Integrity Matters
Georgia just completed a hand recount; it found about five thousand uncounted votes for Donald Trump and Joe Biden, and Trump still lost the state by over 12,000 votes. The Secretary of State has been steadfast in counting every vote and certified the results today. https://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2020-55006188 Trump lost in the cities, and he lost in the suburbs, and he won in the small towns and rural communities. Senator Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, apparently called the Republican Secretary of State of Georgia in an effort to persuade him to disqualify Democratic absentee ballots.
In Michigan, Trump lost by over 150,000 votes. He lost in the cities; he lost in the suburbs; he lost in Detroit (D), and he lost in Grand Rapids (R). A Republican member of the Detroit Elections Canvassing Board sought to throw out all the ballots in the city of Detroit, and two Republican members sought to throw out all the ballots in Wayne County before reversing themselves and certifying the election results, then later seeking to withdraw their certification. The President first called the Republican member of the Board to urge that the Board refuse to certify the election; then he called and invited the Michigan Senate President and Assembly Speaker to the White House to try to persuade them to ignore the popular vote and instead throw their state’s electoral votes to him. https://www.politico.com/news/2020/11/20/michigan-gop-dc-trump-election-438690 Earlier the Speaker and Senate President had said they would abide by and not seek to overturn the will of the state’s voters. After meeting with the President today, they reiterated that they would abide by that commitment to democracy and the US Constitution.
In Wisconsin, Trump lost by over 20,000 votes. He lost overwhelmingly in the state’s most populous counties like Dane and Milwaukee counties so he is seeking a recount there. https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-joe-biden-donald-trump-madison-wisconsin-852ac9f03fcbb8a0b407f66b055c9171 and https://www.usnews.com/news/elections/articles/2020-11-18/trump-hedges-his-bet-on-wisconsin-recount He is also suing to invalidate all the votes in Milwaukee, Dane and Menominee counties – litigation, which was recently dropped. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawsuits_related_to_the_2020_United_States_presidential_election#Post-election_lawsuits_7
In Pennsylvania, Trump lost by over 82,000 votes. He has filed extensive litigation, and so far lost on all fronts. https://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2020-55006188 and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawsuits_related_to_the_2020_United_States_presidential_election#Pennsylvania One unsuccessful case sought to invalidate the entire election and throw it into the Republican dominated state legislature; others to invalidate the heavily Democratic votes in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/11/checkmate-in-pennsylvania-for-the-trump-campaign/ The Republican controlled Pennsylvania legislature has shown no appetite for over-riding the will of their electorate. https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-joe-biden-donald-trump-legislature-pennsylvania-b199b2debc87fbb20612a48835bc0dba
In Arizona, Trump lost by over 10,000 votes, and his lawsuits have been dismissed, and the counties have conducted post election audits and found no fraud. https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/19/politics/arizona-pennsylvania-georgia-lawsuits-trump-biden/index.html As elsewhere he lost in the big cities and suburbs like Phoenix and Tucson, Maricopa and Pima counties respectively. The Arizona legislature cannot under state law alter the election outcomes by over-riding the will of the state’s voters. https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/11/19/why-arizona-legislature-cannot-alter-election-outcome/6347894002/
An interesting side note is that many of the voters the President has sought to disenfranchise are African Americans. The 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution provides “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”
The President takes an oath to defend the Constitution, as do the members of the House and Senate and all the members of his Administration. So do all his lawyers. How do they stand by or actively aid and abet, assist and allow the President to shred our Democracy? The President has the right to file all the law suits he wishes; the judges need to start imposing monetary sanctions where they are frivolous or vexatious, and Bar Associations need to start investigating any ethical violations that may be committed by the attorneys involved. It is far better that the President files law suits of little merit and asks for electoral recounts of minimal chances to succeed, than encouraging armed insurrections from his most militant supporters and white supremacist race riots against African American voters. There is an article in the paper today that Eric Trump has contracted Covid 19, is in quarantine, and says he is spending the time in his cabin cleaning his guns. Armed insurrection would open him and them up to prosecution for treason. Donald Trump is continuing to sow his falsehoods widely with unforeseeable consequences; it is astounding that 75% of Republican voters would be so credulous of a man so habituated to the big lie (bitterly disappointed I can fully understand, as that shoe was on the other foot just four years ago). We are not out of the nightmare yet, and we need to stay vigilant, but not vindictive, during the last gasp throes of Trump’s overwhelming 6 million + vote defeat and the transition to the Biden Administration.
The most recent decision today from a highly respected Pennsylvania District Court Judge aptly and concisely sums up the status of the President’s legal predicament. "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, such that this Court would have no option but to regrettably grant the proposed injunctive relief despite the impact it would have on such a large group of citizens. That has not happened," Brann added. "Instead, this Court has been presented with strained legal arguments without merit and speculative accusations, unpled in the operative complaint and unsupported by evidence."
Prepared by: Lucien Wulsin
Dated: 11/20/20