Election integrity and the transfer of power

[Skinypupy]

Damn, even the Washington Football Team is dunking on him.

https://twitter.com/WashingtonNFL/statu ... 3011964931

[malchior]

Unless something has changed, as of this morning the Georgia document wasn't even filed yet. It exists only as a prop on her website (where she suggests that donations to her legal defense fund may be sent as checks payable to Sidney Powell).

Where is the ABA? Seriously. Aren't they supposed to police unprofessional conduct? We have prominent lawyers spreading conspiracy theories and taking direct donations to follow them.

The ABA is not a licensing organization. I'm not even a member of the ABA. You need to look to the state licensing organizations where she is a member.

Wasn't Yojimbo telling us how Sidney was going to wipe the floor with the Dems with these lawsuits?

Ah I see. Thanks for the clarification. I did read an article that they seemed to be only making these statements in public and then carefully not doing it in court. In effect, they aren't risking their license -- just their reputation. Not being a lawyer I thought that there were 'more guardrails' professionally speaking. I belong to professional organizations where my accreditation would likely be jeopardized if I were to make certain public statements.

[Max Peck]

Yes! There it is:

So we've got a nameless affiant - actually, that should be 'affiant,' the scare quotes are virtually mandatory - alleging that Smartmatic engaged in a conspiracy with Chavez.

Perhaps the "nameless affiant" is Orly Taitz.

From 2009: What Orly Taitz believes

The head Birther talks about Obama's boyfriends, the long arm of Hugo Chavez and how the Web is rigged against her

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez may have been rigging our elections. He can do this because he owns Sequoia Voting Systems? Did I know this? No. Neither did Google, since searching the Internet seems to indicate it's actually just a group of Venezuelans who own Sequoia, a fact I point out to Taitz.

Taitz is unfazed. "That's another interesting issue, because there was a transfer of shares. And some shares were transferred to company called Smartmatic, out of Florida. And then there were reports that actually, Hugo Chavez and people close to him own a large number of shares of Smartmatic." Oh, and there was another report, says Taitz. "But mainstream media would not talk about it. One of the founders of Smartmatic was in a very strange accident, in a small plane. Both engines gave way, and the plane fell from the sky. Interesting -- it was the sky over Caracas, Venezuela." Haven't I ever wondered how it is that Congress maintains abysmally low popularity but most members are reelected, Taitz asks. I offer the standard response: "Because people distrust the institution of Congress, but like their personal representative? Isn't that what numbers usually show?"

"Not necessarily, not necessarily," says Taitz, and moves along.

At the least, resurrecting anti-Obama conspiracy theories would explain why Chavez is rising from the grave this year.

[pr0ner]

The Third Circuit tells Trump to pound sand.

[Isgrimnur]

The Third Circuit tells Trump to pound sand.

Law and Crime

Leading a unanimous three-member panel, a federal appellate judge appointed by outgoing President Donald Trump upheld a blistering lower court ruling that said the Trump campaign and Rudy Giuliani’s attempt to block certification of the election results in Pennsylvania was a meritless endeavor.

“Free, fair elections are the lifeblood of our democracy,” U.S. Circuit Judge Stephanos Bibas wrote Friday for the unanimous three-judge panel. “Charges of unfairness are serious. But calling an election unfair does not make it so. Charges require specific allegations and then proof. We have neither here.”

“The Trump Presidential Campaign asserts that Pennsylvania’s 2020 election was unfair. But as lawyer Rudolph Giuliani stressed, the Campaign ‘doesn’t plead fraud. . . … [T]his is not a fraud case.’ … Instead, it objects that Pennsylvania’s Secretary of State and some counties restricted poll watchers and let voters fix technical defects in their mail-in ballots. It offers nothing more,” Bibas added.

Joining in the 21-page opinion were two of George W. Bush‘s Third Circuit appointees: Judge Michael Chagares and the Circuit’s Chief Judge D. Brooks Smith.
...
“First, for the reasons already given, the Campaign is unlikely to succeed on the merits,” the ruling states. “Second, it shows no irreparable harm, offering specific challenges to many fewer ballots than the roughly 81,000-vote margin of victory. Third, the Campaign is responsible for its delay and repetitive litigation. Finally, the public interest strongly favors finality, counting every lawful voter’s vote, and not disenfranchising millions of Pennsylvania voters who voted by mail. Plus, discarding those votes could disrupt every other election on the ballot.”

