. Pruett's own November 1 text explicitly references receiving that letter and tells Robinson not to worry. The denial arrived after the legal exposure did.

Robinson did not face legal consequence for her role. Graf's counterclaims against her were dismissed on procedural grounds.

She has not stepped back. Robinson is listed as a $100 contributor to Christensen's 2026 campaign, meaning the woman who coordinated the recording, who was his supervisor during the years the litigation was active, is now a financial backer of his next run. On social media, she has continued to repeat and amplify narratives about Graf that the court record directly contradicts. After sitting for six hours of deposition testimony, she taunted Graf on Twitter about not being able to remember his face. When pressed on whether she owed him an apology, she said she was "confused about why I'd apologize."

The Greasy Graf Exchange

In January 2022, while Christensen's lawsuit against Graf was still active, Hurst was publicly calling Graf "Greasy Graf" on Twitter. Robinson joined those exchanges.

When confronted about the nickname, Hurst offered a defense: "Greasy = slimeball. Graf knows that, but he wants to score fake political points." Robinson replied: "That's what I thought."

Social Media Screenshot: Robinson backs Hurst's "Greasy = slimeball" defense (January 2022)

Twitter exchange, January 2022. Hurst defends "Greasy Graf" as meaning "slimeball." Robinson: "That's what I thought." Robinson had no prior relationship with Graf before participating in the secret recording in November 2020.

Graf then explained publicly what "greasy" means as a slur. His mother legally immigrated from Mexico with his grandparents. "Greasy" is what white kids called her at school. His family had lived with the word as a weapon. He explained that Hurst was using a racial slur with a documented history of dehumanizing Latino immigrants, and that it brought pain to his family.

Social Media Screenshot: Graf explains the slur. Robinson responds by accusing Graf of racism.

Twitter exchange, January 25, 2022. Graf explains "Greasy" is the slur his mother was called as a Mexican immigrant. Robinson replies accusing Graf of racist hate. Hurst used the slur. Graf explained why it was one. Robinson defended Hurst and accused Graf.

Robinson accused Graf of racism. "Then stop the racist HATE Graf!!!" she wrote, replying to both Graf and Hurst. "This is all on you. I'm shaking because I'm physically ill by you calling Hispanics greasy."

She had it backward. Hurst applied the slur to Graf. Graf explained why it was one. Robinson, who had no prior relationship with Graf before coordinating the secret recording against him, sided with the person who used the slur and accused the person it was directed at of being the racist. She then went further, apologizing to Hurst, not to Graf, for having joked earlier about asking whether Hurst was racist: "I'm so sorry I joked earlier about even asking you about being racist. Racism isn't a joke."

Social Media Screenshot: Robinson apologizes to Hurst for questioning whether he was racist (January 24, 2022)

Twitter, January 24, 2022. Robinson tells Hurst: "You are right. Disgusting." She apologizes to Hurst for having joked about asking if he was racist. She does not address Graf, who is of Mexican heritage and was the target of the slur.

By September 2022, Robinson was using her own variant in replies directed at Graf. She called him "Gross Graf," adding: "Why did Gross Graf, since we aren't racist, need batteries for his remote so bad?" The parenthetical "since we aren't racist" sits alongside a demeaning nickname directed at a person of Mexican heritage, posted nearly two years after the original secret recording.

Social Media Screenshot: Robinson uses "Gross Graf" in a reply to Graf (September 17, 2022)

Twitter, September 17, 2022. Robinson uses "Gross Graf" as a nickname in a public reply to Graf. The tweet includes "since we aren't racist" as a parenthetical while using a demeaning nickname. Posted nearly two years after the secret recording.