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.
____________________
“It harms the public interest in
countless ways.”
U.S.
District Court Judge Steven Grimberg
____________________
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.)
*
“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.”
*
“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?
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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.
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Vintage Dom Perignon can really set you back. |