[Jaymann]

[Blackhawk]

...and now come the flashbacks.

[Jaymann]

The Third Circuit tells Trump to pound sand.

Black Friday for Agolf.

[Jaymann]

Countdown to Biden inauguration as President:

55 DAYS

Agolf finally finds a desk that matches his hand size.

[Kurth]

Unless something has changed, as of this morning the Georgia document wasn't even filed yet. It exists only as a prop on her website (where she suggests that donations to her legal defense fund may be sent as checks payable to Sidney Powell).

Where is the ABA? Seriously. Aren't they supposed to police unprofessional conduct? We have prominent lawyers spreading conspiracy theories and taking direct donations to follow them.

The ABA is not a licensing organization. I'm not even a member of the ABA. You need to look to the state licensing organizations where she is a member.

Wasn't Yojimbo telling us how Sidney was going to wipe the floor with the Dems with these lawsuits?

Ah I see. Thanks for the clarification. I did read an article that they seemed to be only making these statements in public and then carefully not doing it in court. In effect, they aren't risking their license -- just their reputation. Not being a lawyer I thought that there were 'more guardrails' professionally speaking. I belong to professional organizations where my accreditation would likely be jeopardized if I were to make certain public statements.

You were wrong about the ABA, but not about the fact that there are a bunch of lawyers who should currently be facing ethics inquiries right now. It doesn’t really matter whether these lawsuits get filed. That matters as far as whether they would face potential sanctions from the court, but it doesn’t matter at all in terms of what the state bars who police their members could (and should) do to them. People need to be disbarred based on this shit. It’s worse than frivolous - it’s in bad faith and it’s a con.

[Holman]

It's a phenomenon of the era of social media. Political grifters like Powell look at Roger Stone (and Bannon and Flynn, and lesser imitators like Shaun King and Jacob Wohl and James O'Keefe) and see that there's tons of money to be extracted from a self-selecting population of suckers, all for very little risk.

Losing your reputation as a lawyer probably seems cheap in comparison, especially if you never had one anyway.

[Jaymann]

Countdown to Biden inauguration as President:

54 DAYS

Update on Waterhazardgate: Obama played 333 rounds of golf in two terms. Agolf is at 307 rounds (and counting) in one term. So much winning.

[Skinypupy]

This is nothing more than conservative virtue signaling and/or performance art that has zero chance of affecting the outcome. Still, it’s scary to see how many elected officials are perfectly willing to simply dump democracy in the trash just because they didn’t get their way. It’ll go nowhere this time, but it’s tough to put that toothpaste back in the tube. Vile creatures, all.

https://mobile.twitter.com/SenMastriano ... 5490968578

There is mounting evidence that the PA presidential election was compromised. If this is the case, under Article II, Section 1.2 of the US Constitution, the state legislature has the sole authority to direct the manner of selecting delegates to the Electoral College. (1)

This power was given to the state legislature for the purpose of safeguarding the appointment of our President, specifically contemplating corruption and ensuring that the people are not disenfranchised through a corrupt election process. (2)

Therefore, we are introducing a Resolution to exercise our obligation and authority to appoint delegates to the Electoral College. (3)

If there is “evidence” of fraud then present it. Because so far, your parade of grifters has shown fuck-all.

[Isgrimnur]

CNN

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit Saturday night from US Rep. Mike Kelly and other Republicans, after they had tried to invalidate absentee voting and block the certification of votes in recent weeks.
...
The court was unanimous in deciding against Kelly and others, and refusing to block vote certification on Saturday. Five of the seven judges wrote that they believed the lawsuit had been filed far too late, a year after absentee voting procedures had been established in the state and weeks after millions of Pennsylvanians voted in good faith.
...
"It is beyond cavil that Petitioners failed to act with due diligence in presenting the instant claim," the court wrote in its majority opinion.

The high court said the Republicans couldn't reconfigure their complaints and try again.

Lower courts in the state had said the lawsuit, which was filed weeks after Election Day, could stop counties from certifying votes, but that move had essentially become irrelevant.

