November 23, 2020: Our People, Laws, and Institutions Demand More

 

11/23/20: Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the results in several battleground states continue to falter, as the courts slap away one lawsuit after another. Even many sensible Republicans are beginning to warn: It’s time to quit undermining American democracy. It’s time to admit Biden won.

 

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“It harms the public interest in countless ways.”

 

U.S. District Court Judge Steven Grimberg

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On the court front, Reuters noted that last Friday, a suit filed by The Election Integrity Project, an organization led by a right-wing activist, was tossed by Clark County District Judge Gloria Sturman. The suit alleged to have identified roughly 1,400 people who had registered to vote in Nevada, moved to California, and then still voted in Nevada.

 

Sturman explained that there was “an administrative remedy” for dealing with electoral fraud, but balked at “the civil remedy of throwing out an election,” which she described as “a shocking ask.”

 

Possible explanations for the number “1,400.” First, a person who moves out of a state within 30 days of an election may vote either in the state where they lived, or in the state where they reside. Second, military personnel, stationed at bases like Camp Pendleton, in California, but whose permanent homes are in Nevada, might send in a vote from a California address. Same for their spouses.

 

Completely legal, of course.

 

In response to this claim, the office of the Nevada Secretary of State issued the following statement: “Many voter fraud complaints lack any evidence and are more complaints about process or policy. Through these post-election processes, instances of actual or attempted fraud may come to light. If so, these instances will be thoroughly investigated.”

 

(This was at least the third defeat for Team Trump in Nevada, including one rejection of a request to stop counting mail-in ballots by the Nevada Supreme Court.)

 

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“No basis in fact or in law.”

 

THURSDAY, the federal courts give the president another black eye. This time, a case in Georgia had been filed by a prominent private attorney, Lin Wood, calling on the court to block certification of the state’s electoral votes for Joe Biden now that the hand recount was complete.

 

It fell to U.S. District Court Judge Steven Grimberg, after a three-hour virtual hearing, to blast a Trump legal case to bits. 

Grimberg, a Trump appointee to the federal bench, first ruled that Wood lacked legal standing as an individual to mount a challenge to Georgia’s election procedures. But Grimberg didn’t stop there, noting that “evidence of improprieties,” as presented by Mr. Wood, “seemed limited to isolated cases and far short of what would be needed to justify a federal judge stepping in to alter the state’s election results.” 

“It would require halting the certification of results in a state election in which millions of people have voted,” the judge continued. “It would interfere with an election after the voting was done.” 

“It harms the public interest in countless ways, particularly in the environment in which this election occurred,” Judge Grimberg said. “To halt the certification at literally the 11th hour would breed confusion and potentially disenfranchisement that I find has no basis in fact or in law.”

 

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“Strained legal arguments without merit and speculative accusations.” 

THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN did score a temporary win in Pennsylvania, Thursday evening. This time a state appeals court ruled, 2-1, in favor of a bid to disqualify 2,349 mail-in ballots in the Pittsburgh area because they lacked a date next to the voter’s signature. That ruling was expected to be appealed to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. If upheld, it could lower Biden’s vote total, but since the challenger had an 81,000 vote lead, the math still seemed daunting. 

The joy felt by the president, his wacky lawyers, and his blind, deaf and dumb followers, was short-lived. As The Hill reported, in a separate case, Team Trump legal geniuses had argued that election returns for the entire state should be voided and Trump should be crowned King Don I. Alas, U.S. Middle District Judge Matthew Brann ruled that the campaign presented “strained legal arguments without merit and speculative accusations” that were “unsupported by evidence.”

 

Judge Brann continued in his opinion: “In the United States of America, this cannot justify the disenfranchisement of a single voter, let alone all the voters of its sixth most populated state. Our people, laws, and institutions demand more.” If that wasn’t clear enough, he continued, “One might expect that when seeking such a startling outcome, a plaintiff would come formidably armed with compelling legal arguments and factual proof of rampant corruption. That has not happened.”

 

Rudy Giuliani, who handled the case in court (after five other lawyers smelled a dead rat and dropped out) insisted he was happy with the results. Now the case would move on rapidly to the U.S. Supreme Court, where no doubt the conservative block of justices would proclaim Donald Trump as America’s first king. Rudy might have been miffed, after Judge Brann described the legal case put forward by the president’s team as a “Frankenstein monster” badly stitched together. In any case, he pointed out more than once that Brann was an “Obama judge,” hinting that he was therefore not to be trusted. It took only a little quick digging to learn that Brann was a Republican official in Pennsylvania for many years and remains a registered Republican to this day. His nomination to the bench, involved President Obama getting “half a loaf” when facing a recalcitrant U.S. Senate, where Milksop Mitch McConnell was busy rejecting almost everyone Obama suggested for seats on the federal bench. Brann’s confirmation moved forward, for once, and he was unanimously confirmed. 

