[EL] more news and commentary 11/13/20

Fri Nov 13 07:06:50 PST 2020

Note: I will be at the ALI Torts:Remedies meetings today as co-reporter, and so I will not be reporting additional developments until this evening.

“Trump Cries Election Fraud. In Court, His Lawyers Don’t.”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=118600>
Posted on November 13, 2020 7:05 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=118600> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

WSJ:<https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-cries-election-fraud-in-court-his-lawyers-dont-11605271267>

President Trump has claimed widespread fraud<https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-campaign-presses-election-claims-in-pennsylvania-arizona-11605215095> was at play in the presidential election. Several of his lawyers have told judges in courtrooms across the country that they don’t believe that to be true.

The Trump campaign or Republican allies have brought lawsuits in several battleground states<https://www.wsj.com/articles/what-is-trumps-legal-strategy-try-to-block-certification-of-biden-victory-in-states-11605138852?mod=article_inline> contesting election results that favored President-elect Joe Biden, seeking to stop the certification of results or have ballots thrown out<https://www.wsj.com/articles/election-2020-trump-campaign-lawsuits-explained-11605205969?mod=searchresults_pos4&page=1>. Under questioning from judges handling the cases, at least two of Mr. Trump’s lawyers have backed away from suggestions that the election was stolen or fraudulent.

In other instances, attorneys representing Mr. Trump or other Republicans have said under oath they have no evidence of fraud. Lawyers also have struggled to get what they say is evidence of fraud admitted into lawsuits, with judges dismissing it as inadmissible or unreliable. A coalition of organizations representing secretaries of state, federal agencies and other top election officials said Thursday there wasn’t evidence that voting systems were compromised during the election.

Election-law experts say many of Mr. Trump’s legal claims amount to citations of common irregularities or unintentional errors by voters or administrators rather than election fraud, or intentional efforts to subvert the election. They say that fraudulent acts do occasionally happen, but they typically affect relatively few ballots.

Disputes over procedures or errors are usually resolved by invalidating disputed ballots—typically a limited number that doesn’t alter the result—or modifying counting procedures. Courts only very occasionally have taken extraordinary steps such as ordering a new election….

Mr. Goldstein at first declined to answer, saying “everybody is coming to this with good faith.”

Judge Richard Haaz pressed: “I understand. I am asking you a specific question, and I am looking for a specific answer. Are you claiming that there is any fraud in connection with these 592 disputed ballots?”

“To my knowledge at present, no,” Mr. Goldstein said.

The exchange illustrated the difference between Mr. Trump’s public-relations strategy<https://www.wsj.com/articles/few-courts-have-intervened-in-elections-in-ways-sought-by-trump-campaign-11605126759?mod=article_inline> around the election and what can be raised in court, where strict rules govern what attorneys can say within the bounds of their professional responsibilities and what evidence is deemed admissible.

“I think that there’s a huge difference between the kind of cheap talk that the president can engage in on Twitter and the way that lawyers need to present evidence in court,” said Rick Hasen, a law professor and election-law specialist at the University of California, Irvine.

“Not only are lawyers subject to sanctions if they file frivolous lawsuits or provide false information to the court, but claims are also subject to the rules of evidence,” Mr. Hasen added.
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Posted in fraudulent fraud squad<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>
Wisconsin: “Lawsuit on behalf of Trump seeks to exclude votes from Milwaukee, Dane and Menominee counties”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=118598>
Posted on November 13, 2020 6:39 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=118598> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel<https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/11/12/trump-lawsuit-seeks-block-votes-wisconsin-democrat-strongholds/6271980002/> on this racially discriminatory loser of a lawsuit:

The suit seeks to exclude all the presidential vote totals from the two most populous and heavily Democratic counties in the state when certifying the state’s results. Those two counties delivered 577,408 votes for Biden and 213,133 for Trump, a gap of 364,264 votes, according to unofficial results. Other counties also had high levels of absentee voting but were not targeted in the lawsuit.

“Certifying Presidential Electors without excluding certain counties would violate voters’ fundamental right to vote by vote-dilution disenfranchisement,” the suit alleges, citing protections provided by the First and 14th amendments.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>
“Election officials, including federal government, contradict Trump’s voter-fraud conspiracy theories”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=118596>
Posted on November 13, 2020 6:37 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=118596> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

CNN reports.<https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/12/politics/2020-election-trump-voter-conspiracies/index.html>
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>
“Small Cracks Emerge in G.O.P. Support for Trump’s Baseless Fraud Claims”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=118594>
Posted on November 13, 2020 6:36 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=118594> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NYT<https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/12/us/politics/trump-republican-party-election.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage> on the state of play.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>
I Talked About the Election Litigation State of Play on the “What a Day” Podcast<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=118592>
Posted on November 13, 2020 6:35 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=118592> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Listen here.<https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/trial-and-error/id1483692776?i=1000498442942>
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>
“Law Firm Stops Representing Trump Campaign in Pennsylvania Suit”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=118590>
Posted on November 13, 2020 6:33 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=118590> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NYT:<https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/13/business/porter-wright-trump-pennsylvania.html>

Porter Wright Morris & Arthur, the law firm leading the Trump campaign’s efforts to cast doubt on the presidential election results in Pennsylvania, abruptly withdrew from a federal lawsuit that it filed days earlier on behalf of President Trump.

