Kootenai County power struggle deepens after Mattare resignation, audio leaks

Bruce Mattare said he submitted his resignation on May 7 as a special deputy with the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office, a move that pushes one of the county’s most politically connected offices into fresh scrutiny. Mattare is also the District 2 member of the Kootenai County Board of County Commissioners, the three-member body that serves as the county’s taxing authority, contracting body and chief administrator of public funds.

County records show Mattare won the Republican primary in May 2022, was unopposed in the November 2022 general election and was sworn into office on January 9, 2023. In his public statement, Mattare said the resignation was necessary to protect public confidence in the integrity of the process.

The timing matters because the sheriff’s office has long relied on special deputies and cross-deputized officers to make up for staffing shortages. Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office materials say the department operates with 1.18 deputies per 1,000 residents, below the industry standard of 1.5. A 2023 report said Sheriff Bob Norris cross-deputizes officers from other jurisdictions and swears in special deputies who may not have law-enforcement backgrounds. That same report said Mattare was the only elected official in Kootenai County with special deputy status.

The latest episode of Liberty Without Compromise places Mattare’s resignation alongside what it describes as a broader collapse of principle, accountability and honesty in county political and religious circles. It also points to behind-the-scenes influence attributed to Brett Surplus and new audio from Paul Van Noy, adding to a series of episodes that have focused on local power networks, public loyalty tests and alleged coordination among prominent figures.

The same orbit includes the long-running fight involving Summer Bushnell and Eric Posey. In June 2022, Bushnell posted an edited video of Posey performing in drag at the Coeur d’Alene City Park bandshell. Police later reviewed unedited footage and prosecutors declined to charge Posey with a crime. Posey sued Bushnell in September 2022, and on May 24, 2024, a Kootenai County jury found Bushnell liable for defamation and awarded Posey $1,176,000.

State-court filings show Bushnell appealed to the Idaho Supreme Court, where justices heard the case in April 2026 and pressed both sides with sharp questions. As the county’s commissioner, sheriff and activist networks keep colliding, the central issue for voters remains plain: who holds power in Kootenai County, and how much of it is operating in public view.