[Holman]

Big WaPo investigation into Trump's post-election meltdown:
20 days of fantasy and failure: Inside Trump’s quest to overturn the election.

The facts were indisputable: President Trump had lost.

But Trump refused to see it that way. Sequestered in the White House and brooding out of public view after his election defeat, rageful and at times delirious in a torrent of private conversations, Trump was, in the telling of one close adviser, like “Mad King George, muttering, ‘I won. I won. I won.’ ”

This account of one of the final chapters in Trump’s presidency is based on interviews with 32 senior administration officials, campaign aides and other advisers to the president, as well as other key figures in his legal fight, many of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to share details about private discussions and to candidly assess the situation.

tl;dr:
It's not an act. Trump truly believes there's a conspiracy against him. Some top aides consider him clinically paranoid and find it increasingly difficult even to communicate with him.

[The Meal]

tl;dr:
It's not an act. Trump truly believes there's a conspiracy against him. Some top aides consider him clinically paranoid and find it increasingly difficult even to communicate with him.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7341047/

[Skinypupy]

tl;dr: It's not an act. Trump truly believes there's a conspiracy against him. Some top aides consider him clinically paranoid and find it increasingly difficult even to communicate with him.

Is this somehow a surprise to anyone? Seems to me it’s pretty obvious that’s what’s going on.

[Holman]

tl;dr: It's not an act. Trump truly believes there's a conspiracy against him. Some top aides consider him clinically paranoid and find it increasingly difficult even to communicate with him.

Is this somehow a surprise to anyone? Seems to me it’s pretty obvious that’s what’s going on.

But here numerous senior WH officials are talking openly to WaPo reporters about it.

[Skinypupy]

The army of enablers and those who amplify him or refuse to try and do anything to limit the damage (other than give anonymous interviews to WaPo) are far worse than Mad King Trump himself, IMO.

While Trump has been and always will be a garbage person, they are the true villains of this story.

[Jaymann]

Countdown to Biden inauguration as President:

53 DAYS

Dan Alban
@DanAlban

President Trump, ranting live on Fox News, confuses The
@FDRLST
with the Federalist Papers...

[Jaymann]

Acyn Torabi
@Acyn

Trump: They say you don’t have standing. You mean as president of the United States, I don’t have standing. What kind of a court system is this?

A legal one, perhaps?

[Skinypupy]

Acyn Torabi
@Acyn

Trump: They say you don’t have standing. You mean as president of the United States, I don’t have standing. What kind of a court system is this?

A legal one, perhaps?

He literally has no idea how the legal system actually works. JFC

https://mobile.twitter.com/Acyn/status/ ... 2758383616

[Zarathud]

He also has no case, no proof and no clue.

[$iljanus]

Acyn Torabi
@Acyn

Trump: They say you don’t have standing. You mean as president of the United States, I don’t have standing. What kind of a court system is this?

A legal one, perhaps?

Sorry Leader Trump. As much as you may think it we are not the Democratic People's Republic of the United States long may your benevolence reign.

[Alefroth]

Acyn Torabi
@Acyn

Trump: They say you don’t have standing. You mean as president of the United States, I don’t have standing. What kind of a court system is this?

A legal one, perhaps?

He literally has no idea how the legal system actually works. JFC

https://mobile.twitter.com/Acyn/status/ ... 2758383616

Where's the justus?

[Daehawk]

He also has no case, no proof and no clue.

And no taste.

[Jaymann]

Mike Dunford
@questauthority

When I said that anyone who says machines have been impounded is either lying or dumb I didn't have any particular example in mind. But this despicable little shitbird will do fine for that.
Quote Tweet
Lou Dobbs

@LouDobbs

Georgia Judge orders voting machines impounded immediately to preserve evidence.

Breaking News: Sidney Powell Is filing a motion to exhume Hugo Chavez to preserve evidence.

[Grifman]

As noted above, Trump’s crack legal team filed a temporary restraining order against the state of GA requiring that all of the voting machines be impounded pending a hearing so that they can be examined for fraud. Turns out the state of GA replied that they do not have possession of the machines, they are owned by the counties. The judge promptly lifted the retraining order. Now people on Twitter are saying that Lin Wood and Sidney Powell couldn’t be that stupid, that instead they must be part of the deep state working against Trump. You just can’t make this stuff up.