You can look it up if you like.

 

* 

The Dom Perignon wasn’t enough.

 

FRIDAY, of course, the president invited several Michigan lawmakers to the White House. He had hopes he could convince them to ignore voting results, which saw Biden roll up a 150,000+ margin in their state.

 

Politico noted in a separate story, after Trump’s gambit with the Michigan lawmakers fizzled, that even Trump advisers were ready to admit the truth. “He’s running out the clock,” said one member of the Trump campaign. “I don’t expect any jaw-dropping developments out of today’s meeting and I certainly don’t expect the results to change between now and January.”

 

There was a brief moment of joy in Trumpistan, when the Michigan lawmakers who came to town were caught on video celebrating at Trump International Hotel in Washington D.C., before catching a flight home. Bottles of Dom Perignon were purchased (only $500 at the Trump bar) and consumed.

 

Could that be a sign from the heavens that since champagne was flowing, votes were coming Trump’s way?

Michigan officials celebrate something - but what?

 

 

 

Then, over the weekend, and continuing into Monday, the blows continued to fall. The Dom Perignon wasn’t enough. Officials in Michigan went ahead and certified the vote.

 

A new chorus of concerned Republicans could be heard, calling on the president to face reality at last. Trump’s biggest donor on Wall Street, Steve Schwarzman, said it was clear Biden had won. It was time to “move on.” Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland said the president’s refusal to concede was harming the country. “We were the most respected country in respect to elections,” he noted. “And now we’re beginning to look like we’re a banana republic.” It was time, he said, for the president to “stop golfing and concede.” Sen. Lisa Murkowski agreed. The president’s behavior, she said, was “inconsistent with our democratic process.” Even Sen. Kevin Kramer, of deep red North Dakota, said it was time (at least) for the Trump administration to start cooperating with the Biden transition team.

 

Chris Christie pointed out that he had voted for Trump twice, but described the conduct of the president’s legal team as “a national embarrassment.” He was not the only observer to note a strange anomaly in almost every court proceeding to that point. Trump’s lawyers “allege fraud outside the courtroom, but when they go inside the courtroom, they don’t plead fraud and they don’t argue fraud,” he said. Christie, a former federal prosecutor, noted that you can’t go into court and lie to a judge.

 

He went on to add that “elections have consequences, and we cannot continue to act as if something happened here that didn’t happen. You have an obligation to present the evidence. The evidence has not been presented.”

 

Cough, cough...doesn’t…cough, cough…exist.

 

Sen. Lamar Alexander added his voice to the swelling chorus, telling reporters that “the presidential election is rapidly coming to a formal end.” He was hopeful that the president would finally admit he lost. “Since it seems apparent that Joe Biden will be the president-elect, my hope is that President Trump will take pride in his accomplishments, put the country first and have a prompt and orderly transition to help the new administration succeed. When you are in public life, people remember the last thing you do.”

 

Finally, let’s wrap it up with a statement signed by more than 100 leading Republican national security experts.

 

They write:

 

We are former senior national security officials who served in Republican administrations under Presidents Reagan, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, and/or Donald Trump or as Republican Members of Congress. We believe that President Trump’s refusal to concede the election and allow for an orderly transition constitutes a serious threat to America’s democratic process and to our national security. We therefore call on Republican leaders – especially those in Congress – to publicly demand that President Trump cease his anti-democratic assault on the integrity of the presidential election.

 

It has been clear for over two weeks that Joe Biden won the 2020 Presidential election, garnering 306 electoral votes, far more than the 270 electoral votes required to be elected.

 

Despite this clear outcome, President Trump has refused to accept the results and begin the transition process. While the President is legally entitled to request recounts and file good-faith legal challenges, he has presented no evidence of widespread fraud or any other significant irregularities. Nearly every case filed by the President’s team across multiple states has been summarily dismissed. President Trump’s continued efforts to cast doubt on the validity of the election and to interfere in state electoral processes undermine our democracy and risk long-term damage to our institutions.  

 

Although some Republican leaders have supported President Trump’s right to challenge aspects of the voting in various states, for the good of the country, they should now strongly oppose his dangerous and extra-legal efforts to intimidate state election officials [emphasis added] and distort the Electoral College process.

 

The signers included Tom Ridge, who served as homeland security secretary under President George W. Bush, former C.I.A. director Michael Hayden and John D. Negroponte, the first Director of National Intelligence, also under George W. Bush.

 

 

POSTSCRIPT: If you’d like to imbibe in a little Dom Perignon yourself, but you can’t afford to visit the Trump International Hotel in Washington D.C., you can still order a bottle (free shipping!) from the Wine Express.

 

Only $189.95.

Vintage Dom Perignon can really set you back.