“Plaintiffs and Porter Wright have reached a mutual agreement that plaintiffs will be best served if Porter Wright withdraws,” the law firm said in a federal court filing.

The firm’s withdrawal followed an article in The New York Times on Monday<https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/09/business/jones-day-trump-election-lawsuits.html> described internal tensions at the firm about its work for Mr. Trump’s campaign in Pennsylvania. Some employees said they were concerned that the firm was being used to undercut the integrity of the electoral process. One Porter Wright lawyer resigned in protest over the summer.

Porter Wright, based in Columbus, Ohio, has received at least $727,000 in fees from the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee, according to federal election disclosures<https://www.fec.gov/data/disbursements/?data_type=processed&committee_id=C00003418&committee_id=C00580100&committee_id=C00618371&committee_id=C00618389&committee_id=C00637512&recipient_name=porter+wright&min_date=01%2F01%2F2020>.

The law firm on Monday filed a lawsuit<https://cdn.donaldjtrump.com/public-files/press_assets/2020-11-09-complaint-as-filed.pdf> in the Federal District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania on behalf of the Trump campaign. The suit, which is pending, alleged that there were “irregularities” in the presidential vote across the state, which President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. won by more than 50,000 votes<https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/11/03/us/elections/results-pennsylvania-president.html>.

The Democratic National Committee has filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit.

Previously, Porter Wright had filed a number of other actions in Pennsylvania courts challenging aspects of the state’s voting process. It isn’t clear if the firm will continue to represent Mr. Trump’s campaign on those cases. A Porter Wright representative didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>
“Va., Md. Republicans follow Trump playbook, questioning his defeat and refusing to concede.”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=118588>
Posted on November 13, 2020 6:32 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=118588> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

WaPo:<https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/virginia-maryland-republican-election-fraud-trump/2020/11/12/889f5ff2-2438-11eb-952e-0c475972cfc0_story.html>

“Why do people think I have to concede? I WILL NOT CONCEDE,” wrote Manga Anantatmula<https://www.facebook.com/MangaForVA/posts/448329743229279>, the Virginia Republican who lost to Rep. Gerald E. Connolly (D) last weekby 43 points and nearly 170,000 votes.

“Please donate what you can to help me in my battle against potential fraud!” wrote Leon Benjamin<https://www.facebook.com/LeonBenjaminVA4/photos/a.133483381514072/197112685151141/>, who lost to Rep. A. Donald McEachin (D-Va.) by more than 22 points and 89,000 votes, according to unofficial returns<https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/election-results/virginia-2020/?itid=sn_election-2020&itid=lk_inline_manual_47&itid=lk_inline_manual_3>

“We must defeat those who will lie, cheat, and steal to win an election at any cost,” wrote Rep.-elect Bob Good<https://www.facebook.com/GoodForCongress> — who won his own race in central Virginia but is supporting President Trump’s effort to challenge the national results.

Their claims are part of a cacophony of doubt that Republicans have sown in the election since Trump lost to President-elect Joe Biden. Across the region, some losingcandidates have yelled “stop the steal” with pro-Trump protesters. Some, like Benjamin, are raising money for their own “legal defense” (though Benjamin said in a statement he will return the donations if it turns out he has no actionable case).
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Posted in chicanery<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>, fraudulent fraud squad<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>
“What’s Wrong With Winner-Take-All?”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=118586>
Posted on November 13, 2020 6:30 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=118586> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Sean Parnell blogs.<https://www.insidesources.com/whats-wrong-with-winner-take-all/>
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Posted in electoral college<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=44>

--
Rick Hasen
Chancellor's Professor of Law and Political Science
UC Irvine School of Law
401 E. Peltason Dr., Suite 1000
Irvine, CA 92697-8000
949.824.3072 - office
rhasen at law.uci.edu<mailto:rhasen at law.uci.edu>
http://www.law.uci.edu/faculty/full-time/hasen/
http://electionlawblog.org<http://electionlawblog.org/>

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