[Skinypupy]

Good lord, that Dobb’s thread is absurd. There is literally nothing that can’t be turned into a derpy conspiracy theory at this point.

Exhibit A:

https://mobile.twitter.com/CopingMAGA/s ... 3429357571

[Zaxxon]

https://twitter.com/nycsouthpaw/status/ ... 74752?s=19

[Jaymann]

If you are interested in a deep dive into Agolf's lawsuits and precisely why they failed, this guy does a fantastic job:

[Isgrimnur]

Any legal video that references the Chewbacca defense gets a thumbs up from me.

[Defiant]

It looks as if Rudy Giuliani was on to something. There is now a growing body of evidence of a vast conspiracy to steal the election from President Trump. Officials at the Department of Homeland Security have confirmed that more than 80 million people conspired to steal the election by voting for Joe Biden.

An F.B.I. investigation has determined that planning for the conspiracy began nearly two years ago, and was organized by people at the highest levels inside the Democratic Party, including Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Pete Buttigieg, Cory Booker, Amy Klobuchar and, of course, Kamala Harris and Joe Biden. The F.B.I. has video footage of large public recruitment events where these shameless leaders openly asked people to vote for them.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/25/opin ... iracy.html

[Blackhawk]

There is evidence in this very forum of it going back twice that far.

[pr0ner]

Because Dominion is such a focus for the Trumpalos fighting the results:

https://twitter.com/EricBoehm87/status/ ... 7335086081

[Jaymann]

Countdown to Biden inauguration as President:

52 DAYS

It's hard to have standing when you're talking about massive dumps.

[Skinypupy]

Because Dominion is such a focus for the Trumpalos fighting the results:

https://twitter.com/EricBoehm87/status/ ... 7335086081

Dominion has made a pretty strong, point-by-derpy-point "fuck you" statement in response. I especially like the closing statement, and genuinely hope they follow through.

Sidney Powell's wild and reckless allegations are not only demonstrably false, they have led to stalking, harassment, and death threats to Dominion employees. This criminal activity has been duly reported to the appropriate law enforcement agencies, and we intend to hold Ms. Powell, and those aiding and abetting her fraudulent actions, accountable for any harm that may occur as a result.

[Jaymann]

Arizona certifies election results...

Jenna Ellis
@JennaEllisEsq
The certification of Arizona’s FALSE results is unethical and knowingly participating in the corruption that has disenfranchised AZ voters.

BUT, this in no way impacts the state legislature’s ability to take back the proper selection of delegates.

They are barely trying at this point.

[Alefroth]

If only there was some system where they could present their evidence and have someone rule on the validity of it. Oh well, that's America I guess.

[Skinypupy]

Dan Rather posted this earlier today. Derpstorm likely incoming when it happens tomorrow.

There’s likely going to be a large shift towards Biden in the national popular vote tomorrow afternoon due to a quirk in the NYC election laws. The New York City Board of Elections is going to vote to certify the election results at their 1pm meeting, but due to some outdated administrative processes, the only results currently posted online are from in-person voting. We’re still missing the results of every vote-by-mail, which represent about 30% of the city’s vote total. These mail-in ballots have been collected and counted at warehouses throughout the city since Election Day. The Commissioners of the NYC BOE (a longstanding NY political patronage job) then have to meet and agree to certify the results before mail-in totals are updated on their website. They missed an original Nov. 28 deadline but they promise to certify tomorrow. It’s a slow and inefficient system but there is nothing nefarious about it.

I have no doubt that this will lead to the same calls of voter fraud from bad actors who have been at it for weeks. There will be all-caps tweets about the hundreds of thousands of additional votes added to the totals nearly a month after the election. These updated numbers should add to Biden's lead, with a combination of his strength in deep-blue NY along with the propensity of his voters to vote-by-mail. Tomorrow is just our notification of the official count. In nearly all cases, these ballots were correctly counted by BOE officials weeks ago.

Of course, New York missed an opportunity here to shut this down by providing real-time, or at least daily, updates. Still, if we all remember that these new totals are just the public notification of valid votes, our collective faith in our democracy will be better off for it.